Time for some family news, I think!
Last week the weather shifted quite abruptly into harmattan. We had had a “short dry season” at the end of rainy season, and all of a sudden the harmattan wind began to blow and evenings, nights and mornings became much cooler. We still have temperatures in the low 30s during the heat of the day. The dust is already making itself at home in our house, so I can't imagine what things will be like in a couple of months' time!
The change of seasons has brought a cold, and we are all a bit snuffly at the moment.
Simon is paradoxically seeming more and more sure of himself but also revealing a sensitive side to his character. He is very friendly, and loves to go visiting other people on the compound, yet the slightest upset will have him wailing. He is also finding it hard to adjust to having a mobile brother, as he realises that his toys are no longer safe!
Benjy mastered crawling a few weeks ago and has also cut 5 teeth in the last three weeks. Sleep has never come to him easily, and teething has just made things worse! We have only had about five unbroken nights sleep in the last ten months! We are thankful that God has given us strength for daily life and work despite this.
I am very happy to be here living in Benin after years of waiting to get here. I can see that God had the right timing, although at times I got frustrated. We can see the way that the time was used to put so many things into place that helped us to feel more at home when we eventually got here.
I'm enjoying the language learning and getting to know our Beninese colleagues. The climate agrees with me too. So far it has never been very very hot, and I am happy to be missing out on the cold of a European winter (with just a few nostalgic pangs for autumn leaves and clear frosty days). I was re-reading “A Year in Provence” (by Peter Mayle) recently, and smiled in recognition when I read: “Socks were a distant memory.” I love being able to go barefoot in the house. And despite what those who remember me living in jeans might think, I love wearing long swishy skirts all the time!
Fortunately I have always preferred to cook from scratch, as there isn't any other way to cook out here. Occasionally in a lazy moment I do wish I had a few pots of pasta sauce in the cupboard! I have got into canning – squash, beans, pineapple and papaya so far – and yesterday we made marmelade from the grapefruits growing on our compound. The missionary who gave me the canning jars also gave me a fruit drier, and I have dried papaya and apple slices and look forward to trying other fruits!
I do enjoy having help around the house – and it would be difficult to manage without it here since all our clothes and nappies are hand-washed. We have been blessed with an extremely conscientious and cheerful house-help, who also loves the boys and is very good with them. We are going to miss her when we move!
I have always said I'd like to live more simply, and being here has forced me to do that. It is refreshing to strip away non-essentials and realise how much more you appreciate treats when they are fewer and harder to find!
Over the years I've belonged to some quite different kinds of churches, and here is different again. I love the lively music, but struggle a bit to concentrate on the sermon when the French microphone always seems to be turned down lower than the Bariba microphone – plus I'm sitting at the back with mums and kids wandering in and out, with at least one of my boys sitting on me getting bored. There is no crèche here – if your baby makes a fuss then you just take yourselves outside and sit on the steps of the church in the sun, or stand under a tree. Since Benjy's morning nap is now bang in the middle of the morning I have now missed a few Sundays. Not something I necessarily recommend – and sometimes Marc stays at home and I go to church – but I'd rather have some (oh-so-rare!) peace and quiet at home while Benjy naps than stand outside church trying to manage an overtired, hyperactive baby!
I don't want to complain, but also don't want to give too rosy a picture of life here. We do, of course, miss friends and family. New friendships are always harder work, and particularly when they are cross-cultural – which is true here of both our relationships with other missionaries and with the Beninese. Internet access – or lack of such – is also an ongoing frustration. I miss having a choice of foodstuffs in big European supermarkets. Power cuts sometimes come at the most inconvenient moments. Our boys are wonderful, but they do try our patience at times, and with broken nights we have been suffering from tired-all-the-time syndrome. Life has its downs as well as its ups, but I prefer to focus on the ups – and I think there are more of them, overall!
PS And if you are wondering why I haven't said much about how Marc is finding life here, you'll just have to go and visit his blog to find out (he writes some of it in English).
Last week the weather shifted quite abruptly into harmattan. We had had a “short dry season” at the end of rainy season, and all of a sudden the harmattan wind began to blow and evenings, nights and mornings became much cooler. We still have temperatures in the low 30s during the heat of the day. The dust is already making itself at home in our house, so I can't imagine what things will be like in a couple of months' time!
The change of seasons has brought a cold, and we are all a bit snuffly at the moment.
Simon is paradoxically seeming more and more sure of himself but also revealing a sensitive side to his character. He is very friendly, and loves to go visiting other people on the compound, yet the slightest upset will have him wailing. He is also finding it hard to adjust to having a mobile brother, as he realises that his toys are no longer safe!
Benjy mastered crawling a few weeks ago and has also cut 5 teeth in the last three weeks. Sleep has never come to him easily, and teething has just made things worse! We have only had about five unbroken nights sleep in the last ten months! We are thankful that God has given us strength for daily life and work despite this.
I am very happy to be here living in Benin after years of waiting to get here. I can see that God had the right timing, although at times I got frustrated. We can see the way that the time was used to put so many things into place that helped us to feel more at home when we eventually got here.
I'm enjoying the language learning and getting to know our Beninese colleagues. The climate agrees with me too. So far it has never been very very hot, and I am happy to be missing out on the cold of a European winter (with just a few nostalgic pangs for autumn leaves and clear frosty days). I was re-reading “A Year in Provence” (by Peter Mayle) recently, and smiled in recognition when I read: “Socks were a distant memory.” I love being able to go barefoot in the house. And despite what those who remember me living in jeans might think, I love wearing long swishy skirts all the time!
Fortunately I have always preferred to cook from scratch, as there isn't any other way to cook out here. Occasionally in a lazy moment I do wish I had a few pots of pasta sauce in the cupboard! I have got into canning – squash, beans, pineapple and papaya so far – and yesterday we made marmelade from the grapefruits growing on our compound. The missionary who gave me the canning jars also gave me a fruit drier, and I have dried papaya and apple slices and look forward to trying other fruits!
I do enjoy having help around the house – and it would be difficult to manage without it here since all our clothes and nappies are hand-washed. We have been blessed with an extremely conscientious and cheerful house-help, who also loves the boys and is very good with them. We are going to miss her when we move!
I have always said I'd like to live more simply, and being here has forced me to do that. It is refreshing to strip away non-essentials and realise how much more you appreciate treats when they are fewer and harder to find!
Over the years I've belonged to some quite different kinds of churches, and here is different again. I love the lively music, but struggle a bit to concentrate on the sermon when the French microphone always seems to be turned down lower than the Bariba microphone – plus I'm sitting at the back with mums and kids wandering in and out, with at least one of my boys sitting on me getting bored. There is no crèche here – if your baby makes a fuss then you just take yourselves outside and sit on the steps of the church in the sun, or stand under a tree. Since Benjy's morning nap is now bang in the middle of the morning I have now missed a few Sundays. Not something I necessarily recommend – and sometimes Marc stays at home and I go to church – but I'd rather have some (oh-so-rare!) peace and quiet at home while Benjy naps than stand outside church trying to manage an overtired, hyperactive baby!
I don't want to complain, but also don't want to give too rosy a picture of life here. We do, of course, miss friends and family. New friendships are always harder work, and particularly when they are cross-cultural – which is true here of both our relationships with other missionaries and with the Beninese. Internet access – or lack of such – is also an ongoing frustration. I miss having a choice of foodstuffs in big European supermarkets. Power cuts sometimes come at the most inconvenient moments. Our boys are wonderful, but they do try our patience at times, and with broken nights we have been suffering from tired-all-the-time syndrome. Life has its downs as well as its ups, but I prefer to focus on the ups – and I think there are more of them, overall!
PS And if you are wondering why I haven't said much about how Marc is finding life here, you'll just have to go and visit his blog to find out (he writes some of it in English).
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