mosi nets, power cuts, loose grasp on the local language - anyone else live off the beaten track??

[liger]

...but with access to Mumsnet obviously, so maybe not that unbeaten a track but...
what do you enjoy, what do you find difficult?

I am a SAHM living in Indonesia, there are good things and bad things about being here with a 2 year old and it would be great to share them, anyone else?

I think this is a long-shot, but I think a while back I saw a Mumsnetter in Nigeria, and one who had lived in Cameroon would love to hear from you?

I don't think I've heard the term 'Third Culture kids' before - sounds interesting though. My dc all regard themseves as English, despite 3 out of 4 being born in Scotland and two of them having never lived in England. As dh says, just because you're born in a barn, it doesn't mean you're a horse!

We've not been expats for long, about 15mths in Indonesia and getting on for two yrs here. It's starting to look as though we may be here for a couple more years as well....

Steppemum, I think you may have mentioned your NGO before but I can't recall the details, so I'd be interested to hear more.

I'm currently read Niall Feguson's book, War of the World about the wars of the 20thC. I'm shamefully ignorant about WW2, apart from the bare facts, (I was born in the mid-50's and people just didn't talk about it, let alone teach it in school) and have been shocked to learn just how badly the peoples of E Europe suffered over the years.

So, how is everyone? Liger, I heard there was an earthquake off Sumatra - I hope you weren't affected.

It's still raining here. I've no idea what happened to the dry season. We'll be into the Harmattan before long, followed by the next rainy season! At least it's not raining quite so frequently, maybe twice a week now. But it was preceeded by such a high wind earlier this week that I couldn't open the apartment door, lol!!

no affects here, all is fine, although our quake alarm just beeped 10 minutes ago but we didn't feel anything. We haven't had any tremors for ages which is almost more scary!

Its been raining here too all week,big rain, we have a nearby river which is very high from all the water running off the hills. And didn't I post recently that the weather never changes

There is standing water everywhere so I am just waiting for the mosi surge. ds will have to play inside for a few days I think. Hopefully we can head to the beach over the weekend so he can get a good run around.

at being stuck in your apartment by high winds blowing the door closed!

Glad you're ok, Liger. What's a quake alarm - is it a personal thing in your house or something a town will have, like a siren?

We had yet more wind and rain this morning. Dh was most grumpy as at the weekends he likes to have some time in the sun to ease his arthritis and get some exercise in the pool. It's all foggy now, like a Scottish haar. At home I'd be lighting a fire and drinking hot chocolate on a day like this lol!

DishyBlonde, the cauliflowers are here at last! I bought a couple yesterday.

yes, its in our house, like a smoke alarm. It has a sensitive chime inside so it 'dings' at the slightest vibration so allows you to act sooner. There is also the tsunami warning signal which are sirens dotted around town.

Oh, you should go for the hot chocolate I think Suedonim, thats the great thing about Nairobi (Dishy a top tip take green and blacks hot chocolate) it gets cool enough for log fires and cocoa!

So do you have a designated safe place to go if the quake alarm is set off? Ds1 in California says they get advised about safe places to go to, like under door lintels.

It's still about 30deg here so maybe an iced mocha would be better than hot choccie, hehe. I've just been on the balcony and found an empty water bag there, the wind must have lifted it up. I've even seen cardboard boxes sailing over the top of our 11 storey block!!!

we've decided that if we can't make it outside in time we will run into our bathroom which is off the bedroom. There is a theory called the triangle of life, if you run into the smallest squarest room then if when/the walls collapse they will fall onto each other and leave a pocket below them rather than falling completely to the floor. We have a 'quick run' bag at the front door too. Its got spare clothes, snacks and mosi repellant, etc.

Hopefully we will never have to use any of this stuff!

you could just crank up the air con and sit by a fan to enjoy the hot chocolate? that wind doesn't sound fun at all, especially for all the folk who have no choice but to be out in it.

That's a clever idea, the triangle of life. Ds's IL's had to have their house in LA almost completely rebuilt after the quake in ?1992. The concrete base had cracked right across but they didn't realise it until years later when they went to replace some flooring. It now has special anti-quake walls.

The strange thing about the high winds is that there never seems to be any damage, no trees down or anything. And the people all disappear like rabbits down a burrow. The worst damage I've seen is a blown-down fence. We were all down at the pool one day when a storm blew up and the air became full of sand. It was like having a full body exfoliation!!

Evening ladies, gosh liger quake alarms and tsunami warnings all sound quite scary, I guess though its no scarier than the worry of armed robbery and carjackings in Nairobi or Lagos. Its amazing how quickly you can adapt to these elements don't you think? Triangle of life - thats fascinating and makes complete sense.

Many congratulations on the late arrival of your cauliflowers Sue Do you get fresh milk at all? UHT milk used to drive us mad in Douala and so I am looking forward to having it in Nairobi and some lovely log fires too, yippee no more 30 degree plus and yeuky humidity. We never experienced winds like yours though Sue. Are you staying in Lagos then for a bit longer, having rejected the horrors delights of Sakhalin?

Yes Liger I did read that book, I got it from an American friend and searched for it here but couldn't find it, I think it is a concept coming from the States. Are you American? I thought it an interesting read,a bit obvious in parts, dh is also a third culture kid and it all rings true for him. He is certainly more 'British' and patriotic than I am, despite having spent less time in this country than me, but also has suffered from a lack of knowledge of more culutral aspects of being a Brit, for example, kids tv programmes. What did you think of it?

PS- apologies for yet another name change

The shops very occasionally have fresh milk in but I've given up buying it as it goes off within hours. We use UHT for coffee and dh makes porridge with it at the weekends. Otherwise dd makes up for it when we go home by drinking gallons of the White Stuff.

Does it really get cold enough for a fire in Nairobi? I have a friend who used to live in Zambia. She said they needed cardis/sweaters of an evening, but apparently they were about 3000ft above sea level.

Nairobi is at altitude too, hence the cool evenings (about as cool as a spring evening in UK) but its seasonal like Zambia. You don't really need a fire but its very indulgent, and all the colonial houses have fire places to curl up around. But you do need a sweater and socks perhaps. Naorobi's altitude is also why they don't have malaria, although as the climate is warming this is changing!

Sorcerer, you seem to be having some sort of identity crisis! Its hard to keep up I'm a Londoner, but also I guess a "TCK" as is my dh. I got the book in Singapore when I failed to find a decent magazine to bring home. I found it interesting but felt it could have said the interesting stuff in half the number of pages, and seemed a bit to keen at having discovered this whole new sub set of personality. I read it and passed it onto a book library at the place we visit some weekends.

It was useful in suggesting ways for me as a parent to make the transitions for my ds from one place to another easier. It rang true in some aspects, both dh and I hate planning ahead, we find it really difficult, their explanation that we both know things can change up to the last minute made alot of sense.

Have been looking at the calendar and our departure in january suddenly feels like no-time away!!

Hope you are all well

hi,

you look like people who can symapthise with the darker side of living in paradise! I'm in Zanzibar. Have lived here full time for 4 years before that in Kuwait for few years.

We spent the summer in Edinburgh having baby Mila and now back to the grind..! It's v hot here, v strong sun and quite windy in the evenings so only managing to walk on the beach with baby between 5 and 6, tide permitting.

I have a 15yr old in UK boarding school who I'm missing like mad, esp this week as he has half term holiday with his dad.

so I think I've picked up Liger's in Nairobi and suedonim's in lagos, how's it there?

welcome mamamila another east African, cool I am about to be be in Nairobi. But lived in Dar for 3 years and naturally am a big fan of Zanzibar, why are you there and where are you living? I can sympathise with the heat and tiny babies and malaria as dd was a tiny baby when living in Dar. Congratulations on baby Mila, lovely name, how old is she?

Liger is in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and Sue in Lagos.

Hello Mamamila. The east coast sounds very nice - no malaria! Ikwym about missing your ds. My 15yo dd went back home when we lived in Indonesia. It was awful without her. Are there no international schools in Zanzibar?

The latest here is that all expats are having to be biometrically fingerprinted by the Nigerian immigrations folks. That should be fun. I'm not sure whether children have to be 'done' tho.

After the mention of Third Culture Kids here, just last night I read an interview with Robin Pascoe, who has written a book called 'Raising Global Nomads.

Suedomin - So YOU have my cauliflowers!! My supply has dried up. Maybe they're doing some bizarre shift to the east?? Sigh. It's back to zucchini and pumpkin. Not that I don't love zucchini and pumpkin, it's just, ya know...

Very, very exciting news in Accra: on Thursday, a Shoprite (South African supermarket chain, for the uninitiated) opened. Every SUV in the Accra/Tema metropolitan area was packed into the parking lot, the undertrained cashiers were going into meltdown under the strain of the queues, and frozen convenience foods were being hastily stacked into groaning trolleys. DD and I wandered about in quiet awe. When I found the frozen veggie burgers I nearly cried. People were hugging, they were on mobile phones sharing the experience with those unfortunates who couldn't make it. It was emotional.

Coco Good old south africans

Cameroonmama, I require closure on this name thing. Are you waiting until you get to Nairobi to commit to a new name? Something Swahili, perhaps? Maybe mamamila can suggest a few options!

Oh, I miss Zanzibar. Lovely warm blue sea, cardamom bread, those enormous millipedes.

But I have my Shoprite. I am satisfied.

Cameroonmama, I require closure on this name thing. Are you waiting until you get to Nairobi to commit to a new name? Something Swahili, perhaps? Maybe mamamila can suggest a few options!

Oh, I miss Zanzibar. Lovely warm blue sea, cardamom bread, those enormous millipedes.

But I have my Shoprite. I am satisfied.

Coco, my advice to you re Shoprite is to buy the food items you want now!! There's one in Lagos which opened at Xmas 2005. Two years on and it stocks less and less food and more and more electrical ware, car parts, glass jugs and tumblers, plastic bowls, egg whisks and other goods for which I have not yet identified a purpose. Only about four aisles have food in them now!

Lol at the cauliflowers. I spotted some more on Friday - maybe they're tidal or something.

I had an 'It could only happen in Africa' moment last week. The car got blocked in at a car park so I was resigned to waiting until the other driver came back. But then around a dozen men appeared and proceeded to bounce on the offending vehicle until they'd moved it far enough to enable us to get out, lolol!!

Harking back to the wildlife mentioned earlier, we've been inundated with yellow-billed kites since Saturday. I think they've been attracted by the many moths and dragonflies that seem to be around. Being on the eight floor it's somewhat un-nerving to have these huge birds swooping past the window, as though they're checking you out for lunch! I counted 36 of them on a pylon the other evening, with loads more airborne. Tis like something from Hitchcock's 'The Birds'

More alarmingly, this morning on the way back from taking dd to school we drove past her former primary school, where things looked a bit strange, few cars and children. I saw a teacher friend so asked her what was going on. It seems they'd just had an armed robbery. And when I thought about it, an hour earlier at 6.50am, on our way to school, there'd been a huge lorry just crawling along the road outside the primary school.... Apparently, security in the Delta region has been stepped up so much that the hoodlum gangs are coming to Lagos where the pickings are easier.

Sue lol at the 'only in Africa' scenario, I love those little tales

Those kites are quite scary sometimes, in Ethiopia they used to try and divebomb you for the food you were eating when trying to have a picnic.

But worst of all is at the attack on the primary school. That is quite depressing. What sort of things were they after? The parents of the children or things like the computers? Dh has just arrived in Nairobi and says that the car jacking of 4x4s that we were always scared of has taken a reverse turnabout and now the trend is to carjack Corollas instead as there is a greater onward market for them. At least we should now be safe if we decide to buy an enormous beastly gas guzzling 4x4

Coco - I was missing Cam too much so she had to be resurrected. Any good Swahili suggestions will be welcomed, as long as they incorporate Cam into them somehow
I bet you have been back to Shoprite every day this week haven't you?

How is everyone else?

at the kites stealing food from picnics. Memo to self: don't eat brekkies on the balcony for a few days!

More details about the robbery. Apparently, it took place around 3am. Two of the guards were beaten up, one being left for dead and the others were tied up. The school has new interactive white boards and the robbers took the 50-odd laptops that go with them. Also other equipment went. All the teachers' passports were at school, ready to be sent to Abuja the next day for visas/permits, and they were taken along with all the bank details for the staff. All in all, it looks like an inside job, because the thieves only went to those places and they brought a lorry with them. There was a massive 3ft machete found in the grounds, too.

Do you mean the actual cars/4x4's are stolen? There are robberies of the passengers in cars here but I haven't heard of the cars themselves being taken. Although I swear I've seen my friends Peugot estate here, which was stolen in Edinburgh 7 or 8 yrs ago!!

Hope everyone is ok. I look forward to hearing of your adventures.

earthquakes?
car jackings?
aramed robberies?
my god you lot have been busy since last time I popped in!!

All very quiet here. Very cold though. And that's about it!

Wish it was quiet here - someone is setting off fireworks and it's gone 11pm!

You can add cockroaches to the list. Not only was there one of the little f*ck!rs in my handbag yesterday, there were several in the car today.

Itch, itch, scratch scratch.

And we've got ants in the kitchen. Sigh.

in your handbag I'll never forget one landing on my visiting mum and me casually trying to brush it off before she saw it Not to mention trying to turn her head so she didn't see the rat running along the wall in the 'restaurant' we were eating in

lol at highly likely thought of your friend's car ending up in Lagos. Yes they steal the cars in East Africa and if you happen to be in it better get out quick.

Tbh, I'd rather have a (small) roach in my bag than the sp*der a mumsnetter had recently. Lol at trying to shelter your mum from the realities. It's amazing what you get used to. I'm not so worried now about beasties in restaurants unless they're on the table or in my food!

Oh dear at the car-stealers. Maybe it happens here too but I just haven't heard of it.

Oops, just jumped out of my skin as something moved on my arm. It was only one of my own hairs fallen off my head!