Last night was girls’ night out for me, along with my friends Susan and Tracy.  We attended Music In The Air, an evening of music in an outdoor setting.  The U.S. Consul General allowed AISL to use his grounds for this annual fundraiser.  We were treated to musical performances by the high school band, the jazz band, AISL dance class, and the grand finale was a concert by Grammy award winner Dobet Ghanore.  Dobet is a popular singer from the Cote d’Ivoire.

After multiple security checks, we were greeted by AISL students in formal dress who showed us to our table.  The Consul General’s home is located across the bridge in Ilkoyi, along the water’s edge.  The tables were beautifully decorated and it was quite a festive air.  An interesting aside… food was not served that evening.  Instead, tables got together and planned a picnic!  So, at our table of 10, we had about 15 dishes that made their way around the table: sausage rolls (thanks, Chris!), samosas, chips with pineapple salsa, cheese and crackers, meatballs, chicken fingers, veggies and hummus, brownies, banana beignets… a little feast!

The music was fantastic… I especially enjoyed the Dobet Gnahore’s concert.  She has a fantastic voice and she really knows how to work the audience!

While I was out with the girls, Chris had his own little party at home with Laryssa and Chiara.  Chiara slept over and the girls had a great time.  He put them to bed around 7:45 pm.  He told them they could read as long as they wanted.  Chris said they came out about 15 minutes later and wanted to go to sleep!  When I got home I checked on them, and they were fast asleep.  They were snuggled together with Chiara’s head on Laryssa’s pillow.  Too cute!

We’ve just finished a pancake breakfast and Chiara is about to head home.  Tracy has never spent a night without her… wonder how she got on!

Music in the Air

  

 

The Sleepover…

 

 

It was a very busy, yet strangely relaxing Easter weekend in Lagos.  Walking, pool time, a playdate for both Laryssa and I at one of her friend’s, date night… so much fun!

It began as a very quiet weekend, as most of the teachers have left for the five-day Easter break.  Those of us who stayed behind have enjoyed a quiet campus and a surprising number of social events!

Laryssa and I went to her friend Isabella’s house on Friday for a playdate.  The girls played while Isabella’s mom and I sat and chatted. She is such fun and very easy to talk to, so we had a great time laughing and carrying on.  When we got home, we did a quickie clean up and got ready for Uncle Donny, who came to babysit Laryssa for the evening.  She was very excited and had the evening all planned.  They played board games, watched a movie and ate pizza together.  I’m not sure which of them enjoyed it more!  While they were having fun, Chris and I went out with our friends Susan and Jay.  Yes, that’s right… seven weeks left of this school year, and Chris and I finally made it off campus at night! (And not just to cross the road to 1004!)  We actually went out for dinner and then to the Sheraton Hotel for their open air Jazz Night.  It was lovely to sit out under the stars and listen to live music!

Saturday was also a fun-packed day!  Tracy and I took the girls to the GQ for the Easter Egg Picnic!  We met our new Canadian friend, Fari, there with her daughter, so it was a girls’ afternoon!  The GQ had various games and activities planned, and of course, the Easter Egg Hunt.  It was nice that all of our girls won prizes at the games as well!  They also had a little barbecue so the kiddos had a chance to eat too.  It was so hot though!  Yikes!  They had canopies set up in the garden, with fans, but it did little to relieve us in the 35 C heat.  When we left, we had enough time to slip home for a shower and change of clothes before heading off to our next engagement!  Very sociable for us… quite out of character, really!  A teacher from school, Brenda, invited all of us who stayed in town this weekend to Easter at her home Saturday night.  Everyone brought something to share and it ended up being a very lovely evening.  Brenda and her family are getting ready to move to their next post in Poland, so she was wanting to empty her pantry.  Not sure if she managed to do that, but there sure was a lot of food!  They live on the other side of the river, in Ilkoyi, in a very nice (and extremely secure) complex.  Brenda’s husband works for the U.S. State Department.  They have a lovely balcony/terrace  overlooking the city, which was beautiful as the sun set and the lights lit up all around us.

Sunday began with a candy hunt for all the treats that the Easter bunny left for Laryssa.  She was quite excited about that!  We then had the chance to Skype with our friends Lisa and Finn in Singapore.  They will be moving to Lagos in August, so we had a nice little chat (should say frustrating little chat, as the internet went out about 10 times!) about living here, and Finn asked Laryssa a few things about school.  We can’t wait to have them join us here!  Easter Sunday continued as a relaxing day, until about 3:00 when the sky turned black and we realized that our Easter BBQ by the pool wasn’t going to happen!  We quickly emailed and texted everyone and had them come to our house instead.  Then it was a mad rush to tidy up and go through our freezer to find enough food for everyone!  It was a potluck affair, but we were worried that because we couldn’t grill as planned, no one would have a main dish.  So we warmed up some curry and some peanut sweet potato stew, made a big batch of rice, and cooked some sausage in the oven.  A great time was had by all.  About 20 people… a nice intimate gathering!

Now it’s Easter Monday, and I’m so thankful to have another two days off!  We don’t go back to school until Wednesday.  I’d have loved to have gone somewhere, but being new home owners,  we decided we should just stay put.  I’m glad we did!

 

Laryssa tucking into the Easter basket!

A few photos of our Easter dinner

   

The kids all got bored later on, and out came the electronic devices!

 

We began our trip to Ghana with a lovely surprise at the airport.  Lagos International has now moved into the 21st century and has automated their passport and security!  Wow… it was so quick and easy!

After a delay (which we now assume is normal with Arik Air), we had a quick 40 minute flight to Accra. The airport officials are very efficient in Accra and we were through in no time, were met by the hotel shuttle and whisked off to our hotel.  We stayed at the Movenpick, which is a large, modern hotel in the centre of town. It was more of a business hotel, but they had a nice pool area and it was central to what we wanted to do, so it suited us just fine.

Our first day in Accra we journeyed down to a little fishing village called Jamestown. We were immediately met by a young man who insisted on showing us around.  Chris wasn’t too keen on the idea at first, but really, having a guide can be helpful, if only to keep the other would-be guides at bay!  It turns out that Nice One (his name!) was a nice guy who guided us through the alleyways and provided lots of interesting information for us.  This little adventure was a little too much for Laryssa… she was scared and did not enjoy it at all.  It was a bit of a sensory overload…. fish, hundreds of people, the smells, small area, garbage everywhere, etc.  Chris and I loved it!

Fresh sea snails for sale… these are actually moving!

Walking through the streets of the fishing village with Nice One, our guide.

People live here, work here… some will spend their whole lives here, never leaving this area.

This is someone’s home…

The boats are made of wood.  Nice One explained that the hull of the boat is a single piece of wood, carved from a tree trunk.  He said it would last for years.  On the bigger boats, wood is added to make the sides and is glued with a special resin.  The sides will eventually be replaced, as they do not last as long as the hull.  Some fishermen go out to sea for a day, others for weeks at a time.  Can you imagine being out at sea in this boat?

A walk out onto the old pier gave us a great view of the village, the beach, and the bay.  It is from here that the slaves were loaded onto ships and sent to America.

It is here, behind the village wall, where people also dump their garbage and do their daily business… you have to watch where you’re walking…

 

This man was having a bath and washing his clothes in the ocean.

You can see remains of the old prison in the foreground.

A walk through the village, away from the water.

The cooking is all done on the street.  The homes are too small, and it is far too hot to cook inside.  Not sure what this is, but it looks spicy!

This is the central square in the village.  It is a common area where you can see people gathering to chat, play soccer, dry their fish in the sun… stand there long enough and someone will come along and pee!

When we explained to Laryssa that this boy’s toy was the tire… she realized just how lucky she is.

Little girls carry water to their homes.

I’m not sure how she is going to manage these…. the containers are bigger than she is!

Through the labyrinth…

Such a cutie… the plastic bag she is holding is how drinking water is sold here.

Stones helping to hold the roof down.

Wood for cooking fires.

Heading up the hill, away from the village.

New boats on the beach.

Gasoline for sale.

Apparently the poles are left up.  When people have a party, they cover the poles with canvas to provide a shelter.

This woman is drying her laundry on the beach.

Dressed in their Sunday best.

Much like anywhere in the world… boys playing soccer!

Nice One told us that the prison was in use until 2007.

From Jamestown we took a taxi to an artisan area, where we saw men making various crafts, such as drums, masks, bowls, etc.

Hides drying in the sun, to be used later as drum coverings.

Sunday soccer.

At first glance, they seem to be sitting around, doing nothing.  Look closer…

A rattle or a musical instrument… not sure which.

The chair is entirely covered in small beads!

Water for sale in little bags.

This rasta ran out and insisted I take his photo!

Love the names of the shops!

Day Two… road trip to Kakum National Park.

We left our hotel at 6:00 am to make the trip to Kakum National Park.  It is a three hour drive from Accra.  We headed north along the coast towards Cape Coast and then inland to the park.  Winding roads, speeding traffic, the occasional traffic jam, many stops for a car-sick Laryssa… we saw many interesting sights.  Unfortunately, it rained most of the way, but that just made the scenery even greener.  There are a lot of things to buy along the way… a LOT of pineapple for sale (must be pineapple season).

School kids in their colourful uniforms.

This grand building is actually a math and science college.

Women put their names on their stalls.  Love some of the names!

We are now off the main road, heading up to the park.

When we got to the park, we joined a group of about 10 young backpackers for our hike through the forest to the canopy walk.  There are seven hanging bridges to cross.  They were very wet and slippery after the big rain, and the drizzle that continued as we hiked along.  Fun, but a little scary.  Laryssa wanted to go again!  By the way, the bridges were designed and constructed by two Canadian engineers and 6 Ghanaians.   

 

Waiting for the rain to stop so we can get on with the hike.

Cocoa pods!  Crack open the shells, and the cocoa beans are found inside.

The bottles contain natural honey, according to the sign.

Can you see the pineapple growing?  It was a beautiful pink colour, so Laryssa named it Princess Pineapple.  Upon our return to Lagos, I heard her tell Chiara all about the Princess Pineapple that she saw!

We decided to have some lunch before leaving the park.  Chris and I tried some local food (fufu and goat soup in one dish, fish and baku in the other).  Laryssa ate pizza.

We invited our driver, Frank, to have lunch with us. His meal of chicken and jollof rice looked (and smelled) much better than ours!

Heading back to Accra, along the coast.

Outskirts of Cape Coast.

Whenever you get stopped in traffic, vendors appear, hawking their wares.  These two have fried plantains for sale.

We returned to Accra to find that the housekeeper had been playing with Laryssa’s toys!

Day Three began with mini golf in the very hot sun!

Followed by cold beer for Chris, ice cream for Laryssa, and cold water for me in the cool club house!

Next stop… the Trashy Bags factory!

I’d read about Trashy Bags before coming to Accra, and I was not disappointed! 

Borrowed from the Trashy Bags website:

Trashy Bags is a social enterprise based in Accra, Ghana that makes recycled eco-friendly bags and gifts from plastic trash.

We employ over sixty local people to collect, clean and stitch plastic trash in the form of sachets that have been previously used to contain drinking water and other drinks, into fashionable and useful bags and other products.  Plastic sachets have become a big problem across Africa because of the lack of recycling initiatives and waste management infrastructure.

Trashy Bags is leading the way in sustainable development in Africa in the area of plastic recycling and we have collected and recycled approximately 20 million plastic sachets since we started in 2007. Every month nearly 200,000 plastic sachets are being collected and brought to Trashy Bags by a network of people who are obtaining an income from their efforts.

The new range of Trashy Ad Bags are made from discarded advertising billboards which are now proliferating throughout Accra, Ghana’s capital city.

For more information about Trashy Bags, visit their website: www.trashybags.com.

The pile on the floor is what we bought!

Housekeeping has been playing again while we were out!

The Trashy Bags…

Day Four… a trip to the Museum and Arts Centre.

The entrance to the hotel is guarded by a fantasy coffin.  This one was made for a crab fisherman! (Yes, this is really a coffin!)

The Ga tribe live in the coastal area including Greater Accra, and it is their tradition to bury people in these colourful coffins. The first coffins made like this date back to the 1950’s. While there is of course mourning, funerals are also a celebration of the life that has been lived. The Ga people believe that there is an afterlife and the fantasy coffins help transport the dead to their new life, in style. The coffins are designed to represent an aspect of the dead person’s life. Often coffins represent what the person did for their livelihood, but they can also depict a vice. You can occasionally see a cigarette, and beer bottles are quite popular too. http://goafrica.about.com/od/peopleandculture/ss/Ghana-Fantasy-Coffins.htm

My cousin, Helen, would love the Coke bottle coffin!

Since we were in the area, we decided to visit the Labadi Beach Hotel for lunch.  We sat outside by the pool to eat. 

Laryssa and I went to see the beach, but the guard wouldn’t let us past the gate.  It is a private beach for hotel residents only.  Too bad… it looked quite clean and inviting!

Calamari and fries for Laryssa.

Spicy chicken gizzards for Chris.

Club sandwich for me.

Back at the hotel, Laryssa displays her very loose tooth.  She pulled it out and put it under her pillow so that the tooth fairy could also visit Ghana!

 

Photos from Laryssa’s camera of the hotel pool area.

On the weekends, hotels allow the residents of Ghana to use the pool facilities for a fee.  This is very popular with the expat community.

And Day Five…

No photos!  We lounged by the pool after breakfast, then checked out and went to the shopping mall.  We went to the cinema and saw Mr. Peabody and Sherman, a cute animated film. (We had the theatre to ourselves!)  We then did a bit of shopping, returned to the hotel to collect our bags, then made our way to the airport.  Time to head back to Lagos and complete our remaining nine weeks of the school year!

 

 

A little piece of tranquility in the busy city of Lagos… I found it at Body Temple Spa yesterday.  My students and their parents gave me a gift certificate for Christmas, so I put it to good use yesterday.  What a wonderful way to end Spring Break!

I couldn’t find a driver to borrow, so I got brave and walked out to the main street where cars and drivers hang out.  It’s kind of like a private taxi stand.  I found one to take me to the spa.  I was a little nervous, but we found the place fairly easily, stopping only a couple of times to ask directions.  When we got there, I wasn’t sure we had the right place. The street was deserted, and the front gate of the was all rusted and it looked abandoned.  I made the driver wait for me until I made sure it was the correct address.  It was.  Once inside the spa, a feeling of calm settled over me.  Wow… who knew this existed in Lagos!  And to my delight, it was an Asian Spa!  Turns out that everyone working there is from Bali!

I treated myself (or rather, my students treated me) to a Relaxation Facial, which lived up to its name.  Very relaxing, full hour facial complete with arm massage.  I followed this with a mani & pedi.  Wow.  Love this place!

When the treatments were complete, I called the taxi driver who had dropped me off, and he came back and picked me up.  Very easy, very good.  I’ll definitely be going back!

 

Main Branch:
21C Akin Ogunlewe street, Off Ligali Ayorinde, V-Island, Lagos.
Tel:07068779977 – 08122279999
bodytemplespa@hotmail.com

www.bodytemplespa.com/‎

 

Yes… another year has past, and this year I’m having my birthday weekend at home in Nigeria!  My students surprised me on Friday with a birthday lunch.  I knew they were up to something, as you can tell with kids, but they did a great job keeping it a secret!  I was getting ready to send them to wash their hands for lunch on Friday, when the door opened and a table full of food came in!  They were beside themselves with excitement.  Apparently the kids organized it themselves.  They all told Miss A. what they would bring, and then they did it.  She had them keep the food in the office when they arrived in the morning, and then she put it all together while we were working.  Such a lovely surprise!

Yesterday, my actual birthday, we started out on the soccer field for Laryssa’s last soccer game for the season.  She had fun, and we just beat the rain!  Following the game, we all went to the pool where the awards were given out, and then the kids had a little pool party.  Unfortunately, the rain beat us this time and the party was cut short.

On to the pool for the awards.

She is hoping she wins something!

A birthday breakfast of bagels!  I mentioned the other day that I hadn’t had bagels in a long time, so Chris and Laryssa got up early yesterday and made them for breakfast.  Yum!

We spent most of the afternoon watching movies, as it was a rather rainy afternoon.  At around 4:00 the rain had stopped and we walked over to Cactus, a nice little restaurant by the water.  We had drinks and Laryssa had ice cream.  Outside, Chris got bit by a parrot… he got a little too close to the cage.  No photos, sorry… Laryssa and I were laughing too hard!

Now, we’re ready for the boat to pick us up.  There is a little dock behind the restaurant and we waited there for Tim and Ann to pick us up.  Tim is our director, and he asked us earlier today if we’d like to go out on the boat for cocktails.  Of course we said yes! We had to dash the security guard to unlock the gate for us, but when we returned later he let us in for free.

       

 

And we’re off!

 

Heading out towards the harbor and the ocean.

 

 

Ships in the harbor.

 

 

The Yacht Club, as seen from the water.

         

 

It’s really hard to take photos while the boat bounces on the waves!  I managed to get a few…

 

 

All part of the adventure… we ran out of gas.  At that point, Ann thought we should get out the snacks!

 

Janet is ready to paddle ashore.  Might take a while!

 

 

A boat full of oyibos floating around doesn’t go unnoticed.  We were rescued in no time!  These kind men towed us to a place where we could buy gas.

        

 

Buying gas was actually a great photo op!

Some of the boats we passed as we were towed in.  This guy below has a boat full of bagged ice.

 

    

 

     

   

Tim pouring the gas into the tank.  Seems a weird place for a gas tank.

 

 

As we were waiting for gas… I snapped some photos.

 

                  

 

                           

 

And we’re ready to go again… thank you!

      

 

        

 

We decided not to press our luck, so we turned around and headed back towards home.

 

The sun is setting…

 

Great end to the birthday!

 

Yesterday the PTO held its annual Family Fun Fair at school.  It was an incredibly hot day, but nicer than the alternative (it really looked like rain earlier in the morning!).  Set up for the fair began Friday afternoon, after school.  It was interesting watching it all being put together.  I went out for a walk, and there was a major traffic jam out the back gate, with people waiting to get in to the school, and others upset because they couldn’t get down the street.  I was nearly run over at one point by a driver who had run out of patience…

Yesterday was Environmental Saturday (I’ve also heard it called Sanitation Saturday), so no one could be out on the streets between 7:00-10:00 am.  I could hear poles clanging quite early in the morning… guess they had to arrive early to beat the 7am time out!  Set up was completed on time, and the Fair began at 11:00.  Laryssa and I were down there until 12:30, at which point we came up to cool off a bit and refill our water bottles.  We went back down at 1:15, and were there the rest of the day.  Chris came down around 2:30, and I came back up at 3:00, sunburned and tired out!  Laryssa had a great time with all the rides and games!

The horse’s name was Princess!

(The man in red said he liked my daughter… it came out kind of gruff, and reminded me of “How much for the little girl” in the Blues Brothers’ movie!  A little creepy, but funny.)

The climbing wall was, surprisingly, a bit of a challenge for her.  She’d go up so far, and then come back down.  Then she’d go up part way again, then come back down.  She finally went all the way to the top, but then had to be rescued by the guy, as she was too afraid to come down.  By the end of the day she could do it on her own.

This is Laryssa’s little friend, Ben, climbing up.

The Wipeout game was very popular with the kids… a little scary for parents!

Lots of fun!

Taking some time out to paint a horse.  They took it away to fire and glaze… she’ll get it back next week.  Very exciting!

This is our neighbor, Janet.  She’s a little crazy!  haha

Now that’s a sun hat!  (I could have used the shoulder coverage… I got a little crispy.)

Me having a time out.  Too much sun!

Laryssa riding the bull!

A great day… now time to go home and get ready for the Mardi Gras party!

Yes, it was a Family Fun Day for sure!  The Fair ended at 4:30, and at 7:00 we were hosting the Mardi Gras party (along with Janet, Bob and Becky) by the pool.  It was such a rush to get everything ready, we didn’t take a single photo!  Too bad, as the decorations looked quite good!  Next year…

A friend of mine that I worked with in Turkey once said that we had been given the gift of time.  (We spent a lot of time reading and going to the beach in Turkey!)  I often think of her and her statement now that we’re in Lagos, as once again, we seem to have been given the gift of time.  There is no more rushing here or there (not often, anyway), as there isn’t really anywhere to go!  Also, not having a car kind of limits our movements!

With her gift of time, Laryssa now has her fingers in many pies.  She swims, plays soccer, plays with her friends, rearranges her room, reads, rides her scooter… the list is endless!

Ballet with Chiara 

Playing in the rain with Allison

Making Valentine’s Day cards and decorations

Laryssa and Mommy on Valentine’s Day, ready for school

Ballet in front of the TV

Playing with Chiara

Chris is gardening, making beer, experimenting with cinnamon buns and he regularly bakes all of our bread.

The “Little Bit of Everything” Shelf

• There is beer ‘settling’ on the top shelf
• Some vegetables such as lettuce, cilantro and broccoli prefer cooler weather, so they get to sit inside, near the A/C!

Cinnamon buns! I have no idea why we can’t lose weight…

  Bread sits outside in the heat of the day to rise!

Pita bread

Freshly baked buns, ready for the freezer (it’s the only way we can make them last longer).

Our friend Donny has his gardening (he’s beautifying the outside of our building) and he has his dogs (9 altogether, plus 2 cats!).  Donny was kind enough to part with a bougainvillea plant this morning… the payment will be made in cinnamon buns!

 Some of the dogs, out for a walk.  

Donny and Chris, installing the new bougainvillea!

It’s nice to have some flowers now!

This photo was taken from our window on the 4th floor.  It shows all of Donny’s hard work (or Donny’s Garden Centre, as I like to call it!)

Me… I read a lot, go walking, work on my blog, and lately I’ve been doing some cooking too!  I’ve found a great website called www.skinnytaste.com and I’ve taken to making soups!  Chicken Pot Pie Soup is our favorite, so I’ve been making a big batch each weekend and we freeze it for easy suppers during the week.  I made a double batch yesterday, and today I have Chicken and Black Bean Soup on the stove. I also get out shopping now and then, and have discovered the “Market Under the Bridge”.  It is what it is… a market under the bridge.  There are a lot of fresh fish and prawn stalls, vegetable stands and fruit as well.  I bought 10USD worth of vegetables yesterday that would have cost me more than double in the store!  One of these Sundays we’ll take a walk over there so that Chris can check out the fish.  Yesterday my friend Janet introduced me to a little Indian shop, Emjays, which was full of little goodies.  I told her she should take Chris next time… it would be right up his alley!

This is me, doing my Sunday morning blog.  You can see what I’m thinking when Chris took my picture…

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Cupcakes for Miss A’s birthday

Last Friday after school we went on a little tour to find The Ice Cream Factory.  We got a little lost, but eventually we found it!  It was an interesting walk with a sweet reward at the end.  I didn’t really care for the ice cream, as to me, it tasted like the milk (boxed UHT milk), but Laryssa thought it was good.

The Gate Guard at our back gate

Our quest to find The Ice Cream Factory

        

Laryssa was so happy to finally get there!

Our housekeeper (steward), Rita, brought us some plantains this week.  They taste like bland bananas… I’m wondering if I can turn them into bread…

Yes, exactly what the title says… a quiet weekend!  Thought I’d post a few photos anyway, for those of you who are checking in regularly!

Laryssa and Chris made a batch of beer.

 

Laryssa had a playdate after school on Friday.

 

Chinese lanterns for Chinese New Year.

 

 

Chris made a giant loaf of bread.  He puts it outside in the heat to rise!

 

 

Chris tried his hand at making pita bread.  He’s enjoying watching them puff up.

 

Laryssa had two Skype conversations with friends, one in California and the other in Singapore!

 

And that, my friends, was our exciting weekend!  

Yesterday was Environmental Saturday.  The last Saturday of the month is designated as the day you’re supposed to be working in your yard and no one is allowed on the streets between 7am-10am.  They are pretty strict about this… no cars, no pedestrians.  Apparently a couple of years ago, a couple of teachers were out jogging on Environmental Saturday and got hauled off to the police station!  

After Laryssa’s soccer game, played in the heat of the day (40C) at noon, I took a walk over to Dream Plaza, one of two grocery stores within walking distance.  Thought I’d document the little walk with some photos, so you can see what our neighborhood looks like.

We have two entrances/exits to the school compound.  This is the back gate.

 

 

Our street is under construction.  They’ve been redoing the road for the longest time… it seems as though it might be done soon.  

 

 

 

The sky is quite blue in this photo.  We haven’t seen a lot of blue, as it is Harmattan season.  The winds bring the sands from the desert, which puts a lot of brown, sandy grit in the air.  On the upside, it also blocks the sun, so it isn’t quite as hot.  We had a big storm Friday night, so I think it cleaned the air!

 

 

 

 

 

Out on the main road.  The buildings on the left are Mobile Gas buildings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking in the opposite direction.

 

 

 

 

There are a few businesses along the way.  This one is a bank.

 

 

 

A fruit vendor.

 

 

Evidence of the rain last night.

 

 

I stopped for a pedicure on the way.  🙂

 

 

Notice the fancy cars in the parking lot!  They are so clean, given all the dust and mud around.  Their drivers clean the cars every day!

 

 

And here is Dream Plaza.  It’s only about a 10-15 minute walk from our place.  The bottom floor is a grocery store, second floor is electronics, and I believe there is a coffee shop and a children’s clothing shop in there somewhere!

 

 

January 19, 2014

Our life seems to have slowed down a bit.  There’s no rushing off to do this or that, which I guess can be a good thing.  We get to actually enjoy what we’re doing and we have some free time at last.  In Singapore there always seemed to be somewhere to go and something to do… here… not so much!

The campus at AISL is a beehive of activity on Saturdays.  Yesterday, for example, there were high school students outside playing volleyball and the elementary students were out playing Saturday Soccer.  The students are divided into groups (Pre-K & K, Gr. 1&2, 3&4, 5&6) and they each play for an hour, beginning at 8am.  Once the children are done, there are a group of adults who take over the field for a couple of hours in the afternoon.  Elementary boys meet for Boy Scouts after soccer, and that goes until about 4:00 in the afternoon.  Yesterday one of the children who lives on campus had a pool party for her birthday, so there were an extra 20 or so children running around with that.  Many of the residents tend to leave on Saturdays to get away from it all.  We actually enjoy seeing all of the activity, and of course, Laryssa loves it!

A few photos of the Saturday activities:

 

Volleyball on the top left, Saturday soccer on the right.

 

 

Laryssa’s Soccer Game 

 

 

 

Other things we do to amuse ourselves on the weekend:

Baking

 

 

Gardening

(Chris has basil and cilantro growing here, and he’s started a variety of other vegetables off in these little beer can containers.  They’ll be repotted soon into the larger pots.)

These photos were taken last week.

 

 

These were taken today.  They have really grown this week!

 

 

Yesterday Chris rearranged the pots and attached them to the railing, so now we have a little more room.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The broccoli wasn’t doing too well outside; it flowered too soon.  After a bit of research, Chris learned that broccoli prefers cooler temperatures.  The broccoli’s new home is in front of the AC.

 

And now, off to make the weekend pancakes.  Perhaps a swim afterward!