Happy Birthday United States Marine Corps!

The Marines landed in Johannesburg last year and along with them came a noble tradition. Hosting a big party to celebrate the birthday of the Corps along with Marine Corps detachments all around the globe. I had never been to a Marine Corps Birthday Ball before and neither had Vince. Even though Vince's father, brother, nephew and many other friends and relatives are Marines, we never really thought about it. But now that our son Nick is a Marine, we wanted to go!

Montecasino Ballroom in Johannesburg, SA

Turns out we picked a good year for it. Prior to last year, there was only one local Marine Security Guard Detachment in Gauteng and they were assigned to the American Embassy in Pretoria. But last November the American Consulate in Johannesburg - actually located in Sandton - was also assigned its own security detachment of Marines.






The Marine Corps has a long history of cooperation with the Department of State going back to the early days of the nation.  Following World War II, intelligence activities worldwide led to an increased need of around the clock protection of U.S. Diplomatic Missions by reliable American personnel. In 1946, the Foreign Service Act was passed which states that the Secretary of the Navy is authorized, upon request of the Secretary of State, to assign enlisted Marines to serve as custodians under the supervision of the senior diplomatic officer at embassies, legations or consulates. Almost 60 years later, Marine Security Guards stand watch at over 140 Diplomatic Posts worldwide.

The United States Marine Corps traces its roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War. It was formed at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775. 

Prior to 1921, Marines celebrated the recreation of the Corps on July 11 with little pomp or pageantry. On October 21, 1921, Major Edwin North McClennan, in charge the Corps's fledgling historical section, sent a memorandum to Commander John A. Lejeune, suggesting the Marines’ original birthday of 10 November be declared a Marine Corps holiday to be celebrated throughout the Corps. Lejeune so ordered in Marine Corps Order 47. The first formal ball was celebrated in 1925 and in 1952, the celebrations were formalized and standardized by Commandant Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr.

memorial place setting

Last night the combined  Marine detachments of Pretoria and Johannesburg celebrated the Marine Corps's 239th birthday together here in Johannesburg. It was very special as this was the first year that Johannesburg played host to a formal Marine Corps Birthday Ball. In prior years, the Gauteng Ball was always held in Pretoria.

The venue was the ballroom at Montecasino and the dress was military formal dress (and black tie for the civilians.) The ballroom was resplendent, decorated with red, white, and blue curtains draping the walls, silver bowls of red roses on the table and silver candelabras as centerpieces. And at the entrance to the ballroom, a table set with an overturned place setting on a black tablecloth, a single unlit black taper, dog tags and a Purple Heart to represent those Marines who have made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of their country.

 greeted by Marines and a welcome cocktail

We were advised by our Consulate friends to get there on time so that we did not miss the Birthday Ball Ceremony. And we listened.

reading of the Marine Corps Order 47

The ceremony began with the a prayer and the reading of aforementioned Marine Corps Order 47, republished every year, as well as a message from the current Commandant. We listened to birthday messages read from Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.

Consul General Christopher Rowan

The Commandant's message came via a short film about the Marine Corps. Very moving as many of the Marines interviewed in the film were veterans of the Battle of Peleliu in which Vince's Dad also fought.

Next we were addressed by the Guest of Honor, Catherine Hill-Herndon, the Deputy Chief of Mission, US Embassy Pretoria, and the Guest Speaker, Christopher Rowan, Consul General, American Consulate Johannesburg and a retired USMC Colonel.

birthday cake

C.G. Rowan also has the honor of being the "oldest Marine" at the Ball. This became very important during the cake-cutting part of the celebration  By tradition, the first slice of cake is given to the oldest Marine present, who in turn hands it off to the youngest Marine present, symbolizing the old and experienced Marines passing their knowledge to the new generation of Marines. The youngest Marine present was Corporal Kevin A. Williams.

presenting the Colors

The Colors were presented, the National Anthem and the Marines Hymn were played. Finally, the Cake was presented - and cut with a ceremonial mameluke sword - and the guests of honor were presented with gifts.

Jim, Marguerite and Vince

And after closing remarks. ... dining, music and dancing!

Matthew in his formal dress kilt

It was our first time at the Birthday Ball!

And at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA, USA

My son Nick also celebrated at a Marine Corps Birthday Ball held last night in Monterey, California where he is stationed. We texted him a "Happy Birthday, Marine!" message after we came home from our Ball to which he replied, "The Ball is great and afterwards we are going out on the town in our dress blues. Oorah." Now that's the way to celebrate a birthday!

Happy Birthday United States Marine Corps!

Halloween II

giraffe pumpkin @ Valley Lodge

Last year we were Out of Africa for Halloween.

treats

This year we are making up for it.

Dia de Los Muertos tree

Food is Life

a custom-made mala from Skullduggery

fun pin from Retrospective (Brooklyn Mall)

We got our Halloween on last weekend at the American Society of South Africa's party under the Lapa at Norscot Manor ...

we wore our 1940's vintage gauze ghost and ghoul masks

ghostdogs

Dr. Livingston's Ghost, I presume?

"bobbing" for hanging donuts

pumpkins ready for carving at Norscot Manor

Tonight on Halloween, we are checking out the Halloween block party with Lou & Serge in Parkview ...

 ... and finally, we are meeting up with my Meet-Up group to see Horns at Montecasino.












Happy Halloween! Feliz Dia de Los Muertos!

And here's a little treat for you on Halloween ...

Lira

I had a girls' night out with Ros and Dana (and Dana's brave husband Steve!) the other night. We went to see Lira in her show "Herstory" at Teatro Montecasino.  I have to admit I did not know who Lira was and I wasn't at all familiar with her music or her story before I went.

I found out that Lira is an immensely popular and talented - and beautiful - South African singer and songwriter.  Her performance at Monte was like a musical autobiography about her early decision as a girl growing up in apartheid era Johannesburg to follow her passion and pursue her dream of being a singer and songwriter. What followed, after a lot of hard work of course, was professional success and personal fulfillment ... and love.

Her story is inspirational and just in case you didn't get the underlying message through her libretto, she interjected her personal narrative between songs.

Her message is simple. Decide what you want to do and who you want to be and do it! It certainly resonnated with the audience who knew the words to all of her songs and danced and sang along passionately. It was a very spirited night!

Lira on stage

Ros had arranged VIP tickets for us that included a backstage meet-and-greet after the show with Lira and a swag bag with Lira's latest CD and DVD of "Herstory." I popped the disc into my car CD player and the next day as I was driving down Sandton Drive, I took a second look at the banners I had seen for weeks along the road advertising the Sandton Convention Centre. It featured a picture of Lira. I had wondered who that was. Now I know.

Azteca. WOW!

WOW ladies gather at Azteca

I belong to a group of about 35 American expats called WOW. WOW stands for "Women of Worth" and describes itself as a group of "Like minded and positive women who enjoy spending time together in Joburg (and the rest of Gauteng) seeing the sites and eating at nice restaurants." No meetings. No president. No hassles. 

WOW visits the Bird Gardens in Montecasino

The only requirement for membership is that you organize an outing a year, post an invite on the group's Facebook page and have fun. Sign me up! Outings can be anything you want or can imagine. Graffiti tours and workshops, ceramics classes, visits to Joburg tourist destinations like the Bird Gardens in Montecasino.

lunch is very important! WOW @ Thomas Maxwell's

My favorite WOW outings though are the "behind the scenes" ones which are usually not available to the general public. Like today's WOW outing where we visited the Azteca Tortilla Factory for a factory tour. 

Yolanda, a Mexican native living in Johannesburg, was the organizer for this day. She had heard about Azteca through her consulate connections and convinced Gaby, the owner of Azteca, to entertain 20 or so American expats with a tour and a chance to shop at the Azteca Factory store. She was happy to do it and seemed genuinely thrilled to share her culture with so many interested and enthusiastic women.

Gaby and Yolanda

Azteca was started by Gaby 18 years ago in a much, much smaller space. Like many successful businesses, its origination was not premeditated. It happened as a result of a fluke and an opportunity. 

As an unemployable expat herself, Gaby had been asked by the Mexican consulate to help with a week long Fiesta they were organizing in the Sandton City plaza to promote the culture of Mexico in South Africa. The consulate team had purchased a factory-grade tortilla maker and had it shipped to Joburg from Mexico for the Fiesta. Gaby, a former speech pathologist, had followed her husband to South Africa and couldn't work while she was living here. As a fluke, the consulate asked Gaby to oversee the implementation of the new tortilla maker in the plaza, even though she admits at the time she knew nothing about making tortillas on a grand scale. 

Gaby's first employee is still there! after 18 years!

The Fiesta was a huge success, everything was disassembled, and everyone went back to their normal lives. But now the consulate had an industrial tortilla maker that had been used, albeit for only a week, and was therefore virtually useless. 

Gaby saw an opportunity and negotiated to take the tortilla maker off their hands. She hired one employee and went into business making tortillas for hotels and restaurants, grocery stores and delis. She entered into a long term partnership with Banditos nachos, hired more employees, added more products to her line, bought more equipment and moved to bigger digs. 

the pristine factory floor

Flash forward to about five years ago. The business became so successful that Gaby's husband Hector was able to join the party (that's Hector photo-bombing in the picture above!) He now works for Azteca along with the 18 permanent employees in their beautiful new factory space in Midrand.

"Lucy & Ethel in the chocolate tortilla factory"

Before we took the tour, we had to wash our hands and don these lovely hair nets.

white maize from the Drakensberg

Gaby makes her corn tortillas exactly as the Aztecs made them thousands of years ago and just the way they are still made in Mexico today, using lime to break down the fibers (nixtamalization). However she sources her ingredients in South Africa.

Whether you knew it or not, Bandito brand nachos made in South Africa are actually made by Gaby at Azteca! That's the brand I buy.

If this was America, all these jobs would probably be automated. Gaby employs 18 permanents workers instead!  They all shift around from job to job so that they all are familiar with the processes and are not bored.

They do quality control as they work too!

Hector took this picture of our tour. Don't we look pretty in our hair nets?

a variety of chiles

taco baskets

After our tour we went to the shop to snack on  some of Yolanda's excellent homemade guacamole paired with Azteca tortilla chips  ... and to shop!












Vince sent me with a long list of things to look for and Gaby had them all. She imports products from Mexico and also sells her homemade corn and wheat tortillas, taco shells and these cute round taco baskets.

I found my poblano chiles for my Chiles Rellenos and tomatillos too! She even had Mexican chocolate for my favorite Hot Mexican Chocolate. I will not be able to wait until it gets cold again in Joburg to make some.

You can shop at Azteca too. The shop is open Monday through Friday during the day. Closed weekends. Check out their website for exact hours.

a jalapeno and coriander margarita!

All this talk of tortillas sure made us hungry! We finished off our day with lunch at Perron. I asked Yolanda what she thought of the food at Perron - which Vince and I have tried and do like. She said that while the food was not strictly authentic, it is still very, very good and the best Mexican restaurant in Joburg. 

If it's good enough for Yolanda, it's good enough for me!