So, I haven't written more than a few words here and there...but I suppose there isn't lots to tell. I'm feeling much more comfortable here now. I don't have panic attacks every time someone leaves the front door open for longer than a millisecond, and I've even gone outside AFTER DARK!!! (just to take the trash out) We're starting to feel a little more comfortable with the language, too, and while I'm not fluent in speaking, I can understand almost everything anyone says to me (even though I look really silly when they ask me something, and I sit there for a minute trying to do some translations in my head...English->Spanish->French...) and I understand even more written French, so we're getting better. Between the two of us (Devin and I) we can translate all of our church materials and other things in French, so that's fun. I am thoroughly enjoying my little English class! We have so much fun! Hopefully, they're learning, and surprisingly, I'm learning lots of French from them!! :) They're cute little kids! I think this has to be my favorite calling of all time! I've never had a primary calling before, and I LOVE it!!! I'm enjoying being with Joshua right now, too, as he is struggling, but he sits on my lap during singing time, and if I know a song in English, then many times I'll sing it in his ear, or I'll sing the song in French and translate it for him, and I translate all the things the teachers say for him so he doesn't feel so left out when he doesn't understand. At first I was afraid that this calling would be bad for my kids, since they don't usually behave very well in social settings if I'm around, but I think it's a very good thing. Heavenly Father knows what He's doing, of course!!! :) He knows this is what we need!
We've decided that, for the most part, we're going to buy our 'groceries' from the local markets. Devin went grocery shopping on Saturday, and since I'd been a little silly on Friday and got some SUPER cool African artsy things (I'll take some pics...and it wasn't completely my fault, for I had Devin come with me and he picked out most of the stuff!! Ha!!!!) we didn't have much left for groceries. Oh yah...we need food... So, armed with about $10, Devin went out to find bread and some fresh veggies. He came back with a bag of rolls, 3 loaves of bread, a HUGE bag of carrots, 5 or 6 HUGE zucchini, 2 giant pineapples, and a bunch of green bell peppers!! LOVE the market!! And, since we don't really know what the going prices are yet, and we are white, so people tend to raise their prices for us (thanks...), the amount he paid was probably a bit high! So, I'm sold! Pretty soon, all we'll need is veggies and a little meat, so if we shop the markets, our grocery bill will be very low! YEA!! And how fun is that? And we help the local economy. All in a day's work, eh? I felt pretty good about that.
Let's see...Today's a holiday, so Devin's home. We spent the morning organizing a few things getting ready for our shipment. If it actually made it here to Cameroon on Friday (which we're pretty sure it did...although, you never know...) then we should have it here at our house by tomorrow or Wednesday! Oh Joy!!! I'm just so excited! Last night I could hardly sleep, I was thinking in my head where I wanted everything to go! I want to make sure I know where everything goes, so that no one has to go carrying things up and down all the stairs for no reason. It's going to be so nice and cozy here!! I think that I'll take some before and after pictures, and after I get everything all set up, I'll post them and everyone can enjoy the difference! :) I get butterflies in my tummy when I think about having all those fun things again! I'm going to make a big batch of bread with freshly ground wheat, and use my Bosch and my ceramic bread pans!!!! YEA!!! And I get to put up all my pictures on my walls! And use my own sheets and blankets!!! and eat QUINOA!!!!!!! MMMMMmmmmmm.... My housekeeper keeps laughing at me at how excited I get that everything's coming...but I think she'll be excited, too. It's fun to unpack. Maybe that's why I like moving so much. I really enjoy packing and unpacking and all the decluttering that happens during those phases! Oh, and I'll finally have short sleeved shirts and capris!!!!! Wahoo!!!
I've also been having a lot of fun on Amazon with their new grocery line. Devin started it! They keep having these big sales and promotions on cereals! :) So, we've been stocking up on cereal...and slim jims...and they have All Free & Clear DRYER SHEETS, which I think is awesome, because everything is SO staticky here, so that will help a lot.
Ok, so now I've gotten some of my writing bug out of me for the day. I'll post some pics of our super cool African art things, and go 'watch' a movie with Devin and the kids (which means that I'll sit and read a book on the couch while they all watch a movie). :)
1: Let's start out our artshow with what they call here 'Batique's. They are wall hangings that are hand painted and depict some scene from Cameroon. This is a village scene. Notice the pretty colors...the ladies are grinding flour, one has a baby on her back. The little boy plays with a chicken. The men sit around on their super cool stools and chat.
2: This is my favorite Batique. I loved the Animals! Someday, we'll actually go to the place where all these animals are!! Probably in about a year from now, so we avoid rainy season...and hopefully by then our friends will be back in Chad, and we'll just fly up to where they are and drive down to the park, because it's faster that way. (Oh, and by the way, these wall hanging batiques are super big. They're about 4 feet by 5 feet! So they look nice on the big empty walls...and I didn't know how to hang them up, so they're hung up with scotch tape!! Ha!!)
3: We are now moving on to the same idea with the wall hanging Batiques, but these are hand painted tablecloths (and include 8 napkins!!). This is one of my favorites! Simple and elegant.
4: Another tablecloth. Much more vibrant. The ladies all carry things on their heads here. (My housekeeper even does it sometimes when she's taking a basket full of laundry up or down the stairs. It's cool! Josh tries to do it, too...Yesterday he had a bowl on his head, and went over to Claire, took the bowl off his head, and said, "This stuff's for sale. Do you want any? How much will you give me?" Ha!!)
5: This is a super cool little bench. All the benches here are made with ONE piece of wood. They're not pieced together, they're carved right out of a big log! This one was Devin's favorite. We use it to sit on to take off or put on our shoes. (Notice the super cute little tiny pair of crocs that I found for Andrew on ebay...He looks so cute with them on!!)
6: This one just looks neat. I like the little carvings on the top, and the legs of the stool are very intricate and pleasing to the eye (too much Jane Austen lately, sorry!)
7: This one is my personal favorite. Pascaline saw it this morning and said that was her favorite, too, because it's just like the one her father would sit on in her village...so this is the Chief's Stool! cool, eh??
I hope you all enjoyed the show. If there are any requests for any of these...let me know! :P I'm also on the lookout for a few other things that they have here that are super cool...so when I find the 'right one' then I'll take pics of those, too. I find that I am really loving African art...even though I didn't think I would. But, I really ended up loving Central American art, too, even though I used to think it was tacky....Ah well. When in Rome...
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