September 21

I was writing to a friend about Ben and Loren and thought this might be of interest to some others so I thought I would share.

Something one doesn’t normally think of when moving, except if you move countries - you don’t know anything about the politics, religious situation, or something as simple as when are all the days off! You assume a lot are the same but many are not, like the difference between Canada Day and 4th of July, every country has national holidays that differ from our own. I’ve received this great book from Loren’s family called Third Culture Kids which is a fantastic reference regarding children who change cultures, everyone from military kids, missionary kids, refugees, diplomats, etc. and how moving and changing cultures has a fairly consistent impact on people especially children. Loren’s family have all said to me that they felt like it was written for them. Some stuff is generalized but a lot of it quite eye opening – many “ah ha!” moments. I had no idea it was its own culture!

Today was a holiday because yesterday was the muslim festival called Ramadan. Ramadan is kinda like Easter/Lent. They spend the (lunar) month fasting and then have a big party. Sunday, we went to Dembele's (they're muslim) and stayed up late partying. We brought both the boys (Djamal and Rachid who is 4) home with us in order to give Cita a break. She's due in a week or so. I think she has a little bit of time myself as the baby hasn't even really dropped yet. We tried to leave early-ish but the car broke down - problems with the electrical system. Fortunately we weren't too far, so we walked back. This is an ongoing problem, kind of a running joke by now as one day we ran out of gas, another day we were stuck in the mud, now this. Every visit there seems to be something! Anyway we went back and slept over, on a mat on the concrete floor.

When the electrical system went, the car smelled like it was on fire, so we got out quickly. Loren opened the hood, and all looked fine so I said, well at least it's not on fire. He started laughing and said that I'm starting to think like an African - they usually say something bleak like at least we're not dead. I thought it was funny but then they have really strange humour. I really wish I could speak or at least understand Moré better, I only know a few words. They have such weird jokes. Loren nearly stops breathing from laughing so hard. He said something like, I wish I could download my knowledge into your head like in The Matrix. That joke was so complicated and soaked with cultural meaning, I couldn't even begin to explain to you why it was funny.

I had a great time at the party, laughing with old friends - although Dembele and Alain were quite busy as they did all the cooking and serving (poor Cita still got saddled with the cleaning and dishes the following day – I tried to help but she thought I was too slow! They do everything standing up, legs straight, but bent over at the waist - dishes, sweeping with little hand brooms – imagine doing that 9 months pregnant!) - but we laughed and danced and argued and looked at the stars. It takes awhile to beat the uptight, scheduled Westerner out of me, but eventually I relax back into African life.

Ben is settling in okay although he said something kinda bizarre this evening. We were saying prayers and I said something like praying about fitting in and belonging here. He said he didn't want to belong just in case he had to pray for that again when we get back to Canada (I had to laugh). I told him he wouldn’t need to and I said “don't you want to feel like you fit in with your friends here”. He said - I do already. So that made me feel better anyway. I laughed and said, well I guess it's just mommy then, so we prayed that mommy would "get a life". I hate making cultural mistakes - I feel embarrassed all over again when I think about some of the huge mistakes I made when I was here before. Yawning openly at a conference in front of my DG, eating with friends with my left hand so no one would eat with me... it's a long list.

Ben is going to be bored this week as all his friends start school but he doesn't start until the 28th. I'm going to encourage Loren to take Ben to work with him where he can - he offered on Saturday but Ben was having too much fun playing. I told Ben that next time he would go regardless just because it's hard for Loren to get regular time with Ben anyway so it would be best if Ben would go, and the more he goes the more he'll be helpful and be able to learn. Loren is here most evenings for dinner and time to play with Ben before bed but with him working so early sometimes leaving at 5AM and us being a little out of the way, it's sometimes difficult for him to make it here. The longest we didn't see him was 2 days but that only happened once. I can see that Loren is trying to get to know Ben but they are SO different it seems hard. I watch Loren with the other kids, like Djamal or Rachid, or random kids we see and he is patient and talks to them or jokes with them. Like we were at Ben's school and the coordinator had her sons there. She had the older boy running about doing errands, showing us the uniform, going to get change, make photocopies. So when we left, Loren said to the boy (approximately) - bon, Grand Chef (big chief), keep up the good work. The boy was so proud. Loren tries to be like that with Ben somewhat and I encourage him to keep trying but Ben can also be so in his own head that he even kind of ignores Loren so I have to encourage Ben as well to be present in the relationship.

I was reading through an old journal I kept of things about Ben and in it I had a note from when Ben was about 3 saying that Loren was again asking me to come back to Africa with Ben and that I felt annoyed because I was having enough challenges parenting, never mind trying to do that in Africa. I had forgotten that, but remembered when I read it. I remembered what I said to him and how I didn't think I could manage. Part of me wishes I could have believed and gone back then. Ben is a great kid and he would have been pretty different had he been raised here but it would have made integration and his relationship with Loren easier.

I was saying to my mom about how much I can see we coddle children in Canada and don't expect much of them. We praise them for insignificant things and don't allow them to participate in the home as we do too much for them. Here children are very polite and respectful of adults and do every task without complaint. When I say clean up, everyone jumps right to it. When I asked where the store was to get water, and could someone show Ben where it is, 5 kids jumped up and offered, and each of them carried water on the way home, even the smallest child. There is no sense of entitlement, and everyone is invited, always. There are a lot of other tradeoffs that I don't care for, like lack of personal space like when you are in line, how adults will tease children till they cry, the practice of spanking usually still involves some sort of "device" like a switch or ruler, and they are given regularly. Bigger kids pick on smaller kids, and there is a lot of "fun" that involves hurting. Personally I feel that those come from the violence of switching etc. I'm not against spankings, but I am against using something to do it and it needs to be a strong reason. But what do I know, coming from my cushy life.

It's difficult I think for Ben because I feel like I'm a different person here than I am at home, in some ways it's good, like I'm more willing to take time to do stuff with him but my perspective on things is different here and I get angry with him for the way her reacts to some things to which I would have had a smaller response to in Canada. I found it annoying in Canada. Here it is downright maddening. Loren is more patient with him than I am many times when it comes to these things, taking the time to explain, where I may say, because I said so. It usually comes in the places where Ben likes to make up rules or come up with logic or reasons for something. For example, I took out paper for him and his friends to play with and said, if you need more, ask. Ben immediately started making up something about only if we have 2 pieces left or less each. That drives me nuts. I said, “NO I told you, if you need it, ask”. Another example, Loren was going to smoke in the car so he told Ben to open the window, and Ben argued because he didn't feel like it and started to make up some random comment back about not needing to open it. So Loren explained if you open the window, you have more air, if you have more air, you have less smoke to breathe, and that's a good thing. So Ben did it. It's frustrating for me - I feel like he spends so much time trying to think up something smart (as in smart-mouthed) to say, that he doesn't listen.

There is also a bit of jealousy I think for Ben regarding my relationship with Loren. Loren and I have a history and a friendship so we share a lot of jokes and discussion that Ben isn't part of, especially as we get back into the groove of our relationship. He probably doesn't understand why he doesn't have that with Loren and he doesn't understand why I do. He probably even feels a little left out, like I'm not taking his side, or it's some inside joke that we aren't sharing with him, or something like if 2 of his friends wanted to play something else that he didn't want to play or wasn't invited.

On the other hand, I like to spend the time to explain to him when things are different here than they are at home. I'll say things like "here, when any adult calls you over, you must go and even if they grab your arm or something, you just stand there and listen and answer anything they ask you. In Canada however, unless you know the person, you do not go over and you definitely do not get within arm’s reach of them. You must not fool around with people here, you must be respectful and listen, and not talk back, do whatever they ask of you and most of all, you must always address them as tantie or tonton (aunt or uncle)". It sounds quite strict but once they get to know you then they can start to have fun with you too.

(Kanchan here posting photos for Lisa)

Front of our house and the front yard

Sept 16 – ok I tried uploading photos but the system kept crashing so sorry, no photos yet. I even compressed them! The largest photo was 49kB. Whatever.
Ben is now registered for school. I paid the first instalment of $150 and still owe about $150. Not bad for a private school. He has a uniform, for which we bought material to make him a couple shirts and have to buy him some jeans. Poor Ben, the 2 things he hates most to wear, jeans and button down shirts. I’m sure it will be easy to convince him that at the end of each day he needs to change into play clothes. School starts Sept 28th. They go from 7:30 AM til noon, Monday to Friday, and 3 – 5 on MWF afternoons. Kinda weird hours, but sorta matches the work day. They have before and after care too, you can arrive as early as 7AM and have til 6pm to pick up. The school provides books, we provide workbooks, pencils etc. They get a recess in the morning with a snack and they do a bunch of other activities as well such as swimming and martial arts apparently. His courses will be French, English, Math, Science, Geography, History, Art/Music I think, and Social studies. The school is not far away, less than 5 min on motorcycle but I think it’s about 1.5 km away. A bit of a walk in the noon time heat so I’ll have to figure something out for lunchtime pick up.
I can’t recall if I mentioned previously that the school offered me a job as a coordinator of children’s activities. I’m still thinking about that although it is unlikely that it pays very well and I would have absolutely no idea what I’d be doing! My other option was to start doing my Master’s but I don’t relish the idea of doing an entire master’s by correspondence (London School of Economics – Environmental Economic program)
We also now have water, sort of. They came to install the water meter and turn on the water and then ran away as fast as they could. The tap in the kitchen works fine which is fantastic. When I turned on the outside tap to allow water into the bathroom area, the bathroom was showered in water because the pipes connecting the sink were broken (soft pipes) and it sprayed the bathroom. Neither the shower nor the toilet work in the main bathroom and I was so frustrated I didn’t bother checking the en suite. At least we don’t have to live out of containers anymore and can start drinking tap water (the containers held diesel so only used the water for cleaning, taking showers and flushing the toilet). This means we start drinking tap water soon. It’s not the parasites or anything that will cause problems... it’s the chlorine. The available free chlorine in the water here is higher than the amount allowed in swimming pools in Holland.
Sept 17 - Other advances into the modern world, we have hired a girl to do the housework. Caroline is 18, and she will be here from 9AM til 6PM, 6 days per week to clean, cook, run errands, wash clothes and watch Ben if I ever find work. I pay her $75/month which is a good salary. She watched him this afternoon while Loren took me to the bank and groceries. She did her high school in Ghana so speaks English if with a very harsh accent. Ghanaians speak English but it’s hard to understand. Earlier this afternoon, we left Benny to play while we walked to the market (it was far about 45 min!) to get baskets and cloth. I was wearing sunscreen, 30 SPF but I still look like I’m wearing a white t-shirt with a bright red necklace. Matches my Rudolph nose very nicely. Doesn’t do much for the mosquito bites, scratching is not advised.
For those moms freaking out that I left Ben in the house by himself, it’s all good. I left Ben one day for an hour to play with his friends because Loren only had his motorcycle to take me to do errands. I locked the door to the house and he played outside with his friends. I felt bad at first but I knew that Luik’s dad was home if he really needed anything. Then I found out there are several kids here, same age as Ben whose parents leave them most of the day locked out of the house. They work from 7 til noon, come home for lunch and sieste, then go back to work from 3 til 6. THAT I cannot imagine! Like I said earlier, there are a lot of freedoms here that we couldn’t and wouldn’t do at home. Here, I know he is safe, I leave him my phone (he can call his dad), and there are lots of neighbours and people around to help.
Loren brought a special snack over today... caterpillars. It wasn’t very timely because we are having a small problem with them right now, there are a bunch of fuzzy ones wandering about – you need to look in your shoes before you put them on – Ben found a cricket the hard way, in his boot one morning on his way outside to the toilet. I digress. So the caterpillars were in a little clear plastic bag, with the fuzziness burnt off them, and fried in oil and salt. These are very specific caterpillars which are apparently hand picked extra special off the karité trees here – extra high in protein. To quote Ben: that’s just gross. I had to agree but Loren just laughed. Loren drives me crazy with that kind of stuff. The one thing we can agree on here is none of us likes fish other than fresh caught. Loren prefers if he caught it himself. I can’t argue with that.
We have an ant nest somewhere in the house as I spent much of last night trying to brush them out of my bed. They are sugar ants and they bite if you piss them off, for example by lying on them. I keep all our sugar, flour, etc in the Tupperware containers I brought so they shouldn’t even be able to smell it and we sweep and wash the floor every day. So I may have to have the house sprayed.
So a couple more weeks till I can buy a car since I have to wait for money to come from Canada as the bank account isn’t connecting to Canada somehow. Today also I couldn’t exchange my traveller’s cheques because the internet isn’t working.
Sept 18 – went again to the bank downtown but in a rather amusing manner. There is a bank nearer to me than downtown, it’s about 2 km instead of 15km so I decided to walk to see if I can take money out on my Visa card. As I was walking, a man stopped on his motorcycle and asked me where I was going. I said I was going to EcoBank. He said to get on and he would take me there as he was going that way. (how often does that happen in Canada? And how often would you agree if it did?) So I got on and he started driving. We got to the main road and he said he wanted to take the road, instead of the dirt path next to the road but the entrance to the highway was going in the other direction so I thought whatever, he gets on the main road, gets turned around on the next exit but then instead of continuing in the direction I was going, starts heading downtown. I thought maybe he has to cross back this way. Well finally I realize he’s taking me downtown and I’m getting farther and farther from where I was originally going. So he’s talking on about how his son is on a scholarship in Canada with the bank and he himself is a swimming teacher at the Hotel Pacific’s pool and I should take his phone number and call him if I want to go. So I take his number, we shake hands and he leaves.
There was still no internet downtown but I did manage to get money.

Sept 7
We have been in the house a few days. It is a nice house. There is still no water though we now have electricity (but we have long power outs all day which is a bit annoying but that’s the way it goes). Water is because the water company’s computers are all screwed up from the flooding so they cannot bring up the info on how much the owner still owes. Therefore they will not give him a new meter/account. For water, we send our guard to the local water tap and he fills up 4 large containers, this water is only used for washing and cleaning as the containers were used to hold diesel and gasoline, so we buy drinking water. We generally use the outside toilet except at night because we aren’t sure of the “quality” of the sceptic tank, and from the smell of the toilet it’s probably not so good, even when we run a couple buckets of water down it. Tap water is very cheap at a cent a gallon approximately, and drinking water is about a dollar for 1.5 L in a bottle or 10 cents for a half litre in a bag. It’s pretty clean but it gets expensive when we’re each drinking a couple litres per day. I don’t have a fridge yet so have to be careful with how much food I buy and how I store it – good thing I brought all those Tupperware containers. The garbage collection in Ouaga has improved. They have a group/association that comes around every few days – women with carts pulled by donkeys – collecting garbage, costs $5 per month instead of people burning it. Not sure where it goes from there. The things we take for granted in Canada!

(side story – when I lived here in 1998 and worked at the Ministry of Environment, someone came in my office asking “Minotti, what do you do with garbage in Canada?” to which I replied “Landfill?”. He said thanks and left. He came back 2 minutes later and said “what’s a landfill?” so I did a quick sketch of a cross section but didn’t know the word for liner or geotextile so described it as plastic cloth. He grabbed my sketch with a quick thanks and ran off. Makes me wonder if that sketch became the design drawing for African landfills... scary)

The owner said he would paint the house and fix the broken windows but I am not going to hold my breath on that. It’ll probably have to wait until it stops raining anyway so it’ll dry faster. They need to wash the walls first as they are quite dusty. I am still looking for a girl to come do housework, cooking and such. She will also be able to watch Ben now and again, pick him up from school, or at least be someone who is home if I get work or run errands.
I have many things I still need to get for the house. We have no plates or glasses so are currently eating semi- African style, communal pot but using forks, and communal plastic cup.
The house is in a nice neighbourhood although a little loud – but that is typical. We are unfortunately quite close to the mosque, where they like to remind you several times a day exactly how big God is, by loudspeaker, and notably since it is Ramadan, at 3 AM where they tell the muslims to get up and break their fast before going to pray at 4:30am, again at noon and again at 7PM. Makes it easy to always know what time it is.

There are a WHOLE bunch of boys on this street ranging in age from 7 to 12. Ben has already made good friends with a few of them. Some just come to play with his toys but others are genuinely just interested in playing with Ben which is great. One kid in particular, Luike, is 8 years old and has his own DS so they play that together. Ben spent a few hours at Luike’s house one evening and I met Luike’s parents and his 2 older brothers. Super nice family. The other kids, some I had to educate on the African protocol of coming to a person’s house, knocking, greeting the person, asking for Ben, and again, saying good bye when they left. They are more diligent about it when Loren is there of course. However, they don’t have any problem when I ask them questions or to run errands. I have already sent Ben to fetch drinking water with some of the kids. It’s not far, probably took him 20 min to go and return. Something he’d never be allowed to do in Canada. So he is having a lot of fun now, which is great. He can run all over the neighbourhood. I think I will get him a cellphone for just in case but otherwise, he’s good about telling me where he’s going and generally it’s within a block or so. It’s very safe.
Today Loren and I went to go register Ben for school. It’s French system and has English Immersion so Ben would have to do school in French. Supposed to be a decent school with a high rate of success. The level should be approximately the same as Grade 2 in Canada but maybe a little harder. Hopefully he’ll meet even more friends there. Apparently they have uniforms which will be new for him but makes it easy to know what to wear everyday!

Our health is getting better, the diarrhea seems to have stopped for the most part although once we get to drinking tap water we may have it for a bit again.

Sept 10 – it’s been a little stressful. Loren came with a fridge which is great. Last night there was another big rain storm at midnight. It didn’t last long, about an hour, but was so intense that it was frightening. The sky was blood red! I got up to close all the windows as rain started to come in the house but I was so scared I went back to bed quickly. I thought Ben was asleep when I looked in on him but apparently he woke up and was too scared to even come to my room!

I was talking to Luike’s mother on Tuesday and saw Ben fall off his friend’s bike. He seemed to be okay so I went in. He came in crying moments later with his hands full of blood and his chin cut open. I was trying (rather unsuccessfully) not to panic. His chin was split about a centimetre and I felt he might even need stitches. I had nothing with which to clean it and close it as I didn’t bring any medical tape nor antiseptic (I knew I could buy some here but don’t have it yet as I didn’t think I’d need it so soon!) I used drinking water to clean the cut but had only paper towel to use. I used the last units on my phone to call Loren thinking he might take Ben to the hospital. He didn’t think it needed it so just used a regular bandage to cover it up. I’m not convinced it will stay clean that way – it keeps falling off because it’s near his mouth and because he’s so sweaty.

Wednesday, Ben was climbing a tree and the branch broke, he fell from about 6 feet up, flat on his back on tile and hit his head. He was ok but has a bruise on his head. Loren went to the pharmacy for ibuprofen, antiseptic and heat rash powder (Ben has a REALLY bad heat rash all over). Loren joked that for most people these are the bare essentials, for Ben they are his “quotidien” (daily dose). Another friend joked that Ben’s African education was commencing early.

Loren and I will hopefully go get me a car soon so I can get around to buy stuff like medical tape, food (now that it won’t sit and rot on my counter. It’s hard to keep you and your child healthy eating food that is slowly rotting on the counter. I had to throw out a quarter watermelon and 4 eggs the other day.)

On the good side, I managed to charge my computer and Ben’s DS (the power stayed on long enough!). I also hope to get my air card and internet set up soon so I don’t feel so cut off! I think that’s why I’ve been writing so much (that and of course there’s a lot that is new).

Sept 11 – have internet, sort of. Took 2 hours to do a 300MB download and it only did part of it for some reason. Downloads clocking in an astounding 20 Kbps. May not be updating or emailing as often as I thought, don’t have nerves of steel to wait for pages to open. It’s worse than dial up. Looking into ADSL because Skype will not be a possibility on this wireless trash.

Sept 1, 2009 - We are still in the hotel. Part of the city is in a state of emergency. I heard the rain start at about 4AM and by the time we woke up at 8AM our courtyard (out back of our room) was full with 6 inches of water. They had record rainfalls clocked in at 240mm over 8 hours, 266mm by the end of the day. For a country that annually gets under 900mm that is quite a lot, I figure it was the 100 year storm. We were very lucky, there is little effect where we are – we had a tiny leak of water, but the room next to us was flooded. About a quarter of the city was flooded and many people are homeless. I heard only one person died, it was a police officer, but a few are missing still and potentially dead, swept away by the water. A lot of people live in mud brick homes so if it had been overnight a lot of people might have been hurt as houses collapsed all over. There will be no power for awhile and probably no clean water. Markets will be closed as will stores. I think the hotel is well stocked and has a generator so we’ll be okay. I was purifying water and putting it in bottles but I think I will buy for now as the water will be quite dirty. If things don’t clear up soon, there may be cholera. I just hope that it gets hot again for several days to dry things up quickly. We will stay at the hotel until things clear up, well realistically we can do nothing else as we don’t have any mode of transport other than Loren right now and many roads are closed. It’s a good thing we didn’t move or we’d likely be stranded with nothing. One bridge is broken and the main hospital has damage so they are transporting the sick to other hospitals. The government has opened the schools for people who have nowhere to go but they have no insurance or anything so they will have to rebuild on their own dime.

Loren spent the day helping a friend whose house fell down and said he would come by later. He is out with some friends, sitting in the dark, drinking beer. Some places will have generators but not many, certainly not the places where he is drinking J.

I am worried for Dembele. I can’t get through on the phone and I’m sure that their house has fallen down by now. With the last rain, the roads were already inundated and terrible. I think he’d be lucky if nothing happens to them. I worry for Cita and her pregnancy. She could get very sick. With people leaving their homes, there are many thieves as well since people can’t take everything with them.

Sept 2, there was no internet yesterday so I couldn’t send. We got into the house today and it is fine, but needs some cleaning. I am hoping to move out of the hotel today but the house needs cleaning, needs the water and electricity hooked up, and has no furniture. We spoke to a carpenter this morning and he will have beds built by tomorrow, a dining room set for 6 by Monday or Tuesday next week and living room set by the following week. That’s fine, we can deal with that, it’s just the first couple days that will be challenging. The owner is out of town and will meet us this afternoon I hope. Having already spent 4 months rent on this hotel, I am anxious to get out of here but not at the expense of staying in a house with no power/water etc. We’ll see how it goes.

Driving around you can see the aftermath of the storm. A lot of stores have all their stuff out front, drying. Many homes and shops are destroyed and some areas where the water was flowing really fast are dug out and the dirt spread everywhere. But otherwise it appears mostly business as usual. It is sunny and hot so everything is drying up nicely. Loren said there will probably be no mosquitoes for a few days because the storm would have washed out all the stagnant water and their nests. Positive thoughts in a challenging time.

Sept 3
I am currently waiting to hear from Loren that the owner has settled everything. We are hoping to have the house today, but who knows really and even if we get it, it may not have water. It needs cleaning as it is quite dusty, a couple windows are broken, there are no screens on the windows yet and we are having furniture made. Loren has some stuff already, like burners to cook on, but need to purchase a fridge (second hand from France so probably full of Freon), cushions, mattresses and need to get someone to install cupboards. It will take quite some time before we are complete.

Ben’s school doesn’t start until October. He gets 2 weeks vacation for Christmas and Easter and other days off, school ends in June.

So far it has been a real range of temps and weather as it is rainy season. Some days it’s hot and sunny (35oC) and humid; and other days, usually after it rains, it is cooler, like 20oC. Nights are pretty cool but the rooms are hot still. There are no screens so I cannot leave the door open (we are on the ground floor and have a terrace door so someone can get in the room, as can bugs – and there are LOTS of mosquitoes and flies – they hang knitted curtains which are only so effective). Ben has lots of bites as do I but his legs look like minced meat from scratching. We are being careful with him taking anti malarials but haven’t been super smart with the bug dope. There aren’t a lot of bugs in the room, but mostly because they spray the hotel, which doesn’t make me too happy. There is no where to put up the mosquito nets in the rooms. We are getting beds made with posters for hanging the nets.

The food is awesome as usual but then I am not so picky about the appearance. They make a lot of sauces that I really like. Tomatoes and bananas are quite cheap and plentiful as are oranges and grapefruit. People are focussing on cultivating grains right now during the rains and will get to the fruits and veg more in dry season. Mangoes are done unfortunately but now mango juice is readily available. There is a new company – Dafani, that specializes in juices, so for $2.50 you can get a litre of juice that is quite good. Ben is a little picky so has mostly been eating spaghetti, rice and bread. He doesn’t seem to like meat much but did eat some rabbit and has meat sauce on his pasta. Milk is in short supply so I have him taking supplements. People here get their calcium from bones, marrow, cartilage but he won’t eat those either. There is some cheese but it’s expensive. A box of 8 “Laughing Cow” costs about $4 and they don’t exactly have a lot of calcium in them. Ben doesn’t like Emmental which is the most common cheese here. 150 g of parmesan costs about $4.

The restaurant here makes great food but has been quite expensive, usually about $15 for breakfast and $20 – 50 for dinner, depending. Djamal came to stay over with us for a couple nights so the meals were pretty expensive. The hotel is nice with a bathroom in the room (toilet and shower are combined), tiled floors, a nice front lobby with tv and wireless (although slow and intermittent – so I type all my stuff in Word then copy). They have a nice area out back with a bar and cabanas, a huge pool and a kids’ pool. I paid about $500 for the 8 nights I’ve been here – I got a fair discount for being friends with Clark/Loren.

I have a cell phone 011 226 76 56 81 82. 226 is the country code and 011 is to dial international. It’s fairly expensive to make calls but not too bad. Canada is a little more than $1/min and I can call locally for about $1/5 min. I don’t know how much internet is yet but surfing is quite expensive.

Loren is back, we can move into the house now. The water will not be set up as the flood caused damage to the Water authority’s computers so it may take some time to get it. However we can get water in a barrel from nearby.
So will write again when able.
Love Lisa