Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas or St Nicolas is big in Belgium and Holland, very big. He's even so huge he came all the way to Cameroon to visit all the children that had been good throughout the year. All who had been good got a present, who wasn't didn't.

So Jara obviously had doubts whether she'd get something - who's never naughty heh?


Also, we'd been coaching Jara all week (several months actually) to give her pacifier/dummy/tut tut to Sinterklaas. So he could give it to another small baby who hasn't got one.
Big was our surprise she actually gave it herself! Very proud of our little big girl now.
Luckily she did get a present afterwards - after giving away her tut tut, she definitely deserved it.

Lisa didn't seem to think too much of Sinterklaas and his helpers - although she didn't want to come too close either :-)



The nights without the dummy have been fine. We've had a lot of ups and a few downs but I think she's made it now. A hell of a milestone has been taken last week!

In the mean time, also our Christmas plans have changed. We were due to travel to the extreme north of Cameroon with some friends, but unforeseen circumstances have made us change this. Jara and Lisa have been asking for their grandparents (and the grandparents for them) so we decided on the spur of the moment to book tickets to Germany. It'll be nice: gluhwine, christmas markets, central heating, snow, hot latte with chocolate,... Don't want to think of the running noses, cold feet and frozen fingers just yet...

Kid's playground in our place

In our last blog we already mentioned that we have felt like being in a roller coaster for the past months. Lots of things have had changed but all definately to the better. We are very glad with the new house and enjoy living in the neighbourhood of our friends. No more daily hassle with all the yellow taxi drivers on daily commutes.

Both Jara and Lisa love to paint! Initially they paint on paper or pots, but at a later stage they usually end up to train for the body paint competition. Well I think they are on a pretty good way to win...

In the meantime we have had also time to enjoy lots of quality time with our kids and friends and have even managed starting our own little playground in our garden. Thorsten has far too many ideas to find excuses to do some woodworks, while Griet needs to entertain the two angles alone. But at least we have now a wonderful slide and climbing tower! Kid's love it! See for yourself in the pics.

After the roller coaster

It's been a while... yet again. And as Julie pointed out as a comment on the last posting, it's time to add some news.

Since June, I feel like we've been on a roller coaster and it's finally slowing down (that's a good thing!).
Jara and Lisa started the summer holidays in Bietigheim, Germany with Oma and Opa Huber. Thorsten had 6 weeks of training at the GTZ head quarters so it was the ideal opportunity for the girls to spend some extra (bonding) time with their grandparents. The grandparents enjoyed it at least as much, if not more, to be in charge of our precious little princesses. I stayed behind in Cameroon as I was working and had a few busy weeks ahead - a military health conference in Yaounde and a GEIS retreat in Kenya.
I had never been to Kenya before so it was a welcome change and distraction. I enjoyed getting to know my colleagues from the US and Cameroon from a different angle - the retreat was very relaxed, laid back and on the beach...



Beginning of August, I joined my family in Belgium and had a very short but intense visit. We also met our new nephew Mats (son of Dries and Grietje) who was born in December. He was baptized while we were there and Jara and Lisa enjoyed playing hide and seek and showing him the tricks of the trade.






Once back in Cameroon, we moved houses and are so much more enjoying living in the centre now. No more roadblocks, no more trying to avoid drunken policemen at night, no more spending hours and hours in traffic jam. We're happy people. We're living in a very nice and quiet neighbourhood, residential street and lots of friends around the corner. And we've got a swing!

Jara started kindergarten on the 1st September and she's loving every minute of it. She was very pleased to see there were scissors in the classroom because this meant she was gonna WORK! Also Lisa is going to the creche 3 days a week.
Jara and Lisa have developed soo much over the last few months. Jara's become a cascade of words in a mixture of 3-4 languages, but she definitely manages to get her message across. Sometimes the way she thinks is just hilarious. Lisa's also speaking lots, mostly copying Jara and every word you say.. time to watch our language! Physically, she's got no fear and loves climbing high structures and balancing on the cords. They also learn to play together much more and it's nice to see how they engage in their role plays - Jara the bossy teacher, Lisa the caring mother of her little bear.

Changes, lots of changes

It's been a while since our last blog update and a lot has happened since.
Thorsten's parents have been to visit and especially the girls enjoyed their company. Due to several reasons and circumstances, we were not able to do the traveling we had planned. But they were very understanding and loved spending time with the girls. Thorsten took them and the girls to Limbe for a few days - which they enjoyed a lot. They made themselves at home in our home and helped out with whatever they could - Thank you!



Most of you know, that I, Griet, have been waiting to hear about a job coming through. Well... It has finally happened!! A few months later than expected but still. By the end of May, I finally heard my contract came through and I could start working for HJFMRI (Henry M. Jackson Foundation Medical Research International), an American not-for-profit organisation that supports medical research in developing countries. Here in Cameroon, I am the program manager for the Avian and Pandemic Influenza Surveillance Program funded by DoD-GEIS (Department of Defence Global Emerging Infections Surveillance Program). We support 2 labs that do the research, one in Buea and one in Yaounde. Together with the Centre Pasteur du Cameroon are they the sole laboratories that conduct research in this field.
I have to say - it does take time getting used to going back to work full time, after a few years break (studying, having children, moving around) but I enjoy the welcome change and challange.

Also Thorsten is changing jobs. As you all know, Broederlijk Delen (BD) is moving out of Cameroon so Thorsten's contract would come to an end in March 2011. And in this sector, the jobs are not always plenty so Thorsten started applying on time with the result that he'll start working for GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) from the 1st July. Although BD is sad to see him leave, it's a great opportunity and we're both happy to be working and living in Cameroon a little while longer. What Thorsten's new job is all about, I'll let him explain :-)

With the new jobs comes also the fact we have to move to the town centre. We have been contemplating moving for a long time, although we will miss our little paradise. But commuting to town has become impossible due to increasing traffic. On top of that, they're closing the roads on a weekly basis these days which sometimes prevents us from leaving our house the whole day. And Jara's starting school in September - which is also in town. But I will look forward living closer to our friends and not having to loose 2 hours a day on school/crèche runs only.

Enough about the parents, Jara and Lisa then. They're both doing great. Jara is still a princess with a strong character. She's very stubborn and knows what she wants (or not want for that matter)(it must run in the family, somewhere). The best way to get her to do something or listen is to make a deal. On the other hand, she's incredibly gentle and sweet with Lisa (who's cutting 4 teeth at the moment), gives her her bear or a bottle of milk when Lisa's crying. They've also become very close and play together a lot. Lisa's usually copying Jara, which sometimes leads to hilarious situations and Jara's usually bossing Lisa around. Lisa's is a very easy gentle child who can play on her own for ages. Where Jara will make a scene when she bangs her head, Lisa will say "Aw, bobo"(french baby language for pain), rub her head and will continue her game. She's tough!

We're moving

That's it! We're moving!

We're sick and tired of the road closures, distance to town, school and friends. Jara and Lisa helped us creating and decorating our new home...
They did also a bit of decorating themselves...

 

 

 

 

Easter in the tropics

Easter this year is easy to describe:
good friends, lots of sun, pool, too much chocolate, beer and coffee, jeu de boules,

 

Saturday we went decorating eggs and needless to say Jara did not want to rinse her hands in the pouring rain. Interstingly enough, she did not mind getting paint all over herself.

The easter-egg-hunt was a big hit - even with Miko (our dog) who found some more chocolate the day after...

no comment...

business as usual

We went to Kribi (sea side) a few weeks ago but forgot our camera... Ah well, at least it could not fall in the water.
This time it was a great success (so no time to take pictures anyway). Jara and Lisa enjoyed the sea, were not so afraid of the waves anymore - I even had to run out to Jara one time as she was running in to the sea and would have been caught badly by the waves if I hadn't caught her just in time. Lisa, our little tomboy, enjoyed being splashed and didn't mind the waves at all (which resulted in a painful ear-condition for 10 days after wards...).
Every morning, next to our hotel, fishermen went out in the sea to bring back the catch of the day. Jara and Lisa enjoyed the attention they got ("oh, ce sont des jumelles?" "mais qu'elles sont mignonnes", etc) and Thorsten and I were curious as to what they caught. Disappointing actually. Thanks to (or better despite of) big international fishing companies, there's nothing left to catch for the local fishermen. We saw several nets being pulled in and each time there was nothing worth selling. A few tiny fish (I mean tiny - 5-10 cm long), a few jelly fish and a crab or two was about the average.

At home, things are business as usual. Thorsten's in Belgium for the annual reflection days of Broederlijk Delen - the last for him as BD is closing down in Cameroon by next year. Jara enjoys her "toute petite section" (kindergarten) and Lisa joins her 2 days a week in the creche. They are growing up remarkably fast and engage in role play's together (where it is usually Jara who instructs Lisa and Lisa who, more often than not, refuses to become Jara's servant).

 

 

 

 

The rainy season has started and when I was on my way to the creche this morning, the river Mfoundi had overflown (is this correct English?). The water was knee deep at certain places and I could only be grateful not to have to be in a taxi...

A belated Happy New Year!

We're not yet February, so I suppose I'm not yet too late to wish every one a happy, great, full of challenges, wishes-come-true and colourful New Year.
We started the year well and are looking forward to an interesting and eventfull 2010.

So what happened?
In December, Griet's parents came from Uganda to celebrate Xmas and New Year with us. We started the holiday with a party at home, full of friends and nice weather:



After everyone recovered, we set of to Kumbo, with a few days stop-over in Foumban.
In Foumban, we visited the Sultan's palace (the Sultan still lives there today with his numerous wives), enjoyed the scenery and the kids had a blast on the playground. It was especially nice being with the family and even though Jara and Lisa don't see/hear the grandparents all that much, they take to them within a few hours every time.



Christmas and Christmas eve, we spent in Kumbo. Due to unforeseen circumstances we spent the days in a pastoral centre, which has the charm of an old and rundown boarding school without water (and if, only icecold)... But the scenery was beautiful. The weather was crisp and clear in the mornings, nice and warm in the afternoons.



Then came the phone call we were all dreading – things were not going well at all with Griet’s grandmother and Frans en Lut had to rush to Belgium. Luckily, they managed to get on a flight the same day and were able to see Moeke, spend some time with her and say goodbye. Moeke passed away a few minutes after the fireworks on New Year’s Eve – May you have found your peace now Moeke, we will miss you.

Since we had plans to meet friends for New Year in Buea and Limbe, we decided to go anyway. Although the day was overshadowed by the news from Moeke, it was great spending the time with good friends.