So, here we are. Devin and I are anxiously awaiting a Netflix 'instant' movie to download, and since our internet connection is SOOOOOO good, it takes a few hours. (And this is a GREAT improvement from before!!!) It has been a while since the last updating of the blog, and I'm sure everyone is anticipating a new entry to the exciting blog... Well, here it is: Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!!!! Stupid!! You're so stupid!!! (Anyone seen UHF???) No, you're not really stupid. But, really, we've been super busy lately, but for the life of me I can't figure out why....
Let's see. Saturday, there was a bazaar at the Embassy. Devin was supposed to go early to help set up some tables and chairs and things. We all ended up going with him, since the kids LOVE to go places other than home (I don't blame them). We helped get all the food ready for the bakesale, and I checked out what the vendors had brought as far as their African Art...and Devin set up tables and tied up a tarp to give some shade to the servers because it was SCORCHING!!! Whew!! I found some super fun things there, and enjoyed speaking French and haggling with the vendors. That took up just the morning, but by the time we came home, we were all completely wasted! So, we watched some movies on the big screen! Woohoo! I love giant white walls and projectors! :) We went back to help take down, but in the middle of the take down, there was a HUGE downpour! What fun!!!!!!!! We all got soaked! I was laughing and enjoying myself, and Claire was crying her poor little heart out! Andrew kept walking right out in it and just standing there, wondering why he kept getting wet! :) Josh was mad because he got wet, and Devin looked like he'd been thrown in the swimming pool! :) LOVE the rain storms here!!!! A good soaking never hurt anyone! :)
Sunday was a nice day at church. It was a cool morning, due to the rain storms of the night before, so it was so much more bearable! :) Claire and Andrew still have struggles with church. Josh is ok, as long as I'm continually translating everything into English for him...which is good for my French comprehension, but he's not picking too much up. Oh well. After church, we had our home teachers over. We ended up having them for lunch as well, and that was really nice. We got a chance to 'BRT' (build relationships of trust) with them a bit, and get to know them--maybe helping them feel a little more comfortable with us. (Because we're SUPER scary people...) Then, we had all the missionaries over for dinner again. I cooked more food this weekend... No wonder I had lots of stress headaches!! Whew!! But, it was yummy! I made minestrone soup, with the famous Italian breadsticks (thanks for the recipe, Mom!!!) and yummy carrot cake for dessert! I didn't think I would have enough, but everyone seemed to eat their fill. Kind of like the widow and her son feeding the prophet Elijah...the flour just seems to keep coming, and we always have more than enough! :) (Just like every meal we eat...I always give all our leftovers to our guard(s) and/or housekeeper, and we always have enough! it's fun!)
Monday, Devin went to Douala...here, he is going to tell you about it:
Yep, I got to go to the biggest city in Cameroon and still come back home the same day at about the same time I usually do. Douala is the economic center of the country, the highest population center, and also the primary port city (Atlantic Ocean). We have an Embassy Branch Office there, which is primarily concerned with getting shipments through customs for US employees in Yaounde and a few other neighboring embassies. I got to install a regional HF radio there, which is used for communication in the event of emergencies.
The drive was probably the most interesting part. I saw lots of huge logging trucks traveling around 25 mph or slower. The highway from Yaounde to Douala is best compared to a two lane divided canyon road such as the one in Spanish Fork canyon. There wasn't too much traffic as we were traveling on a Monday during the day, but I hear that it gets VERY congested on the weekends. There were three "toll booths" where you had to pay to continue the route. At each of these stops, all kinds of vendors come up to your car and try to sell you things (usually snacks such as fried plantains, cooked fish, bananas, or other fresh fruit). I saw a fuel tanker with a goat tied on top of the truck, among other interesting mixed loads. There were also a lot of broken down trucks. To warn drivers of the trucks on the side of the road, Cameroonians grab clumps of grass with the roots and all in place of cones. It was pretty effective, but might not work during the frequent downpours in the rainy season. Then again, driving in general is in question during those downpours, like right now! Yes, the rain is pounding on our roof as I type this message. Emily is getting giddy! (E: Yes, I'm contemplating going puddle jumping, since the kids are asleep, and with the rain pouring down, I doubt I'll be bitten by a mosquito...)
All in all, Yaounde is a much more pleasant place to live in my humble opinion. Douala is more crowded, more hot, more expensive, and more dangerous. So it was an interesting trip, and I'm glad to be back home in Yaounde. Ok Em, back to you!
Thank you for that interesting look into Douala and the surrounding areas of our beautiful country of Cameroon. :) I just sat at home and tried to recover from all my cooking endeavors! :P
Tonight, while we were eating dinner, we were all just talking about something, and Claire pipes up and says, "When I'm a mom, I can wear necklaces all the time! But only when I'm a mom." Where did that come from?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Le Marche et Le Police
I've mentioned a few times before of Devin's excursions to Mfoundi Market on Saturday mornings... Well, here is a photo of the spoils:
Isn't that fun? 2 hours and $30 later, we have fresh fruits and veggies for at least a week...maybe 2! :) Yum!! And I forgot that I had already put green beans and lettuce into the fridge, so they're not pictured here. But we have plantains, bananas, avocados, potatoes (in the plastic bag), tomatoes, apples, lemons (they look like limes), cucumbers, carrots, zucchini, garlic, green beans, lettuce, pineapples, mangoes (tons and tons...), corn, watermelon, ah, bliss! :)
And here, we have our police officer. Isn't he cute????
And here is a cool butterfly/moth that we found that was as big as my hand! :)
Isn't that fun? 2 hours and $30 later, we have fresh fruits and veggies for at least a week...maybe 2! :) Yum!! And I forgot that I had already put green beans and lettuce into the fridge, so they're not pictured here. But we have plantains, bananas, avocados, potatoes (in the plastic bag), tomatoes, apples, lemons (they look like limes), cucumbers, carrots, zucchini, garlic, green beans, lettuce, pineapples, mangoes (tons and tons...), corn, watermelon, ah, bliss! :)
And here, we have our police officer. Isn't he cute????
And here is a cool butterfly/moth that we found that was as big as my hand! :)
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Playdough Fun
Yesterday, we played with homemade playdough! This is the best recipe I've ever found for playdough, so I thought I'd share!
1 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 Tbsp Oil
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
mix dry ingredients together. Place water and oil in saucepan, then add dry ingredients. Bring to a boil. Stir CONSTANTLY! It's done when it pulls away from the sides. (You'll know--it actually looks like playdough!) Knead until desired consistency.
It makes quite a bit, and it's super fast and easy! I pull it apart into a bunch of balls, and have the kids choose which color they want. Then I drop a drop or two of food coloring onto the ball and have them knead it until it's the color. We had a ball! We made castles and snakes and frogs and flowers...and the kids spent well over an hour playing! :) And if you keep it in an airtight container--maybe even in the fridge--it keeps for a long time! :)
Here is my castle and a little cottage:
Josh made a castle, too. He said it was Hogwarts. Claire made dozens of 'snakes' with her pink and purple playdough, and it turns out that most of them were 'wizards' so they all went to Hogwarts. (Harry Potter has been our bedtime stories now for awhile...we're on book 2!) He he he...
Josh also made a flower and a frog:
Claire with her pink and purple playdough (before the mountain of snakes):
1 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 Tbsp Oil
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
mix dry ingredients together. Place water and oil in saucepan, then add dry ingredients. Bring to a boil. Stir CONSTANTLY! It's done when it pulls away from the sides. (You'll know--it actually looks like playdough!) Knead until desired consistency.
It makes quite a bit, and it's super fast and easy! I pull it apart into a bunch of balls, and have the kids choose which color they want. Then I drop a drop or two of food coloring onto the ball and have them knead it until it's the color. We had a ball! We made castles and snakes and frogs and flowers...and the kids spent well over an hour playing! :) And if you keep it in an airtight container--maybe even in the fridge--it keeps for a long time! :)
Here is my castle and a little cottage:
Josh made a castle, too. He said it was Hogwarts. Claire made dozens of 'snakes' with her pink and purple playdough, and it turns out that most of them were 'wizards' so they all went to Hogwarts. (Harry Potter has been our bedtime stories now for awhile...we're on book 2!) He he he...
Josh also made a flower and a frog:
Claire with her pink and purple playdough (before the mountain of snakes):
Monday, April 14, 2008
Keeping Us In Stitches
Well, here I am waiting for Devin and Josh to exit the health unit. I was really hoping to avoid experiences such as this one today, but, I suppose I am in a good situation to have this happen, really.
What's going on? Well, this morning after our yummy breakfast of homemade rolls, fresh pineapple and mangoes, Josh and Andrew still weren't dressed. It usually takes Josh hours and hours to finally get around to being dressed unless he has some sort of incentive. So, today's incentive: Let's see if Andrew can beat Josh getting dressed! What fun! So we all ran from the dining room, through the living room, and headed up the stairs, where Josh slipped on the wonderfully clean and slippery marble stairs and biffed it. He began screaming and as I helped him up off the stairs, I noticed that he was dripping blood everywhere. "Great," I thought, "another nose bleed." So, I ran and fetched him a roll of toilet paper, laid him down on the sofa in the computer/reading room, and just told him to relax. I asked if I could take a look at his nose to assess the damage, and when I lifted the tissue, I realized that this was no nose bleed. He had sliced his nose open. Oh, fantastic. Well, lucky for me, it put me into panic mode, because otherwise, I would have fainted. I ran for my phone and called Devin to ask him what I should do. He called back seconds later and told me to bring him in. Ok. So, as I hung up with him, Pascaline walked in, helped me dress Joshua, and Josh and I left for the health unit.
At first, I thought it would just be taped together or 'glued'. Well, because of where it is, it can't be glued. They tried tape, but it was bleeding too much and knowing Joshua, the tape wouldn't have stayed anyway. So, he's getting stitches. I'm not allowed to be in the room, because every time I go in, I start to feel really nauseous and things start to grow dim. It would be better for Josh if I didn't pass out, I think.
We've now been here for 2 hours, and they're still working on starting the stitches process. Josh is very....passionate... about not wanting shots. So, he got rather worked up. It took them about 1/2 hour to calm him down enough to discuss the issue. Then they're going to give him Tylenol with Codeine, put a topical anesthesia over the point where they're going to give the shot for the anaesthetic so he won't feel it as much, and then start the stitches. My poor boy! I wish I could sit there and hold his hand like a good mom, but I don't want to throw up on him. I'm such a baby. Thank goodness Devin has a stronger stomach than I do. He's in there with him helping him. I just run down to the commissary and stock up on sweets to help him look forward to the time when he's done.
Well, after waiting for another hour, Josh just wasn't holding still, so they sent us to the Yaounde hospital. Well, that was definitely an adventure! I might say that I liked the colorful walls...and it was all handicapped accessible as I don't think I saw any stairs at all, just a lot of ramps. It most definitely was not a sterile environment. Oh boy. And this is the NICE hospital of the area...reserved for Diplomats and Government workers... Oh dear... (since I spent most of my visit there staring at the floor, I noticed the state of it...ummmmm... And I thought it was really funny there near the end when it started getting really warm in the tiny office, so they turned on their floor fan...he he he...that helped me quite a bit, though, to stave off the waves of nausea!) The receptionist of our health unit came with us, and she brought all the things that the specialist would need (gauze, needles, thread, tape, salt water, iodine, numbing stuff...) so that we knew it would be sanitary and safe.
We spent about another 1/2 hour trying to convince Josh that it would be ok...that it would be fast and then we could go home. He refused to cooperate, so there were 5 of us holding him down while the dr. sewed him up. Luckily, it was only one stitch...AND since he was being so uncooperative about the whole thing, they decided NOT to give him any anesthetic...so he got a stitch without any numbing!! MY POOR BABY BOY!!! Again, I thought I was going to pass out. I cried as he screamed while the dr was sewing up his little nose. (One nice thing about the hospital here, though...we made an emergency run to the best hospital in the area to see a specialist for almost an entire hour, and our entire bill was 25,000 cfa, which is equivalent to $50! I don't think our insurance will put up too much of a fight in reimbursing us, do you??) I feel like the whole thing is my fault...since I wanted to race him up the stairs... except that we do it every single day, multiple times a day! Oh well. Just another good story to tell, I suppose.
Here he is 'happy' with his load of candy:
He looks pretty cool with his 'mustache', and the nurse at the health unit was trying to convince him that the scar he will have will be 'macho'. Josh laughed. My poor little kiddos! But, now we are home, Josh and Claire are watching a movie while Andrew 'naps' (he's just talking to himself in his room right now) and I'm going to take a nice break!!!!
What's going on? Well, this morning after our yummy breakfast of homemade rolls, fresh pineapple and mangoes, Josh and Andrew still weren't dressed. It usually takes Josh hours and hours to finally get around to being dressed unless he has some sort of incentive. So, today's incentive: Let's see if Andrew can beat Josh getting dressed! What fun! So we all ran from the dining room, through the living room, and headed up the stairs, where Josh slipped on the wonderfully clean and slippery marble stairs and biffed it. He began screaming and as I helped him up off the stairs, I noticed that he was dripping blood everywhere. "Great," I thought, "another nose bleed." So, I ran and fetched him a roll of toilet paper, laid him down on the sofa in the computer/reading room, and just told him to relax. I asked if I could take a look at his nose to assess the damage, and when I lifted the tissue, I realized that this was no nose bleed. He had sliced his nose open. Oh, fantastic. Well, lucky for me, it put me into panic mode, because otherwise, I would have fainted. I ran for my phone and called Devin to ask him what I should do. He called back seconds later and told me to bring him in. Ok. So, as I hung up with him, Pascaline walked in, helped me dress Joshua, and Josh and I left for the health unit.
At first, I thought it would just be taped together or 'glued'. Well, because of where it is, it can't be glued. They tried tape, but it was bleeding too much and knowing Joshua, the tape wouldn't have stayed anyway. So, he's getting stitches. I'm not allowed to be in the room, because every time I go in, I start to feel really nauseous and things start to grow dim. It would be better for Josh if I didn't pass out, I think.
We've now been here for 2 hours, and they're still working on starting the stitches process. Josh is very....passionate... about not wanting shots. So, he got rather worked up. It took them about 1/2 hour to calm him down enough to discuss the issue. Then they're going to give him Tylenol with Codeine, put a topical anesthesia over the point where they're going to give the shot for the anaesthetic so he won't feel it as much, and then start the stitches. My poor boy! I wish I could sit there and hold his hand like a good mom, but I don't want to throw up on him. I'm such a baby. Thank goodness Devin has a stronger stomach than I do. He's in there with him helping him. I just run down to the commissary and stock up on sweets to help him look forward to the time when he's done.
Well, after waiting for another hour, Josh just wasn't holding still, so they sent us to the Yaounde hospital. Well, that was definitely an adventure! I might say that I liked the colorful walls...and it was all handicapped accessible as I don't think I saw any stairs at all, just a lot of ramps. It most definitely was not a sterile environment. Oh boy. And this is the NICE hospital of the area...reserved for Diplomats and Government workers... Oh dear... (since I spent most of my visit there staring at the floor, I noticed the state of it...ummmmm... And I thought it was really funny there near the end when it started getting really warm in the tiny office, so they turned on their floor fan...he he he...that helped me quite a bit, though, to stave off the waves of nausea!) The receptionist of our health unit came with us, and she brought all the things that the specialist would need (gauze, needles, thread, tape, salt water, iodine, numbing stuff...) so that we knew it would be sanitary and safe.
We spent about another 1/2 hour trying to convince Josh that it would be ok...that it would be fast and then we could go home. He refused to cooperate, so there were 5 of us holding him down while the dr. sewed him up. Luckily, it was only one stitch...AND since he was being so uncooperative about the whole thing, they decided NOT to give him any anesthetic...so he got a stitch without any numbing!! MY POOR BABY BOY!!! Again, I thought I was going to pass out. I cried as he screamed while the dr was sewing up his little nose. (One nice thing about the hospital here, though...we made an emergency run to the best hospital in the area to see a specialist for almost an entire hour, and our entire bill was 25,000 cfa, which is equivalent to $50! I don't think our insurance will put up too much of a fight in reimbursing us, do you??) I feel like the whole thing is my fault...since I wanted to race him up the stairs... except that we do it every single day, multiple times a day! Oh well. Just another good story to tell, I suppose.
Here he is 'happy' with his load of candy:
He looks pretty cool with his 'mustache', and the nurse at the health unit was trying to convince him that the scar he will have will be 'macho'. Josh laughed. My poor little kiddos! But, now we are home, Josh and Claire are watching a movie while Andrew 'naps' (he's just talking to himself in his room right now) and I'm going to take a nice break!!!!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Holidays and Special Days *sniff sniff*
I need to vent. I am sad.
I think that I’ve become jaded. I’ve come to start thinking of every day as just another day. Birthdays, holidays, weddings, etc., all come and go, and it just becomes another day to me. It should not be this way. There SHOULD be special days! There SHOULD be reasons for celebrating and making others feel special. Just because I’ve been disappointed time and again on my special days, after lots of anticipation, doesn’t mean that everyone in my family should suffer! That is wrong. I suppose I’ve just been feeling sorry for myself…but I won’t go into that right now. Why have I started to think about this? I think it’s been in the back of my mind for a while now. Since we live so far away from everyone and everything that we’ve ever known, special occasions seem to be the only link. I’ve seen on others’ blogs and on family sites all the fun things that my sisters-in-law and friends do for their families—not even just on holidays and birthdays, but to celebrate little things, and I’ve been feeling a slacker. I saw pictures of my sister-in-law’s wedding, and I sobbed.
(Don't they look happy?? Isn't she beautiful?? I hope you don't mind that I stole this photo Rosie...)
I miss being with family—with people who know and love me and my little family. I miss being able to go to special occasions. We weren’t able to go—it wasn’t that we didn’t want to, or didn’t think it was that important, it’s just that Africa is rather far away from Utah; we didn’t have the $20K to fly out or the time off. I cried as I saw my sisters-in-law that I haven’t seen in years, or the nephew that we’ve never even seen pictures of!! I saw pictures of my mom’s graduation from college. I sobbed again!
(Don't they look fantastic??? *sob*)
I’m SO proud of my mom for what she’s accomplished! What an amazing lady! But I’m just heart-broken that we couldn’t be there for these two special occasions. What are we having to give up by following what we know is the right path? We know that what we are doing is the right thing, but it doesn’t make the separation any easier…for anyone, I think. I am grateful, though, that technology is the way that it is now. For if we had been sent here even 10 years ago, this blog wouldn’t be available, and many of the ways of communication would be slower and our separation would be complete and unbearable.
I find that here I am very lonely. There are lots of nice people, but in the words of Anne of Green Gables, I haven’t met my ‘bosom friend’ or ‘kindred spirit’ yet. The loneliness is making my a little lazy and selfish, I think. Isn’t that strange? Maybe I was already that way before (thanks, everyone, for not telling me to my face…) but it took being in my current situation before I discovered it. I think my biggest trial is going to be putting a fire under myself without a lot of outside help or influence. I’ve never had any problem with self-motivation, but now I’m finding it a struggle. I wonder why? I need to find ways to serve in the community now…it’s just a matter of figuring out where to start.
Another thing that is hard, is that not only are we ‘cut off’ from family and friends, but it feels as if we’re cut off from the church, too. We still go to church, we have family home evening almost every day, scriptures and prayer as a family every day, we even have home teachers…I guess it’s hard to explain. It’s hard to get anything out of sacrament meeting since it’s last and by that time the kids are uncontrollable—starving and tired. And the fact that it’s all in French and the kids don’t understand anything at all isn’t helpful. So, they don’t sit still, which means we can’t either. We just feel disconnected from the congregation. I remember feeling the same way on my mission. I could connect with people individually, but in church it was so different. They teach the same things, and it is the same gospel of Jesus Christ, yet it is different than what is ‘normal’ to us. I’m sure it is entirely our own fault and that we just need to try harder. I’m enjoying the primary… but I just don’t feel all fulfilled and uplifted after church like I used to when in the states. Maybe another thing that I need to learn in this lifestyle is how to truly stand on my own two feet with my testimony. I thought my testimony was strong, and my relationship with the Savior was healthy. I think it is, but it needs to be better. I think I’ve been depending too much on others to help me. Now’s my chance to make my testimony grow and my personal relationship with the Savior stronger all on my own—without anyone else to stand by and be my crutch—which is the best way. Although, I do have one person left to be that crutch for me—my dear sweet husband—and I think I’ll use it more! J I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only way to have a happy and fulfilled life. Thank goodness for the scriptures and the prophets who can guide us, direct us, and give us comfort no matter where we are in the world!!!
So, I hope you’ve all enjoyed my sad tale—-we really are fine. I just needed to vent to the whole world for some reason. Now I'm better. Thanks for listening. :P
I think that I’ve become jaded. I’ve come to start thinking of every day as just another day. Birthdays, holidays, weddings, etc., all come and go, and it just becomes another day to me. It should not be this way. There SHOULD be special days! There SHOULD be reasons for celebrating and making others feel special. Just because I’ve been disappointed time and again on my special days, after lots of anticipation, doesn’t mean that everyone in my family should suffer! That is wrong. I suppose I’ve just been feeling sorry for myself…but I won’t go into that right now. Why have I started to think about this? I think it’s been in the back of my mind for a while now. Since we live so far away from everyone and everything that we’ve ever known, special occasions seem to be the only link. I’ve seen on others’ blogs and on family sites all the fun things that my sisters-in-law and friends do for their families—not even just on holidays and birthdays, but to celebrate little things, and I’ve been feeling a slacker. I saw pictures of my sister-in-law’s wedding, and I sobbed.
(Don't they look happy?? Isn't she beautiful?? I hope you don't mind that I stole this photo Rosie...)
I miss being with family—with people who know and love me and my little family. I miss being able to go to special occasions. We weren’t able to go—it wasn’t that we didn’t want to, or didn’t think it was that important, it’s just that Africa is rather far away from Utah; we didn’t have the $20K to fly out or the time off. I cried as I saw my sisters-in-law that I haven’t seen in years, or the nephew that we’ve never even seen pictures of!! I saw pictures of my mom’s graduation from college. I sobbed again!
(Don't they look fantastic??? *sob*)
I’m SO proud of my mom for what she’s accomplished! What an amazing lady! But I’m just heart-broken that we couldn’t be there for these two special occasions. What are we having to give up by following what we know is the right path? We know that what we are doing is the right thing, but it doesn’t make the separation any easier…for anyone, I think. I am grateful, though, that technology is the way that it is now. For if we had been sent here even 10 years ago, this blog wouldn’t be available, and many of the ways of communication would be slower and our separation would be complete and unbearable.
I find that here I am very lonely. There are lots of nice people, but in the words of Anne of Green Gables, I haven’t met my ‘bosom friend’ or ‘kindred spirit’ yet. The loneliness is making my a little lazy and selfish, I think. Isn’t that strange? Maybe I was already that way before (thanks, everyone, for not telling me to my face…) but it took being in my current situation before I discovered it. I think my biggest trial is going to be putting a fire under myself without a lot of outside help or influence. I’ve never had any problem with self-motivation, but now I’m finding it a struggle. I wonder why? I need to find ways to serve in the community now…it’s just a matter of figuring out where to start.
Another thing that is hard, is that not only are we ‘cut off’ from family and friends, but it feels as if we’re cut off from the church, too. We still go to church, we have family home evening almost every day, scriptures and prayer as a family every day, we even have home teachers…I guess it’s hard to explain. It’s hard to get anything out of sacrament meeting since it’s last and by that time the kids are uncontrollable—starving and tired. And the fact that it’s all in French and the kids don’t understand anything at all isn’t helpful. So, they don’t sit still, which means we can’t either. We just feel disconnected from the congregation. I remember feeling the same way on my mission. I could connect with people individually, but in church it was so different. They teach the same things, and it is the same gospel of Jesus Christ, yet it is different than what is ‘normal’ to us. I’m sure it is entirely our own fault and that we just need to try harder. I’m enjoying the primary… but I just don’t feel all fulfilled and uplifted after church like I used to when in the states. Maybe another thing that I need to learn in this lifestyle is how to truly stand on my own two feet with my testimony. I thought my testimony was strong, and my relationship with the Savior was healthy. I think it is, but it needs to be better. I think I’ve been depending too much on others to help me. Now’s my chance to make my testimony grow and my personal relationship with the Savior stronger all on my own—without anyone else to stand by and be my crutch—which is the best way. Although, I do have one person left to be that crutch for me—my dear sweet husband—and I think I’ll use it more! J I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only way to have a happy and fulfilled life. Thank goodness for the scriptures and the prophets who can guide us, direct us, and give us comfort no matter where we are in the world!!!
So, I hope you’ve all enjoyed my sad tale—-we really are fine. I just needed to vent to the whole world for some reason. Now I'm better. Thanks for listening. :P
Friday, April 11, 2008
Mefou National Park: Gorilla Sanctuary
We went to Mefou today, and it was so much fun! Thankfully it was overcast, cool and slightly rainy. That was good for the visit, NOT for the drive up! THANK GOODNESS we didn't drive ourselves!!!!! We went with some others and had a driver. WOW! The roads were amazingly scary, and if we wouldn't have been in a very large vehicle with 4 wheel drive and an experienced driver, we would not have made it. What fun!!!! So, we saw all kinds of little monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees...it was fun! Josh was in his element: Outdoors with lots of room to run and get VERY muddy and dirty! :) Claire, on the other hand, hates to get dirty, so she was fairly sad about the whole thing, but survived with lots of friends carrying her around. Andrew enjoyed watching the monkeys from the safety of the baby backpack (our lifesaver that we got from Rosie when Josh was a baby...we could NOT live without it!! Thank you Rosie!!) and we all had a nice time!
Here is a Mom and baby chimp staring at us from their gilded cage:
Here is a cute little monkey in a tree. There was a whole group of them. One of them kept scratching his whole body--but he was being really funny about it. We named him 'Mr. Scratchy'. They were cute little guys!!
Claire looking at the monkeys:
Thinking Gorilla:
Happy Gorilla (doesn't he look like he's smiling?):
There was a whole group of baby gorillas at the front of the park. They were cute and fun! Here is one looking at me:
This is a deformed baboon. He had fangs that hung about 2 inches longer than his mouth. We all thought he should have been the chief of the clan, but apparently, the other baboons thought he was a freak and shunned him! Man, if I was a baboon and saw another one with fangs that size, whether I thought he was normal or not I wouldn't get in his way!! You have to look pretty close to see the fangs, but they're there:
Where do we get chocolate? From right here!! A Cocoa tree:
There was a line for the bathroom (he he hehe):
Gorilla & Josh:
Josh and some friends looking at the baby gorillas:
Everyone looking at the little monkeys:
A muddy road:
More muddy road. These are an example of what we had to drive through to get to the park in the first place...except that the ruts were deeper and we were going up these huge hills!!! Man, I'm SO glad we didn't drive ourselves! We would not have made it! We had a great car and a fantastic driver get us there!:
This is the Really big tree:
Here are our cars that we came in:
Amadou, our French teacher, with a park sign:
Andrew with Amadou:
Group looking at a millipede that someone saw:
Here is the Millipede close-up! Gross, eh??:
Here is a Mom and baby chimp staring at us from their gilded cage:
Here is a cute little monkey in a tree. There was a whole group of them. One of them kept scratching his whole body--but he was being really funny about it. We named him 'Mr. Scratchy'. They were cute little guys!!
Claire looking at the monkeys:
Thinking Gorilla:
Happy Gorilla (doesn't he look like he's smiling?):
There was a whole group of baby gorillas at the front of the park. They were cute and fun! Here is one looking at me:
This is a deformed baboon. He had fangs that hung about 2 inches longer than his mouth. We all thought he should have been the chief of the clan, but apparently, the other baboons thought he was a freak and shunned him! Man, if I was a baboon and saw another one with fangs that size, whether I thought he was normal or not I wouldn't get in his way!! You have to look pretty close to see the fangs, but they're there:
Where do we get chocolate? From right here!! A Cocoa tree:
There was a line for the bathroom (he he hehe):
Gorilla & Josh:
Josh and some friends looking at the baby gorillas:
Everyone looking at the little monkeys:
A muddy road:
More muddy road. These are an example of what we had to drive through to get to the park in the first place...except that the ruts were deeper and we were going up these huge hills!!! Man, I'm SO glad we didn't drive ourselves! We would not have made it! We had a great car and a fantastic driver get us there!:
This is the Really big tree:
Here are our cars that we came in:
Amadou, our French teacher, with a park sign:
Andrew with Amadou:
Group looking at a millipede that someone saw:
Here is the Millipede close-up! Gross, eh??:
Friday, April 4, 2008
African Wedding
Here is one of the long awaited blogs: A real African wedding!! Whoa, it was fun and crazy!!! And I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of it!!!!
It all started around 11:30 when Devin got home from work. About 10 minutes before he got home, it started to become pitch black outside! Oh dear! As soon as he pulled into the gate, it started to POUR!!!!! Whew!! (And it didn't let up until the afternoon!! YES!!!) I have to admit, that I was really hoping and praying for something like that. Mostly because, if it would have been sunny, it would have been HOT! But, with rain and clouds, it's much cooler, and would be much more bearable to wait for long periods of time...which is what I KNEW we would be doing, and which is what happened!! So, here are the photos!
First, we got to the courthouse, and waited outside in the rain for about 1 1/2 hours for the legal ceremony to begin. Claire was mad, because she got wet. Josh was mad because we were standing under a 'carport' type thing, and I wouldn't let him put his umbrella up (and poke everyone in the eye).
Here's Claire with her pretty hat pulled down over her face. I tried to get her to keep it on to keep her hair dry (ha ha) but she just liked to throw it at the missionaries.
Here's Josh with some friends he made. These little guys are Pascaline's (well, they're Edward's, really...) nephews.
Here we are in the actual official signing room...all squished in with everyone else! Josh is mad about something. Oh well. *Sigh of exasperation*
Andrew was happy, though!! Because I whispered "Pat-A-Cake" into his ear most of the time, so he 'rolled it and rolled it' through most of the short ceremony.
Here are Pascaline and Edward sitting at the table waiting to sign away. Isn't she beautiful??
This is after the signing. The mayor is standing between Pascaline and Edward and they are showing their official marriage papers. There is a lot of screaming (a joyful noise) and clapping during this ceremony!
The mayor put his little ribbon thing around them symbolizing their official union.
At the Reception:
Later in the afternoon, we went to their reception at the house of Edward's brother. All the 'important' people (that's what they said, so I'm not trying to make myself sound important) sat inside of their living room on nice couches and chairs. Here are Edward and Pascaline sitting in their nice little couch:
It was such an experience!! We all got to sit inside, too. It felt SO weird to be welcomed there, like we were celebrities or something! They kept telling us how grateful they were that we had come, and that we were a blessing to their house... And when they started making speeches, they went on about how they were very honored to have their international guests there (I thought to myself, 'We're not the international ones! You are!!...Oh yah. I am a minority here...I am in Africa...') and they were very happy and it was so special. I felt funny being so honored. I'm just a person like them. Devin was asked to be a Chairman of the wedding. That is a very high honor here. He even got to make a speech! It was a wonderful speech, and he got lots of applause all through it! :) (Especially when he was giving his advice; telling Edward that he should serve Pascaline (APPLAUSE) and think of her comfort above his own (APPLAUSE) and that Pascaline should do the same (APPLAUSE)!!)
There was blaring music--it was just like being in marching band again with the horn section right beside my ear! :) There were chairs for everyone else all set up on the roof of the house in front of theirs. I wondered how the people in that house felt about having lots of people sitting on their heads?? :)
They made a toast with champagne... And when they popped the cork off the bottle after shaking it up, the stuff exploded all over the place... and some landed in my glass of fanta orange (Oh well--and NO I didn't drink it!!) and in poor Joshua's eye!! :(( He didn't get as upset about it as I thought he would, but man, that must've hurt!
They had amazing traditional dances that involved a lot of machetes, live chickens, and some sweet fluffy headdresses!!
Here are some of the ladies dancing right outside the home where the reception was.
And here I am (along with Sister Hanks--of the missionary couple--and Pascaline in her pretty white dress...) dancing with the ladies...right in front of the BLARING stereo! The thing was bouncing around it was so loud! Wow! I couldn't hear for the rest of the night! :P
Here's Claire during the last traditional dance. The ladies were dancing right in front of us, and as each would pass, Claire would grab their skirt and tug until they turned around and smiled at her and patted her on the head, and she'd give them her super huge cheesy grin! The reason I stopped filming this dance: if you listen closely at the end of the video you can hear Pascaline say "Dance with me!" And I say "Oh yah?" And she says "Yes!" So, I stopped filming and joined in on the fun! I even pulled Claire up with me, and we shuffled around the room with everyone. They were all laughing at us (Claire and I) to the point of tears, but it was so much fun!!!!!!!
When it is time to give gifts to the newlyweds, they all dance in! The first couple of groups of people who brought in gifts was completely awesome!!!!!! I have them on video, too, but it wasn't uploading. I'll have to try again, because it was so neat!!! They didn't just dance in to the traditional music played by the DJ guy. They all sang! It was so awesome!!! Here is the way they give the gifts. everyone comes into the room dancing up to the couple and hands them their gift. The couple both take it and pass it through to people behind them who put the gifts away to open later. I really enjoyed it and thought it very symbolic--as they are together receiving each gift from each person. Looks much more fun than a 'line', eh?? :)
Josh came with me to give them our gift. It was funny, because he wanted to make an entrance just like everyone else! We walked in, and the MC lady said, "and here we have a little boy who wants to give a gift to the happy couple!" I thought it was so fun!!
And here is my trademark photo face! Hope you enjoyed the photos!! :)
I felt SO happy and at home here at this reception! Apparently, Josh did, too, even though we didn't think so. He was fairly grumpy most of the evening, but once the traditional dances started (around 8 pm) he stopped being grumpy and just hung out on the couch watching. And after we got home, he said his personal prayers: "The reception was so much fun tonight! Please let us be able to go to another one tomorrow night!!" I felt happy about that! :)
I loved every minute of being there!!!! I would do it again in a second!!! This was the ultimate cultural experience--because it was personal. It wasn't fluffed up touristy stuff. It was real. This is what life is like for them. And I loved feeling a part of it--not that they were showing off for me--but they were celebrating for Pascaline and Edward! It was absolutely fantastic!!!
It all started around 11:30 when Devin got home from work. About 10 minutes before he got home, it started to become pitch black outside! Oh dear! As soon as he pulled into the gate, it started to POUR!!!!! Whew!! (And it didn't let up until the afternoon!! YES!!!) I have to admit, that I was really hoping and praying for something like that. Mostly because, if it would have been sunny, it would have been HOT! But, with rain and clouds, it's much cooler, and would be much more bearable to wait for long periods of time...which is what I KNEW we would be doing, and which is what happened!! So, here are the photos!
First, we got to the courthouse, and waited outside in the rain for about 1 1/2 hours for the legal ceremony to begin. Claire was mad, because she got wet. Josh was mad because we were standing under a 'carport' type thing, and I wouldn't let him put his umbrella up (and poke everyone in the eye).
Here's Claire with her pretty hat pulled down over her face. I tried to get her to keep it on to keep her hair dry (ha ha) but she just liked to throw it at the missionaries.
Here's Josh with some friends he made. These little guys are Pascaline's (well, they're Edward's, really...) nephews.
Here we are in the actual official signing room...all squished in with everyone else! Josh is mad about something. Oh well. *Sigh of exasperation*
Andrew was happy, though!! Because I whispered "Pat-A-Cake" into his ear most of the time, so he 'rolled it and rolled it' through most of the short ceremony.
Here are Pascaline and Edward sitting at the table waiting to sign away. Isn't she beautiful??
This is after the signing. The mayor is standing between Pascaline and Edward and they are showing their official marriage papers. There is a lot of screaming (a joyful noise) and clapping during this ceremony!
The mayor put his little ribbon thing around them symbolizing their official union.
At the Reception:
Later in the afternoon, we went to their reception at the house of Edward's brother. All the 'important' people (that's what they said, so I'm not trying to make myself sound important) sat inside of their living room on nice couches and chairs. Here are Edward and Pascaline sitting in their nice little couch:
It was such an experience!! We all got to sit inside, too. It felt SO weird to be welcomed there, like we were celebrities or something! They kept telling us how grateful they were that we had come, and that we were a blessing to their house... And when they started making speeches, they went on about how they were very honored to have their international guests there (I thought to myself, 'We're not the international ones! You are!!...Oh yah. I am a minority here...I am in Africa...') and they were very happy and it was so special. I felt funny being so honored. I'm just a person like them. Devin was asked to be a Chairman of the wedding. That is a very high honor here. He even got to make a speech! It was a wonderful speech, and he got lots of applause all through it! :) (Especially when he was giving his advice; telling Edward that he should serve Pascaline (APPLAUSE) and think of her comfort above his own (APPLAUSE) and that Pascaline should do the same (APPLAUSE)!!)
There was blaring music--it was just like being in marching band again with the horn section right beside my ear! :) There were chairs for everyone else all set up on the roof of the house in front of theirs. I wondered how the people in that house felt about having lots of people sitting on their heads?? :)
They made a toast with champagne... And when they popped the cork off the bottle after shaking it up, the stuff exploded all over the place... and some landed in my glass of fanta orange (Oh well--and NO I didn't drink it!!) and in poor Joshua's eye!! :(( He didn't get as upset about it as I thought he would, but man, that must've hurt!
They had amazing traditional dances that involved a lot of machetes, live chickens, and some sweet fluffy headdresses!!
Here are some of the ladies dancing right outside the home where the reception was.
And here I am (along with Sister Hanks--of the missionary couple--and Pascaline in her pretty white dress...) dancing with the ladies...right in front of the BLARING stereo! The thing was bouncing around it was so loud! Wow! I couldn't hear for the rest of the night! :P
Here's Claire during the last traditional dance. The ladies were dancing right in front of us, and as each would pass, Claire would grab their skirt and tug until they turned around and smiled at her and patted her on the head, and she'd give them her super huge cheesy grin! The reason I stopped filming this dance: if you listen closely at the end of the video you can hear Pascaline say "Dance with me!" And I say "Oh yah?" And she says "Yes!" So, I stopped filming and joined in on the fun! I even pulled Claire up with me, and we shuffled around the room with everyone. They were all laughing at us (Claire and I) to the point of tears, but it was so much fun!!!!!!!
When it is time to give gifts to the newlyweds, they all dance in! The first couple of groups of people who brought in gifts was completely awesome!!!!!! I have them on video, too, but it wasn't uploading. I'll have to try again, because it was so neat!!! They didn't just dance in to the traditional music played by the DJ guy. They all sang! It was so awesome!!! Here is the way they give the gifts. everyone comes into the room dancing up to the couple and hands them their gift. The couple both take it and pass it through to people behind them who put the gifts away to open later. I really enjoyed it and thought it very symbolic--as they are together receiving each gift from each person. Looks much more fun than a 'line', eh?? :)
Josh came with me to give them our gift. It was funny, because he wanted to make an entrance just like everyone else! We walked in, and the MC lady said, "and here we have a little boy who wants to give a gift to the happy couple!" I thought it was so fun!!
And here is my trademark photo face! Hope you enjoyed the photos!! :)
I felt SO happy and at home here at this reception! Apparently, Josh did, too, even though we didn't think so. He was fairly grumpy most of the evening, but once the traditional dances started (around 8 pm) he stopped being grumpy and just hung out on the couch watching. And after we got home, he said his personal prayers: "The reception was so much fun tonight! Please let us be able to go to another one tomorrow night!!" I felt happy about that! :)
I loved every minute of being there!!!! I would do it again in a second!!! This was the ultimate cultural experience--because it was personal. It wasn't fluffed up touristy stuff. It was real. This is what life is like for them. And I loved feeling a part of it--not that they were showing off for me--but they were celebrating for Pascaline and Edward! It was absolutely fantastic!!!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
All Around the Town
I am driving around and it's such a hilarious experience! I laugh a LOT as I drive around, thinking of how many times I should be pulled over for a DUI or simply put in jail... Here, quite literally, the only rule on the road is don't hit anyone. That's it. You don't have to stop at the one stop light, especially if you're on a motorcycle. You especially don't stop when the police try to pull you over. (That's FUNNY!! I feel so evil when they try to flag you down and you just go faster...I keep expecting to have one of those high speed chases you see on films...but they're just trying to get money from you. They don't usually pull over cars with our license plates, though.) There are no stop signs or lines painted on the roads. You just go when you can and use your horn a lot to let people know you're coming around a corner or passing. My goodness it's different! Scarier than downtown D.C. in rush hour! :P I went to two new places today...WHEW!!! Man, I am telling you, the hardest thing about going to visit the states will be re-learning how to drive!! Every time I get in the car and start to get giggly, I feel sad that I forgot my camera again!! This Friday, we're going to the wedding of our housekeeper, so I will definitely have my camera on-hand for all kinds of road rage and new cultural experiences! SO FUN!!!
Josh came up to me this morning and said: "MOM! There's something bad and scary downstairs in the living room!! It's a mouse or a rat!!" Well, that was something new! So I run downstairs expecting something along the lines of the Secret of Nimh--a huge lab rat about ready to attack us all and take over our electricity! Well, it turned out to be a teenie tiny little mouse crawling around in the curtains and the little recliner by the piano. I was still nervous, as I'd rather not have mouse bites to deal with. Yes, we've all had our rabies shots, but it's better to be safe than sorry, eh? I called Devin, and he sent someone over with a mousetrap. Well, while we were waiting, we discussed different ways that we could capture a mouse without the mousetrap. Here are the kids' ideas:
Claire: Spank it really hard...with paper!
Josh: Pour water on it, then salt! (I think he was thinking about snails...)
Josh: Throw one of Andrew's onesies on it when it gets close to you.
Claire: Put a glass on him and then lock him up and then throw pictures at him.
Josh: Stab a fork on him (Oh gross!!)
Josh: Make a cage: Find an oak tree, make it into tiny squares, and then glue it together. Let it dry and put a lock on it. Then go downstairs and open it up. When the mouse crawls inside to take a rest from running, close it and lock it!
Those were all good ideas.
(Next day-- I think we should have used them, as we set the little mousetrap yesterday [the old fashioned kind with the snap and a dab o' peanut butter] and the only thing we caught were an army of ants!! Oh well)
Well, I will be fairly busy for the next few days. We have friends coming over on Thursday night, then Friday our housekeeper is getting married, so we're going to go to the wedding and the reception...that will definitely be interesting!!! Then Saturday we're going to a Gorilla sanctuary. So, I'll have all kinds of stories and pictures on Sunday!! Hopefully, Andrew gets better. He has a fever again. So strange. All he has is a fever...nothing else...no one knows what it is. Poor little boy!!
Josh came up to me this morning and said: "MOM! There's something bad and scary downstairs in the living room!! It's a mouse or a rat!!" Well, that was something new! So I run downstairs expecting something along the lines of the Secret of Nimh--a huge lab rat about ready to attack us all and take over our electricity! Well, it turned out to be a teenie tiny little mouse crawling around in the curtains and the little recliner by the piano. I was still nervous, as I'd rather not have mouse bites to deal with. Yes, we've all had our rabies shots, but it's better to be safe than sorry, eh? I called Devin, and he sent someone over with a mousetrap. Well, while we were waiting, we discussed different ways that we could capture a mouse without the mousetrap. Here are the kids' ideas:
Claire: Spank it really hard...with paper!
Josh: Pour water on it, then salt! (I think he was thinking about snails...)
Josh: Throw one of Andrew's onesies on it when it gets close to you.
Claire: Put a glass on him and then lock him up and then throw pictures at him.
Josh: Stab a fork on him (Oh gross!!)
Josh: Make a cage: Find an oak tree, make it into tiny squares, and then glue it together. Let it dry and put a lock on it. Then go downstairs and open it up. When the mouse crawls inside to take a rest from running, close it and lock it!
Those were all good ideas.
(Next day-- I think we should have used them, as we set the little mousetrap yesterday [the old fashioned kind with the snap and a dab o' peanut butter] and the only thing we caught were an army of ants!! Oh well)
Well, I will be fairly busy for the next few days. We have friends coming over on Thursday night, then Friday our housekeeper is getting married, so we're going to go to the wedding and the reception...that will definitely be interesting!!! Then Saturday we're going to a Gorilla sanctuary. So, I'll have all kinds of stories and pictures on Sunday!! Hopefully, Andrew gets better. He has a fever again. So strange. All he has is a fever...nothing else...no one knows what it is. Poor little boy!!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Pat-a-Cake and Dictionaries
Andrew has decided Pat-A-Cake is his favorite 'game' and it cracks me up! He just took it up a day or two ago. We all ate Watermelon for dinner last night, and while we were eating, Andrew just up and started doing Pat-A-Cake. He cracks himself up, too, and that makes everything he does even funnier!!
We have finally discovered the secret world of Andrew's language. I thought all this time that he didn't talk! I was really worried! Now we know that it's not true! He talks all the time! We just haven't been listening hard enough or thinking in terms of baby language and translation! Here is a list of things that he says:
Dada
Mama
Shoes (Shz)
Book (Ba)
Ball (Ba)
Bed (Ba)
Bike (Ba)
More (Ma)
Cow (Ma--for 'moo')
Cat (Ma--for 'meow')
Owl (Hoo)
That (Dat)
I want that (it's hilarious when he says that!)
Please (Eez or Pee)
Josh (Jaja)
Claire (La)
Socks (Sa)
Duck (Da)
Lion, Bear, etc. (Rar--and it's a whispered 'Rar' so it's really funny!)
This is a small list of things that he says...and now that I've discovered the logistics of his idea of how words work, it's much easier to understand him! yea!!
And here are some very happy kiddie candids! :)
We have finally discovered the secret world of Andrew's language. I thought all this time that he didn't talk! I was really worried! Now we know that it's not true! He talks all the time! We just haven't been listening hard enough or thinking in terms of baby language and translation! Here is a list of things that he says:
Dada
Mama
Shoes (Shz)
Book (Ba)
Ball (Ba)
Bed (Ba)
Bike (Ba)
More (Ma)
Cow (Ma--for 'moo')
Cat (Ma--for 'meow')
Owl (Hoo)
That (Dat)
I want that (it's hilarious when he says that!)
Please (Eez or Pee)
Josh (Jaja)
Claire (La)
Socks (Sa)
Duck (Da)
Lion, Bear, etc. (Rar--and it's a whispered 'Rar' so it's really funny!)
This is a small list of things that he says...and now that I've discovered the logistics of his idea of how words work, it's much easier to understand him! yea!!
And here are some very happy kiddie candids! :)
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