From 2010 to 2011...

Bonjour à tous,

Well it’s been 4 months or so since the last blog update, figured we should be providing a bit of news on what’s going on here in Ghana. First things first, Charles’ parents came to visit us at the end of November for 21 days, we had a great time and doing things together again was really enjoyable. We toured around Accra and discovered a bit more of Ghana as well. The first thing Charles & his dad did when they arrived was go visit the area where used motorcycles are sold. That’s right, as crazy as it sounds, they bought a bike ‘’a cool little 250cc’’, a Honda Clubman, it seems to be a model that was sold exclusively to the Japanese market. Charles has been riding it ever since and he seems to be enjoying it especially in traffic where he can zig-zag through the cars and go in between trucks to get through. He says the trick to riding a bike here is that you cannot hesitate, others will see once you are committed, and you have to integrate yourself with the flow of traffic. I've heard him say more than once: "It’s a heart pumping adrenaline rush just to ride through traffic here". Going back to why we bought the motorcycle in the first place, other than for fun, we needed an additional means of transportation to go on our vacation to Axim, on the West coast of Ghana, almost in Ivory Coast. Axim has amazing beaches, beautiful scenery and some good resorts. We stayed in one of the most expensive resorts in Ghana, the Lou Moon Lodge. A European style resort that was made to look like something out of the Flintstones but very nice, with AC in each room and spacious. Everything was made in a cement-like structure or clay, we loved the style. Here are some pictures to show you. The beach at this resort was inside a bay so there were no waves (!), which was great for Eva and to do some snorkelling (we saw a giant multicoloured fish, Charles’s dad saw a couple of octopus and lots of little tropical fish). Unfortunately, after the second day at the hotel, tar balls started to show up on the bay’s shore and in the water which was somewhat upsetting! They came from an oil rig/ships ejecting their fuel/oil at large. Charles and Eva both got some on their legs and it had to be washed off with paint thinner. Needless to say, this process was not a very enjoyable thing to have done because the paint thinner burns when you scrub it onto your skin. It did however make us ponder on Ghana’s ability to control the offshore drilling that started this year. Ghana has become, in 2010, the newest oil producing country with the development of numerous oil rigs offshore. It is a mixed blessing they say with several environmental and political questions ahead: How will they be able to control the environment? How will they make sure that oil revenues are not at the expense of destroying the livelihood of others like fishermen or farmers? Hopefully, the government of Ghana will be able to impose some rules and not leave it to corruption. Nigeria, a neighbouring country, has had oil for decades and this has made it one of the richest countries in Africa, but with one of the highest disparity status between rich and poor. Oil can be a curse if it is not managed well. Anyway, the other side of the resorts’ beach that was not in the bay was free of oil and other debris, and was fine to swim in.

We had a great time, we stayed there 5 nights and then went down to stay in Busua Beach (an hours’ drive East of Axim, back towards Accra), this was our second time there. It is considered THE surf beach of Ghana as the waves here are more regular and can be used for surfing even thought they are the equivalent of Edelweiss ski hill vs. the Alps in France, but great for beginners. This is Laura’s favourite beach spot so far. It was great, we stayed at a little French inn, where the food is fantastic. We then came back to Accra for a few days, and then Charles stayed behind a few weeks while I went with his parents and the girls back to Belgium.

We had a great time in Belgium, lots of snow and good times. I enjoyed doing some shopping for Eva and Chloe for some summer clothing, but didn’t find much since it was winter. We left a lot of it in Canada and Ghana does not seem to have any clothes applicable for temperatures under 15 degrees. Charles left Ghana to come and join us on December 23rd, and had a bit of a rough time trying to get home on time for the holidays. We were a little worried as most of Europe had been shut down due to air travel delays and snow storms. Unfortunately, he did get stuck in Frankfurt for 10 hours, finally managing to get to his parents’ house on Christmas eve at 20:00 hours. He was exhausted. Belgium was a great holiday away from the third world, lots of good food, the girls played in the snow tons. Charles and his dad made a big slide in the backyard, they managed to turn it into some sort of bobsleigh and were competing on who could go the farthest. We think they made some sort of "village record" for the longest distance of a slide coming off a balcony. Eva really enjoyed sliding, she was screaming and laughing, she quickly stopped complaining about getting dressed up for the snow when she realized she’d get to slide!

Chloe has been a good baby, very different than Eva at her age. As most of you remember, Eva had terrible colics as a baby up until 7 months of age. We are thankful that Chloe has had none, is always smiling and rarely cries. Now, at almost 8 months of age, she has started acting funny at night, waking up around 3 or 3:30 am, completely awake and ready to 'party" for some odd reason... She used to sleep most of her nights but has reversed now! I guess they go through phases right? At least she doesn’t mind staying in bed with us, playing with toys and things quietly without complaining, and gives us an extra hour of rest early in the morning. She’s also a daytime power napper – 20 to 30 minutes tops! Can’t miss out on any action! She is now eating very well too, she wants to eat just like us as she attempts to take food out of plates and hands every chance she gets! And, some more big news in Chloe’s world: she just started crawling! She wiggles her body to get into a crawling position, gets her legs moving under her, and she’s off! Of course to get to this skill level she had to do a few face plants. Face plants in our house are problematic as most of our floors are made of marble, definitely a hard substance to crash into. (Fyi, after years of bad maintenance the marble is not that nice-looking anymore, so none of this OMG MARBLE!). But she’s a fast learner, and is even trying to pull herself up to standing position on the edges of furniture and chairs. She is growing pretty fast, seems to be quite tall compared to Eva – I think she will be taller – and, is very vocal, says a lot of ‘’mamamama’’ when hungry, and Charles thinks she’s now started the ‘’dadada’’ phase, but I can’t confirm that :P I also bring her to the British Baby group "Tiny Feet" on Wedn. mornings for a bit of bebe socialization; she seems to like it and usually crashes to sleep for an hour as soon as we get home.

Eva has been a great big sister. She loves Chloe and always asks if she will come with us places, or be there when I pick her up after daycare. She is starting to get excited about moving, and has been asking about her new school and house a lot. Once in Port-of-Spain, she will start Pre-Kindergarten at the International School or Port of Spain (ISPS). I just sent off all the paperwork this week (a big package of medical, registration and school recommendation forms, with passport pictures on top of that). Eva’s pretty excited about starting and making new friends! She's in for a surprise when she finds out that it's going to be blue & white uniforms ONLY once she starts there! That should pass well! (right!) Her hair wont stop growing, and she refuses to tie it uo nowadays. She's like a lion with a dark mane! I guess she has to live up to her astrological sign of Leo. Eva's also getting taller and has lost most of hair baby fat in her face now. She's a wonderful, beautiful & her own unique little person, and we are sooo greatful to have her sharing in our daily lives :)

Now, we are definitely in pre-posting mode, we have found out where we are going next and are getting ready to move. Eva is already very excited to be taking a plane and going to a new school. We are happy with this new destination, I expect more visits from friends and family. You’ll have a better chance at enjoying all kinds of different activities to do in South America or Caribbean, and you’re all invited to come do the carnivals, the diving, the swimming with turtles, the sailing from island to island, which will all be possible at our new home in Port of Spain, in dreamy Trinidad-Tobago. We are going to be there for at least 3 years and it should be very nice, we are very excited to spend some more time in the Caribbean. We were last there on our honeymoon visiting the islands from a cruise ship, and paid a fortune to be in that area of the world. Life is ironic at times..

I have to say, we did not sell Ghana very well for visitors but there was a reason, the tourism here is almost nonexistent and very difficult. Ghanaians have a very interesting relation with selling goods in their country to foreigners. For example, Charles went the other day to buy a bag of charcoal for the BBQ, we have been buying it in the stores and it is very expensive, 3 kg will come to about $8.00. Whereas if you buy a bag on the street, you pretty much have the same quality of charcoal for $15.00 for 25kg, the difference is very significant and worth the extra trip. So, Charles found a lady who had bags of the stuff to sell. He approached her to ask how much it was, she replied 18GHc, roughly $14.00. He said: ‘’Great, I’ll take one’’. She asked him where his bag for the charcoal was?... this lady would not sell the coal without a bag from the buyer. She didn’t seem to know how much it cost to buy one and did not seem too inclined to figure it out. Understand that we’re talking about a big potato sac here, the kind that you do kids’ races in! She basically turned around and started leaving because obviously, she would not be able to sell to a man who did not have his own sac. It’s a very interesting technique in marketing and salesmanship: you require that your customer have a certain item but you will not let him purchase this item from you. This situation happens fairly often and can be very frustrating to anyone not used to the concept. This is an example of cultural differences were had there been a personal relationship between Charles and the lady, she might have sold the charcoal to him with the sac because she knew him. But really, who has the time to start a conversation, create a relationship and develop an understanding with all the people you need to buy from? ...and if its this difficult, as if you'd ever go back? ;-) In any case, Charles had to beg her to sell him the damn bag, she even called her provider who called another guy to finally get a quote on the cost of an empty bag! Crazy! Total cost: $1.00, and the cost of 20 minutes of his time harassing a woman unwilling to sell her coal that she has for sale! These things are frustrating as we do not understand why they do this or their reasoning, but it is the way in Ghana. Soo many people here are extremely friendly though, and charming when you get to know them (others are just lacking in education).

In any case, this post has been long enough, we are ready to move on to our next destination. We will surely miss our "auntie" in the house, Becky, who I don't know what I would do without, I'm sure the place would look like a pigsty, but I also can't wait to see our new house and set it up for us. We miss you all dearly and hope you are doing well. We greatly look forward to seeing some of you soon in T&T!!! Don't forget in February-MArch - it's the CaRnivaL in T&T, so if you want a big party, this is the time!

Cheers!!!! Laura, Charles, Eva, Chloe & Loki (the cat)

Back in Ghana with 2 kids

Bonjour, Hello,
It has been a very long time since we have actually written on the blog. The last post refers to our trip to Europe in May. I have to say that many things have happened since then, for one, we had a new baby girl named: Chloe Katherine Longtin. A wonderful little baby who is so much easier to deal with than Eva was at that age. Chloe actually sleeps most nights. Laura still has to wake up some nights to feed her but the baby goes right back to sleep afterwards. Much better than with our first, Eva, who, because of awful colic’s and stomach issues, we had to bounce around for hours before she would go to sleep. They are so very different already in personality and at the same time, so similar in appearance. Looking at photos we sometimes have to look at the date to figure out which baby that is. We are blessed to have two Beautiful healthy little girls!

Chloe’s birth was in Montreal, at the Lakeshore General Hospital and we spent the summer living at Laura’s parents’ place as most of you know. The delivery went very smoothly, contractions started to get regular (every 5 minutes) around 6pm on a beautiful Sunday evening while we were relaxing at the parents’ having a summer BBQ. We went into the birthing unit by 10pm, and baby Chloe was born at 1h46 am on Monday July 12th. Laura did get the epidural which made the whole process fairly painless and did an amazing job overall. In Ghana, they have a cultural significance associated with the day of the week you are born, you have a Ghanaian name associated with it – Chloe’s Ghanaian name is “Ajoa”. As for Eva, it is “Ama”. I have to say this was the start of a very memorable summer, the weather was great, we ate well, partied with friends’ quite a bit and enjoyed every moment we could. We enrolled Eva in a summer day camp in the West Island to keep her busy and with kids her own age – she seemed to adapt to this very well. It’s amazing how kids can adapt! Better than us adults most of the time! Wer truly appreciated this time with Laura's parents and brother Michael, and their hospitality allowing us to stay at their place for so long.

We also went to visit Laura’s brother Daniel and his wife Debby in Vancouver. Eva had a whole ten days to spend with her cousin Hadrian, who is a year younger than her. They got along great, and demonstrated some sort of a “love-hate” relationship where they would fight madly over the same toy, then cry about it, then be looking for one another desperately to play again. It was entertaining for us. The kiddies even got a chance to try out a “slip’n’slide” outside on a hot sunny day. I think Dan & Debby were also pretty happy to get a chance to meet our little Chloe before we travelled back, far away, to another continent. Chloe is a very good baby, she slept most of the time and only cried to eat or be changed. Very different from Eva. Vancouver is a great city, beautiful, diverse and probably one of the few cities I would actually move to in Canada. The housing prices are however ridiculous and how people can even afford one there is beyond me.

Before returning to Accra, we did try to see everyone as much as we could since Laura’s parents were already gone for Vancouver before we would be taking the plane to Ghana. So we met with friends for dinner and partied all night one special night in Ottawa… An amazing night out in Ottawa in my opinion, those of you who missed it, you should have been there :P.
After a couple of months, and going through a very interesting bureaucracy process to obtain Chloe’s diplomatic passport and visas, we finally made it back to Ghana. I say interesting because, as a diplomatic family, when we are in Canada, we technically have to pay for all medical expenses and everything of that nature in cash, and then we will get refunded by the insurance company. Whatever the insurance does not cover, the government will, as long as it is normally covered by Medicare for the public. Have you ever tried to pay cash at a smaller medical clinic? They look at you as if you are an alien and they are absolutely clueless as to how to make invoices. It’s pretty funny! Laura got used to explaining to the receptionist at the gyne’s office which codes they had to type into the computer to get a proper invoice printed out. I don’t think Canada is quite ready for private health care yet ;)

In any case, we made it back to Ghana after 24 hours of travel... I must say I am seriously considering doing an overnight stopover if travelling takes more than a total of 12 hours. Because Eva just simply goes “nuts” during those last 6 hours and she becomes a crazy kid that’s almost hallucinating from lack of sleep, and runs up and down the airplane isles to travellers’ delight or nightmares. Fun times :) Chloe on the other hand, slept most of the flights back to Ghana, as well as to Vancouver – that's pretty normal for a 1 to 2 month old. I always say “Best time to fly is when they are really young, before they start walking cuz after that, it’s game over!” Being back in Ghana is actually great the second time around: our surroundings don’t seem as menacing or dirty, the country seems to be doing better overall. I guess we have finally adapted to our life here. Adaptation takes about a year usually, depending on the person, as per our preparation courses given by DFAIT before leaving. There are four stages or phases of what they call “culture shock” that one goes through upon arriving in a new place to live:

1. Honeymoon, yes it was all new and exhilarating at first but this phase went by quickly!
2. Confronting reality, Laura & I began discovering all the “wonderful” little things that were wrong with the house and dealing with bureaucracy...
3. Hitting bottom, this is about when Laura decided to go back Montreal (last Jan-February) for a little vacation. NB: This phase may be worse when you are pregnant.
4. And finally, Trying to make things work and Adaptation, which is where we are at about now I think.
   

Now, even the internet speed at 200Kbps seems fast. The people and the arrival at Kotoka airport does not scare us anymore, basically we feel comfortable. Just in time for our departure in 8 months or so. Since our return we have done lots of running around, gone to the beach twice now, once was on Thanksgiving Day. Only employees of the High Commission were off so we braved the traffic and brought a few of the new diplomats to the beach near Accra, called Tills beach resort, usually a 1 hour drive, but it took us 2 because of the insane traffic. Driving is always so unbelievable here, you have to be so aggressive in the roundabouts and look the TRoTRo drivers right in the eye, as if to say: “I’m going through and I don’t care what you think”. Some let you by, others don’t... One good thing that happened this time at the beach is that Eva did not seem to be afraid of the waves anymore. When we first arrived, just the sound of the crashing waves was too much for her, and she was unwilling to even go near the ocean. This time, she jumped right in and wanted to play and run in the little waves crashing at beach side.

To Laura’s pleasure, we also seem to have a very active social life now. We have to attend on average at least 2 or 3 events per week (and that’s saying No to others). As a diplomat, if you wanted, you could go out every night of the week and attend functions/dinner parties/events as much as you want. We have to set ourselves limits with the little ones otherwise it would get to be too much. Our house helper Becky won’t say No to babysitting for us, she accepts opportunities to do overtime without hesitation. Last week, we had Friday dinner at the Ambassadors’ executive assistants’ house for a sit down dinner with various diplomats from Canada and a few important locals, such as the owner of a bar I’ve been to a couple of times, the Bywell. A great meal, we had lamb, beef and chicken, as well as a huge Grouper fish. A waiter doing the bar and I brought French music, mostly some Manu Chao and other reggae-ish music. Eva played with Clare and was good girl for most of the night. Although since she had refused to sleep that day, she was carried out of the house screaming when it was time to go and she did not want to. Seconds later she was asleep. This is still one of the most frustrating things about parenting, planning ahead and making sure your child will be ready for the night. Most of the time, Eva is very uncooperative about anything so we pay for it when we go out. Unfortunately that means she will have to start staying at home more often with Becky. We have found one way that works with her is if we have a li’l pyjama party for her and one of her friends, they watch TV, eat popcorn and this way, she is cooperative, goes to bed early and is happy.

The next day we drove to the first International Bead Festival. Beading is a huge trade in Ghana and in most African countries; they make beads from melted down glass bottles, acrylic and some plastic; poured into moulds and have designs painted on them. Some are very pretty; Laura has started getting into it a bit as a pastime. This trip was a 3-hour drive during which we were stuck in traffic for half of it, on the one road that goes north...travelling in Ghana is still very frustrating. It is however the norm in most developing countries so we have to get used to it for our next postings. Believe it or not, on the way I almost hit a baboon (!) crossing the road, there was actually a pack of them and they are pretty big. I imagine hitting one would do as much damage as hitting a deer back home, not good at all. Getting to the festival was easy; the festival itself was a disappointment, well, for the men anyway. The whole thing consisted of around 20 tables of bead sellers, most of which you could get back in Accra. Amazingly the beads are not cheaper the further away went and some beads go for 150.00CAD. Supposedly they are old, but to me, a bead is still a bead, no matter how old it is.

Sunday, we had a brunch at our house, nice and simple crepes and fruits, fresh squeezed OJ, coffee and a salty plate with cheese, cold cuts and others. It was nice to spend time chatting with Canadians we don’t always see. We spent the rest of the day swimming at the High Commission pool. The water is always at the right temperature, Life is good :) Laura has started Aquaerobics with the ladies from the CHC now once a week at the pool and seems to be enjoying that. Eva also takes swimming lessons twice a week, Tuesdays and Saturdays, but at our compound pool with a few other babies. I don’t know how effective they are since she refuses to listen to anything the teacher says but anyways, it gets her out and in the water having fun! This week, well, tonight October 30th is Halloween at the residence of the American Ambassador, only Americans are allowed, except I managed to get in for a favour or two (this means I have accepted they use the parking lot and the High Commission for Americans). Supposedly, they go all out and transform the American residence into a haunted house, and do something they call “Trunk or Treat” where they decorate the trunks of all their cars, like houses, giving out candy to kids that way. Eva and Clare are going to be scared heheheh... Tomorrow, another Halloween night “Trick or Treating” at the Orchid Gardens compound where some Canadian compatriots live, so Eva will get the real experience like back home...except it’s hot and sweaty here, and the kids get stinky because of it. We’re going to have to limit Eva’s candy intake over the next few weeks otherwise she’ll be bouncing off the walls with energy – even more than she is already if that’s possible :)

So you see our social life is very good now, we seem to be busy and time flies...especially now that we are back with two kids.

Ah well what do you know, Chloe is waking up, gotta go. I will see you all later.

Oh and, one more thing: this is a picture of the HUGE spider that Laura found in our house, next to the computer actually. She screamed in fear and jumped up onto the sofa, and would not calm down until I got it out of the house! Funny enough, Eva, who didn't know why, imitated her mommy and was acting the same way!

Les "ptites bêtes" qu'on retrouve au Ghana sont pas mal, hein?

Vacation in Belgium

Bonjour bonjour!!!

So its been awhile since we've blogged, to tell you the truth its not always easy to take the time. Maybe Facebook would be a better option but hey, here we are.

So after Napoleon sadly left us, we went on a trip to visit my parents in Arlon, Belgium. The plan was to see my parents, meet up with Laura's parents, and then Laura & Eva would leave for Canada to deliver baby #2 while I would go back to Ghana for another month and half.

The trip was great, it was good to see my parents again and Eva was ecstatic and spoiled. Claire made her a special bedroom in the computer room with a big princess bed. That, and my dad's new electric train and wooden train sets were some of the highlights for Eva. The irony is that as soon as we arrived in Belgium, I got some sort of mild food poisoning. This either came from the food I ate at the airport in Ghana or the rich food in Belgium (my first meal was a bunch of fries with some sort of spicy mayonaise 'aioli'). Personnally, we thinks its from the airport in Ghana; I doubt my stomach had changed so much as to not be able to eat rich food anymore.

The first week was great, while i was home sick, they visited a Zoo in Belgium. It was the first time Eva was able to see so many African animals. Ghana has unfortunately decimated its animal population to almost nothing. There are possibilities to see some Elephants and other great african beasts, however they are at least 20 hours drive away from our home in Accra, which makes them almost impossible to see with a young toddler and new baby.

BAck to Belgium, we had great food, the restaurants are great and it was amazing to have nice food again. One of our favorite things to experience again was shopping, to shop without the feeling of 'being had' is absolutely fantastic. So we went to Germany, to see Trier, about an hour drive from Arlon. Trier is a small german city that has a very nice shopping center filled with boutiques and high end malls. It is a popular shop spot for many europeans in the area. As with all german towns in the area, the place was absolutely beautiful, very clean, a very big contrast to our day to day lives in Ghana where there is littter everywhere you go.

Our next little trip was to go see our good friend Henry and his Fiancée, Hélène, in Frankfurt. A short drive from Arlon to Frankfurt, only two hours. However, it is beautiful, the crossing between Germany and Luxembourg is a bridge overtop a deep valley of green farms and white wine vineyards. We rented a car and headed off with my dad's GPS. On the way there, we got lost in a small village. The GPS told us to turn right at an intersection, however it was not updated. We turned and went down to country road, we got lost for a little bit and managed to find our way back to the main road. The funny thing is that on the way back we almost did the same mistake again, ahhh GPS, sometimes its pretty funny what technology will do to you if you follow it blindly!

We finally arrived in Frankfurt, a small city of 600,000 individuals, they have a metro, something Ottawa with 1 million people can't even do. Sometimes I wonder why is it that we are so afraid to get into big projects in cities like Ottawa. We met up with Hélène at her place, toured Frankfurt, and later had a very nice dinner at an italian place with Henry. It seems the german food was not up to par for the night, my search for the famous German Sausage was to continue... that story to come :)

Laura's parents arrived in Belgium shortly after, my father and I went to pick them up at the airport. It was John's (Laura's father) birthday. My parents organised a nice dinner and bought a nice cake at the bakery. Although not quite as good as the French in the bread making domain, the Belges excel at anything that is chocolate, which includes excellent cakes!! We spend the first weekend touring Arlon and Luxembourg, Laura's parents had to adapt to the new time zone and we were very happy to just take it easy. That weekend, we visited a very special brewery: La Chouffe. If you are not familiar with the beer, I would suggest you try it out sometime. This beer is one of the first foreign beers I drank when I was 18, it has a very special taste and is promoted by a magical gnome that lives in the forest. It was fun, we experienced a tour of the brewery machines, got a few free drinks and ate there afterwards, food was excellent and the ambiance really made you think you we're in some kind of establishment run by gnomes. Eva made a friend at the pub!

Oh, did I say it was grey and rainy almost the whole time... it was glorious! After 9 months in the sun of Africa, a bit of rain and gray is a welcome change, refreshing too.

So, it was in the rain that we headed out for Bruges. This is a fantastic city, well worth the tour. No longer a coastal city, but still has a great many canals and medieval buildings, hence its name "Venice of the North" is well deserved. It used to be the commercial center of continental western Europe from the 12th to the 15th century. Bruges ceased to be a commercial hub once the city's oceanfront access points slowly started to degrade, to the point that the many connecting canals, became impossible to access by commercial boats and freightlines.

We suggest you watch a great gangster movie that was filmed in the city called In Bruges, before going. We went there by train TGV, which Eva loved, stayed the night in this great little hotel "Le Gozeput" and, did a day and a half of touring the picturesque little town. Bruges is a romantic getaway and is filled with historic buildings, I had never heard of it before, but frankly if you are touring Europe, this is a must place to stop, at least for a couple of days.

My parents and I walked around the town at night, something on our list of things TO DO when in Bruges, and it was quite beautiful. The OLD building facades are illuminated at night and the sights are impressive to see.

We left to return to Arlon the next day. The WEATHER had turned chillier anyways so it was time for us to go. When we got back to our home away from home, we hung out a bit more and took it easy. Ate out for dinner and enjoyed the fine foods. Laura and I took another last trip/romantic getaway to Brussels to meet up with some good friends of ours who came from Europe to our wedding in September, Julie & Julien, as well as our Canadian friends who were there on vacation, Louis & Isabelle. It was a nice time, we experienced drinking good belgium beer in the streets during a Gay Pride Parade and went out for dinner again, all while staying in a nice hotel. Pretty cool overall!

As for my search for the best sausage.. I finally found it in Belgium, luckily before leaving for Ghana again!

Well, take care folks and until next blog!

Charles & Laura

R.I.P.

NAPOLÉON LONGTIN

(2004 – 2010)

Charles, Eva and I have sad news to share about our Napo, beloved, long-time companion and member of our little family, who passed away on the morning of this past Saturday, the 24^th of April 2010. After fighting for over 3 weeks, Napo’s heart and lungs ceased to function at 9:47 a.m., at the veterinary clinic here in Accra, Ghana, with us by his side. Initially, we had two separate veterinarian doctors and an online vet. nurse diagnose him with an infection of the liver and hepatic lipidosis, but it was later revealed in autopsy that it was actually advanced cirrhosis of the liver due to a toxin that he ingested either by deliberate poisoning or pesticides in the water or on plants/grass outside. They’re not too good with pets here, especially cats (some of the poor Ghanaians actually eat them), and don’t understand the affection and attachment North Americans can have with their pets as we do. I was not too impressed with the care he received but I understand that it was too late by the time we sought medical attention. We will miss him dearly, and will remember all the touching moments we had with him from the day we adopted him as a tiny 4 week-old kitten at the Aylmer SPCA, to the happy past 6 years we have spent together as the family has gotten bigger. He will always be our one-of-a-kind, ever-faithful and charming “dog-cat” that followed along with us when we went for walks, enjoyed car rides to Montreal on weekends and always hung out close by in case we shook his kitty treats to come back.

We named him after Napoléon Bonaparte, the French emperor, because of his debonair mannerisms, the way he always looked so intimidating, and never got into any fights with other cats. For this reason and many others, his little brother Loki will miss him a lot too. Loki was separated from his family at about 3 months of age, so Napo became his big brother, protector, guide and friend. Both Tabbies’ (feline species), they cared for each other, were very close and cuddled a lot. At least we can say that Napo had the opportunity to see parts of the world that some people don’t even get the chance to experience. Overall, we think he had a good and happy feline life with us, being free to come and go as he pleased, hunt mice and birds in Canada, and more recently, lizards and butterflies in Ghana.

Some of my fondest memories of Napo were of when he was a baby, so minuscule he looked like a mouse, and later, living in Gatineau after Eva was born, seeing him play in the Autumn-fallen leaves with her as a baby. Napoléon was our first “baby” and pet, so will always hold a dear place in my heart... Be happy in cat heaven, Napo, we love you!

30 ans de Laura & les "STaRs" au GHanA

Salut tout le monde!

Je vous écris encore un blog un peu plus court cette fois-ci pour mentionner la célébration qu'on a eu chez nous à Accra pour fêter un anniversaire assez important pour moi, celle de mes 30 ans! Nous avons invité tous les expats Canadiens et Américains pour un gros BBQ famille - il y avait plusieurs petits enfants de tous âges pour jouer avec Eva et un bon "turn out" en nombres d'amis aussi, en tout presque 30 personnes! C'est beaucoup pour la petite communauté d'expatriés! C'était bien car on a demandé que ça soit du style potluck, alors tout le monde a amené qqchose, et nous on s'est occupé de la viande (des brochettes, saucisses & hot dogs) et la bière. Charles était bien content de faire le BBQ avec son nouveau grill au charbon, mais s'est retrouvé un peu seul dehors desfois, car il faisait extrêmement chaud (comme d'hab!) et pas grand monde voulait se tenir au chaleur longtemps! Mais tout était superbe et on s'est ben amusé! J'ai même été offerte des beaux ptits cadeaux et un excellent gâteau aux carottes.

L'autre chose dont je voulais vous parler c'est qu'on a eu une belle et drôle de surprise depuis la visite de notre ami Nick, en décembre. Laisse-moi expliquer un peu. Pendant sa visite, nous sommes allés faire les touristes à une plage à l'ouest d'Accra pas trop loin, à peu près à 1 heure qui s'appellait Bojo Beach. Durant notre journée de repos à Bojo, les gars se sont faits des amis musiciens se disant des "Stars" Africains. Ce groupe de gens surnommé "Joy 4 Fame" étaient en train de tourner un vidéo de musique pour le lancement de l'album d'un chanteur Ghanéen dont Eva, Charles & Nick se sont retrouvés parmi ceux en vedette! Nick a même eu un T-shirt "Joy 4 Fame" en leur parlant et se faisant des amis parmi eux. Voici des photos de cet après-midi d'aventure à la plage! Vous pouvez voir que Eva a bien aimé toute l'attention qu'on lui donnait...

Finalement, vous devriez visiter l'un des sites Web suivant pour visionner le vidéo et voir le petit caméo de ma fille (qui, je doit admettre, est pas mal cute!) et des "cool white guys":

http://www.joy4fame.com/home/index.php?view=video&id=21&option=com or try

http://www.joy4fame.com/home/index.php?option=com.

J'espère que l'un de ces deux sites fonctionne. C'est pas mal intéressant à voir!

Plus récemment, on a découvert la vraie vie africaine au Ghana. Il s'est passé deux évenements qui nous ont bouleversé. Il faut savoir que nous laissons finalement nos chats dehors, ils passent la mojorités de leurs jours dehors à la chaleur du midi. De ce fait, notre plus gros, Napoléon perd du poids ces temps-ci. Il passe aussi une bonne partie de la journée à chasser les petit lézards qui se trouve autour de la maison. La photo est un peu embrouillé, mais c'est bien un lézard dans sa bouche, ça change du menu souris-oiseaux québécois en tout cas :)

Loki, un autre petit chasseur, nous ramène des petits lézards et laisse leurs corps sans tête à notre porte. Il y a quelques semaines il nous a aussi ramené des amis. Un soir, je le flattait, et j'ai trouvé quelques bosses sur son corps. Notre première réaction a été qu'il s'était battue avec un autre chat et avait des morsures enflées (ceci s'est déjà passé au Canada). De fait, la solution fut de nettoyer avec une solution d'alcool à friction et eau. Le deuxième soir, en procédant au nettoyange, Laura remarque que les morsures sont quand même assez profonde, en fait le blanc, qui est le pus de la blessure en guérison, descend au touché de l'alcool. Ceci nous semble bizzarre, du coup je pense à un bouton... je fais donc un test, en appuyant sur les deux coté du bouton, je met de la pression afin de faire exploser sur sa peau. À notre très grande surprise, ce n'est pas une explosion, mas bien un beau gros vers blanc qui en sort! ...UN truc assez dégueulasse que je ne souhaite à personne. On a pris des photos pour que vous puissiez savourer l'Afrique et ses bestioles avec nous. Il semble que les humains peuvent aussi les attraper, les oeufs se logent sous la peau et éclorent en tant que vers qui vous percent un trou dans la peau..

UN autre mystère que nous avons réussi à résoudre est la viande de boeuf ici. Le Ghana a un troupeau moyen de vaches et de moutons, beaucoup de chèvres. Curieusement, la viande n'est jamais vraiment satisfaisante, c'est surprenant, mais la viande ici est très dur, n'est pas tendre du tout. Les expats ici nous ont expliqué que la technique utilisée pour tuer le boeuf est différente. Les fermiers Ghanéens ne saignent pas leurs animaux après les avoir abbatus, ce qui cause un resserement des muscles chez l'animal. Laura et moi avons touvé une autre réponse à cette question importante pour tous les expats au Ghana. La viande est difficile à manger à cause de ........... Je vous laisse voir et en faire votre opinion ;)

En tout cas, vous nous manquez tous énormément. Nos vacances approchent vite maintenant alors on se hâte de revoir tout le monde à la maison! On a déjà commencé le décompte. Prenez bien soin de vous autres! Bisous de notre ptite famille québécoise au GHana à la votre,

Charles, Laura, Eva, +bébé, Napo & Loki ;P

Chill Out!

Hello everyone! Salut tout le monde!

Well, it's still pretty hot in Accra, seems like the weather here doesn't change much. It's just us, the sun, the heat, the humidity, and at times it cools down with a quick rainfall at night. Overall, it is nice to have the opportunity to go swimming outdoors every day and do the beach on weekends. Eva absolutely LOVES the beach! Playing in the sand and getting burried, making castles, jumping over waves, and all that good fun! She talks about it all the time. Last weekend we drove West (towards Ivory Coast) about 5 hours to stay at the Safari Beach Lodge near Dix Cove & Busua beach. We slept in rustic-style huts, pretty much waking up with our feet in the sand every morning and sleeping with the doors wide open to let the ocean breeze flow in. There was minimal power, no AC, something they call a "toilette seche" (a deep dark hole, that doesn't stink but reminds me of a port-o-potty -V, you'd never be able to use this!), and an open-air shower outdoors - that was nice! It was very nice and relaxing for us to get out of the city although a bit hot and humid to sleep at night for preggers here. I like to sleep in cool air so luckily there was a fan on above us. Charles took friday off as it was a long wkend for Ghana since Sunday was the country's National Day.

Just to add in: Here are a few pictures of Eva and friends at her daycare this Friday celebrating what they call "International Day" in honour of Ghana's National holiday since most of the children attending Gingerbread House come from countries all over the world.

We travelled with 3 other Canadian couples, whom one of the spouses works at the embassy. It was a great way to get to know other nice spots from those who have been here a longer. On the way up, about 3hours out, we stopped at a dairy farm owned by an Australian/Ghanaen couple, that our friends knew sold fresh milk, butter, yogurt and cheese. They breeded Australian with Ghanaen cows to make a sort of hybrid cow that would produce better-tasting, healthier dairy products. And they were right, whenwe got home last week, we tasted everything and it was great! Even fresh milk! We had not tasted any since we've been here. Plus, it gave Eva a little break from the long car ride and let her see the cows.

We spent most of the time on vacation beaching it in the sun and relaxing. Eva and her little friend Alexiane, really enjoyed flying kites for the first time on the beach! They also tortured a poor dying crab, trailing it along on a boogie board. It was cute.

Eva is growing into quite the little lady too! She's starting to understand the meaning of waiting her turn and figuring out the concept of time. Like she'll ask if she can do something "next weekend?" or if we can do it "tomorrow?" things like that. She doesn't fight us as much anymore when she wants something so it's nice to see that she may be growing out of her "terrible twos" sooner than we thought. She's still as obsessed as ever with Dora though, and Princesses, and puppies, ...and babies! I think she's looking forward to having a baby in the house but may not fully grasp the concept yet. By the way, if I haven't mentioned it yet, it looks like it's most probably going to be a girl. So Eva will have a little sister she can play and share everything with. The little one inside of me is starting to kick more and more now. Eva's understanding that she has to be careful not to jump on my belly and mentions things like "for the baby?" often. She is also playing more independently and getting along with Becky (our nanny/maid) much better now.

I have been doing great. I feel much better this time around since being back from my trip to Montreal in Jan-February. No more nausea or morning sickness. It really rejuvenated me and I knew what to expect when I got back to Accra. The crazy order-less lineups, bumper-to-bumper traffic, staring locals, etc... I sortof find myself just shrugging my shoulders at it all. It doesn't bother me as much as it did at the beginning. We are here now, for a limited time, and so we might as well make the best of it while we can. It will be my 30th Bday in 2 wks and we were thinking about having a li'l shin-dig here to celebrate. BBQ and a few friends, should be quiet but fun. It also helps knowing that I am coming back to Canada to spend the summer and we have a big vacation planned for 2-wks beginning of May in Belgium with my parents. We'll all be staying at Charles's parents place in Arlon, on the border of Luxembourg. We will be visiting our friends Julien & Julie (who came to our wedding) in Brussels; maybe get to see Bruges and some other nearby towns and possibly go to Frankfurt to see another couple that are friends of ours from Charles's University days spent living in Marseilles. I think Eva is looking forward to being with ALL 4! mamies and pappies at the same time! What a lucky little girl! :)

I am also starting to work on Monday on a 2-wk contract for the Canadian High Commission. The competition went out last week and I was selected. It involves doing reviews of locally-engaged staffs' medical files, sorting through requests, analyzing, compiling data, and presenting the findings to Charles's boss. Nothing too crazy but it'll give me something to do, a bit of $ and make time go by faster until our departure April 29th. So I am quite happy about starting that and being able to work from home, on my own time. It's quite ideal for the circumstances I am in at this time (being 5 1/2 months pregnant and having to care for Eva afternoons since daycare finishes at 1pm).

Charles has been doing well too. I think he's really looking forward to going on vacation. It'll be his first real one since Christmas. He has been doing a lot of overtime, has even reached his maximum for extra days off so is now cashing it in as he does it. For example today, we are Saturday and he is working all day supervising repairs and whatnot at work. So this weekend Eva and I are taking it easy, chilling out indoors because it gets a bit too hot for me outside all day. We'll probably go to the pool on the compound. We'll make some home-baked bread (...and we may try making bagels), Eva likes cooking with us -FYI, the bread here tastes really bland and sortof empty. They don't make it with milk or eggs, just water, and I'm not even sure if they put butter, so it does'nt have the same consistency or taste as back home.

Next wkend will be a busier one for us, Saturday morning (the 20th) we're bringing Eva to an easter Egg Hunt at the Canadian High Commissioner's residence with lots of other kids and parents from the US and other embassies. Eva will enjoy that. That night, Charles and I will be having dinner just the two of us at the Grasscutters (a British Pub in the UK's embassy) for a special St-Patrick's Day dinner. Becky will babysit Eva for us so we can have a little night out together alone. ANd on Sunday, we have an Art Exhibition to go to at one of Charles's American colleague's house. Should be interesting.

So that's that for the time being! We are doing pretty well apart from the intense heat and a house full of unreliable utilities such as electricity/water/gas/etc. not to mention the things that cease working/break down every week. You just have to laugh and chill out! (plus, I don't really care that much because it isn't really MY house so whatever...).

Take care folks,

Sending you all our love from Accra, living on the generator,
Laura, Charles, Eva (+baby) xoxo ;)

Après noel

Bonjour à tous!!!


Donc cela fait à peu près deux mois que l’on n’a pas écris sur ce blog. Je crois qu'il est temps de vous décrire un peu la vie ici, surtout de mon coté. Je dois dire que mon expérience est assez différente de celle de Laura , numéro 1: je ne suis pas enceinte; numéro 2: je vis dans un monde hybride. Une sorte de bulle ou je travaille au Canada à l’intérieur de l’ambassade et je vis au Ghana avec ma famille. Une situation que seul un diplomate peut vraiment en faire l’expérience. Notre maison est superbe mais beaucoup d’entretien est nécessaire car la qualité du matériel laisse à désirer. Les connaissances aussi parfois. Par exemple, un de mes collègues avait un problème électrique à la maison, il recevait des chocs à chaque fois qu’il branchait un truc. La solution offerte par notre électricien de l’ambassade (un locale) était que lui et sa famille portent en tout temps des sandales avec une semelle en caoutchouc dans la maison. C’est incroyable cette mentalité de ''patch-up'', et cela nous créé beaucoup de problèmes. Surtout le fait que la plupart des maisons construites ici n’ont pas de mise à terre. La climatisation aussi a des hauts et des bas duent à la fluctuation électrique. Tout notre équipement venant du Canada est connecté à un ''Uninterupted Power Supply'' (UPS) unit, qui régularise le courant et offre 30 minutes de batterie afin d’empêcher que l’équipement s'éteint et se rallume à chaque fois qu'il y a une panne électrique (environ aux deux jours). Ce UPS est connecté à un transformateur qui change le courant de 220V à 110V, qui lui est connecté à un surge protector. Tout pour dire que l’on a un nombre énorme de fils qui traînent dans la maison. C’est un cauchemar de technicien IT, même que nos techniciens sont toujours très occupés à l’ambassade. La plomberie aussi semble être problématique, de simples réparations prennent un temps fou. C’est donc beaucoup plus difficile pour Laura car elle n’a pas vraiment accès à ce Canada comme je l’ai. C’est une situation qui va causer de plus en plus de problèmes au Gouvernement dans les années à venir. Il est de plus en plus difficile de trouver un couple ou l’époux/se accepte de rester à la maison. C’est donc qu’une carrière de diplomate n’est plus pour la vie, mais bien seulement pour quelque temps.

Donc pour expliquer, je travaille beaucoup plus ici au Ghana. C’est incroyable le montant de boulot à faire. Je suis deuxième Secrétaire et Vice Consul pour le Ghana et le Togo. Moi et mon directeur, Mike, sommes responsables de tout ce qui affecte l’ambassade (le haut commissariat), les systèmes financiers, les ressources humaines, la gestion de propriété, les contrats, la gestion des procédures et politiques, et les affaires consulaires. Les affaires consulaires, pour ceux qui veulent le savoir, sont tous les services que l’on offre aux citoyens canadiens à l’étranger. Par exemple cette semaine, j’ai livré dix passeports, effectué une identification d’une dame Canadienne décédée la semaine passée (mon premier cas de personne décédée), et mis en place un manuel de procédures et politques d’urgence pour les employés au Canada qui seront affectés au Ghana.
Le travail est très varié, même un peu trop, parfois j'ai l’impression d’avoir un poids énorme sur les épaules. C’est vraiment la première fois que je ressens du stress dans mon travail, c’est intéressant comme sensation. La plupart de mes autres fonctions n’avaient pas ce niveau de responsabilité. Les trois premières semaines de janvier, mon patron était en vacances et je l’ai remplacé. Ce fut trois semaines où j’ai fait tellement de surtemps, au total, assez pour remplir une semaine en heures. Tout pour dire que j’étais soulagé lorsqu’il est revenu.
Un peu de plaisir aussi au Ghana. Mes parents sont venus pour noël de la Belgique. Ce fut un énorme plaisir de les accueillir ici au Ghana. Je dois remercier mes parents qui nous ont aidé tant pour la préparation du départ de Gatineau pour l’envoie, mais aussi qui étaient là pour la réception et déballement de tous nos meubles et biens au Ghana. Nous sommes très chanceux d’avoir eu cette aide de ma mère et mon père. Je dois dire que notre résidence est plus plaisante que s’ils n’étaient pas venus.
On a passé Noël sur le bord de l’océan à un endroit qui s’appelle Coconut Grove. Un resort qui est supposément le meilleur au pays mais qui a vu de meilleurs jours. C’était quand même très plaisant et on s’est beaucoup amusé. La veille de Noël on a dansé sur la musique High Life live au resort et Eva nous a fait un beau petit spectacle.
Nous sommes revenus à Accra pour fêter Noël. Ah oui, j’oubliais de dire que Nicolas Brooks est venu nous visiter en même temps. J’espère que notre réunion familiale ne l’a pas trop perturbé. Il est passé deux semaines au Ghana avant de continuer pour le Japon. Pendant ce temps on a pris quelques bières et il a visité un peu plus le Ghana. Il est même parti à Kumasi, deuxième ville du Ghana, en Tro-TRo. Le Tro-TRo est le transport en public par excellence au Ghana. C’est en principe un petit autobus scolaire qui a terminé sa durée de vie mais qui a toutes les qualités sécuritaires nécessaires pour transporter le public : 4 roues et un châssis qui est retenu par plusieurs rouleaux de duct tape… Il est aussi nécessaire qu’une prière ou un dicton de dieux soit inscrit. Je crois que cette mœur est bien choisie car souvent le Tro-TRo en a bien besoin :J

Mais le plus surprenant est la vitesse à laquelle ces machines suicidaires roulent, c’est incroyable! J’ai même entendu une histoire (non vérifiée) qu’un volontaire revenait de Kumasi en Tro-TRo l’année passée. En chemin, le Tro-TRo klaxonnait un cycliste de se bouger, mais le cycliste n’a pas tempéré. De fait, le Tro-TRo a accéléré et a passé par dessus le cycliste. Le volontaire était tout à fait hors de lui. Lorsqu’ils sont arrivés à la destination, il a alerté la police. La police a demandé au chauffeur des informations. Éventuellement, le chauffeur a payé une amende équivalente à 50$ CAD. Le cycliste est mort, enfin on croit, et personne n’a pris de responsabilité. Telle est la vie en Afrique parfois, l’impunité fait partie de la vie, et si tu te promènes en vélo sur les routes, assures-toi de rester loin des Tro-TRos!

Laura revient aujourd’hui avec Eva, son vol a été annulé de New York, semble qu’il y a un blizzard qui empêche les avions de décoller. Elle arrive donc ce soir, j’ai très hâte de les voir. Ça fait presque 4 semaines qu’elles sont parties. Cela va être difficile lorsque Laura partira au mois de mai pour accoucher au Canada, moi je peux seulement venir au début juillet. Par contre je serai de retour au Canada pour 2 mois. Je dois donc avoir une meilleure routine physique que jusqu’à maintenant. Ce qui va m’aider sera probablement avoir mon vélo. Laura me ramène une roue du Canada. En effet, l’axe de mon vélo a été brisé dans le transport de nos affaires, donc pas de vélo, et j’ai peur de faire du magasinage pour un roue ici. EN fait, étant donné que j’ai des freins à disques, je crois qu’une roue de vélo de montagne n’existe pas ici. Je sais qu’il y a un village un peu plus au Nord qui effectue des excursions de vélo de montagne, mais il importe tout l'équipement nécessaire. De plus, je ne sais pas si c’est vraiment une bonne idée de faire du vélo de montagne à 35 degrés Celsius, mais c’est une bonne manière de perdre du poids :J

Donc voilà les news pour le moment, nous allons bien, la vie va bien. Nous serons de retour cet été pour quelque temps afin de recevoir le nouveau membre de notre petite famille.

Ah j'oubliais presque de mentionner, durant nos voyages des temps des fêtes, nous avons passé un petit village qui adorait les Franks! Celui-ci se nommait en effet ''Frankadua'' :J

À plus tard!

Charles, Laura, Eva