A different type of Christmas

While much of North America struggled through blizzards and very cold temps this holiday season, we were certainly not cold, sweating during the day with temps in the mid 20's Celcius (70's F.).  As was expected, things were not bad, but definitely different this year, and Christmas traditions were the same and yet very much NOT the same:

The Advent wreath, when we finally were able to get it into the village (less than a week before Christmas) boasted weirdly twisted candles.

Christmas decorations were put up with one member of our family missing for the first time (Christy), and with sweat dripping off my face.

Warm Snow… 

Add 1 Tbsp of powder 

to a quart of water, 

and stir,

and stir, 

and… 

it’s amazing!

Christmas stockings… well, stockings got stuck in Kumba, so gift bags had to do for this year J

Christmas presents… since the road made shopping very difficult, we made do with what we found when we unpacked, and what we could buy in the nearby market town; 

Laura and Kenneth’s rooms now have new curtains (instead of old ones that are moldy and falling apart).

Jesus’ Birthday Cake… seems to work out well no matter where we are – yay!

And Christmas cookies… I finally found a great recipe – so good that we didn’t even put icing on them!

Every-day fun

Sometimes we miss the good things that are right in front of us.


Bananas growing right next to our yard

(note: this is not a banana TREE, it is a banana STEM; its "trunk" is very weak, and it reproduces through suckers that grow right next to it)










A delicious home-cooked meal

This one includes ripe bananas and a salad.  Salads are definitely a treat for us, as our groceries are usually very limited due to very bad roads.

Fun found in making a fort out of a bunkbed, using living room cushions, and bedding; and creativity in figuring out how to make crocheted finger puppets without a pattern.









K & L cracking egusi with their friends - something that needs to be done, but which has become a favorite pastime :).

Egusi is similar to pumpkin seeds, but is ground up.  We like egusi as an addition to some of the non-American food we eat - like cabbage stew and njamanjama.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egusi for some info on this amazing food.

And of course, there is our kitten, who provides hours of amusement for everyone.  We laugh as she discovers a mirror (and the kitten on the other side!), and as she plays with everything in sight.

Critter update

Is this a mouse?  I chased this guy around the shower one evening.  His bush tail is the only clue that he is NOT a mouse, but a pygmy squirrel!  Maybe he got in during the solar power system update, or maybe we just need to critter-proof our house a bit more.  He is pretty small....





 But not as small as the critters who made a mess on my desk!!  This "dust" filtered down from the ceiling, until Mike took pity on me and tacked up a strip of wood to cover the joining between the ceiling boards.  This seems to have at least contained the "dust" for now.

The battlefield - the dead and dying....

Then there are the weevils...!  Not content to stay in the flour, they can be found in most of the packaged starches in our storeroom.  I was trying to make stroganoff one day and realized that it was going to be a lot more work than I had figured on....

 But it was worth it.  Finally we were able to enjoy the cooked noodles with the delicious stroganoff sauce.

Then there are the bigger surprises, like this cricket-type critter with super long antennae.  It might be a "camel cricket" - it lives usually in dark surroundings (nocturnal) so moves around a lot by touch, using those long antennae!


Kenneth is a real lover of critters; he was thrilled to have a regular lizard in his room, and worked hard to catch it.  We usually let the little geckos stay hidden in our house to catch insects at night, but regular lizards are too bold and large for our liking.  Kenneth was called on to catch the other lizard in the house - he likes to feel their skin (when you move your finger the wrong way against it, it catches in little spikes) before releasing them outside.

Updating the solar (power) system...

I'm not going to make a whole lot of comments in this post, mainly because I don't know what I'm talking about!!  I do know that Mike has done a lot of research and has some good resources (including my brother-in-law!) which allows him to install and/or upgrade a solar power system.  New parts were ordered and arrived on a shipping container; they finally made it to the village, and Mike worked hard to get things swapped with minimal down-time for our electricity.  He also swapped out a very decayed wood ceiling panel in the process :).

The "old" equipment

The ceiling panel removed
in order to get access to the wiring.

The new ceiling panel got installed
(after a lot of maneuvering!)

The "new stuff"

The batteries were swapped out later.  Here are the old ones (no picture of the new ones right now).

 And we're back up and running.  Others in the village appreciate it as well, as we've become a center for charging cell phones :).

Biking and other exercise

The kids don't have to look far to find ways to get exercise here (it's more difficult for us adults!).  Kenneth has wanted to learn how to use a machete, and has tried to cut some grass a few times, but his friends laugh at him because he didn't grow up with a machete in his hand like they did.


As rains become fewer, "traffic" (motorcycles and people walking) along the paths in the village increases.  And with that increase comes more... LITTER!  We as a family collected quite a bit of garbage just within one block; and the next day there was more already - sigh!  This might become a family tradition....



















 When it DOES rain, there is always the fun of playing in the mud :).






But the kids were REALLY happy when Mike took time to fix up their bikes.  All the bikes were in pretty sad shape from sitting for 5 years - not only flat tires, but disintegrated tires - and other parts!

A few new parts and a bit of work (a couple different times, for the smaller bike) made 2 of the bikes useable again.





Now our family "walks" sometimes include a bike or two.  No bike helmets, but you can't go very fast between the extremely bumpy roads and the foot traffic.  There are always stops to make on the way, like watching a game of what is probably "draughts" (often this is played by older teens and young men, and includes gambling).  Often our walk takes us to the field at the elementary (primary) school, and the scene there around sunset (~6:30pm) is beautiful.