Well... where do I start? I have missed a lot of big events in the past few months. Four months which have flown by. I will start from the beginning and, in a few blogs, hopefully catch up to where we are today.
On November 7th we were waiting impatiently for our new nephew, Baby Nash to be born... finally we got work the next morning. Sometimes this big time difference is just no fun!! Also on the 7th my Mom and Dad arrived for their holiday in Tunisia. We were so excited to have our first visitors. Right away Mom and Dad fit in here and Dad met his first friend about 2 hours into their visit. Unfortunately, they didn't get together for a coffee or visit again. It only took a few trips out into the city with my parents before they were off on their own, exploring the city and driving north to visit towns outside of Tunis and taking trains south to tour Kerkennah Island. They also took 12 or so days to tour Rome (Dad was finally able to see the Colliseum, as it was closed 40 years ago when they visited) and to bus down the Amalfi Coast. It was a trip Mom had really been wanting to take and they had a wonderful time and took many beautiful photos.
We were able to take advantage of having the Grandparent babysitters here and take a couple kid-free trips. At the end of November, Travis and I, along with 2 Canadian friends, Jenn and Chris, flew to Barcelona for 4 days. We had a great time touring the historical sights. Especially awe-inspiring was the Goudi architecture. We spent parts of 2 days on a bus tour and the rest of the time we walked around the Ramblas area, down little alleys and the main streets, watching street performers, looking in shops, having coffee and tapas and sangria!! I especially enjoyed finding sausage to bring home. It was a great few days to spend with friends and experiencing a new city. It was especially nice for Travis to get away from work and actually relax a little.
Two days after we got home from Barcelona, my friend Anika and I jetted off on a quick trip to visit the Nuremburg Christmas Market. What a great place for a girls' getaway! We arrived in the afternoon and after settling in to our hotel, found our way to the Market inside the walls of the old city. We were a little shocked at how chilly it was, although we were told it only got to about -3C. The night we were caught in the snowstorm I'm SURE it was colder than that! The Market was wonderful. Right away we got ourselves a mug of Gluhwein and some potato pancake things. Then we toured the Market stalls and drank more Gluhwein to keep warm. We did wander into a few of the permanent shops around the town square where the Market was located but mostly to keep warm. We were there for the Market and didn't really concern ourselves with the history of the city (much to the dismay of my dad I think LOL). For the next day and a half we wandered the stalls of the Market, found STARBUCKS and ate real German food! Delicious! It was a great time and I would love to take the girls and Travis back to experience the Markets sometime.
We were only back in our regular routine for about a week before Hunter was on holidays!! Three weeks without making snacks, or getting up at 630am... at least with an alarm. We spent the week before Christmas relaxing and getting ready for Christmas. And one trip down to Centre-ville to visit the souk. On Christmas Eve, Dad and I spent most of the morning, and and some of the afternoon, at the travel agent trying to organize our trip to the desert. We finally got it booked and my car had been towed!! Happy Christmas Eve!! We had Travis' families traditional dinner of Swedish meatballs and spareribs in the company of friends. On Christmas Day, we had a fun morning opening gifts and watching the girls enjoy their fish eggs from Grandpa Warren. ;) In the afternoon we went to Jenn and Chris' for the turkey dinner, again to enjoy with many friends! It is wonderful to have such wonderful friends, who have become like family, to spent the special "family" holidays with!
We left the holiday gathering early to get ready for our big trip to the Sahara... leaving early on Boxing Day morning.....
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Waiting for Christmas...
This year has been hard for me to get into the spirit of the Season. Partially because, once again, Christmas has snuck up on me. How does that happen every year?? Some of this lack of spirit has to do with the country we are living in this year. Tunisia is approximately 98% Muslim and have many other holidays to celebrate and don't usually go nuts with the lights and tinsel for Christmas like we do. I have spent many Christmas' without snow and can completely feel "in The Spirit" in warm weather. However, without the lights on the houses and music in the malls it is just feeling like any other time of year. We decided not to bring any of our Christmas decorations from home (except our Stockings, of course!) and did find a couple trees and some lights for the house. So our upstairs living room looks festive. And you can see our little tree and lights from the street. I'm hoping it perks up some folks walking by our house (and doesn't offend anyone).
Tonight while putting Hunter to bed, I asked her what the most exciting this about Christmas is. She said opening presents and seeing Santa. "Maybe I'm going to wake up and see his reindeer!" Oh, how I forget sometimes how fun it is believing in Santa Claus and his elves and Mrs. Santa and the reindeer. We talked about his magic sleigh that can slide on snow at home in Canada or on sand in the desert. And luckily we have a flat roof that he can land on safely so he won't slide off! ;)
Yes, Hunter is VERY excited about getting presents. However, she has been just as excited about finding things to wrap for everyone else in the family as she is about inventorying who has the most gifts under the tree. We all have little wrapped gifts under the tree filled with stuff Hunter found in the house and thought we would like... again. It is such a sweet and selfless act and is the true meaning of Christmas all the way. She is thinking of giving and isn't worried about how big or expensive the gift is or what she will get in return. She only wants to give something the recipient will enjoy.
She was so intent on finding the right gift for Elliot. Yesterday as we walked toward the Souk in the Medina she whispered that she wanted to find a purple baby shirt for Elliot for Christmas. We looked and couldn't find one. Today, while we were in the Carrefour mall, she and I shopped alone to find gifts and she took me in to a toy store (usually one I avoid because of the overpriced, cheaply made toys) to find something for her little sister. As much as I really would rather not have another crappy toy with a million pieces in our house, I just couldn't stop Hunter as I saw how much love and caring and thought for Elli she put into finding just the right gift. She pulled toys out from the shelf thinking this was just the right one, and then put it back realizing that it might not be what Elliot wanted. Finally she decided on a set of hospital tools for dolls. The big decision then was the get the one in the blue or pink cardboard box (all the actual toys were exactly the same). She chose the blue because that is the one she figured Elliot would like the best (although Hunter would have preferred the pink box). She was so proud and looked so grown up paying for her lovingly chosen item. She will be beaming when Elliot unwraps her gift on Christmas morning. My heart is full. <3
Elliot on the other hand just wants to tell Hunter all about the gift she is giving every time Hunter walks in the room. She does understand it is supposed to be a secret but she is just too excited to surprise her big sister! It will be a fun Christmas!!! I just hope my girls sleep in more than I did. I think I was still waking up at 5am well into my teens.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!!
Tonight while putting Hunter to bed, I asked her what the most exciting this about Christmas is. She said opening presents and seeing Santa. "Maybe I'm going to wake up and see his reindeer!" Oh, how I forget sometimes how fun it is believing in Santa Claus and his elves and Mrs. Santa and the reindeer. We talked about his magic sleigh that can slide on snow at home in Canada or on sand in the desert. And luckily we have a flat roof that he can land on safely so he won't slide off! ;)
Yes, Hunter is VERY excited about getting presents. However, she has been just as excited about finding things to wrap for everyone else in the family as she is about inventorying who has the most gifts under the tree. We all have little wrapped gifts under the tree filled with stuff Hunter found in the house and thought we would like... again. It is such a sweet and selfless act and is the true meaning of Christmas all the way. She is thinking of giving and isn't worried about how big or expensive the gift is or what she will get in return. She only wants to give something the recipient will enjoy.
She was so intent on finding the right gift for Elliot. Yesterday as we walked toward the Souk in the Medina she whispered that she wanted to find a purple baby shirt for Elliot for Christmas. We looked and couldn't find one. Today, while we were in the Carrefour mall, she and I shopped alone to find gifts and she took me in to a toy store (usually one I avoid because of the overpriced, cheaply made toys) to find something for her little sister. As much as I really would rather not have another crappy toy with a million pieces in our house, I just couldn't stop Hunter as I saw how much love and caring and thought for Elli she put into finding just the right gift. She pulled toys out from the shelf thinking this was just the right one, and then put it back realizing that it might not be what Elliot wanted. Finally she decided on a set of hospital tools for dolls. The big decision then was the get the one in the blue or pink cardboard box (all the actual toys were exactly the same). She chose the blue because that is the one she figured Elliot would like the best (although Hunter would have preferred the pink box). She was so proud and looked so grown up paying for her lovingly chosen item. She will be beaming when Elliot unwraps her gift on Christmas morning. My heart is full. <3
Elliot on the other hand just wants to tell Hunter all about the gift she is giving every time Hunter walks in the room. She does understand it is supposed to be a secret but she is just too excited to surprise her big sister! It will be a fun Christmas!!! I just hope my girls sleep in more than I did. I think I was still waking up at 5am well into my teens.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Hammam with Mom!
Sorry, folks. No photos from this adventure! Actually, you probably won't be sorry.
Today was the day. I finally took my mom to the hammam. I booked us an appointment at the same place where I had my first hammam thinking it was easy and the woman there was helpful and led me through it all. It worked a little differently today.
So, we got "ready" and went into the hammam. There really isn't much to it since, well, you don't wear much. Anyway, in we went in and hung out in the chilly hammam while the steam started to warm things up. We waited quite a while and just as we couldn't see anything in the steamy hammam, "la femme" came in to get us ready. No, we did not do all of this fun stuff on our own. We had someone else to do the dirty work. Fortunately, Mom has heard many of my stories from the Hammam so was ready for what she was getting into. I let her go first. And as I had prewarned her to PLEASE not groan or shriek, she was well behaved. It was funny looking over and seeing her lying facedown in the superman position getting the skin scrubbed of her. And also while she was being stretched and twisted, presumably to help her relax now that her muscles were warmed up. But really, I find it hard to completely relax when you don't know where that steel wool glove is going next.
After we had our "gommage" or peeling we had a clay mud or "algae" rubbed and left on us. It was minty so felt cool on the skin for a while and I actually felt chilly inside the finally hot steam room. As the hammam woman (I'm really not sure of her official title. How do you properly "name" the woman who scrubs the skin off your hoo hoos?) led us back and told us to shower off I felt a terrible stinging in my eye. For some reason I tried to ignore it so as not to draw attention to myself (silly if you have understood exactly what I look like at this point) but once it started feeling like a needle in my eye I tried to get it out, only to find I had had an ant biting my tear duct!!! What the hell kind of a pampered ant hangs out in a hammam waiting to bite eyes??? So once I got past that excitement, we showered off and relaxed for a bit before our massages. Luckily we were clothed this time... for a while.
I haven't mentioned that we left the girls home alone with my dad, who, on our way out the door said, "So you won't be more than 2 hours." Notice it wasn't a question. So we get out of the hammam and see that we have been in there for more than an hour. Only about 40 minutes until Dad expects us home and we haven't had our massages. As I said, we relaxed for a few minutes, trying to figure out if we had to go find the massage room or if someone would find us. Luckily someone found us and guided me first to the massage. Which turns out was a massage table set up in the hair salon. Strange since I had been there before and had actually been in a massage room. What if I had also wanted to get my hair done? How would they have gotten around that? So at first I was actually concerned that the hair dresser was just filling in for the masseuse but, if she was, she was pretty good. I'm not sure a hair dresser would have the hands 2 hour-long massages. Just another of the unexpected things today. I didn't specify (in my barely-French booking of the appointments) how long we wanted our massages, I just thought we would get half an hour. But after my leg massage took 15 minutes I figured I had been mistaken. So poor Mom hung out (and dozed I think) for an hour while I was in my massage. I couldn't really relax knowing Dad was home alone with the girls and wasn't expecting us to be gone for 4 hours. But, the massage was lovely! I rushed out of the massage as Mom went in, showered and drove home without Mom. It turns out that Dad and the girls were doing fine. Next time we know we can leave them for longer!! ;) Mom enjoyed her massage, I think. Her next adventure was riding the taxi home alone. Which is always an adventure. So interesting trusting someone you can't communicate with to take you somewhere neither of you really knows how to get to. But she made it home safe and sound.
So whether she goes again or not, at least Mom has experienced a real Tunisian hammam! I think she will be the last of my guests I escort into the hammam. The rest of you are on your own! ;) I thought I could do it like the Tunisian woman do, but, as it turns out, hanging out naked with women you know (even your Mom) is just a little awkward. Christopher had a teammate in Germany who met his girlfriend's parents for the 1st time at a Turkish Bath or Hammam. And they don't wear ANYTHING! Wow!
So, next adventure... taking Mom to the Centre-Ville Souk. Dad has been there so it will be fun to go with Mom, Dad and the girls. Let's see what we will find!
(Just kidding Mom. It was fun showing you my new found pampering place! <3 Thanks for being a good sport!)
Today was the day. I finally took my mom to the hammam. I booked us an appointment at the same place where I had my first hammam thinking it was easy and the woman there was helpful and led me through it all. It worked a little differently today.
So, we got "ready" and went into the hammam. There really isn't much to it since, well, you don't wear much. Anyway, in we went in and hung out in the chilly hammam while the steam started to warm things up. We waited quite a while and just as we couldn't see anything in the steamy hammam, "la femme" came in to get us ready. No, we did not do all of this fun stuff on our own. We had someone else to do the dirty work. Fortunately, Mom has heard many of my stories from the Hammam so was ready for what she was getting into. I let her go first. And as I had prewarned her to PLEASE not groan or shriek, she was well behaved. It was funny looking over and seeing her lying facedown in the superman position getting the skin scrubbed of her. And also while she was being stretched and twisted, presumably to help her relax now that her muscles were warmed up. But really, I find it hard to completely relax when you don't know where that steel wool glove is going next.
After we had our "gommage" or peeling we had a clay mud or "algae" rubbed and left on us. It was minty so felt cool on the skin for a while and I actually felt chilly inside the finally hot steam room. As the hammam woman (I'm really not sure of her official title. How do you properly "name" the woman who scrubs the skin off your hoo hoos?) led us back and told us to shower off I felt a terrible stinging in my eye. For some reason I tried to ignore it so as not to draw attention to myself (silly if you have understood exactly what I look like at this point) but once it started feeling like a needle in my eye I tried to get it out, only to find I had had an ant biting my tear duct!!! What the hell kind of a pampered ant hangs out in a hammam waiting to bite eyes??? So once I got past that excitement, we showered off and relaxed for a bit before our massages. Luckily we were clothed this time... for a while.
I haven't mentioned that we left the girls home alone with my dad, who, on our way out the door said, "So you won't be more than 2 hours." Notice it wasn't a question. So we get out of the hammam and see that we have been in there for more than an hour. Only about 40 minutes until Dad expects us home and we haven't had our massages. As I said, we relaxed for a few minutes, trying to figure out if we had to go find the massage room or if someone would find us. Luckily someone found us and guided me first to the massage. Which turns out was a massage table set up in the hair salon. Strange since I had been there before and had actually been in a massage room. What if I had also wanted to get my hair done? How would they have gotten around that? So at first I was actually concerned that the hair dresser was just filling in for the masseuse but, if she was, she was pretty good. I'm not sure a hair dresser would have the hands 2 hour-long massages. Just another of the unexpected things today. I didn't specify (in my barely-French booking of the appointments) how long we wanted our massages, I just thought we would get half an hour. But after my leg massage took 15 minutes I figured I had been mistaken. So poor Mom hung out (and dozed I think) for an hour while I was in my massage. I couldn't really relax knowing Dad was home alone with the girls and wasn't expecting us to be gone for 4 hours. But, the massage was lovely! I rushed out of the massage as Mom went in, showered and drove home without Mom. It turns out that Dad and the girls were doing fine. Next time we know we can leave them for longer!! ;) Mom enjoyed her massage, I think. Her next adventure was riding the taxi home alone. Which is always an adventure. So interesting trusting someone you can't communicate with to take you somewhere neither of you really knows how to get to. But she made it home safe and sound.
So whether she goes again or not, at least Mom has experienced a real Tunisian hammam! I think she will be the last of my guests I escort into the hammam. The rest of you are on your own! ;) I thought I could do it like the Tunisian woman do, but, as it turns out, hanging out naked with women you know (even your Mom) is just a little awkward. Christopher had a teammate in Germany who met his girlfriend's parents for the 1st time at a Turkish Bath or Hammam. And they don't wear ANYTHING! Wow!
So, next adventure... taking Mom to the Centre-Ville Souk. Dad has been there so it will be fun to go with Mom, Dad and the girls. Let's see what we will find!
(Just kidding Mom. It was fun showing you my new found pampering place! <3 Thanks for being a good sport!)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Getting resettled
Thing have been good lately. Besides having a house full of sick people. We have been back in Tunis for over 2 months now and the time has flown by. Hunter is so comfortable in school and it is so fun going to visit her class and to hear all the kids calling her name and saying hello. She has friends from different Kindergarten classes and different grades (although she often doesn't know which grade or their name) but also seems to be getting into her own little group of friends who play often play together at recess. I have volunteered a few times in Hunter's classroom and being able to see her in that environment, away from home is wonderful. She is a quiet, polite, hardworking girl. Her teacher says that she is great at cleaning up and even helps others with their mess without being asked. I have also been told that she doesn't get as frustrated when she doesn't know how to spell a word like she did at the start of the year. A great accomplishment. Hunter has been learning so much in school so far. She can spell most words that she can sound out and is constantly wanting to write. She makes up words, she writes the same things as she wrote about at school, she will copy words off boxes or she will just write lists of names. It is fun to see how interested she is in learning her letters and different words. She is also bringing home a book a night to read to us. She is so proud when she finishes a book! She also enjoys singing her songs from her Arabic and French classes. I can keep up with the French and I know if she is mispronouncing something but I have to let her do her own thing with Arabic. I have no idea what she is saying! I do know that she is getting her throaty sounds down. She isn't afraid of a little throat gurgle! ;)
And Elliot is still enjoying her time at home alone. She does like to follow Hunter's lead in drawing pictures and can draw a great banana with a face and moustache! Now that the weather is a little cooler and wetter we aren't going on our adventures as much but we really should get back to our walks. Sometimes she is soooo slow that it kills me, but I know she enjoys touring around the neighborhood and seeing everything. The new stuff and the familiar, like the guards, coffee shops and kitties. We are still going to Elliot's gym class on Tuesdays and, although she seems to pick that day to be the most difficult to get out of the house, she comes home telling me how much she enjoyed the class. We are realizing that other people in the class do speak English so we have both been making some friends. The teacher, Petra, speaks German, French and English, although the class is mostly in French. One day we were playing with the parachute and Petra was counting in French and I heard Elliot mimicking the numbers. She had no idea what she was saying but liked the rhythm of it. So she is picking up bits of other languages too.
We are excitedly getting ready for our first guests in Tunisia to arrive on Sunday! My parents will be coming to stay with us for bits and pieces of the next two months. We hope they spend a lot of time here but they are also planning on seeing more of Tunisia and possibly taking a trip to Europe. We are so close you have to take the opportunity! We have been busy getting the bed ordered and buying extra towels and dishes. When we started rebuilding our home we just bought the essentials and now that we know we will have extra people here we are slowing getting more. I have also ordered a book shelf and a dresser for the girls' room to be made by a local carpenter which is exciting. I have seen a couple pieces he made for a friend and they were very nice so I'm crossing my fingers I was able to communicate my wishes to him! We will see in the next few days!
We have an extra long weekend coming up with Aid El Idha, a religious holiday celebrated by the Muslim people 40 days after Ramadan. It seems to be similar to our Christmas in that it is a big family holiday with a LOT of food. Delicious food though! We are starting to see the pens of sheep all over the city in preparation for Aid. Families will start buying a sheep to keep in their back yard this coming week and they will then slaughter it on the night before Aid (Friday night maybe?). This is to commemorate Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, but instead was able to sacrifice a sheep. It is all very interesting. I am hoping we will be able to get out of the city and go to one of the resorts down the coast of the country... but we will see what Travis' work schedule is. As usual. I am just going to have to start leaving him at home! ;)
And Elliot is still enjoying her time at home alone. She does like to follow Hunter's lead in drawing pictures and can draw a great banana with a face and moustache! Now that the weather is a little cooler and wetter we aren't going on our adventures as much but we really should get back to our walks. Sometimes she is soooo slow that it kills me, but I know she enjoys touring around the neighborhood and seeing everything. The new stuff and the familiar, like the guards, coffee shops and kitties. We are still going to Elliot's gym class on Tuesdays and, although she seems to pick that day to be the most difficult to get out of the house, she comes home telling me how much she enjoyed the class. We are realizing that other people in the class do speak English so we have both been making some friends. The teacher, Petra, speaks German, French and English, although the class is mostly in French. One day we were playing with the parachute and Petra was counting in French and I heard Elliot mimicking the numbers. She had no idea what she was saying but liked the rhythm of it. So she is picking up bits of other languages too.
We are excitedly getting ready for our first guests in Tunisia to arrive on Sunday! My parents will be coming to stay with us for bits and pieces of the next two months. We hope they spend a lot of time here but they are also planning on seeing more of Tunisia and possibly taking a trip to Europe. We are so close you have to take the opportunity! We have been busy getting the bed ordered and buying extra towels and dishes. When we started rebuilding our home we just bought the essentials and now that we know we will have extra people here we are slowing getting more. I have also ordered a book shelf and a dresser for the girls' room to be made by a local carpenter which is exciting. I have seen a couple pieces he made for a friend and they were very nice so I'm crossing my fingers I was able to communicate my wishes to him! We will see in the next few days!
We have an extra long weekend coming up with Aid El Idha, a religious holiday celebrated by the Muslim people 40 days after Ramadan. It seems to be similar to our Christmas in that it is a big family holiday with a LOT of food. Delicious food though! We are starting to see the pens of sheep all over the city in preparation for Aid. Families will start buying a sheep to keep in their back yard this coming week and they will then slaughter it on the night before Aid (Friday night maybe?). This is to commemorate Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, but instead was able to sacrifice a sheep. It is all very interesting. I am hoping we will be able to get out of the city and go to one of the resorts down the coast of the country... but we will see what Travis' work schedule is. As usual. I am just going to have to start leaving him at home! ;)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Ahhhh... I'm back! It has been way too long since I've written and we've been doing a lot...
We had a wonderful trip home to Canada. It was like being dropped right back into our lives in Calgary. And driving was very easy after not doing it for almost 5 months! We spent a couple weeks in Calgary visiting with friends (and shopping), then went to Clearwater Lake in SK to spend some time with family. We were lucky to have been able to see so much family while at home! We got back to Calgary to spend one more week in our house and finish up our/ my shopping!!! We arrived in Canada with 4 partially filled suitcases and came back to Tunis with 8!!!
Once we returned, we had a few days to recover from jet lag/ flu/ ant invasions and then Hunter started Kindergarten!!! I was a little worried as she had only been to the school twice and it was all new to her, but... as I should learn, she was fine. Travis dropped her off for the first 2 days and she didn't need him at all. She just walked into the classroom and owned it. Her teacher commented after the 1st day, "She sure isn't shy, is she?" Wonderful! She came home after the 1st day as if she had been doing this forever. And I think Elliot and I missed her more than she missed us. Elliot had a couple of tough mornings as Hunter left on the bus but is fine now that we are getting into a bit of a routine. And it is nice to spend some one-on-one time with just Elli.
Today Elliot started her own "school". It is a MiniSport class for 2-3 year olds. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect but knew that anything with other kids would be good for Elliot. The set-up is very much like Gymboree (with lower standards in newness and cleanliness) with balance beams, soft mats and balls. The teacher is German and she speaks French and English. The class is in French, which was a fun surprise, but the teacher does translate to English for the important points. Today Elliot seemed a little out of sorts and having to change into extra shorts at the class didn't help. She was wearing a cute skirt (which I FINALLY convinced her to wear instead of her bathing suit!) but the teacher thought she should wear shorts instead so lent Elli an extra pair she had. They were blue and red plaid and Elli was NOT impressed. She kept complaining about them and trying to take them off during class. Luckily she was mostly distracted by the balance beams, trampolines and zip line. Pretty fun! We had a driver today which was handy as I didn't have to walk to find a taxi. However, the driver didn't speak any English either so it was interesting. ;) Luckily he understood my finger pointing and the few directions I know in French. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of conversation during the rides. Now that I am going to Hunter's school more I will probably be using driver's more often. Either that or I will have to learn to drive in this crazy Tunis traffic. Which would be a good idea considering all the company we are likely to have.
We did hit some HOT weather when we got back to Tunis at the end of August which was tough but an interesting part of the experience. We did have one cool day of 15 (on which we decided to go to the beach!) but besides that we have had lovely weather hovering around 30C. And now the evenings are cooling off, it is lovely! The pool is getting cool and even the girls aren't wanting to jump in every day but they do splash for a few minutes every few days. The sea, however, is still about 25C so lovely. For the kids, not for me. ;)
The girls thought it was a bit chilly one evening while walking to dinner. It was about 26C!
Elliot found a napping kitty to visit with on the way to Monoprix!
We also experienced our first Ramadan here in Tunisia. For the most part we didn't notice much difference except that our coffee places and restaurants were closed during the day! That got annoying. Considering these people don't eat from sun up until sun down, we tried not to eat or snack out in public. But we had a few slip ups. Mostly it was just Elliot eating and I don't think people mind quite as much when a child is eating in front of them after 10 hours of fasting. We did have a lot more people begging/ asking for money on the streets. I generally turn them down as I'm not familiar with the protocol here yet. It seemed odd they were asking for money to eat during Ramadan when they weren't supposed to be eating during the day anyway. But I think I actually should be giving them a little something. Ahh, I'll figure it out eventually.
We were invited to our first Iftar, the meal taken at in the evening during Ramadan when Muslims break their fast. This year, the accepted time to eat was 7pm. It was actually usually still light by then, but by the end of Ramadan it was dark by 7pm. We went to Travis' coworker's home where his wife had spent half the day making soup, lamb couscous, salad, farsi (stuffed) octopus and so much more!!! I think there were a bit offended that we didn't eat more but it just impossible!! I don't possibly know how you can eat all that food. Of course, we hadn't been fasting since 430am!!! Unfortunately I didn't take my camera so don't have any photos of our lovely meal in their backyard.
Tomorrow Elliot and I will be busy baking cupcakes for Hunter's bday party at school on Thursday. Friday is her 5th birthday and she is counting down the days!!! We will be driving to Tabarka at noon on Friday for a golf tournament this weekend, so we plan to take a cake and celebrate with whoever is at the hotel on Friday evening. It looks like it will be nice enough for Hunter to spend at least some of her birthday on the beach like a promised when we told them we were moving!!! Travis says he is baking Hunter's birthday cake again this year so we'll see what he comes up with. ;)
This little cutie was sunning himself in our garden a few weeks ago. We have never seen a chameleon here before or since but it was an exciting few minutes!
We had a wonderful trip home to Canada. It was like being dropped right back into our lives in Calgary. And driving was very easy after not doing it for almost 5 months! We spent a couple weeks in Calgary visiting with friends (and shopping), then went to Clearwater Lake in SK to spend some time with family. We were lucky to have been able to see so much family while at home! We got back to Calgary to spend one more week in our house and finish up our/ my shopping!!! We arrived in Canada with 4 partially filled suitcases and came back to Tunis with 8!!!
Once we returned, we had a few days to recover from jet lag/ flu/ ant invasions and then Hunter started Kindergarten!!! I was a little worried as she had only been to the school twice and it was all new to her, but... as I should learn, she was fine. Travis dropped her off for the first 2 days and she didn't need him at all. She just walked into the classroom and owned it. Her teacher commented after the 1st day, "She sure isn't shy, is she?" Wonderful! She came home after the 1st day as if she had been doing this forever. And I think Elliot and I missed her more than she missed us. Elliot had a couple of tough mornings as Hunter left on the bus but is fine now that we are getting into a bit of a routine. And it is nice to spend some one-on-one time with just Elli.
Today Elliot started her own "school". It is a MiniSport class for 2-3 year olds. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect but knew that anything with other kids would be good for Elliot. The set-up is very much like Gymboree (with lower standards in newness and cleanliness) with balance beams, soft mats and balls. The teacher is German and she speaks French and English. The class is in French, which was a fun surprise, but the teacher does translate to English for the important points. Today Elliot seemed a little out of sorts and having to change into extra shorts at the class didn't help. She was wearing a cute skirt (which I FINALLY convinced her to wear instead of her bathing suit!) but the teacher thought she should wear shorts instead so lent Elli an extra pair she had. They were blue and red plaid and Elli was NOT impressed. She kept complaining about them and trying to take them off during class. Luckily she was mostly distracted by the balance beams, trampolines and zip line. Pretty fun! We had a driver today which was handy as I didn't have to walk to find a taxi. However, the driver didn't speak any English either so it was interesting. ;) Luckily he understood my finger pointing and the few directions I know in French. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of conversation during the rides. Now that I am going to Hunter's school more I will probably be using driver's more often. Either that or I will have to learn to drive in this crazy Tunis traffic. Which would be a good idea considering all the company we are likely to have.
We did hit some HOT weather when we got back to Tunis at the end of August which was tough but an interesting part of the experience. We did have one cool day of 15 (on which we decided to go to the beach!) but besides that we have had lovely weather hovering around 30C. And now the evenings are cooling off, it is lovely! The pool is getting cool and even the girls aren't wanting to jump in every day but they do splash for a few minutes every few days. The sea, however, is still about 25C so lovely. For the kids, not for me. ;)
The girls thought it was a bit chilly one evening while walking to dinner. It was about 26C!
Elliot found a napping kitty to visit with on the way to Monoprix!
We also experienced our first Ramadan here in Tunisia. For the most part we didn't notice much difference except that our coffee places and restaurants were closed during the day! That got annoying. Considering these people don't eat from sun up until sun down, we tried not to eat or snack out in public. But we had a few slip ups. Mostly it was just Elliot eating and I don't think people mind quite as much when a child is eating in front of them after 10 hours of fasting. We did have a lot more people begging/ asking for money on the streets. I generally turn them down as I'm not familiar with the protocol here yet. It seemed odd they were asking for money to eat during Ramadan when they weren't supposed to be eating during the day anyway. But I think I actually should be giving them a little something. Ahh, I'll figure it out eventually.
We were invited to our first Iftar, the meal taken at in the evening during Ramadan when Muslims break their fast. This year, the accepted time to eat was 7pm. It was actually usually still light by then, but by the end of Ramadan it was dark by 7pm. We went to Travis' coworker's home where his wife had spent half the day making soup, lamb couscous, salad, farsi (stuffed) octopus and so much more!!! I think there were a bit offended that we didn't eat more but it just impossible!! I don't possibly know how you can eat all that food. Of course, we hadn't been fasting since 430am!!! Unfortunately I didn't take my camera so don't have any photos of our lovely meal in their backyard.
Tomorrow Elliot and I will be busy baking cupcakes for Hunter's bday party at school on Thursday. Friday is her 5th birthday and she is counting down the days!!! We will be driving to Tabarka at noon on Friday for a golf tournament this weekend, so we plan to take a cake and celebrate with whoever is at the hotel on Friday evening. It looks like it will be nice enough for Hunter to spend at least some of her birthday on the beach like a promised when we told them we were moving!!! Travis says he is baking Hunter's birthday cake again this year so we'll see what he comes up with. ;)
This little cutie was sunning himself in our garden a few weeks ago. We have never seen a chameleon here before or since but it was an exciting few minutes!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I am sitting in our living room watching the aqua waters in the Gulf of Tunis. It is a little cloudy today so the water isn't as clear as some days. But I can almost make out the individual white buildings on the other side of the Gulf, on the peninsula called Cap Bon. At least, I'm pretty sure that is what I see.
Every day this feels more like home. I am used to the ugly tile in our bathrooms, and the broken side walks. The girls really like walking on the street like the locals instead of on the sidewalks. It is easier as there are usually cars parked or trees growing on the sidewalks anyway. The food is looking much more familiar and going shopping isn't so scary and overwhelming. I haven't really learned to make much Tunisian food, but that will come.
Elliot's exciting news is that she is potty training!! Yay!! We bought a potty a while ago but she wasn't too interested until a couple weeks ago. Suddenly she told me she had to go and went!! We were so excited! And she really enjoys our cheering and praise of her. I think she will probably be pretty much all trained by the end of our visit in Canada this summer. But we'll see.
We registered Hunter at the American International school for Kindergarten in the fall. We were very late getting her in so she is 1st on the waiting list. I am sure someone will move or be transferred in the next couple months so she can get in... but if not we will probably send her to a French school for Kindergarten instead. I don't think it would hurt her at all to get a good base in French for a year and I'm pretty sure she could catch up in anything she missed in the American school. So we will see how that all works out. We booked out flights home before registering Hunter so her school starts the day after we get back. Oops! But they will need to do testing on her to make sure she is at the Kindergarten level so she will start a few days later anyway. There are so many kids from all over the world and so many different kinds of schools that no everyone is at the same level as the other kids their age. I have heard it is quite common to have a two year age gap between kids in the same class. I'm sure it makes for interesting dynamics. Oh, and the principal of the elementary part of the American school in Canadian so it was very nice to meet her.
Hunter and Travis had some kind of stomach bug this past weekend so we didn't get up to too much. Hunter was fine on Saturday so the girls and I went to a friend's BBQ which was fun. There were about 6 kids so they were well occupied and I had a good visit with a few of the women I'd met at different functions. We had been invited to another BBQ on Sunday, Father's Day, but since both Hunter and Travis weren't feeling well, we stayed home. Elli and I had a fun day going out and about together. We went for a little workout session in the morning and then went for a juice date and groceries. In the afternoon we were going for more groceries and ran into friends so went for ice cream with them. It was fun to just hang out with Elli on her own. And Hunter and Travis got some good snuggle time watching movies too. Luckily, by Monday everyone was feeling better... and Elli and I didn't end up with the same bug.
Tonight I am going out with my friend Ania to her Capoeria class. I took one class in Calgary about 7 years ago and loved it but never went back. So it will be fun to try it again. Remembering the class from so long ago, I know I will be sore tomorrow!
Every day this feels more like home. I am used to the ugly tile in our bathrooms, and the broken side walks. The girls really like walking on the street like the locals instead of on the sidewalks. It is easier as there are usually cars parked or trees growing on the sidewalks anyway. The food is looking much more familiar and going shopping isn't so scary and overwhelming. I haven't really learned to make much Tunisian food, but that will come.
Elliot's exciting news is that she is potty training!! Yay!! We bought a potty a while ago but she wasn't too interested until a couple weeks ago. Suddenly she told me she had to go and went!! We were so excited! And she really enjoys our cheering and praise of her. I think she will probably be pretty much all trained by the end of our visit in Canada this summer. But we'll see.
We registered Hunter at the American International school for Kindergarten in the fall. We were very late getting her in so she is 1st on the waiting list. I am sure someone will move or be transferred in the next couple months so she can get in... but if not we will probably send her to a French school for Kindergarten instead. I don't think it would hurt her at all to get a good base in French for a year and I'm pretty sure she could catch up in anything she missed in the American school. So we will see how that all works out. We booked out flights home before registering Hunter so her school starts the day after we get back. Oops! But they will need to do testing on her to make sure she is at the Kindergarten level so she will start a few days later anyway. There are so many kids from all over the world and so many different kinds of schools that no everyone is at the same level as the other kids their age. I have heard it is quite common to have a two year age gap between kids in the same class. I'm sure it makes for interesting dynamics. Oh, and the principal of the elementary part of the American school in Canadian so it was very nice to meet her.
Hunter and Travis had some kind of stomach bug this past weekend so we didn't get up to too much. Hunter was fine on Saturday so the girls and I went to a friend's BBQ which was fun. There were about 6 kids so they were well occupied and I had a good visit with a few of the women I'd met at different functions. We had been invited to another BBQ on Sunday, Father's Day, but since both Hunter and Travis weren't feeling well, we stayed home. Elli and I had a fun day going out and about together. We went for a little workout session in the morning and then went for a juice date and groceries. In the afternoon we were going for more groceries and ran into friends so went for ice cream with them. It was fun to just hang out with Elli on her own. And Hunter and Travis got some good snuggle time watching movies too. Luckily, by Monday everyone was feeling better... and Elli and I didn't end up with the same bug.
Tonight I am going out with my friend Ania to her Capoeria class. I took one class in Calgary about 7 years ago and loved it but never went back. So it will be fun to try it again. Remembering the class from so long ago, I know I will be sore tomorrow!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
June already!
Wow!! I can't believe that we have been in Tunisia for 3 months today! It was only 3 months from the time we made the decision to move until we actually got on the plane and that seemed to take much longer. I guess we've been having fun!
It's been a long time since my last blog. I see I only updated twice in May so I promise to write more often in June. I'm sure I'll want to be inside more anyway since it is getting pretty warm. Last week we had some rain and windy days but more often than not, our weather has been in the high 20s. I think it has been a little cooler than usual but not cold by any means. I'm not even sure where our coats are anymore. We haven't used them in a while. This week is supposed to be 30+ all week! In fact, Wed, Thurs and Fri are predicted to be 36C!!!! I think we will spend plenty of time in our pool and at the beach in the next few days. Wow! We are planning a trip home to Canada in July/ August which I think will be a nice break from the heat. I think even a couple weeks of 30C weather will be a cool relief from what we have coming! But it is nice to be in the sun in June instead of recovering from frost bite!! LOL
So, what have we been up to? I have started going to the gym although very sporadically. It feels good to get back to working out a bit. I'm hoping we can figure out a schedule so that both Travis and I can make it once a week. But so far Travis hasn't gotten to go. It is a small gym so the hours for men and women are separate and Men can only go Mon, Wed. and Friday afternoons until 7pm which is inconvenient for Travis. I've gone on a couple of Saturday mornings while Travis goes out with the girls. I think it works quite well so we'll see if we can keep it up. I've missed the last couple week though.
Last weekend we were off to Tabarka, in the NW corner of the country, close to the Algerian border. Travis had been in the desert all week with work, got home at about 2pm on Thursday to pack and pick us up and we were off at 230pm to go to Tabarka where Travis and some of his coworkers where looking at rock formations. It was a busy week for him but the girls and I had a good time by ourselves and looked forward to the time at the hotel. We didn't get to spend much time with Travis there as he was out in the field during the day and out for dinner with the work guys at night. Luckily we got one sunny day on Friday to play in the pool and on the playground.
That's the most beautiful view from a swing set I've ever seen!!
The girls also made a little friend while were there, Lena Yasmine.
She and her family were staying for the week from Algeria. I had a visit with her mom too. We were able to communicate through a little English and a little French.
Both nights the girls went to the Club Enfant (Mini Club) "mini disco" and thought it was great! They were a little shy to do much dancing (or it could have been the funny songs in other languages, like Skinamarinkydinkydoo and the Chicken Dance!) but they watched and participated a little. Both nights they had had enough after half an hour. Which was perfect because I had had enough by then too! Hunter spend extra time picking out the perfect outfit for the disco both nights! Wow, I wonder how much thought she'll put into outfits when she's 16!!
The girls and I have made some friends here in Carthage. We were actually introduced through her blog when Travis was looking for carseats online. He came across Ania's blog and wrote to her. We found out she lived not far from us so not that we are settled we were able to get together with her and her kids, Victor (3.5 yrs) and Mila (9 months) for a splash at the beach. Hunter was calling Victor "Kaiser" for a while. Funny. I have no idea where she would even know the name Kaiser. Anyway all the big kids (that includes Elli. She tells us she is a big kid now) had a great time together. Ania is Polish, but met her French husband in Dublin where they lived until October before moving here. Her husband, Gilles, works for PayPal. I hadn't even thought of who runs PayPal until I found out Gilles was employed by them. We haven't actually met Gilles, but they seem like nice people that we hopefully will get together with often. Ania introduced us to a new beach and the train on the same day! Hunter had been asking when we could take the train somewhere but since I didn't really know how to use it or where it went, I was hesitant. Not to mention that I really had only seen the school boys hanging off the ends and out the doors. I wasn't excited taking the girls on it. But Ania had taken it a lot so I thought we'd see how it was. We did fine and even though I rode for about 10 minutes with the door wide open behind me, no one fell out. I realize that trains like this are common in different parts of the world but it is pretty funny when I compare them to the trains in Calgary. The Tunis trains would NEVER been allowed to run in Calgary. Dilapitated might be a light description of them. But I felt safe enough and hung on to the girls tightly! And the beach was very nice too. It was a little wavey the day we went but the kids had fun getting wet and Hunter taught herself to "belly surf". And there wasn't a lot of garbage on the beach. Definitely a good, yet uncommon, thing.
I haven't take the girls back on the train to the beach on my own again but probably will now that little Victor has broken his arm. Poor dear fell off a bouncy house the day after our beach day and will be in a cast for the next 6 weeks. It will be a very dry summer for him. The girls and I have discovered a little beach just down the road from us though. We see school boys swimming down from our little "beach" area so the water must be fairly clean (I am hoping) and there isn't too much garbage. I do keep the girls out of the dry sand as this is what the stray cats use as their Litter boxes. Ick! And we try to avoid the broken glass.
We wandered down to the beach yesterday and the girls played for about an hour before the tide started coming in. This time I put them in their swimsuits so they didn't have to walk home wet.
I did though, as we lost Hunter's sand rake in the water and found it down the beach a bit. I just had shorts on so walked home looking like I'd wet myself. We skipped the grocery store on that trip. ;)
Oh, we are also getting some tables made for around the house. So far we have just had the frames made and we still have to go pick out the marble tops. Then we will have a small table for the balcony off the dining room on the top floor, a kitchen table for our downstairs kitchen and a bit table for out on our patio by the pool. I also would like a table for our sitting our in the garden off the basement kitchen, but that will come later. We also need to get cushions for the low benches that are built-in in the basement kitchen. Slowly slowly we are figuring where all the stores are and how to get stuff.
It is already mighty hot out today. The girls are napping and then I think we will spend the afternoon by the pool, swimming and having a BBQ. I can't think of a better way to spend a hot Saturday afternoon!
Have a great weekend!
It's been a long time since my last blog. I see I only updated twice in May so I promise to write more often in June. I'm sure I'll want to be inside more anyway since it is getting pretty warm. Last week we had some rain and windy days but more often than not, our weather has been in the high 20s. I think it has been a little cooler than usual but not cold by any means. I'm not even sure where our coats are anymore. We haven't used them in a while. This week is supposed to be 30+ all week! In fact, Wed, Thurs and Fri are predicted to be 36C!!!! I think we will spend plenty of time in our pool and at the beach in the next few days. Wow! We are planning a trip home to Canada in July/ August which I think will be a nice break from the heat. I think even a couple weeks of 30C weather will be a cool relief from what we have coming! But it is nice to be in the sun in June instead of recovering from frost bite!! LOL
So, what have we been up to? I have started going to the gym although very sporadically. It feels good to get back to working out a bit. I'm hoping we can figure out a schedule so that both Travis and I can make it once a week. But so far Travis hasn't gotten to go. It is a small gym so the hours for men and women are separate and Men can only go Mon, Wed. and Friday afternoons until 7pm which is inconvenient for Travis. I've gone on a couple of Saturday mornings while Travis goes out with the girls. I think it works quite well so we'll see if we can keep it up. I've missed the last couple week though.
Last weekend we were off to Tabarka, in the NW corner of the country, close to the Algerian border. Travis had been in the desert all week with work, got home at about 2pm on Thursday to pack and pick us up and we were off at 230pm to go to Tabarka where Travis and some of his coworkers where looking at rock formations. It was a busy week for him but the girls and I had a good time by ourselves and looked forward to the time at the hotel. We didn't get to spend much time with Travis there as he was out in the field during the day and out for dinner with the work guys at night. Luckily we got one sunny day on Friday to play in the pool and on the playground.
That's the most beautiful view from a swing set I've ever seen!!
The girls also made a little friend while were there, Lena Yasmine.
She and her family were staying for the week from Algeria. I had a visit with her mom too. We were able to communicate through a little English and a little French.
Both nights the girls went to the Club Enfant (Mini Club) "mini disco" and thought it was great! They were a little shy to do much dancing (or it could have been the funny songs in other languages, like Skinamarinkydinkydoo and the Chicken Dance!) but they watched and participated a little. Both nights they had had enough after half an hour. Which was perfect because I had had enough by then too! Hunter spend extra time picking out the perfect outfit for the disco both nights! Wow, I wonder how much thought she'll put into outfits when she's 16!!
The girls and I have made some friends here in Carthage. We were actually introduced through her blog when Travis was looking for carseats online. He came across Ania's blog and wrote to her. We found out she lived not far from us so not that we are settled we were able to get together with her and her kids, Victor (3.5 yrs) and Mila (9 months) for a splash at the beach. Hunter was calling Victor "Kaiser" for a while. Funny. I have no idea where she would even know the name Kaiser. Anyway all the big kids (that includes Elli. She tells us she is a big kid now) had a great time together. Ania is Polish, but met her French husband in Dublin where they lived until October before moving here. Her husband, Gilles, works for PayPal. I hadn't even thought of who runs PayPal until I found out Gilles was employed by them. We haven't actually met Gilles, but they seem like nice people that we hopefully will get together with often. Ania introduced us to a new beach and the train on the same day! Hunter had been asking when we could take the train somewhere but since I didn't really know how to use it or where it went, I was hesitant. Not to mention that I really had only seen the school boys hanging off the ends and out the doors. I wasn't excited taking the girls on it. But Ania had taken it a lot so I thought we'd see how it was. We did fine and even though I rode for about 10 minutes with the door wide open behind me, no one fell out. I realize that trains like this are common in different parts of the world but it is pretty funny when I compare them to the trains in Calgary. The Tunis trains would NEVER been allowed to run in Calgary. Dilapitated might be a light description of them. But I felt safe enough and hung on to the girls tightly! And the beach was very nice too. It was a little wavey the day we went but the kids had fun getting wet and Hunter taught herself to "belly surf". And there wasn't a lot of garbage on the beach. Definitely a good, yet uncommon, thing.
I haven't take the girls back on the train to the beach on my own again but probably will now that little Victor has broken his arm. Poor dear fell off a bouncy house the day after our beach day and will be in a cast for the next 6 weeks. It will be a very dry summer for him. The girls and I have discovered a little beach just down the road from us though. We see school boys swimming down from our little "beach" area so the water must be fairly clean (I am hoping) and there isn't too much garbage. I do keep the girls out of the dry sand as this is what the stray cats use as their Litter boxes. Ick! And we try to avoid the broken glass.
We wandered down to the beach yesterday and the girls played for about an hour before the tide started coming in. This time I put them in their swimsuits so they didn't have to walk home wet.
I did though, as we lost Hunter's sand rake in the water and found it down the beach a bit. I just had shorts on so walked home looking like I'd wet myself. We skipped the grocery store on that trip. ;)
Oh, we are also getting some tables made for around the house. So far we have just had the frames made and we still have to go pick out the marble tops. Then we will have a small table for the balcony off the dining room on the top floor, a kitchen table for our downstairs kitchen and a bit table for out on our patio by the pool. I also would like a table for our sitting our in the garden off the basement kitchen, but that will come later. We also need to get cushions for the low benches that are built-in in the basement kitchen. Slowly slowly we are figuring where all the stores are and how to get stuff.
It is already mighty hot out today. The girls are napping and then I think we will spend the afternoon by the pool, swimming and having a BBQ. I can't think of a better way to spend a hot Saturday afternoon!
Have a great weekend!
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