Cameroon - 1st blog post from a new world

So we are here in Yaounde, Cameroon, having arrived on August 23rd. And yes, I know, that is a long time without a blog update. We just got the internet connection set up in the apartment yesterday, so I will ask for a little slack on that front. 

I have some pictures and will include them below, but honestly, we haven't done much other than work and try to figure this place out. The biggest thing for us, right now, is that Sofia loves her school; we are making friends; and we are learning to live in our new home.

Hopefully in another couple of weeks, we will have our truck and then we can go out and explore our environment. I will send lots of pictures then. But it seems that right now the internet connection is really slow, so only a couple of pictures today.

This is all of our things as we were making our way through the Dulles Airport

A view of Yaounde from the top of Mount Febe

The front balcony at our apartment on a rainy day.

Sofia's butterfly garden that we put on her wall.

Sofia on her bed

Our bedroom with palms for a view out the window

The Unity Monument in Yaounde

Welcome to Cameroon! Join us on our journey!

Until next time.....

Catching up for the last month or so...

I realize that it has been a long time since I posted anything new, and I am truly sorry for my absence. July was a pretty slow month for me, so I didn't have anything to post. Sofia on the other hand has been really busy. Al and Sofia spent a few weeks in Mexico visiting his family. It was a great time for Alberto and Sofia got to meet her brother and sister so the trip was worthwhile all around. Here some great pictures that Al took while he was there.

Sofia and her cousin, Sofia

The palapa and pool that Al's family owns outside of San Luis Potosi. 

Sofia and her sister, Gaby

Sofia and her brother, Didi

Once they returned from Mexico, Sofia had 2 days of rest and then was off again. She took her first unaccompanied minor flight back to Jackson, MS to visit the Wells crew. 

When I talked with Sofia, this is an abridged transcript of the conversation.

Me: Sofia, how did you like flying by yourself.

Sofia: Momma, I got to sit in the big front seat and there was no one for me to talk to.

Now, you and I know that "First Class" is a pretty cool thing. Especially since we didn't pay for "First Class", but what Sofia focused on was that she didn't have anyone to talk to. And yes, for Sofia, not having anyone to talk to for 3 whole hours, is a really big deal. 

Here is a shot of her reunion with Jake and one with Nona and Buelo.

She went to Philadelphia just in time for the Neshoba County Fair. It was really hot so she ended up spending a big part of her visit in the water; swimming at the Country Club and at the Water Park.

Here are some pictures of her visit.

Sofia's home away from home

 

Grandma Sue, Papa, Anna Katherine and Sofia

While Sofia was gone, Al and I "packed-out" the apartment. I will be honest. I have no idea why it took 6 hours to pack out this tiny apartment. We only have two bedrooms and none of the furniture in it is ours. I realize that these guys get paid by the hour, but let me tell you, they did not have a bit of "giddy-up" in them at all. So on August 1st, all of our stuff was boxed up and moved out of the apartment. What we are left with is the stuff that we think we are going to put in our luggage. We hope that it all fits. If not, we can always mail it to ourselves. 

On August 2nd, Sofia flew back to D.C. with Mom. Unfortunately, since she was not an unaccompanied minor, she didn't get first class and neither did mom. While mom was here, we didn't do anything too stressful but we did play mini-golf. We went to a couple of different places. One of them was really incredible. It had a jungle theme. Here is a shot of us before we went through the "Temple of Doom".

We also went to visit my Great Great Uncle Cliff and his wife Angela. We got some pretty good pictures. In the first shot, it is the whole family and in the second, you might recognize Virginia. Yes, yes, I know, applause is in order. I actually got mom into a picture. It is such a rare occurrence, that I feel the need to share it with the world. Besides, it is a really great picture.

So here we are, counting down the days until departure. It is coming up soon and we are very excited. We are nervous, but it is definitely time to get moving. The next time I post, it will be from Cameroon. Please keep us in your prayers. 

Look out, the adventure is about to begin!

Until next time...

Update Arriaga

Okay, so I apologize to everyone in advance for the lack of new posts here on the blog. Honestly the adventure has become a bit mundane, but I did want to do a quick post to let everyone know what has been happening and what is next to come. 


Alright, so my days are filled with training, training, eating lunch in a really full cafeteria and more training. Aren't you jealous that you are not on this adventure????


As for Alberto and Sofia, their life is alot more interesting. They have been touring the Smithsonian museums, where Sofia has determined that the National History Museum, Botanical Gardens, and Museum of the American Indian are her very favorite. She has been swimming almost daily and so, of course, she has the beautiful and enviable tan that we have all come to expect from her during the summer. 


Since my last post, Dad and Deb came to visit us and we took a tour of Washington DC on a Duck. No, not a Mallard, a WWII duck type vehicle...see below.





The tour was over land and on water. We got to see lots of sights and went putt-putting down the Potomac for an interesting view of DC from the water. Thanks Captain Bucky for a great day of trivia and sight-seeing.


It was great to see Dad and Deb and I am so glad that they got to visit us while we were here in DC.


They left on a Tuesday and then Mom arrived on Thursday. It was great to see her. For those of you who know her well, when I say that we were productive, you will know what I mean. She helped me with tons of projects that were in varying stages of completion, including some shopping that needed to be done; purchasing fabric for some dresses for Sofia, washing sheets, towels, and said fabric in order to pack it up for the move, etc. Mom always helps me to be the best me that I can be. I love you, Mom!


After she left, which I can say was tearful, we had a week of down time before the arrival of my mother-in-law, Maria del Socorro Flores (Coco), from Mexico. We had been looking forward to her visit all summer, since it had been several years since Sofia and I had seen her. On Friday night, before her Saturday afternoon arrival, there was a horrible storm here in this area. The power went out...the power stayed out...it was over 100 degrees. At the height of the crisis, more than 3 million people were without power. Our power was out for 72 hours...no air conditioning...100 degree weather...you get the picture.


Did I mention that my mother-in-law came for a visit the day after this started. She is the most agreeable person. She handled the situation like a trooper. We spent a lot of time at the malls and museums trying to keep cool, but that part was fun, so no one complained. After two days and nights of heat and humidity, Sofia went to stay with Uncle Cliff and Angie. Thanks so much to them for letting Sofia escape to their house where the electricity was still going strong. I reminded myself constantly that this is character building and it would make us all better able to handle the diverse situations that are to come.


Having said that, I would just like to point out that when we are in Africa, we will have a generator and be able to plug in the refrigerator and a fan. Who knew that Cameroon could look like a better bet than Washington DC? Anyway, on Monday at midnight, the electricity roared to life and we all cheered. The crisis, for us, was over. Coco, my mother-in-law, never complained. God bless her!


This week has been pretty standard, although we did have an excellent day for the 4th of July with Cliff, Angie, Aneisa, Andra, Grandpa Henry and Shirley. We spent the day at Cliff's house and took the girls swimming. We grilled burgers and hot dogs and had some really nice baked salmon. Finally, we finished off the night with some really cool fireworks that Uncle Cliff picked up from a wholesaler in Pennsylvania. 


This weekend should be much more quiet than last weekend. Al will be taking his mom back to the outlet mall for some serious shopping while Sofia and I hang out here and go swimming. We will spend some time with Grandpa Henry and Shirley as well. 


On a final note, we are T-minus 6 weeks and 4 days from departure. There is still lot to do, but I will try and take some pictures and do a more exciting blog post next time. Our love to everyone!


Until Next Time...

Shenandoah Valley and Skyline Drive

So another week of training has passed and nothing really exciting is happening on the work front. I am learning lots of new stuff about the government and meeting lots of new people. 


Al, Sofia and I went to visit Luray Caverns this weekend. It is about 2 hours from Falls Church and is a huge underground cave system. There are lots of interesting rock formations. We also got to hike along the Appalachian trail in the Shenandoah National Park. So here are some pictures...looks like fun, huh?

First stop, a city park in Luray, Sofia made some ducky friends!

Up next, we went to the Garden Maze at Luray Caverns. Here are shots of us in the maze. It was fun to run around and get lost.

Now it is time to visit Luray Caverns. The formations all have funny names and stories, but I just liked how these pictures turned out.

It looks like Sofia is eating the stalactite!

I took some shots outside that turned out really beautiful. Sofia is my favorite subject, of course!

We drove along Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. We saw lots of beautiful vistas...

These black bears were having a snack in the woods on the side of the road. Al was brave enough to get out and take some pictures. We also got a shot of some deer that were on the road as we were driving out.

We hiked down to Dark Hollow Falls in the Shenandoah National Park. It is about 1 mile down, and I mean almost straight down. We got some great pictures, but the hike back up was a doozy!

This shot is my favorite!

I took this shot from underneath a flower while we were hiking on the Appalachian  Trail. I don't know what it is, but it is really beautiful.

Finally, while we are certainly not hiking aficionados, we hiked almost 5 miles over the weekend and we had a very relaxing mini-vacation. All in all, a successful trip sharing nature with my family.

Until next time...

Happy Mother's Day

Here we are, on a beautiful Sunday morning that is dedicated entirely to saying thank you to the people in our lives who have influenced us and helped us grow into the people that we are. 


I am so lucky to have an amazing mother, who is a great friend and is always there to "make lemonade" for me.


I also have the blessing of a second "mother" that has been friend and adviser for a long time. 


What did I do to get so lucky? Two amazing, beautiful women that I can call my own.  It makes me smile when I think of some of the trouble that we have gotten into, the three of us together. Here's hoping that more trouble is in our future!


Today I went to church with my wonderful family and have felt like the queen all day! I know that it won't last, but I will enjoy it while I can. The laundry can wait until tomorrow. 


I got some beautiful drawings from Sofia 

and some beautiful flowers from Beto. 

Today, I even wore a dress. I know, stop the presses. I had Beto take a picture so that everyone would believe me. I know that no one will, if they don't see it.

Enough about me and the dress, here are couple of good shots of us from after church.

We went out for lunch at La Tasca in Clarendon. It is a Spanish Tapas restaurant and Al & I really loved the music, food and the adult beverages. The Sangria menu is absolutely amazing. They had a special for Mother's Day and we got to try lots of different kinds of tapas. I love any place that makes it affordable for me to taste lots of new flavors. 


All in all, it has been a great week and a really nice Mother's Day. I hope that all the mothers out there have a great day. 


Until next time...

Let our new life begin!

Al and Sofia got here this week! Yeah! I can not be more excited! They made it safely on Thursday evening after a couple of days of focused driving on Al's part. The apartment is full of boxes and we have lots of work to do, but it is worth it just to have my family together.


We spent some time doing Washington DC stuff yesterday and had a lot of fun. We toured several of the foreign embassies during the Around the World Embassy Tour. In one afternoon we toured the globe stopping in... 

BOTSWANA

So for anyone who was around us before I actually came to Washington DC, you know that our running joke was that we were going to end up in Botswana. Well, I guess we did, in a way. By the way, Alberto ate a massive worm during the tasting of the "delicacies" from Botswana. It was really large and honestly, it was pretty disgusting. He told me that he was facing his fears. He tells me that it was basically like the caterpillar from Alice and Wonderland. Yuck!


Up next, we toured past Trinidad and Tobago and then on to Peru. Sofia posed for a couple of pictures and they are really cute.

After the photo op with the llama and her mama, we toured the art exhibit in the Peruvian embassy. Alberto found a distant relative.

So although at this point we have been to Africa, the Caribbean and to South America, we aren't done yet. Up next, we headed down under to tour Australia.

It was interesting and we got to see this guy playing a didgeridoo (sp?)...

Finally, where could we finish our tour of the world but....

YEAH!!!!

MEXICO

A beautiful example of the Talavera room in the  Mexican  Cultural Center

So all in all, our tour of the world was excellent. We saw lots of places and ate some interesting things. Sofia was a trouper, letting the grown-ups do some pretty boring stuff, even though she said that she had a little fun. So we decided to take her to do something fun, just for her.

It was a great day and I am looking forward to sharing our new adventure with you, now that we are finally together again.


a bientôt...This is French for Until next time. BTW, they speak French in Camaroon.