Our New Home Away from Home

It takes a while to unpack your life.  but little did i realize that I had not packed AT ALL what I thought it did!  Its ok, totally my fault and I am hoping that all the things that I am missing are in storage!  Alas, we have to make due with what we have...and I have some photos to show you how we make any home we get ours.  We had a significant weight limit on our shipment, so we got rid of our big furniture.  Mostly we brought the entire kitchen, some linens, knick knacks, shelving and some clothes.  Knox got about half of his books, and ryan and I realized we didn't pack any of ours.  I guess that is what the kindle is for!! Lots of crafting supplies made it.  And its all unorganized, so that will be for another day.  Anyway, as I said before...here are the photos of our home away from home!

This is what you see when you walk in the front door.  The wooden door is from Mali, and the two bird are Burkinabe.  Ryan sent me a photo of one on his TDY at the beginning of the year and I feel in love.  When we saw them at an artisanal market we grabbed them!

Of course we found a prominent spot for our 1954 German Africa map! 

My fox wall is FINALLY up, though obviously not finished!  Two are from a great friend in germany.  One is a water color from a great friend in germany.  Some are thrift shop finds!  And the two large prints are from a boutique in Helsinki! 

 Random photos and stuff.  Dont mind the lamp on the floor!  Work in progress!!

Our beloved antique wood world map!  Awesome guys from the Netherlands make these, along with an epic selection of AWESOME furniture.  I swear they will furnish my forever home!  

Ah, the dining room.  We already took two leaves out of the table!  Its so funny when just the three of us sit there.  

 Still dreaming of fall in the 100 degree heat!

My make shift closet.  All of our Xmas deco is back there!!  

Hall way.  Self explanatory. 

 One guest room. I guess I forgot to upload the other one. Whoops. 

 Main Bathroom

Knoxers room.  He loves it, so he says.  He sure can destroy in in three seconds flat!!

Master bedroom.  Keep in mind, we do live here.  

And my oasis.  The back veranda.  I am always back here.  Usually yelling at Frank. 

It seems that I have once again neglected the kitchen.  ::le sigh:: Some day yall will get to see it!

Well, that is our new home.  You can compare them to earlier posts to see how we changed it.  Its fun making a house your home.  Even if we do have to do it so very often! 

::Warning:: This post will be GRAPIC. Bodily fluids. Curse Words. Walking Dead. My indoctrination to living in West Africa

OK, so if you have gotten this far, you have read the warning. And I am going to warn you again.  This will be a gruesome post.
Disclaimer:  I am alive.

Best advice I have received so far while living here "Never trust a fart in West Africa"

So, lets start from the beginning.  Ryan came home last week not feeling so hot. Queasy tummy, dizziness, etc...  Full decontamination mode was put into place.  Sent straight to quarantine.  Do NOT pass go, do NOT collect $200.  He was feeling better soon after.  (My effective protocols help, clearly.)

Then the weekend hits.  I get to sleep in to the epic hour of seven to my kid hurling in the living room.  ::le sigh:: ok.  He says he feels fine.  His favorite excuse is "its bc i was too hot", he can be adorable.  We continue about our day.  Went out to run some errands.  Got some ice cream.  Kid doesn't say a thing.  Woot woot, we are in the clear.  Lets go out to lunch!  We wanted to check out this Korean place in our neighborhood that many people have recommended.  We don't currently have a car, and the embassy does provide us with a ride when ever and where ever we want, but we figure its right around the corner, we can make the trek.  After and uneventful walk to the restaurant, we sit down and order food.  And then the spew happens again out of the little one.  But this time, its Bubble Gum Ice Cream.  Like, ew.  Many of y'all know, I DO NOT DO PUKE. And ice cream puke takes it to a whole different level for me. You can literally be bleeding out of your jugular and laying in sewage and I will help you.  But if you throw up in the process, nope.  Im out. Ill call for help from waaaaay over there.  So, Ryan and the waitress help clean up and i try to look like a concerned momma bear while keeping my distance. Since our food order was already in i waited for the food to go, and the boys went home.  No biggie.  (But look, i did something on my own again!) Get home, life is normal. No more puke.  Lethargic kid,  but we did give him free reign of Netflix so I think we were getting played a little bit.  Turned out to be a pretty lame Saturday bc there wasn't even  Army football on!

Wake up Sunday, the kid says he isn't hungry.  Uh Oh.  Oh no, we were just being played again.  He was fine.  No fever.  No tummy issues.  Just wanted to watch TV all day.  He is good.  Later that night I start to feel a little weird.  Don't really think much of it. Haven't really eaten much. But maybe it was something that isn't agreeing with me.  But its not *that* bad.  I make myself some probiotic peppermint tea and go to bed. 

Monday morning. Holy Moly,  what is happening in my belly??!  There isn't much in there but everything is coming out! And I mean, it started as soon as I opened my eyes.  I don't remember much of Monday except sleeping and the bathroom. Jacqueline was here, and she knew something was up. I couldn't keep anything down or in.  It was awful.  Ryan comes home and I tap out and head to bed.  Not a lick of sleep happened that night.

::HERE IS YOUR THIRD WARNING::

I literally shit the bed about four times.  Took four showers.  Changed my clothes too many times to count.  Now that i think about it, I should have just slept in the bathtub.  I was hot.  I was cold.  I was nekked.  I was wearing a freaking parka.  WHAT IS DOING THIS TO ME?!!  I have not put an ounce of anything into my body SO WHY IS SO MUCH COMING OUT?!!  I was dizzy.  But I did have my nurse maid, LuLuBird, right by my side.  She is so good to me.  No matter what she always wants the pets. She has since been decontaminated,

 And bc we don't have a shipment yet, we don't have extra sheets.  I used every clean linen in the house. All the while my boys are sleeping away.  (By the way, I was in quarantine at this point so Ryan was in another bed.  He was not objectified by my bodily fluids)

Finally the sun comes up and I can make everyone else in the house miserable with me.  I email the Health Unit, they can get me in ASAP. Ryan orders me a motor pool.  Sweet.  But wait.  Its like a minimum 30 minute drive to the embassy.  Am I going to make it??!!  Am I going to scar this poor driver for life by ruining his car?!!  I guess this is a chance that i have to take.

::phishu::  I make it to the HU. No accidents.  But it was just in time.  A little diagnostics.  Vitals.  Pooping into cups.  Puking.  Im sure I spread my germs where ever and everywhere.  But these people are FABULOUS.  Zofran and an IV.

 Im finally feeling a little better.  Then comes the gatorade.  At this point I am the most thirsty I have ever been in my entire life, but I am terrified to drink anything. (maybe its rabies!) Just looking at that yellow liquid gave me the chills.  And the flashbacks.  (I was doing pretty well at this point.  1 hour with not having to use the bathroom!!) I had to take two sips.  And that was it.  Right back to the bathroom I went.  PLEASE JUST MAKE THIS STOP?!!  Well, the only way to make this stop is to drink the gatorade and the meds.  And I had to do it.  And I did it.  And it stopped, eventually.  And then they made me eat.  I couldn't go home til I drank and ate.  Painful to say the least.  But, again.  I did it.  9 hours in the health unit.  With the best of the best Ouaga has to offer.   Seriously people, the Health Unit staff here is amazing.  I got to meet them all ! Every.single.one.

While I am trying not to poop, we get the diagnosis.  Im thinking.  Tape worms!  Malaria!  DYSENTERY!

What my actual tombstone would look like.  

Nope, none of the above.  I have cryptosporidium.  A damn parasite.  

IN MY BELLY!!

https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/crypto/index.html

You can get it anytime, anywhere.  It is everywhere,  but very common around here. Maybe something I ate wasn't washed well.  Perhaps it was from a handshake.  I was doing some research and it can even live in chlorinated water.  I betcha those fuckers are living it up in my pool right now.  Im gonna get them.  KILL THEM ALL.  Bc I do not wish this on my own worst enemy.  It was bad.  Embarrassing. Downright painful.  But I am bouncing back.  I have had toast this morning, and wasn't afraid to eat it!  I slept better last night than I did the night before, and my sheets were CLEAN!  

I thought I had it rough the last time we were in West Africa.   ( I am sure I mentioned it in an earlier blog post) I picked up a bug of some sort some where between Cote D'Ivoire  and Ghana.  Took it back to Morocco with me, but it wasn't this bad.  NO WHERE NEAR.  

So, I hope I have not deterred your future travels to West Africa.  I heard its a right of passage to shit your pants at least once while here.  I guess Im home now.  

Almost one month!

This is going to be a random post of random things.  Particularly arrival of our UAB (Unaccompanied Baggage), grocery shopping, and mail! 

OK, lets start with one of the highlight of this past week, our stuff from DC arriving!  Woot wooooooot!!!  It came in four GIANT boxes.  And we were waaaaaaaay under the weight limit allowed, but with going to school, and TDYs, and the kid, and leaving the 'murica, we really didn't think much about what we were going to put in there.  Plus, all of our 'normal' UAB stuff is with our HHG (HouseHold Goods).

I thought the stamp they put on all the boxes was really cool.  Im just a dork that way!  But yes, we got four of these boxes.  Mostly clothes.  Other knickknacks that I purchased while in the states.  Mostly holiday decorations.  Some toys and books for the kiddo.  All of our language books (guess I cant be bored anymore). And a lot of random stuff. 

There is no rhyme or reason to the way that they pack these boxes, which really makes me grrrr.  And we only had one casualty in the entire shipment.  Which I am taking as a good thing!!!

Our HHG was packed up in Stuttgart in February.  Sent on a boat to the states.  Then sat in a warehouse until we left the country again.  So who knows what kind of shape that is in.  All of our lives is in those boxes.  And in particular, the items that make our home OURS.  

I am going to keep an optimistic  outlook on the state of my things, because there is no need to dwell on the bad.  But these packing/moving/storage companies do not have the best track record.  Only time will tell, and of course its just stuff. But it is OUR stuff.  We hear that our stuff has been received at some place and will be sent to us soon.  Don't you just love the vagueness of that?? Maybe a week, maybe two. 

And of course anyone can appreciate a good imagination station.  Right now its the "club house" for Knox and the class pet, Freddy-a stuffed Kangaroo.  (K's teacher is Australian)

OK, on to the next.  

Guys.  

I did it. 

I went to the grocery on my OWN!  

As some of you know, my anxiety can be crippling, and I have learned the best way to get over it is to put on my big girl pants and JUST DO IT (not endorsed by Nike)

And I did.  And I survived, obvi.  OK, so lets chat a little about the grocery store.  Well, our go to right now is called Marina.  Its not like a massive place we all have grown to love.  But it is packed to the gills with anything and everything you would need.  They even have Mac n'cheese!  Its off brand, but its a little comfort that we enjoyed!  They dont really have produce, bc you can find that on any street corner.  And the first time we went to the meat counter I saw a roach and my new fave french phrase came into use :

::la porchaine fois::

 next time

Yeah, there will not be a next time.  And before y'all give me shit about "dealing with it. And other people eat it blah blah blah"

No. Just NO.

Ok, so back to what i was saying.  Marina is very much for the Expats that call Ouaga home. And that being said it is EXPENSIVE.  Like, say what expensive.  A block of butter is $4. 4 pack of yogurt $3.50.  A pack of UHT milk $16. A bottle of Jack Daniels $30. Can of cat food $1 each.

But these are the things that we need to live.  HAHAHAHAHAH. 

Most of these items I can get on amazon or are in the process of being shipped to us as we speak, but when you run out....you run out and need to find something that will make due.  And LuLu loves her some expensive ass French cat food. 

There is an excellent butcher that we use.  Some of the best pork chops I have had in a while.  Tons of different cuts of beef, and they have veal and lamb.  And the prices are exceptional!  We walk out of there with two weeks worth of meat for like $40. Our housekeeper extrodinaire, Jacqueline, has hooked us up with a "Chicken Man". He literally shows up to the house with a cooler full of chicken. Its glorious! I bought a lot of chicken. A lot.  

Y'all know how much I love getting mail.  Its one of my favorite things ever.  Especially letters. If anyone wants to be a pen pal, let me know!  Ryan came home the other day and said we had 13 pieces of mail waiting for us! Yaaaaaaas!  It was mostly amazon purchases.  Lots of snacks for the kid. About 12 cans of pumpkin puree for my baking needs.  All sorts of stuff.  Its just weird that it all came in around the same time.  And we have not received one package that is not DESTROYED and taped up again.  I am not sure what they are doing with these packages, but they definitely have seen better days. 

Ok, well I think that is about it for today,  Our oven stopped working, so there is that.  Our first school/PTA function is this weekend so that is fun.  Our gardener, Elize, is helping me start a garden. In an old oil barrel. Hey, if it works it works. 

Oh, funny story!  I asked to start a compost pile for the garden a couple of weeks ago.  Elize dug a hole next to the garden wall and Jacqueline and I are very diligent on remembering all the compostable things from the kitchen.  I went to see said hole, and I was wondering if we need a fence to keep a certain tortoise out.  Elize reassured me all was well so every day we toss the fruit/veggie scraps, egg shells and coffee grounds. 

Then, last Monday...Elize tells me the compost hole is empty.  It seems we might have our own  Templeton on our hands....

Take your guesses on the culprit....

Maison Loviner

Every time we move, the number one question that is always asked is "What does you house look like??"

This last move we were lucky enough to get some photos from the previous occupants, but of course they never do any justice. 

We live in the neighborhood of Ouaga called Zone du Bois. The houses are closer together, there are more restaurants, and the International School is over here. Its nice.  Chickens ca-cawing, the Call to Prayer, motor bikes whizzing by. Red Clay streets littered with trash and potholes, random goats wandering (i keep trying to entice one in...), and practically every tree in the entire city is on our side of town.  Lush and green, especially now in the rainy season. We met a neighbor.  She stopped us and said hello and welcome to the neighborhood.  Not a LICK of english.  Guess im not popping over for happy hour.

This house is amazing.  Like, seriously guys, we lucked out completely.  (as we usually do!!) Four bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms. Huge back yard. Front veranda.  Back patio.  And of course the pool! Why we need so much room, I am not sure.  But ill take it!  After living in on post housing all over the US, then to our literal mansion in Rabat, on to the on post housing of Stuttgart (yeah those neighbors where close!), and then to the atrocity of Row Houses in NE DC...this place is glorious.  If i am in the kitchen I can't hear the boys in the back bedrooms.  If the doorbell rings, its an actual 50 yard dash.  BUT I A'INT COMPLAININ'!  When people come over, they say wow.  It makes me happy.

There are a couple of facebook groups dedicated to Embassy housing, and our beloved and dreaded Drexel furniture. Drexel Heritage to be exact.  And they certainly don't make it any more.  Its often found in state side thrift shops, and a huge joke of the embassy community.  But, its sturdy.  It holds up with family after family.  And its here when we get here.  Sure its not the best looking, but it works.  We are not allowed to paint them, much to my complaints.  We can recover with fabric or slip covers, and there is nothing like adding your own personal touches such as centerpieces and throw pillows.  So "fancier" embassies have nicer furniture, but I feel its a right of passage to have a home with the Dreaded Drexel at least once.  And we are on post number two...only up from here...amiright??!

Our living room is pretty large,  but everything is of centered.  And my OCD is fully triggered.  The lights, exposed beams, outlets, and windows are not centered.  ::le sigh:: The TV is the Embassy's, and its nice that its part of our "Welcome Kit". We were told when we were first looking into moving here that AFN (our way to watch cable) boxes were not available. So we bought one while in Germany.  Come to find out, we didn't need to as the house came with a cable box.  Bonus! 

 And our house came with the cringe worthy gold couches.  (we have actually purchased couches in this color before, shhhhh dont tell anyone ) But they will match our stuff, so that is a success! And the exposed beams are swoon worthy in my opinion.  And that little door to the right is another bathroom.  Super tiny, and Knox is the only one who uses it bc its comparable to an airplane bathroom. Up those two steps is the dining room.  Our table seats 12.  Yes, TWELVE.  I don't even know 12 people in Ouagadougou! 

 Extra guest room, or as Ryan likes to call it. His dressing room.  Also, Lu likes to call this room her own.  And it has its own bathroom!  (No photo, sorry!) That window looks into the kitchen and laundry rooms.  So strange. 

Main bathroom.  It has its quirks and charms.  The shower rod thingee is falling out of the ceiling.  The towel rack is falling out of the wall. The door slams into the toilet and the cabinet is missing a knob. 

Office/Guest room.  Technically right now the room that holds the stuff we are not sure where we are going to put yet, As in our luggage. 

Knoxers room.  He seems to like it.  "I can see the pool from here!"  That kid. 

Master bedroom.  Its the smallest, but it has an adjoining bathroom, so we will make it work once our king size bed shows up.  If it ever shows up.  Once again, another blog post should be written about the traveling Purple mattress.

And finally, the master bath.  Again, nothing fancy, but it works.  Its the only bathroom with a tub, so the kiddo has taken it over. He thinks the bidet is the coolest thing on earth.  Hasn't used it yet, but is very curious. 

Well, that is a tour of our house.  I hope y'all are happy now. Hahaahahah. I seemed to have forgotten the kitchen and laundry rooms.  I leave it up to your imaginations.  Every bed room has plenty of storage space.  Albeit, strange storage.  And there isn't a closet near the front of the house, which makes me wander with rain jackets until i toss them on a random piece of furniture. Knox's rain coat is on the top of a book shelf right now.  We also have a pile of shoes on the front veranda.  Makes it more homey in my opinion.  Im sure i am leaving something out.  Let me know if you have any questions.  

A little side note:

Thanks for all the love, guys.  It really means a lot to me!  I know this blog isn't much, but its me.  I do hope you read it in my voice.  I hope it makes you smile. and I definitely hope it makes you laugh out loud. I am not a professional in any way shape or form, but I want this blog to be a away for everyone to get a little glimpse of my (our) life here in our corner of Africa.  

And a big shout out and love to my dear sweet patient husband.  Who encourages me so much, probably too much, and never scolds me when i say something he doesn't agree with.  You are the best. And i can hear you rolling your eyes from over here.  

Til the next time guys, signing off from Wild Wonderful Ouaga!

Wild Wonderful Ouaga

Hey guys!  Since I have nothing to do around here, why not start this up again?? 

Its been a long four years,  but we are back in Africa!  Burkina Faso, to be exact! Ryan and I knew that we would be back on the continent sooner rather than later, but we both had different ideas about where we would actually be posted.  I have three rules when it comes to moving to Africa.  It might make me sound "boujie" or stuck up, but they are my rules. 

Sabrina's Three Rules of Postings to Africa are:
1-There must be a beach with in an hour driving distance.
2- The at least second language of the country must be English
3- There must be DPO mail available.

And with Burkina, I got the mail. (which might be going away :( ) And now that i see it written down, my list is boujie.  Oh well, deal with it! 



OK, so lets go back a couple of months.  Almost a year to be exact.  Ryan was scheduled to go TDY from Stuttgart to Norfolk VA.  And while he was there we were going to find out where our next PCS would take us.  So this did happen.  And at first we were headed to Kinshasa, DRC.  Ummm.  Well, that is certainly not what I expected.  But I started to do my research.  Eh, seems like it will be ok after the initial psych out that comes with these big moves.  Fast forward a couple of weeks, to this phone call:
Ryan- Hey babe,  hows it going?
Me- Fine, why are you calling?  (See people, I don't even talk to my husband who is across the ocean on the phone!!)
Ryan- Weeeeeeellllllll...
Me- Lawd, where are we going now?
Ryan- You are so good.  Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Me- Gesundheit.

Cue the freak out again.  And cue the research.  Thank goodness we had friends that were already posted there, and we were in touch on the regular. (Thanks Dom!)

Here is a little disclaimer.  Do not google Burkina Faso.  Unless you want to know things that you probably do not want to know about the country.  Its one of the poorest in the world.  Things are not safe outside of Ouaga.  And this is now where we live. 

I know, I know.  K and I would not have been able to come here if it were not safe.  Ouaga itself is great (so far).  Our neighborhood is ::nice:: But the icing on the cake are the people.  Holy moly, you will not find a nicer group of people.  Always offering help, and definitely always with a smile.

This move was a little different than our last to Africa bc of the training and experience we have as a family.  When we arrived in Rabat and Ryan went straight to work, I locked Knox and I in our bedroom and didnt leave until Ry came home.  And i did that everyday for about two weeks.  I was terrified.  This time around was a little different.  Yes, Ryan went to work right off the bat. Grrrr.  But I came in with a better attitude.  What is the point of being scared?  (Of course its ok to be scared, but it didnt help me last time) This time I had to show Knox that everything is and will be ok.  I was harassed more walking around the streets of Morocco than I am here.  I just get looks now, but always followed by a smile and a wave.  I have gone out by myself.  I have walked to and from the school a dozen times.  Yes, its only two blocks away. But I did it.  I have ventured to the embassy on my own.  I can do these things now.  I have grown as a person, and I have a little person who depends on me to be the mom he needs.  We have a housekeeper and a gardener who are here every weekday during the day, and a night guard every night.  So I am never alone in the house.  Oh and of course we have LaceyLu and our newest addition, Franklin.  (oh my obsession with tortoise health should be a whole different blog post!)

Wow, this is turning into a long rambling post about blah.  Sorry, folks.  I promise other posts will be more organized and thought out.  This is a great way to bide my time until I might have something to do.  I am **patiently** waiting for our shipments.  Supposedly one will be here this week and another next week!  If there are a bunch of rambling posts about nothing, just read them and laugh at me, for my amusement. 

Im going to try to remember to bring my stuff out with me when i leave the house, I dont usually bring my phone anymore. Hopefully there will be photos to add soon.  Everyone keeps asking for a tour of the house, so maybe Ill do that today.  Maybe.

Also, our old skype phone is up and running and you can call it like any other US number.  Let me know if you need it.  Facebook is always a great way to get a hold of us, also we both now have BFA whatsapp numbers, and now thanks to Cam Im on something called MarcoPolo.  She cracks me up! 

OK, well let me publish this and get the ball rolling on our ever exciting and always expanding Malarone and Mosquito Nets Adventures!

Cheers from Ouagadougou!