...the African airline you're on bumps you off their overbooked flight and doesn't tell you until you are halfway thru your trip.
...you finally arrive at your destination, and the flight is 2 hours earlier than stated on your ticket. Wouldn't normally be such a big deal but when the time is 3am as opposed to 5am, and your ride is therefore, still in bed, it is a bit of a big deal.
...you get home and everything is covered in mold from the overabundance of rain this year. Meaning that everything has to be cleaned and de-moldified. And, that all the clothes need to be washed because they STINK.
...the new pump that pushes water into the house, doesn't work and therefore the washing machine doesn't work either, just when there are literally mountains of laundry. (I've washed at least 10 loads, when we've had laundry, and still have about that many to go.)
...the washing machine doesn't run properly because of the sporadic water, making it necessary to restart the thing every 20 minutes or so.
...various small appliances, that ran fine before we left, suddenly don't work.
...because of the rain, the temperatures are pleasant. (A good thing since we could only take cold bucket baths for the first 5 days.)
We arrived a day late and 2 hours early from our trip to Germany. We had a wonderful time with family and friends. I think this has made it harder to adjust to life again here, that and the fact that things are in a sort of state of disrepair. It's hard not to compare "there" with "here".
The Stolls
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Friday, 8 July 2011
Holiday highlights
We've been in Europe for just under 2 months. We came to celebrate Oma and Opa's 50th anniversary and the 50th of Radio Worldwide in England. We decided to spend time also visiting people in Europe whom we haven't seen in about 4 years--most of them.
The past week we spent in France. We stayed with our friends, Patrick and Marie-Françoise, and had a GREAT time!! We got to see many other friends and just hung out doing "touristy" kinds of things. The weather was super and we had fun. A special thing is that Roger, Marie-Françoise and Elena go to do parapente (paragliding). They all loved it and when they landed, they hardly had any words for how fun it was. Elena has written about her experience and added photos and you can read it here
Fiona and Sydney got to ride horses thru the forest which was definitely their highlight! Fiona even got to ride by herself. For Kathy just being with friends and having wonderful weather (warm without sweating!) was super.
Now we are visiting other friends in Switzerland before heading back to Germany on Monday. We then leave--after LOADS of meeting other friends and family--on 1 Aug for Togo again. However, we aren't thinking about that yet...
Here are a few photo highlights.
We got to visit many friends in England. Here we are with Steve and Anita Southgate.
Picking wild strawberries in Germany.
Oma and Opa celebrating 50 years together!
Stockbrot (stick bread) with family and friends in Germany.
Patrick and Marie-Françoise in France.
Roger parapente.
View from the parapente take-off over Lake Annecy, France.
Picknicking above Lake Annecy.
A view of Mt. Blanc, Western Europe's highest mountain.
The past week we spent in France. We stayed with our friends, Patrick and Marie-Françoise, and had a GREAT time!! We got to see many other friends and just hung out doing "touristy" kinds of things. The weather was super and we had fun. A special thing is that Roger, Marie-Françoise and Elena go to do parapente (paragliding). They all loved it and when they landed, they hardly had any words for how fun it was. Elena has written about her experience and added photos and you can read it here
Fiona and Sydney got to ride horses thru the forest which was definitely their highlight! Fiona even got to ride by herself. For Kathy just being with friends and having wonderful weather (warm without sweating!) was super.
Now we are visiting other friends in Switzerland before heading back to Germany on Monday. We then leave--after LOADS of meeting other friends and family--on 1 Aug for Togo again. However, we aren't thinking about that yet...
Here are a few photo highlights.
We got to visit many friends in England. Here we are with Steve and Anita Southgate.
Picking wild strawberries in Germany.
Oma and Opa celebrating 50 years together!
Stockbrot (stick bread) with family and friends in Germany.
Patrick and Marie-Françoise in France.
Roger parapente.
View from the parapente take-off over Lake Annecy, France.
Picknicking above Lake Annecy.
A view of Mt. Blanc, Western Europe's highest mountain.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Falling Apart
Wow! Two blogs in 8 days! It's almost a record.
You know the saying, "When it rains, it pours"? Well, that's pretty much what's happening around our house. (Not that it's really raining, which would be wonderful right now when the heat is making the humidity nearly unbearable.) I'm talking metaphorically here. All our appliances are breaking down. The microwave died about a week ago. It was really old and rusty and we bought it from other missionaries who were leaving--and it's lasted a good 2 years already. It started being weird and only running when the door was open. I didn't think having those little microwaves floating around the kitchen was terribly healthy so have decided not to use it.
The crock pot decided to stop working day before yesterday. I had put 2 chickens in it and gone out shopping. We had visitors coming that evening and I was going to have dinner ready. However, when I walked in the door, there were no wonderful smells of cooking chicken so I was sure something wrong. Sure enough it was only cooked a little bit. What a pain!
Yesterday, the bread machine decided to stop working. I got everything in the pan to make a loaf and the motor just whirred but didn't move the beater in the pan. After taking it apart, we saw the belt was broken. We can potentially fix this but only if we can get the spare part from South Africa--where the machine comes from. We'll see if that's even possible. We got a new pan last Sept. when someone was coming from SA. I must say this machine has been great. I've used it on average around 3 times per week for the last, nearly 3 years that we've had it.
And lastly, our freezer is dying. We got it 2nd hand from people who were leaving and I don't think they got it new. When we come back from Germany at Christmas, it would only freeze up about 3 inches from the bottom. A guy came and put freon in it and it worked for a while. Then the freeze level started going down again. We had it filled again but now it's going down again. Since we're going to Europe in about 3 weeks, I'll just leave it for now. However, it's leaking freon and we can smell it. Ugh!
I guess we'll need to make some decisions about some of this stuff. A microwave is nice to have but we don't HAVE to have it. The crock pot is great and I use it often, but... The bread machine is almost a must and the freezer is extremely useful. With it, I only have to go shopping about once a month! I hate shopping here, it's so difficult with road works and terrifying traffic!
As we used to say in Swahili, "Mungu anajua." "God knows" what is best to do.
You know the saying, "When it rains, it pours"? Well, that's pretty much what's happening around our house. (Not that it's really raining, which would be wonderful right now when the heat is making the humidity nearly unbearable.) I'm talking metaphorically here. All our appliances are breaking down. The microwave died about a week ago. It was really old and rusty and we bought it from other missionaries who were leaving--and it's lasted a good 2 years already. It started being weird and only running when the door was open. I didn't think having those little microwaves floating around the kitchen was terribly healthy so have decided not to use it.
The crock pot decided to stop working day before yesterday. I had put 2 chickens in it and gone out shopping. We had visitors coming that evening and I was going to have dinner ready. However, when I walked in the door, there were no wonderful smells of cooking chicken so I was sure something wrong. Sure enough it was only cooked a little bit. What a pain!
Yesterday, the bread machine decided to stop working. I got everything in the pan to make a loaf and the motor just whirred but didn't move the beater in the pan. After taking it apart, we saw the belt was broken. We can potentially fix this but only if we can get the spare part from South Africa--where the machine comes from. We'll see if that's even possible. We got a new pan last Sept. when someone was coming from SA. I must say this machine has been great. I've used it on average around 3 times per week for the last, nearly 3 years that we've had it.
And lastly, our freezer is dying. We got it 2nd hand from people who were leaving and I don't think they got it new. When we come back from Germany at Christmas, it would only freeze up about 3 inches from the bottom. A guy came and put freon in it and it worked for a while. Then the freeze level started going down again. We had it filled again but now it's going down again. Since we're going to Europe in about 3 weeks, I'll just leave it for now. However, it's leaking freon and we can smell it. Ugh!
I guess we'll need to make some decisions about some of this stuff. A microwave is nice to have but we don't HAVE to have it. The crock pot is great and I use it often, but... The bread machine is almost a must and the freezer is extremely useful. With it, I only have to go shopping about once a month! I hate shopping here, it's so difficult with road works and terrifying traffic!
As we used to say in Swahili, "Mungu anajua." "God knows" what is best to do.
Thursday, 21 April 2011
It's official
SCHOOL'S OUT!!!
After a sprint to the finish--we only had 2 days off after Christmas--we have finished school. The girls all did pretty well this year.
The only shadow on our joy is that in just over a week, we have to say good-bye to Mae. We've had a great year together and are so glad she came out to teach this year.
After a sprint to the finish--we only had 2 days off after Christmas--we have finished school. The girls all did pretty well this year.
The only shadow on our joy is that in just over a week, we have to say good-bye to Mae. We've had a great year together and are so glad she came out to teach this year.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
The Toothless Wonder (according to Fiona)
Yes, its official. Sydney has lost her first tooth! She is so proud of herself.
By the way, the Teddy-bear she received from the dentist in Germany was a big help.
Now, I'm sure she'll be waiting for the Tooth fairy to come.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
I’m having a cold
Well, this is nothing unusual. But when you consider that we are back in Africa, it might put a twist on my runny nose. We’ve just spent three weeks in snowy Germany, without the slightest cough by anyone in our family. However, on arrival in Togo, my nose started to run. By the way, did you know that when your nose runs and your feed smell, you are upside-down? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Here in Lomé, the Harmattan wind from the dessert has arrived and brought with it dust and dry weather. We’ve been keeping the windows open the whole day and it is only 30-40% humidity by 26C. The climate is almost perfect, if it wasn’t for the dust.
By the way, it was great being in Germany over Christmas (see the previous post). We were able to spend some quality time with my parents and sister Helga. Well, we can say, ‘mission accomplished’.
On our way back to Togo we had a layover in Egypt. We spent a full day in Cairo, doing what tourists do best: visiting the Gisa Pyramids, riding a camel, eating at KFC, visiting Garbage City and the Church in the Rock, shopping at an Arabian market, sailing on the river Nile and eating dinner with Egyptian friends. Needles to say that everybody loved the experience.
By now, the Kathy and the children are back in school, and I am getting ready for the next school year at the media school. When I’m not blowing my nose.
Here in Lomé, the Harmattan wind from the dessert has arrived and brought with it dust and dry weather. We’ve been keeping the windows open the whole day and it is only 30-40% humidity by 26C. The climate is almost perfect, if it wasn’t for the dust.
By the way, it was great being in Germany over Christmas (see the previous post). We were able to spend some quality time with my parents and sister Helga. Well, we can say, ‘mission accomplished’.
On our way back to Togo we had a layover in Egypt. We spent a full day in Cairo, doing what tourists do best: visiting the Gisa Pyramids, riding a camel, eating at KFC, visiting Garbage City and the Church in the Rock, shopping at an Arabian market, sailing on the river Nile and eating dinner with Egyptian friends. Needles to say that everybody loved the experience.
By now, the Kathy and the children are back in school, and I am getting ready for the next school year at the media school. When I’m not blowing my nose.
Christmas
This year for Christmas, we went to Germany to visit Roger's family. It was the first time in over 3 years that we had seen Oma and Opa. (Three year is waaaay too long--just ask any grandparents)
Anyway, it was loads of fun. We had snow from the very beginning until about a day and a half before leaving. Although the Germans were already tired of snow--it began snowing in mid-Nov--we loved it. It made Christmas seem so
...well, like Christmas should be. It was also wonderful to be with family and to have to wear jeans and shoes, as well as coats, etc.
Anyway, it was loads of fun. We had snow from the very beginning until about a day and a half before leaving. Although the Germans were already tired of snow--it began snowing in mid-Nov--we loved it. It made Christmas seem so
...well, like Christmas should be. It was also wonderful to be with family and to have to wear jeans and shoes, as well as coats, etc.
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