Sleeping arrangements

In Guinea, unless we want to contract malaria, we have to sleep under a mosquito net. A mosquito net which has been secured to the ceiling about 6 inches off center of the bed we sleep on. 6 inches closer to me, which causes Mister to sleep 6 inches closer to the center to avoid being suffocated by the mosquito net. Which means he is essentially sleeping on half of my side of the bed. Which means I either have to hug him, or hug the side of the mattress all night to assure that I don’t fall off. Which would normally be fine, I mean we do kinda like each other after all, but we spent the last 10 months sleeping on a king sized bed with enough room to spread out without bugging each other. It was heaven. I guess you could say that Guinea has brought the two of us closer together.

PB&J follow-up

Living in Guinea means learning how to control your impulses. When I am craving a peanut butter sandwich for example, no longer can I grab my car keys and drive two minutes to Safeway to buy the fixin’s. Yes, I suppose I could go to one of the nearby markets, (let’s ignore the fact that I have only been to one and have absolutely no idea how to get there thanks to the lack of street signs, and also the fact that I have no car) but even then, there’s no guarantee that the store will have what I want, as their inventory changes daily. The second option is to buy it on the internet and have it shipped here, but obviously that takes time, and it would be at least a week (if I’m extremely lucky) until I could fulfill that craving.

One of my finer qualities is that I lack any amount of patience. I have a feeling that I’ll be swimming in it by the time our two years is up. At least I hope so.

PB&J

It’s possible that I cried tonight because the only thing that sounded good to me to eat was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and all I have in the house is rice and cereal. I really should have bought more while I was at the store on Saturday (although I’m pretty sure there was no bread or peanut butter there).

I can’t wait until my food comes.

Shopping and traffic

Yesterday we went to one of the supermarkets to get some food to tide us over until we receive our shipment. I was surprised at how much food they had there, but I can’t tell you whether or not the prices are good because the currency here is so different. For 257,000 Guinean Francs (a little under 40 bucks) we got a bag of rice, soy sauce, 6 cartons of skim milk, cocoa puffs, bottled water and a throw up bucket. Apparently my shopping skills are as good in Guinea as they are in America (which is to say, not at all), as we’ll be living off of rice and cereal for the next little bit.

As we walked out to our car, a young girl guided me over to her little fruit stand and practically forced me to buy some bananas (the cute little ones), 2 pineapples, and when she didn’t quite have the right change to give me, some limes. Not that I’m complaining. I haven’t had a chance to wash it yet so that I can eat it without having to utilize the throw up bucket we just purchased (among other things…), but it smells heavenly. Ooh, I just did the conversion, and I bought all of those things for under 4 dollars. Amazing!!

For dinner we went to a friends house for a mexican fiesta. He had homemade pico de gallo, corn tortillas and more. It was amazing. We had to drive quite a ways to get to his house, and it was complete chaos. While there are no traffic lights, there are a few roundabouts that should help the flow of traffic, but it doesn’t quite work that way.  We were basically at a stand still for a good 20 minutes while we tried to make our way through. People were everywhere, some just trying to cross from one side of the street to the other, but, because traffic is notoriously bad, it’s also the perfect place for people to peddle their wares or to beg. It was particularly heartbreaking to see dozens of people with physical deformities lining the road looking for food or money. While I feel badly for these people, I don’t feel comfortable giving money that way. I will have to find another way to help.

Be grateful for DC traffic. It’s a breeze compared to this.

La saison de pluie

Tonight we went to a reception at the ambassador’s residence, which if I’m completely honest, is my worst nightmare. I am definitely an introvert and parties are definitely not my strong suit. We spent most of our time that night out in the back yard, which boasts a gorgeous view of the ocean, chatting with some of our new colleagues. As the sun went down, the wind started blowing and there was lightening off in the distance. It felt nice and cool out there. Just minutes after we left the party the sky opened and it started pouring rain. It felt as if we were driving through a giant fish tank, the water seemingly coming from every imaginable angle. It’s a good thing we had a driver who has lots of experience driving in the rain because combined with the fact that it was basically pitch black, there was no way we would have ever made it home. I tell you what, the rainy season here is no joke!

We made it!

We made it to Guinea safe and sound, and missed an attempted coup on the President by a day. Lucky us.

I lack the energy to write much, so I'll copy my response on Facebook to the question "What's it like?"

From the plane it's very lush and the roofs on the houses are brightly colored (my favorite was lime green). From the ground it's dirty and congested. Dirt roads, dilapidated buildings, people walking and driving everywhere, people peddling their wares on tables, in shipping crates or on their heads. It's interesting though, out the window where I'm sitting in my husbands office it almost looks like it could be the US. That is until a Guinean woman walks by with a huge basket of fruit on her head. It's a trip.

Have a great weekend!

(not) Paris

I received an email this morning from my mom in which she reminded me of my first visit to New York, where I hung out in my sisters itty bitty apartment eating pizza while everyone else went to Broadway musicals and did other fun things. Although I don’t remember it, I apparently wrote an essay in high school about that being one of my biggest regrets.

So all day today I had that in the back of my mind as I spent my time NOT in Paris. I know you’re all disappointed (Marti) to hear that. My day was not without adventure though. After a nice long nap, we went back to the airport at the order request of Marti to get some macarons from Laduree. Done and done.

When the rain finally stopped, we spent some time wandering around the lovely little town surrounding our hotel. It is such a neat little place, with its cobblestone streets, overgrown gardens hidden behind wooden gates, and funny little street signs.

I don’t feel bad about Paris.

Bienvenue à Paris–Random thoughts from the sleep deprived (aka me)

The clock on my computer says that it’s 3:18 am, when in fact it is actually 9:18 am and gloomy and wet outside. We made it to Paris without a hitch, unless you count muscling our way on and off three crowded elevators in the CDG airport only to discover we weren’t where we needed to be. Not too fun when you’re carrying 1/3(ish)  of all of your belongings in 7 pieces of luggage (even if it was piled onto one cart, and not in our hands).

As difficult as it is navigating an airport with 7 pieces of luggage among two people, I can only imagine how difficult it will be with babies and car seats and strollers etc. I have a feeling this fact will somehow impact our family planning.

I did not sleep much on the plane, but I wasn’t expecting to, even though we had the whole row to ourselves. I did, however, watch some movies I would probably never consider watching in another setting: Paul, Due Date and Hop. Meh.

Is it bad that I’m in Paris for the first time and all I want to do is not leave my hotel? (Don’t answer that….but it is miserable out there…)

One more day until we start our crazy new life in Guinea. I can’t figure out if the feeling I’m experiencing is excitement for this new adventure or excitement that we’re finally settling down after weeks of living out of suitcases. Scratch that. We’re moving into temporary housing for a month or so, so even when we arrive we’ll still be living out of suitcases. *Sigh*

See you later, Alligator

Cah-cah-cuh-ree

Definitely some of the cutest kiddos ever to exist on earth.

Guineeeeeeeee!

Hot date

Picture this: There’s someone you’ve had your eye on for as long as you can remember. They are super cute, charming, nice, we’re talking the whole package, and they’ve FINALLY asked you out. You are super excited about the date, so you spend a good day or two getting ready. You get a mani/pedi, a new haircut, try on several different outfits and when none of them look right, go by a new one, and brush up on current events and other talking points so there are no uncomfortable silences during dinner. All because you want this date to be perfect.

I think that’s what my car is doing. I already mentioned the new set of tires. Well, it doesn’t end there. Today we had to replace the muffler because one of the hanger mounts (or whatever it’s called) broke off, leaving the muffler dangling precariously from the undercarriage and a hole in it’s place, and tomorrow we are fixing the alignment. And we still have 5 more days until we reach our final destination (and the Protégé’s new home), which is plenty of time for more things to break.

I’m really not complaining. This car has been nothing but perfect during the 7 years I’ve owned it. I just find it funny that all of the sudden, just weeks before we give it away, it decides to fall apart. But don’t worry Andrew. By the time it reaches Utah it should be as good as new.

Roadblock

We packed out yesterday, leaving our apartment even emptier than it was when we arrived 10 months ago, thanks to the packers accidentally sending the Oakwood’s blow dryer, soap dish and tissue box cover to Africa. Other than that small mishap, it went off without a hitch. Well, except for 1/3 of our UAB (unaccompanied air baggage) allotment being used on three items (we’re talking 120 pounds) and having to play Sophie’s Choice with the rest of the stuff we had planned for that shipment. We’ll find out in several weeks whether or not we made the right decision on what to leave behind (or rather, put in the slow boat shipment).

At 3:30 in the a.m. we departed for “America: The Farewell Tour,” with stops planned in Galveston, Houston, and Arlington, TX and Salt Lake City, UT. Mister and I were generally tired at different times during the drive, and were able to cover some good ground. Things were going so well, in fact, that we decided to drive straight through to Houston (a 19 hour drive). Sadly, our front left tire wasn’t on the same page, and decided to deflate itself somewhere in the middle of Mississippi. We were lucky to be near a lovely little town when we discovered it (but not lucky enough to salvage the tire…it’s completely shredded). So here we are, in a nice hotel room in a sleepy retirement community for the night until we can get new tires for the ole Protégé tomorrow morning.  You’re welcome Andrew*.

 

*My brother Andrew gets the privilege of driving my car, and now he doesn’t have to worry about replacing the tires during our absence (they were getting a bit worn anyway). Lucky him.