Shake Your Djibouti

Winter break is a LONG break at the International Community School of Addis Ababa and we intended to fill it to the brim with new,fun and exciting experiences for our family. Since moving to Ethiopia the Hubs has had the opportunity to travel the African continent extensively, the kids and I have had some amazing trips but they have all been confined to Ethiopia.  This break was our big break! Our chance to travel outside of Ethiopia and to see the Africa that people imagine when you tell them that you live in Africa. Hollywood Africa!  The Lion King, Africa!  That’s right folks, we were going on Safari. Never, ever in my life did I expect to see elephants, zebras and giraffes in their natural habitat.  Let me say that again, NEVER EVER in my life did I think that I would get to go on Safari! To say that I was excited is the understatement of the year. I have been looking forward to this trip since moving to Addis in April.  So, you are wondering, where exactly were we headed?  We decided that Tanzania made the most sense for our family. Not only could we go on safari but we could also visit the island of Zanzibar. I know that admitting this will show all of you seasoned world travelers just how naive and uneducated I really was prior to moving to Ethiopia, but I have to admit that I only had a general idea where Zanzibar was located and that was based on one line from the movie “Muppet’s Treasure Island”. 

So, I’m super excited for this trip but we took two trips over the holidays and before we get into the Tanzania trip I have to tell you about the trip that we took before Christmas. The original plan was for the older boys to accompany the Hubs on a work trip to Djibouti on the 20^th of December. While in Djibouti the boys would have the amazing opportunity to go Whale Shark diving.  I want to clarify that Whale Sharks while technically sharks, I guess, eat krill and not human children, so stop worrying.  Also, we should address the name of this country.

YES! The name is Djibouti, lets get it all out, Shake your Djibouti! Check out that Djibouti! Get your Djibouti over here! The list goes on and on and if I didn’t mention that, I’m sure that your brains would keep returning to the funny name of this little country and you wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the rest of the blog post. So now we can stop thinking about Djibouti and get back to talking about my trip to Djibouti. So I was planning to have a relaxing weekend with just the little man, Jacob, back in Addis. All of the other men folk would be gone and we could spend a quality weekend just chilling out and preparing for Christmas. The fates had other plans for us though. Apparently the childcare situation changed and the boys would have been left alone in the hotel if I didn’t also go on the trip. The Hubs was able to acquire some reasonably priced airline tickets for myself and the little man and we were set to join the rest of the family in Djibouti.

Friday December 20^th we all boarded the Ethiopian Airlines plane and headed out of Ethiopia for the first time in nine months! The flight was quick and uneventful. Funny thing about Ethiopian Airlines is that they ALWAYS feed you! The flight to Djibouti was about an hour long but we got a sandwich, drink and snack all before landing… but barely before landing…sheesh, I hardly had time to snarf that thing down before they came around with the trash bags to clean up before the final descent. 

After we landed we had to get our passports stamped and let me tell you, boarder crossings SUCK! Seriously, getting through customs is annoying when you are a single person but they are a terrible nightmare that I would not wish on my worst enemy when three man-children accompany you!  It probably took about 45 minutes to get all of the paperwork filled out, wait in line and then get our stamps; it felt like no less than 4-5 hours. Jacob was literally lying on ground in the middle of customs. When I moved him he kicked, screamed and basically humiliated me by ensuring that every person in the room witnessed a truly bratty American child in action! YEY!

Jacob -1

Mom -0

After what felt like an eternity we were through customs and looking for our ride to the hotel. The best hotel in Djibouti is the Kipinski. The Kipinski has about 12 pools, and playgrounds and everything that is awesome!  We did not stay at the Kipinski. The price of one room is about 400 USD per room, per night. The hotel would not allow us to squeeze our family of five into a single room, so any far-fetched delusions that we may have entertained of spending the weekend in the luxurious atmosphere that is the Kipinski Hotel evaporated with one glance at our bank account.

Instead, the Sheraton hotel shuttle met us out side of the airport and we quickly loaded into the van for a speedy ride to the hotel.  I didn’t spend much time exploring the city during our visit, in fact my hands on knowledge of anything outside of the Sheraton is extremely limited but I can say this, the traffic was almost non-existent and I didn’t see one goat or sheep at all while we were driving to and from the airport.

 When we arrived at the hotel the kids and I waited while the Hubs checked us in. We waited and waited and waited. Apparently Djibouti is not a family vacation destination…big surprise.  When we arranged our stay at the hotel the Hubs did it through the Internet with Sheraton International. He was able to get us a great deal on the rooms, rent one, get one half off and kids eat free and some other family oriented perks. Well, they had heard nothing about this deal! The Hubs is not a quitter though! He fought and fought and argued (in French) and called on the phone until, FINALLY the hotel acknowledged that there was indeed a deal and we should receive all of the perks of this deal! That only took about 2 hours. Sometimes I exaggerate a little when it comes to times and how long things take…I am not exaggerating right now. We sat in that lobby for 2 hours!!! I’m positive that if the Hubs didn’t convince them to give us the family deal, listening to my kids bicker with each other would have convinced the hotel eventually.  We finally checked into our rooms. They weren’t adjoining but they were right next-door to each other, Brenden and James shared a room and the Hubs, Jake and I shared the other room. After such a tiring day we all retired to our beds and rested until dinner.

We ate at the hotel where in I got to see the Hubs ‘mad French speaking skills’ in action. I have to say, I was impressed. He ordered every meal that we ate in French and while he says that his French is terrible right now and that he needs practice I thought he was Grrrreat!

The next day was an early one for everyone but Jake and I.  The older boys along with the Hubs left bright and squirrely for Whale Shark Diving. Jake and I slept in and then staggered downstairs for some breakfast. The spread was pretty nice, bread, yogurt, bacon, eggs, pancakes, fruit, olives, cheese, milk, and cereal, basically any breakfast food that you can think of. Jake and I ate as much as we could and then headed back to our room to get our swimsuits on. The only thing for us to do was to swim at the pool.  

We hung around at the pool for a few hours enjoying the sounds of the ocean (we couldn’t swim in the ocean but we could see it) and playing in the pool. This continued until one of my personal nightmares came true. My son, pooped in the pool! Yes, that is right, chilling in the pool one minute and then, loud enough for the entire pool deck to hear, “Mommy, I pooping in the pool!” What the?! Oh My GOSH! I run over and rip him out of the water, luckily it’s all caught in his swim trunks and super lucky, no one else was in the water. I assume that there is some sort of protocol for when a kid takes a dump in a pool, I didn’t wait around to discover what that protocol was. I marched his little butt into the bathroom to clean him up before heading back to hide in my hotel room until the pool staff changed out.  We spent the rest of the day napping and reading in the hotel room until about 5pm. I figured that by that time it was probably safe to head back down for another dip. The Hubs and other boys weren’t back yet but Jake was getting restless so I decided that we could give swimming another shot. I gave the toddler a long talk about how pooping in the pool is gross and that he should never EVER do that again! He agreed that pooping in the pool was a bad idea and assured me that it would never happen again!

Jake -2

Mom – 0

We swam and swam and enjoyed ourselves with out further incident. The Hubs returned from his great adventure. From what I heard it was AMAZING! The Whale Sharks that the boys swam with were HUGE, even though they were only adolescents. They also got to go snorkeling and had an all around great day, where in no one pooped anywhere that they should not!

We ate dinner together and then went to our separate rooms. As the Hubs changed into his jammies I saw it….the angry purple sunburn! Yes, the burn was so bad that it looked purple! The funny thing about this sunburn was that the middle of his back was not burned. Only the edges of his back that were burned but those edges were FRIED! His back looked like a picture frame! I couldn’t help it, “Oh my gosh, what happened to your back?!” I cried. What a silly thing to say, I knew what had happened; one of the kids must have helped with the Hubs sunscreen application. He replied with, “What do you mean?” “Well, um...you are pretty badly sunburned”. That was followed with a quick look in the mirror and exclamations about how Brenden should never be relied on to help one apply sunscreen.

The next two days consisted of the kids and I hanging out at the pool and trying not to annoy all of the European sunbathers that the pool attracted. There were virtually no children at this hotel and very few women. Most of the people lodging at the Sheraton were foreign military; the place was basically a fancy barracks. The lack of children did work in Jacob’s favor however, he was quick to win the hearts and minds of the kitchen staff.  Despite my attempts to control the little beasty, his adorable voice and cute smile ensured that the kitchen staff were always delighted to see Jacob and more than happy to provide him with as much chocolate pudding and milk as he could carry at any given time. He would smile and give them a very endearing “Merci” which ensured that he would be provided with more snacks the next time he happened to be anywhere in the vicinity of the kitchens.

Jake-3

Mom-0

Since I missed out on the Whale Shark Diving, the thing that I was most excited about was the possibility of consuming a Subway sandwich. I had heard tell of a Subway sandwich shop at the military installation in Djibouti and I had been fantasizing about it for weeks! Let me tell you, I have not had a decent sandwich in close to a year! Just the thought of a foot long turkey and cheese with everything on it made my mouth water!  I informed the Hubs that if he had even the slightest opportunity to buy me a sandwich he NEEDED to do it, regardless of the cost! I wanted the foot long and I wasn’t going to share it either so if he wanted a sandwich he had better get his own! He said that he’d try his best but that he couldn’t make any promises.  The last day that we spent in Djibouti before our flight left for Addis the Hubs had some work to do and was gone for several hours. I decided not to have lunch on the off chance that he would be able to deliver the goods to me. In the late after noon the Hubs knocked on the hotel room door. As I opened the door he stepped into the room and placed before me a bag that I had not seen in a long, long time. A plastic subway sandwich bag and inside were four one-foot long sub sandwiches.  I was ecstatic; I located the sandwich that was meant for me, come on people, did you really think that I could eat four one-foot long sandwiches?! 
Turkey with provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, olives, cucumber, peppers, basically every veggie that was available, mustard mayo, oil vinegar, salt and pepper, mmm just thinking about it makes me hungry….Hey, no judgments here, everyone has a guilty pleasure and this foot long piece of heaven is mine! I tried to savor my sub and eat it slowly but like many of life’s best experiences it ended all too quickly. 

We headed to the airport and suffered through the laborious process of exiting the country. While the plane was boarding Jacob’s pants *ehm exploded. FABULOUS! I rushed him off to the bathroom to clean him up. Lucky for me I had a diaper in my bag, he seemed to be a little sick so rather than trying to put him back in underpants I put the diaper on him. I tossed his now destroyed clothes away (who wants to smell that on an airplane for an hour?) and headed out to board the airplane. I’d like to note here that bathrooms in Africa, even in international airports, are often more like what you would see at a crummy gas station. So on top of trying to clean him up I was constantly saying, “Don’t touch that, stand here and don’t move, rub this hand sanitizer on your hands”. Uhhhh...

Jake-4

Mom-0

We boarded the plane and took off. I’m ready to be home at this point. I’m sitting with Jake and he tells me that his "skin feels funny". I took a look at him and he seemed fine, nothing wrong with his skin. About thirty minutes to landing and Jacob pukes….everywhere! I do the gross mom thing where I try to catch it with my bare hands in order to contain the mess. At some point I grabbed one of those tiny puke bags that are in every seatback pocket and catch at least some of it in the bag. I looked around and people were staring at me in utter disgust! One woman was staring at me with huge eyes and her hand over her nose and mouth like the smell was killing her. I’m like, dude he puked ON ME! I know it smells! Sorry lady!

The flight attendants rushed around being quasi-helpful. I did the march of shame to the bathroom where Jake and I folded ourselves into space so small that neither of us could turn around. Lucky for Jake I had one more set of clothes in the bag for him to change into. I was not so lucky! He got me good, shirt and pants…COVERED in toddler vomit! I got Jake taken care of and stood him on top of the toilet seat so that I would have more room to move around. I took my shirt off and rinsed it out as best I could in the tiny sink. At this point the flight attendant is banging on the door reminding me that we are about to land. Um, I have no shirt on lady, I’m doing my laundry in here give me a second. I wrung my wet, vomit scented t-shirt out and put it back on. I then opened the door and endured the walk of shame, for the second time, all the way to the back where there were some unoccupied seats. The plane landed and the other passengers were more eager than ever to get off. I decided to wait until everyone else was gone before I walked my smelly self back through the airplane. We made our way to baggage claim and waited for what seemed like forever, for our bags to show up. Then we moved on to customs where there was more waiting involved. My darling children had a ball asking me, "what smells so bad?"…”oh, wait mom, it’s you!” Very funny, boys. Very funny! Eventually we did make it home. Once there I took the most beautiful shower of my life and quickly passed out! Until next time friends and family!

Jake -5

Mom- 0

Surviving Out door Adventures and Air Travel

1.    Always have at least two extra sets of clothes for the toddler.

2.    Always have an extra set of clothes for mom.

3.    Do not allow the 11 year old to apply sunscreen without giving a thorough briefing on how to properly apply sunscreen.

4.    Make sure that the toddler does his business before playing in the pool.

5.    Have a thick skin, your kids WILL embarrass you.

There was a beach but we weren't able to swim in the water. 

Merry Christmas

Patience is the Key

I have an early childhood memory of being locked in a public bathroom while my panicked parents stood on the other side of the door with members of some fast food chain restaurant staff, most likely management, attempting to give me directions on how to unlock the door. I was probably 3 years old. I remember them telling me what to do and understanding what it meant but not being able to make my little hands twist and turn the way that they needed to in order to unlock the door.  I had not thought about this experience in MANY years. I had no reason to draw on this little kernel of knowledge…until tonight that is.

This holiday season our family has jumped onto the Advent Calendar bandwagon! Well, sort of. The boys and I came up with the idea of an Advent Jar. Here in Ethiopia there is no Michaels or Hobby Lobby with endless supplies of crafty items. We had to invent something that would work with the few supplies that I brought with me and anything that we could find here. Brenden suggested putting 24 activities into a jar and rather than numbering the activities, as you would in a traditional advent calendar, we could just draw randomly for each day.  Sounded like a GREAT and easy idea to me so we found an old preggo spaghetti sauce jar, wrapping paper, white paint and some sequins and set to work decorating.

We choose an activity each night before we go to bed and then we actually do the activity the next day. This allows me to do any prep work during the day while the kids are at school. For tonight’s activity we chose “bake cookies”. 
The boys were so excited that after we baked the cookies a quick game of hide and seek spontaneously erupted with boys running to and fro, chasing and catching and hiding all over the house. It was loud and noisy but I didn’t mind, the screams were happy screams….at first. Then the screams turned in to Brenden freaking out and shouting way too loudly for me. I’m just in the other room SERIOUSLY! What is wrong?!!?!?!? “Jake locked himself in the play room”! RIGHT….because the 2 year old can close that big heavy door and then turn the key to lock the door.

On a side note, every stinking door and cupboard in the two Ethiopian houses that I have lived in has a lock, with a key in it! The doors have locks with keys for every room in the house. This means that people can be locked in and out of rooms all over my house.

I walked over to the playroom and sure enough Jake has successfully locked himself inside the room, oh and the light was off in the playroom as well. This is where the vague memory from my childhood comes into play. When I was locked in the fast food restaurant bathroom I don’t think that I got myself out, maybe I did I’m not sure…maybe my parents can weigh in on this but I do remember that it felt like I was in there a LONG time. I kept trying to remember how I got out of there and I kept coming up with nothing. Did they find a key? Did someone pick the lock? Did I eventually figure it out? 

I have now become my parents. I am on the other side of the door giving directions to a two and a half year old, Oh Joy!  I begin with

 “Jake, it’s Mommy, can you turn the key?”

 “I’m hiding from James, I not come out”.

Of course what better way to win at hide and seek than to lock the seekers out of the hiding place?!

 “Jake, James isn’t going to find you, open the door.”

“No”.

 Hysterical laughter now erupts from James and Brenden.

“ James – A- get me.“

This is where I tell the older boys to shut up, yes I said shut up! This was stressful ok! My baby is locked in a dark room at 7:30pm with his favorite blankets; if I can’t get him to open this door and he falls asleep I’m not sure what I’ll do! So no judgments! 

After the older boys calm down I decide on a new tactic.

“Jake, can you pull the key out and slide it under the door?”

 “I not come out!”

 “Jake the game is over, YOU WON!”

“Oh Okay, I come out now”.

 Jiggle, Jiggle, bang, knock,

“Mommy, get me out, I stuck”.

 That is what I’m trying to tell you buddy! Now I have to be cautious we are heading toward a toddler melt down if I’m not careful.

“Jake, hunny, its ok, just pull the key out and put it on my fingers”.

I heard some pulling and jingling and then

“Oh No! I breaked it”.

 “No, No you didn’t just give me the key”.

 I feel the key being put softly on my finger tips that are shoved under the door. Excited that this whole mess is now coming to an end I slide the key in the lock. Of course it can’t be that easy.  The key won’t go in all the way! There are about 5 keys to that door all on the same key chain that is attached to the key in the door.  The key that Jake gave wasn’t the key that was in the lock. The key in the lock is keeping me from unlocking the door!

“Jake, I need you to pull the key that is in the lock out and give it to me”.

Jacob now proceeds to rip each of the 4 keys off of the chain until only the key in the lock is left. I’m pleading at this point for him to pull the darn thing out He is getting scared now and starting to cry a little. I send Brenden to tell the night guard. The guard calls the duty tech. I continue to talk to Jake through the door. Just when I was about to give up hope I hear the key slide out of the lock!!!

“Mommy, I get the key for you”.

“Great job buddy, now hand it to me”.

He did and I unlocked the door and let the little monkey out of that dark room. He sure was happy and the older boys were too. They were getting really nervous! We let the guard know that the emergency had been averted and all was well.  As Brenden made some celebratory hot cocoa, I scooped Jake up to snuggle on the couch. I couldn’t help but wonder if he will someday have a vague memory of being locked in a dark room while his mother and brothers attempt to talk him through unlocking a door. Until next time friends and family.

 Survival Tips: Helping your kids out of sticky situations 

1. Ensure all keys have been removed from doors, before any games begin. 
2. Speak in a clear and calm voice when directing toddlers on the finer points of locks and keys.
3. Be patient! 
4. Keep annoying older siblings far enough away that their laughter does not distract the young child from his task. 

I Hate Losing More Than I Like Winning

Hello friends and family! It is hard to believe that I have lived in Addis for about 7 months now! My how time flies! I came to the realization that I will be leaving in less than half a year and I have all of these mixed emotions.  I am genuinely sad to leave. I feel like there is still so much that I could learn from this place. Not to mention that I will be moving my children before the end of the school year….AGAIN!

I decided that I needed to try to be excited to go back to the States. How? Those of you who know me personally are aware of my exercise, fitness, and health obsession. For those of you who don’t know me personally, lets just say that the Hubs fondly refers to me as “The Food Natzi” on a regular basis. Since moving to Addis I’ve only been able to work out at home and sporadically at that. When I don’t exercise I become this grumpy, mean person! So, I decided that I would use my love of fitness to help me to get excited about going back to California. I have decided to run the Big Sur Half Marathon! I couldn’t register a year in advance however, so I decided that putting this news out on the World Wide Web was the was the next best thing. Now I have to run the race! I’ve told EVERYONE!

I have several reasons for choosing this particular event.

1)   I have PLENTY of training time!

2)   The race will be held in the town where I will be living

3)   I’ve always wanted to run a half marathon, I’ve just been too scared.

4)   I live in freaking Addis Ababa!!! 8,000ft elevation baby!

I believe that running in the Big Sur half-marathon kind of ties these two parts of my life together! I can be excited about going back to Cali but I’m using one of the many wonderful aspects of life in Addis to help me to be successful. It may seem superficial and a little lame to some but for me it’s a way to help me get through this emotionally tough transitional time here in Addis.

I am beginning by training for a 10k.  Like I said earlier I have only been working out on and off so, I am starting from the bottom. I came up with a training schedule and so far I’ve stuck to it. It has only been about 10 days and we will see how my determination holds up in a few weeks.

So, now you are wondering where the heck do I train? You have all heard me complain about the roads here so, running in the city is not something that I want to subject myself to on a regular basis. I see people training in the city so I know that it can be done but I have nearly killed runners on more than one occasion and I've seen my friends battle scars from falls that they've taken while running in Addis. I have decided that the bulk of my training will have to be done on a track. Lame, boring but necessary!

One of the best tracks in all of eastern Africa is located at the International Community School of Addis Ababa. Lucky for me, my children attend this school. That gives me access to the track! SCORE! (I seriously have to write a post about this school at some point).  

I began my training last week at the ICS track. My goal was to run 2.5 miles. Brenden was recently in a play and had dress rehearsal that night. My plan was, I would run and he would rehearse.  When I showed up at the track I stretched a little, warmed up and started jogging. As I was making my way around the track I saw that someone else was also running. It was dark outside so I hadn’t noticed him at first. This is where my competitive side rears its ugly head. I knew that I wasn’t in good enough shape to lap him but maybe I could keep pace with him. He was on the exact other side of the track from me and that is where I wanted to keep him. I picked up the pace, frequently looking to make sure he wasn’t catching up with me. 

The first 5 laps or so weren’t so bad. I was able to keep him where he needed to be, directly opposite of myself. The next five laps were a challenge. I was huffing and puffing! My lungs were on FIRE! I haven’t trained at elevation in about 7 years, not since we lived in Colorado! By lap ten I had to admit defeat and I decided that it was ok to walk just one lap. I slowed down and grabbed my water bottle. As I walked the man caught up to me and lapped me. As he ran past I realized that not only had I LOST (yes in my head we were racing), I had lost to a man that is probably 30 years older than myself!!!!!!!!!!!! Well any thoughts of walking a second lap vanished as the older man ran past with as much effort as peaceful stroll in the park!  Motivation renewed I ran and continued to run until he left, then I ran one more lap after he was gone to make up for the one that I had walked. I had long ago lost track of the number of laps that I was supposed to be doing to reach my 2.5 miles. I had my mind set on not being beaten…again! 

I know, I have issues! The good news is that I have managed to stick to my training schedule and I’m hoping that I can continue to stick to it! For about 4 days after the first run I was sore. My stomach was sore. My legs were sore. Even my back was sore. My sick and twisted brain loved it! I’m having a lot of fun training for this event. I’m having fun racing people who don’t know that they are racing me. I’m getting excited to run at sea level in California and who knows, I might actually do well!  Wish me luck! Until next time Friends and Family!

Survival Tips for Training at 8,000ft Elevation

1.    Drink TONS of water. I have had to increase my water intake to about 1 gallon a day!

2.    Actually rest on your rest days!

3.    Start slow, I need to take my own advice.

4.    Eat enough healthy food!

5.    Sleep!

6.    Don’t get discouraged, eventually your body will adjust!