Month: May 2014

Calvin in Uganda, Part 1

In a few hours, Calvin will be flying to Germany with his soccer team so it seemed appropriate to post a bit from his last international adventure. Plus, this is all I’ve been able to get out of him so far. When I asked if he could write some more he said, “How about we do it in two parts?” Alright then . . . here you go:

My experience in Uganda was amazing! It was by far the greatest and most powerful experience I have ever had. I really enjoyed the opportunity to help and serve the people in Uganda.
On the bus

On the wall at the Children’s Home — photos of the kids and their sponsors
We sponsor a boy, Joshua, and a girl, Jamawiya.
We didn’t get to the hotel until late that night, so we didn’t get to the orphanage until the next day. Once we got there, we met with a few of the kids, and then proceeded to pass out T-shirts, and hats. Then after we were done taking photos, the kids danced, and sang a few songs. Then it was time to work. Most of us went and started finishing the wall that they had already started, and the rest of them went into one of the buildings, and sorted the donations that we had brought with us. We got pretty far with the wall, and by the end of the day, everybody was able to play with the kids at least a little bit.
For Joey’s birthday, instead of a part and gifts for himself, he and his friends and family went to Build-A-Bear and made a stuffed animal for each of the Hoffman Home children. This is Joshua with his bear. 
They brought handmade quilts and pillowcases for each of the kids


We were all so glad, happy, and excited to be here. We couldn’t wait for what tomorrow had in store for us. We went back to the hotels, and split up for about an hour before dinner, to shower, and change. That is when I started feeling sick. Instead of going down to dinner, I laid in bed, trying to sleep, hoping that I would feel better in the morning. Unfortunately, I didn’t. Even though I wasn’t feeling well, I still went with them, and the laid down in one of the administration rooms in the main building. That was probably one of the hardest things on the trip. knowing that I could be out there helping people, but instead I had to be inside, doing nothing, but laying there.
Picture of Michelle and Julia. Husband/Dad and sons/brothers added their handprints to the wall on this first visit
At about lunchtime, I felt well enough to venture out into the main sitting rooms for the guests, where the rest of the team were eating lunch. I hung out with them while they ate lunch, and continued to sit there until well after they had gone back to work. About an hour later, I walked outside a little bit, and talked with a few kids. I guess they have only been going to an english speaking school for a few months, but they speak pretty good english. It’s kind of hard to understand them at first, but it got easier to understand them as the trip went on.
Calvin with Jamawiya

Thankfully, I never once felt sick again. The trip went pretty well from then on. I think that one other person felt sick during the trip, but that’s about it.

Growing on Me

This is the month when the Class of 2014 is scrambling to buy last minute pieces of furniture, check every last thing off their bucket lists, and schedule movers, hotel stays and plane tickets. Meanwhile the incoming Class of 2016 is trying to figure out whether to bring their bookshelves and patio furniture, how to get their pets on an airplane in spite of a heat embargo and animal importation restrictions, and freaking out about living in The Middle East. I’m sitting calmly in the middle with nowhere to go and nowhere to be and it’s looking pretty fine.

The driving mostly doesn’t bother me anymore. In fact, I’ve developed a few bad habits in the last two years. Two days ago I had to get to a meeting and no one was moving. I veered around a few cars, took a short trip the wrong way up a wrong way street and dropped out right in front of the light, bypassing about 25 cars. I was ready to resort to driving on the sidewalk, but thankfully cars started moving and it didn’t have to come to that. Now I’m more annoyed when people aren’t driving aggressively than when they are. Like the guy who wouldn’t pull into traffic today even when he had 5 second long gaps. I gave up and drove in the oncoming lane to go around him and merge into a space that he considered too small. Blame it on the Saudi influence. 
To drive here without losing your mind you have to be willing to swerve like you’re driving through an obstacle course: (around random pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars that don’t stay on their side of the road). The key is look at every other thing on the road whether it’s a car, animal, or human and think to yourself, “What is the stupidest move they could make right now?” and assume they will do it since it’s about a 50/50 chance that they will. 8 point turn on a major street? Check. Driving in reverse because they missed their turn by 1/2 a block? Check. Creating a third lane on the sidewalk? Check. Driving through the red lights en masse because they don’t want to wait for the next green? Check. Parking on a major thoroughfare, in the lane just because . . . Check. (Those are all examples from this week.) 
In the spirit of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” I’ve figured out some tricks to keep me sane on the roads whether it’s shortcuts that bypass the worst of the intersections, audiobooks, or doing a bit of curb hopping myself. We just picked up a second car, another island beater, so Josh can do some of the shuttling of the boys home after their after school activities instead of me having to drive to base to pick them up. It’s a gift to ourselves for the next 2 years. We’ve done a good job of sharing one car, but the older the kids get, the more they are doing and the more driving it requires — often in different directions. 
We were at the mall this past weekend buying some pants for Calvin’s trip to Germany. He’s grown so much over the past few months that all of his pants are floods. He’s going to freeze his butt off in Germany compared to the temperatures here, so I was a nice mom and bought him some new ones that he’s sure to outgrow in about 3 months.
I was excited to see this bit of Engrish on the wall at H&M until I realized it was only vandalism — it’s supposed to say “wear it” not “near it,” but someone picked off part of the W. Boo for proper English.

I loved seeing these Bahraini men shopping with their bags from Bath and BodyWorks. I wonder if they are buying freesia shower gel and cherry blossom lotion? 

We have an Entertainer coupon book that has buy one, get one free coupons for food places all over the mall. We stopped at ColdStone so we could say we saved money somewhere after spending almost $150 on three pairs of pants. They were advertised at 50% off, but since something that retails for $50 in the US costs twice as much here, we basically paid full price after all the “discounts.” 
Cotton candy ice cream with marshmallows. I can recommend the mud pie — coffee ice cream with oreos, fudge, peanut butter and almonds. The peanut butter sounds like overkill, but it’s perfect. 

The other thing we shop for at the mall is our coffee. My best purchase of the year is my Nespresso machine. I know people buy gadgets and then they sit on the counter and never use them, but this machine is genius. I generally use it twice a day and can make a cappuccino for myself in about 30 seconds. A capsule goes in the machine, push a button, pour milk in the foamer (the container with the red light) and when the light turns off, pour the foamed milk into my cup. Each one I drink is 1/6 the cost of getting one at Costa or Starbucks. I won’t brew a pot of coffee because I only ever want one cup and it’s quick enough that I can make one as I’m rushing out the door. It costs more up front, but I’m close to breaking even. Maybe. I don’t really care since I can have a cappuccino without guilt every day  now. 
Totally unrelated — just a photo of my girlie playing at the park. 

Happy Mother’s Day!

I was going to post these yesterday, but I got home after a busy day to find that our power was out. Then when it came back on, I forgot about the photos and spent a few hours finding a place for us to stay when we visit Florence in July. Now my trip is half booked, Rome and Florence, but we’re flying Space A and hoping to stay a few days with friends, so not as fully planned out as I normally do. Leaving room for adventure to happen, I guess.

This shoot was a gift from my friend, neighbor, and sister wife who is moving at the end of this month. We love their family and there will be a big hole left in their absence. Camille is already making plans to go to New York to visit them.

We shot in two locations: an old, historic Bahraini house that has been preserved

with all the beautiful arches and carved doors

He has changed so much in one year

This is Bob, captured perfectly

Then we headed over to the old fort with its stone steps and arches. 

I think this is my favorite of the day. I’m going to get a print or a canvas of this.

Ancient meets modern

decisions, decisions

I want to go to bed, but it’s not even 9:00 and I have a 7 year old spending the weekend with us and a 3 year old watching My Little Pony and coloring so that’s probably not the best idea. Last night I put Camille to bed at 10 and thought I was home free until an hour later when her brother came upstairs to tattle on her: “Huh?! You mean she isn’t asleep in her bed?!” Other parents have sleepovers and are all, “Let’s have a family movie night!” while I’m all, “Sweet. Takeout and video games. Have at it. Don’t forget to brush your teeth sometime before midnight and I think there’s cereal in the cupboard — don’t wake me up in the morning.” Those are the kind of sentiments they don’t put on Mother’s Day cards.

I’m tired. Cumulatively tired. I’m sure I don’t get enough sleep and don’t drink enough water (yes, Josh. I know you’ve been telling me this for months years), and I feel sluggish as a result. Until 9pm rolls around and then I’m wide awake and ready to create a fresh sleep deficit for the following day. I’m supposed to be deciding (and booking) where we’re going to stay in Italy in July (now that our vacation days have been approved), but I lost my momentum while I was waiting for the “go ahead” and now I have to bring myself to dive back in to my travel books and maps and figure out where I left off. But that seems too daunting at the moment and I kind of want to take a bath instead. Except the getting wet part sounds like too much work. So pjs and bed then? Nope, that whole “Mom” thing is getting in the way of that. That’s how I end up watching Judge Judy most nights — easy and satisfying.

Today I came up with a plan that every time I feel tired I would drink a glass of water and maybe in a week or so, I’ll be rehydrated and feeling more energetic. Except I didn’t take into account the part where I never want to drink anything which is why I have this problem in the first place. Josh says I’m part camel. I’m also part donkey because if I know I’m supposed to do something, it makes me even less willing to do it — even when I’m the one telling myself to do it.

A friend had a baby 2 months ago and I got to spend a few hours with him yesterday.
(look at those tired/puffy eyes!)

I wrapped him up and he went right to sleep. It was fabulous. Just like old times with Camille. 

Look at the long legs on this big baby. It’s hot here and she runs hotter than anyone else in the family. 

She sweats even with the A/C on.

The cable guys came over the other night and installed a DVR! Happy day for me. Now I might actually watch TV since I can’t stand having to watch stuff on other people’s schedules and having to sit through commercials. Calvin pointed out that our new box is HD. All that stuff is wasted on me because I think it looks the same as before. I took this photo and texted it to Josh and he said he could tell the difference too. Whatever. The only thing I noticed was the American Idol contestants have gotten geekier in the past 3 years and Meatloaf’s son must be competing this year. 

I was texting Josh about the DVR when she hopped on my back and started riding me like a horse. I was too tired to care. 

Since I’ve already mentioned camels, donkeys and horses, why not round things out with a few goats? We saw this crew on our way to church this morning. Most of the time it feels like we live in the city, but every now and then we’re reminded we live on a wild island. 

Six

6 more early wake ups before Calvin leaves for Germany with the varsity soccer team. One of the perks of living in Bahrain is our school is part of the DoD (Department of Defense) Europe school district so our High School teams travel to Germany to compete in tournaments at the end of each season. (The tournament is called “Europeans” which makes me laugh like a 12 year old boy every time I hear it.) He’s the only freshman on the team and most likely won’t play since he is the backup goalie, but he’s excited for the experience.

We’re both excited that he soon won’t have to leave the house at 5:30 for morning soccer practices. I guess it’s the only way to beat the heat, but afternoon blistering sun sounds pretty tolerable at that hour of the morning.

Here’s Meelie in her new dress. She’s been on a hair chewing kick lately. I kept trying to get her to quit until I remembered that I used to do that too. Oh well. At least when she’s chewing her hair she’s not picking her nose. Today she pointed out that the cat has “a very small nose. He can’t pick it. The holes are too small.” Then she proudly demonstrated that the holes in her nose were not too small. 

Another new wardrobe addition — A Hello Kitty nightshirt, Arabian Nights. I saw it in the store and couldn’t pass it up for our Arabian princess. 
Late night. Time to sleep. Josh is gone again this week so I’m the only one able to make that 5:30am drive. Thank God we live close to school and I can leave the other kids asleep in bed while I make the run to school and back. Only 6 more . . .