London!

One of the great things about Guinea, ok, also one of the scariest, is that when you require medical attention for anything more serious than a cold, you have to be medevac'ed to London. It's kind of a running joke here: "I just jammed my finger in the door, I'm pretty sure it's broken (for the record it clearly was not), you should probably send me to London to have it checked out." Well, this weekend I had the pleasure of requiring medical attention (and of eating McDonalds, Chipotle, and Krispy Kreme).

Neither Mister or I have been to London, so Mister took a few days off to join me in my adventure. When we tried to check into the hotel, we learned that due to a computer error, they did not have a room for us that night, but they had booked us a room in a hotel nearby. Well, thanks to a sleepless night and raging hormones, I sobbed right there at the front desk. While completely embarrassing me and probably horrifying the receptionist, it earned us an upgrade for the nights they were able to accommodate us. The first hotel was great. The rooms used actual keys, a total novelty, and were about as wide as I am tall. Very quaint.

Once we checked in, the first matter of business was lunch at McDonalds. I am not at all embarrassed to admit that before we arrived I spent a half hour on their webpage admiring their menu and the cheeseburger happy meal I ate did not disappoint. After sleeping the remainder of the afternoon, Mister and I had dinner at Chipotle, dessert at Pinkberry (judging by our dining choices, one would think we were in the States, not London), and it was amazing. The evening was perfectly chilly, and we walked a bit down Oxford Street, which was all decorated for Christmas. When I turned the corner and saw that I cried. Being in the hustle and bustle of a big city was very overwhelming, and it made me miss home (well, I should say my home country).

Sunday, we decided to catch a movie (The Adventures of TinTin) which was awesome, and then, because our time in London was limited, did a bus tour so we could see a lot of things at once. We sat on the top of the double decker bus and froze half to death, but it was totally worth it.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Today I had my doctors appointments (sandwiched between a delicious lunch of fish and chips) which went very well. I even got a souvenir to take home!

In Guinean culture, there is a goddess of fertility called a Nimba. It is believed that she brings greater fertility to crops and women, and you can find statues of her pretty much everywhere. I purchased one in July and apparently they are no joke, because Baby H will be joining our family in June!

An adventure is afoot!

Details to come next week...

2

While sitting on our favorite courtyard bench on Monday, Mister says to me, “Happy anniversary.” “What, no flowers? No presents?” I replied jokingingly, because you see, there are no florists and no shops to speak of here. He responded by plucking a bug infested gardenia off the bush next to him and handing it to me. Which, if you remember, is the flower my Grandpa gave my Grandma each year on their anniversary. I cried.

We had plans to go to dinner downtown at at restaurant on the water, but work (him) and an upset stomach (me) foiled those. Instead we celebrated with bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches, South African apples (I had cried to him earlier that all I wanted was a nice big plate of fresh fruits and veggies, and so he bought some on the side of the road on his way home. He’s so good to me), and lemon cupcakes while watching TV. Romantic, right?

But, despite our lack of celebration, and as I pointed out after my funny joke at lunch, at least we have each other. And you know what? That is quite enough.

creatures

You may have to visit the eastern region of Africa if you’d like to go on a safari, but that doesn’t mean Guinea doesn’t have it’s share of exotic creatures. Why just in our little compound there are lizards, darling baby frogs, beautiful black birds that like looking at themselves in the mirror-like reflection of our sunroom windows, monitor lizards (they are basically snakes with legs and they are creepy), and speaking of snakes, how about we add only the second most deadly snake in Guinea, the black-necked spitting cobra. Not only do you have to worry about it biting you, but it can also spit it’s venom up to 20 feet. Don’t worry mom, our gardener killed it, but only after showing it off  to Mister. Ooh, and tonight Mister got a better look at the “possum” he spotted the other day. Not a possum after all, but a football sized rat. Awesome. It’s like I live in a zoo. A really creepy zoo.

I never thought I’d say…

Me: Whatcha doin’ Bubba?

Mister/Bubba: Trying to think of an ad campaign to reduce corruption*.

Me: Awww, that’s so cute of you!

 

*You should know that Mister’s biggest goal in life is to make a positive impact on a large scale. To get an idea of the way he thinks: after returning from a 2 month TDY on the Mexican border, we were at breakfast and he had a very perplexed look on his face. When I asked him what he was thinking about, he said, somewhat sadly, “I just don’t know how to fix Mexico.” And he was totally serious. He’s so great. And while I joke about it with him, I have no doubt that he’ll make a difference in the world.

Randoms

*I love my blendtec (and the 3000 watt converter that makes using it possible). I brought lots of wheat berries with me and was craving some wheat pancakes, but I don’t have a wheat grinder. Enter the blendtec. Combine the berries with some milk; let it go for about a minute, and you get ground wheat. So easy, and the pancakes were delicious. I used this recipe.

*We’ve figured out the dates for our first R&R in January. We’ll spend a whole month visiting friends and family in TX, UT and DC. I’m counting down the days (and planning out all of the restaurants I need to eat at).

*I was watching TV tonight and felt a really cold breeze on my feet. For a second I thought that Mister had left the door open, and then I remembered that we live in Africa, and it is 85 degrees outside.

*Mister and I sat on a bench out in the courtyard at lunch today and I discovered a gardenia bush next to it with a few beautiful blooms on it. I picked one to keep at my desk. It smells amazing and reminds me of my grandma (it was her favorite flower).

*Monday I received my very own package (that wasn’t a vice grip) of Almond Joy’s and Whoppers. It was sent to me by a mystery donor in response to my facebook status complaining about an unsatisfied craving for that particular candy. It made my day!