I confess .... I covet my neighbor's bougainvillea

Yes, it's true ... I covet my neighbor's bougainvillea - not necessarily the next-door neighbor, but neighbor in a more general sense.

You can't walk in our neighborhood without  noticing them... bougainvilleas spilling over gates and through fences, falling all over themselves, like some sort of floral lava flow.

There is no better way to dress up a chicken wire fence than to let bougainvillea take it over.

Even outside the bleakest looking walls, wild and unkempt, they spill across the sidewalk in a blaze of colors.

They even adorn the piles of trash. 

 And not just the standard purple ... blazing fuschia, almost red, salmon, burnt orange, deep gold, sunny yellow, light pink, white....

 This is our little garden, where our little bougainvilleas bravely reach up. When you get them home from the nursery and plant them, they promptly wilt, the flowers fall off, and they look dead for several weeks ... but then they start coming back. It doesn't look like much yet, but I hope in a year's time to have the same gorgeous billows of bougainvillea piling over our walls.

But in the meantime, I covet my neighbor's bougainvillea.

Eating out with babies

Dakar has plenty of restaurants - and since most folks here don't eat out until late, going early to accommodate little one's bedtime means we get the place to ourselves.

This is little beach restaurant on the 

west side of the peninsula is one of 

my favorites - setting sun, water, 

good food. Does life get any better? 

 Yes - with our friends Jonathan and Kari. Their little guy is 2 weeks older than ours!
These boys are going to be trouble!

Avocado ice cream

Yes, you heard me right. Avocado ice cream. Home made exotic ice cream flavors are my new hobby, and I'm starting with avocado based combinations. They have such a mild, almost sweet flavor, lovely creaminess, and a high enough fat content to participate well in ice cream. Unfortunately, Ed dislikes avocado, and it takes me a week to finish a batch, so unless I find a kindred spirit who wants to help me eat my experiments, it will take a long time to perfect my recipes. Avocados are in season right now, and they tend to sell the "pour au jourd'hui" (to eat today) or "pour demain" (to eat tomorrow), so if you buy a kilo (2.2 lbs), you'd better want to eat avocado!

I use a stick blender from Cuisinart (on a transformer) to blend the avocado to cream, and then strain it to make sure no fibers get in. 

My first attempt was avocado-coconut lime. 2 avocados, 1/2 can coconut milk, juice of one lime, one can of sweetened condensed milk. Treat the avocados as above, mix together, and freeze! I was quite impressed for a first attempt. The secret to good ice cream, unfortunately, is fat content, and there was enough fat in the coconut milk so that it didn't freeze solid. My only complaint was I felt the coconut and lime flavors were too subtle. Next time - a whole can of coconut milk and 2 limes. 

The picture is my most recent experiment - avocado-grapefruit-lime (only bought one grapefruit, so there was no grapefruit left to put in the picture). Again 2 avocados, juice of one large pink grapefruit, juice of one lime, 1 and 1/2 cups of Splenda (trying to go easy on sugar), and one cup of cream, gently whipped. This froze a little harder (all the grapefruit juice) to something between ice cream and a granita. It does have a lovely light zingy taste, but the aftertaste is a little too heavy on the grapefruit. Fixes I can think of - go back to using sweetened condensed milk instead of cream and Splenda (less diabetic friendly) or using less grapefruit juice. For the consistency, I might add some gelatin to the grapefruit juice (my mom's trick). It will also help when our ice cream maker gets here!

Any other brilliant avocado combinations? 

Bird watching on our street

Growing up in Cameroon, I became an avid birdwatcher, something I more or less dropped in the US, because how exciting is it to get up early on Saturday morning and see the same old cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds, robins, and starlings (yes, I know, there are other birds, too - but bear with me). I made sure I had the Field Guide to Bird of West Africa in the luggage that came with us on the plane, rather than having to wait for a shipment, and it has been well worth it. Here are just the birds that we've been able to get good pictures of on our street, mostly from our house - this doesn't count those that we see all the time on our street but haven't taken pictures of yet (common garden bulbul, warbling silverbill, bronze mannikin, village weaver, hooded vulture, sunbirds, rock pigeon, house sparrow), or the ones we've seen around town and gotten pictures of (white-breasted cormorant, black kite, pink-backed pelican), or the gray woodpecker I saw a few streets away when I didn't have a camera on me.

Senegal ring-necked parakeet

 Long-tailed glossy starling

 Spur winged plover

 Red-beaked hornbill

Senegal fire finch 

 Senegal parrot 

 Gray plantain eater

Looking forward to getting out of town and to a bird sanctuary at the mouth of the Senegal River with my cousins Jay and Jennie next month!

President's Day trip to the island of Goree

Since we had today off, we asked our social sponsors (Brian and Jenny) if they wanted to join us on a trip to Goree, since they hadn't been there (Brian is below). Eli came along too - since she might have been bored at home otherwise! Here we are on the ferry still in port - it was a beautiful day - blue sky, good breeze, low 70s - but then a lot of days are like that this time of year. The ferry to Goree leaves most hours on the hour from the port.

 JB rocking the sun hat - and still not sure what he thinks of it. Also, this is the mood that results when little boys don't want to take their naps. But isn't the double chin adorable?

Goree is a very small island - about half a mile long, and a short ferry ride from Dakar. When I was here in 7th grade, we used to come here sometimes on Sunday afternoon. Then it was fairly calm, sparsely populated, a little desolate - and the fort at the higher end of the island was an excellent place to play hide and seek. Now it's kind of a tourist trap - the walk to the fort at the top lined with paintings for sale and other stuff for tourists to buy and dozens of men wanting to be your guide. Goree has made a name for itself as the last stop for hundreds of thousands in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and the Maison des Esclaves (Slave House), where slaves were supposedly held, has become a major tourist attraction (both Bush and Clinton visited and had their pictures taken there), with guides eager to regale you with details for a buck. In fact, the building wasn't built until after the trans-Atlantic slave trade was close to over, and historians agree that the number may have been closer to 200-300 per year in peak years. However, it has become somewhat of a memorial (helpful sites: http://www.moxon.net/senegal/ile_de_goree.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Slaves_(Gor%C3%A9e) ). There are huge cannons on the remains of  fort at the highest point on the island. Though all the local guides will tell you it was where The Guns of Navarone was filmed, the movie was actually filmed in Rhodes. The only substantiated fact I could find was that the cannons had been used during WWII and sunk a British boat.
However, Goree does have a fascinating history, has changed hands multiple times, and has a certain run down beauty - and has French colonial architecture reminiscent of New Orleans. I love it for a day trip, even a half day trip - a nice ferry ride, a good lunch, wandering around the island, and if it's warm, a swim.

 JB and I near the top of the hill, looking down toward the harbor - it was super windy!

 Ed managed to climb up on one of the cannons. It could supposedly shoot 14 km (~ 8 miles)!

 We had lunch in a restaurant toward the top of the hill, with an amazing view. But I always take pictures of my food. Here's lookin' at you, fishy! (They do grilled fish really well here.)

 From the ferry, across the harbor - I always think this row of houses is incredibly picturesque. There is a nice restaurant in the yellow one at the left. We got a text from the RSO (Regional Security Office) that there was a demonstration planned downtown at 3pm, so cut our excursion short and took the 2pm ferry back - and made it safely back home before 3. :)

A good end to a fun day - a bath and getting wrapped in my lion towel. I am JB, hear me roar!

Our house - a few pictures

As mentioned, we've been granted quite the house, which we are slowly starting to get comfortable in! I love all the natural light and the high ceilings. I can't wait to get our art to cover all the white walls!

Our living room is pretty long - greatly improved by being divided into 2 separate living spaces. Note the USG standard issue couches, coffee tables, and hutch. You will see the same furniture anywhere in Africa (and probably the world) in houses managed by the US Embassy.  At least you feel at home and there is no question about the decor. :)

 Kitchen - spacious, with a gas stove - but only a couple drawers, and the the bottom of the wall cabinets is even with the top of my head. :) Like our outdoor table and chairs? I'm designing an island, so those can eventually go outdoors.

Our dining room table - we call it the Viking table - perfect for lots of guests! Note the flowers Ed gave me for Valentine's Day (and the Nalgene bottle!).

 Our entry way - complete with spiral staircase - note the baby gates that were already installed. It has a very convenient space underneath for storage of all sorts of stuff.

We are trying to work on our poor yard - we have all the old ratty plants weeded out or pruned, and now we're slowly getting new stuff planted. We're hoping for a huge multi-colored bougainvillea hedge along our wall in the not-too-distant future!

Our front porch and side yard - sort of barren for now, but has potential. And I love the huge mango tree overhanging most of the side yard!

Now in Senegal

My last blog post was forever ago (well, OK, almost exactly 2 years) and I have intermittently had dreams of filling this blog in with all the travels in the meantime - Tanzania several times, Senegal several times, Thailand several times, Cambodia twice, Vietnam, South Africa, Malawi..... but if I wait until I have time to fill it all in, I will never blog again.
So here I am, at (almost) the beginning of 2012, with a new baby - well, sort of new - Jeremiah Benjamin (JB) will be 6 months old tomorrow, and a new job - resident advisor for CDC to the President's Malaria Initiative in Senegal. So I'm starting  my family the way I was raised - in a French-speaking west African country, and I'm overjoyed to be here!
So where are we? Dakar, Senegal (Link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=206569088713768905760.0004b91a014f6861d8854&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=18&vpsrc=6>), in a neighborhood called Fenetre Mermoz. How did we get here? Plane, car, ... I accepted a job (ok, honestly, I asked for it and some nice people said yes) as I mentioned before, as the CDC Resident Advisor for PMI Senegal. I had been traveling to Senegal several times per year to support the program, came to love Senegal and my co-workers there, and saw the interesting things happening here, and it seemed like a good fit on a number of levels.
While Ed and I had been talking about working internationally since before we got married, it was admittedly a little bit more of a stretch for Ed when it came to doing it - and not going to some English speaking place with great safari opportunities (like Tanzania) like we had talked about, but to a French-speaking ... desert. OK, well there are a fair number of trees and plants, but there is an awful lot of sand! In addition, the chances of both having a job in the same place are somewhat slim. Having JB in the picture suddenly made it make a bit more sense - we could afford one career, a nanny ... and end up with more of a family-friendly life style than we had in the US. I'm grateful for a husband willing to ditch a job he loved and step out into the great unknown, with no firm plans as to what he would do. As we'll see in coming weeks, he's not bored. :)
We've been here for 6 weeks now, and feels simultaneously much shorter and much longer. We  might finally be settled by about a year! Everything seems to take a little longer - partly being in west Africa where things are a little harder to come by, but having a baby around, not having a vehicle, not knowing our way around town. But we'll get there!
We have been so blessed to be a 5 minute walk from an English speaking church where we already have a number of good friends, a 3 minute walk from a couple we had made friends with last time I was in Senegal (and when Ed came for the "yay or nay" visit) who have a baby boy just 2 weeks older than JB, and just around the corner from fruit sellers, a bakery, a gelato place, and a little grocery store. It's also a 3 minute walk to the road that hugs the cliff along the coast, and on cool mornings, it's a beautiful run.
I'm hoping to post short posts regularly - to avoid building up into a monumental task!

My grandmother's funeral and memorial service

We buried my grandmother and celebrated her life and legacy on January 3, 2010, 2 days after her wedding anniversary. Here are all her boys lined up on the front row before the graveside service. It was cold!

The casket, pink carnations in her honor (the first flowers my grandfather gave her were pink carnations, and she always loved them!), and her picture.

One uncle had prepared a collage of pictures as a remembrance

And my cousin who scrapbooks made a beautiful display with the pictures she had

My grandparents - what beautiful people!

a picture my sister Christy colored for Grandma, that she had on her bulletin board - she always had pictures of and by all of us on her ever expanding bulletin boards! With a team effort, we put together a beautiful display of pictures and memories.

A few dear old friends from Cameroon, who knew my grandparents from WAY back when

I have such great childhood memories of this man, Richard Grout - both from Cameroon and from him letting me drive his boat on Puget Sound

and we had a very nice family dinner in Seattle to gather and be together one more time - I am so grateful for my incredible family!

Catching up - Christmas 2009

We spent Christmas this year in Seattle, which was poignant and wonderful in so many ways. My parents are home from Cameroon and spent December and January in Seattle, Ed's parents also joined us for Christmas and celebrated their 40th anniversary and Ed's dad's birthday with us, we had absolutely spectacular weather, and my dear grandmother, one of the kindest and most patient women ever to walk the planet, who had been doing increasingly poorly over the last couple years, ended her journey on this earth. It was quite a Christmas!

Ed and I stayed with my cousin Jennie and her husband Jay. Jay has been learning to sail, and took us out for a spin on Lake Union.

It was a breath-takingly beautiful evening!

Ed looks cold, but is having a blast!

Ed and I with his brother and parents at the top of one of Seattle's historic buildings, on one of the spectacular blue sky days we had. We had a great time showing them around Seattle, and the weather cooperated beautifully!

We usually have Christmas morning at Uncle Ted and Aunt Cathy's, and have a few small gifts to open. Here my dad, sister Laura, and her husband Greg are enjoying a calendar made by my cousin Jennie. I usually have Christmas with Ted and Cathy and their immediate  family. It was great for my parents, Ed's family, and Laura and Greg to join us!

 We have afternoon family Christmas all together. We had decided some time ago to have Christmas in the activity room of my grandmother's nursing home, hoping she could join us for the festivities. She was no longer able to sit  up, communicate, or respond much by that point, but we took turns taking a few minutes away in small groups to sit with her, sing Christmas carols, talk to her, and hug her. I can't imagine a more fitting way for it to be!

One Thwing family tradition is Jesus' birthday cake - which I made this year. My Aunt Cathy always narrates, though - we light one candle for every family member and guest present.

 

 And we have our family white elephant, which alwas generates loads of merriment and good-spirited gift stealing - here Ed's mom opens a promising-looking bag...

 

I won't bore you with loads of family pics - just a few choice ones..

Here are my dad (far left) and his 5 brothers. He's number two. 

 And me and Ed  - awww...

 My parents, Ed's parents, Ed and I, Greg and Laura, and Warren.

 The extended Thwing family - 34 of us present this year, though a few couldn't make it. We are turning into quite a crowd!

The day after Christmas, the Thwing cousins went up to Mt. Rainier for a play in the snow day, and again, it was spectacular! Ed's family came with us  - Floridians in the snow! I think the mountain made a very good showing for them!

Cousins playing in the snow and taking pictures - and shots. :) 

 Ed has no patience for this and starts up the mountain - the summit doesn't look that far!

 And takes the fast way back down!

 Can I tell you how much I love this picture! I don't think I have ever seen Rainier look so gorgeous!

 On our way back down, we saw two foxes - one red

 and one black - very cool! 

A look back at the mountain in the late afternoon sun... almost Alpenglow 

 Dinner at Uncle Bill and Aunt Lola's in Puyallup on the way  back

 On the evening of December 28, my grandmother went to her heavenly home. That night, we had planned to celebrate Ed's dad's birthday, and had a surprise celebration for their 40th anniversary, which had been a few days before Christmas. It ended up being completely appropriate. :) We had reserved a private room at one of Seattle's very nice steakhouses and had a fabulous dinner, and celebrated life and love and family!

 Ed ordered some crystal wine glasses engraved for them, but they didn't get there in time, so we got a pair of wine glasses at Crate and Barrel and had everyone sign them with a sharpie - Ed's mom and dad examining their "gift". :)

The end of 2009 was very quiet - Ed and I extended our tickets to stay in Seattle a few extra days, and laid low. 2010 is going to be an action-packed year, so that's OK!