Holala

yep, I've done it again, ignored the blog for too long.

On the other hand, quite a lot happened and I just did not have the time to keep up. 
I won't bore you with the usual weekend trips to the beach or hills and birthday parties we've done and had since February but I'll get straight on to the big news: 

Indeed, we've become the proud parents of a beautiful girl, Siri Marie. She was born on 10th September after a speedy delivery of 1h10 min! All went well and both mother and baby are doing great. 
I had left Cameroon unexpectedly much earlier as planned because I was diagnosed with kidney stones. Because it would not be possible to treat the kidney stones and look after the unborn baby, it was decided I would return to Belgium asap in case the stones descend. So I spent the rest of my pregnancy worrying about stents and descending kidneystones, only to find out after delivery, after further examinations, there were no kidney stones...  

So now, we've returned to Cameroon after a long stay in Belgium. It was great spending so much time with family and friends. Jara & Lisa loved getting to know their cousins much better.
They also went to school in Belgium. The school, who's working on a experienced based learning approach, was a great change from the French system, which they are used to in Yaoundé. It took Jara a few weeks to get confident enough and take initiative in class as she's used to sit, listen and be told what to do. In the end though, they regretted having to leave this creative environment.

After a few weeks of adjusting, we're back to normal. Jara and Lisa have found their friends (although Lisa's 2 "best" friends have left the country while we were in Belgium) and are settled back in school. Thorsten's is busy again at work and traveling a lot and Siri, after about a week of adjusting to the climate, is growing so fast you can almost see it. I hope to get back to my new hobby, sewing, soon enough, as long as Siri leaves a few more hours between feeds. The unlimited choice and supply of beautiful fabrics really are a big incentive to get creative.
 

Elephants and more

I realised it's been way too long since I posted something on the blog... We're already the end of February 2012 and the last time we wrote something was in November!!
 

So.
 

With the Christmas holidays, we decided to go to the Extreme North of Cameroon, a trip we actually wanted to make last year, but didn't happen.
With a couple of families, we went to Boubandjida, one of the most bio-diverse national parks in Western/Central Africa. Only draw back with such beautiful places... they're a LOOOONG way away.
Thorsten drove up to Ngaoundere (2 days drive) with Andreas and Mauricette, the children, a third couple and I took the overnight train (15 hours).
What an experience. I was a little worried as you never know how it will go. We've heard enough stories of delays (not only hours, but also days stuck in the middle of nowhere), robberies, derailements, but also of the nice and wonderful experience, the quality of the sleepers etc. Plus, Lisa gets very motion (travel) sick. But it was great. The train left on time, we arrived -reasonably- on time, the sleepers were great, clean,... And Jara and Lisa slept like angles all night.
From Ngaoundere, it took us another 2 days of driving to reach Boubandjida (but that can be done in one day, we realised later, as the roads have been improved).
Boubandijda was wonderful. We saw lots of animals, we had a great time and deicided on the spot we're going to go back.

Since we're back though, we've been hearing about horrible things that are happening in the Park. The park is (or rather was) very rich in elephants, but since the beginning of 2012 hundreds of elephants have been killed for the ivory. Here,here and here some more information about it. It has become a national crisis.



After Boubandjida, we continued our trip to Maroua, the capital of the Extreme North of Cameroon. A different country! It is one of my favourite places in Cameroon. The pace of live is more relaxed, people are friendly and hard-working and the city is beautiful. We were lucky to meet up with friends who we hadn't seen in a long time. It was great to spend time with them. Mia, Jara's first 'best friend' in Cameroon moved up to Maroua nearly 2 years ago and they've seen each other maybe 2 times since. It was again love at first sight.