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!