Downs and (Mostly) Ups of Adjusting to a big move

Anyone who has moved long distances knows that there are ups and downs while trying to adjust to the new place.  Overall things are great but there are always bumps in the road.   My bumps in the road this week were:
1)  Some guy running me off the road on my bike - and then blaming me when his (actually his friend's) car had a small scratch - no worries, I wasn't hurt and the police were serious underwhelmed by his complaints about the scratch.
2)  Ongoing delays in the temporary resident permit application (sigh)

I think these bumps in the road were more than mitigated by the good stuff though:
1)  Bike ride trip to the beach (and Kyle finding a Lindt chocolate store - note the strawberry cream Lindt ball, not available in North America as far as I'm aware)

2)  Walks to random places past beautiful scenery

3)  Trip to Leiden (a university town 25 km away) - it has been a university town since 1575, seeing windmills/canals, old millstones and our very first castle on this trip...(more of a fort on a hill really, but built in approximately 1200 AD)

4)  Trying delicious Dutch treats - Cocos balls and Pannekoeken!!

The Beginning of the Adventures in the Netherlands - a new little home!

We arrived in Schipol Airport in The Netherlands at 8:15 in the morning, which, is actually not a bad thing in that you have the whole day to sort out what's going on.  On the flip side though, you're exhausted because it's just after midnight according to you're circadian rhythms.  I'm not sure if there's really a better option. Whenever I fly east the first few days are always a little rough.

We dragged our multiple pieces of luggage onto the train (after some difficulty in buying tickets) and went directly south to The Hague (or Den Haag as they call it here).  Den Haag is a lovely city, it doesn't have as many canals as the many other cities in the Netherlands but it has lovely architecture and beautiful parks.  It is very international because of the many international tribunals and NGOs.  Here's a picture of Kyle in front of the International Peace palace (where the international court is):

We are very excited to be here though.  We stashed our luggage and went right over to the university to get Kyle going.  It was chaotic at first but things are working out and he's absolutely LOVING his courses here.  He's taking a bunch of international relations and international law courses.  I made him stop so I could take a picture of him in front of his new school: (He's the guy in the grey coat)

We spent the first week in a hotel, not loving that, then moved to a temporary apartment (Airbnb - love it, likely going to use it more as we travel throughout Europe) for a week until we found our own place.  The first week was pretty depressing because of the way the system works here.  You're supposed to register with some kind of realtor/rental company (with an exorbitant fee), then you look at apartments with them until you find one you like and then you pay equivalent to one month's rent "finder's fee" to the realtor (which is lame since you're doing at least half of the work, looking up places on line that you're interested in) in addition to the deposit and first month's rent to the landlord.  In addition a lot of places with a different realtor want you to register with them (paying ANOTHER fee) in order to just see a place that they have listed with their company.   SUPER LAME!!!  and a way to totally rip off people, which seems kind of odd since the rest of the businesses (like the banks, restaurants, stores etc are not at all like that).

Being the thrifty people we are (I prefer "thrifty" to "cheapskates"), we did not buy into all of this. We had the friend of our friends helping us, he is a realtor and graciously was not charging any fees (and in fact commented that he thought some of those fees were outright illegal) but he lives way up north in another city so couldn't really be as involved.  So, we went an alternate route and started looking up other options:  we ended up finding a great place on Marktplaats (the Netherlands equivalent of Kijiji/Craigslist) but did look at a couple places on some expat websites.

I should comment that another of the depressing things here is that a lot of the rentals are basically a bare shell.  No flooring - just concrete, nothing on the windows, no light fixtures, almost no appliances, and the walls are in whatever state the previous tenants decided to leave them. (Here is a picture of one room in one I went to see before we started looking for ourselves): 

All in all we have done very well, here is a mini tour of our new home:

Here is the little passageway from the street, you can see the little courtyard at the end.

Here's the front of our little cottage

Looking in from the front entrance

The little bathroom off the main room

With laundry in the same room

The kitchen area

The steep stairs upstairs (for all of those who are coming to see us, be mindful that most stairs in the Netherlands are VERY steep!

Bathroom at the top of the stairs

Little study/bedroom to the right of the bathroom

Our bedroom to the right of the bathroom

We are very happy in our new little house and are excited for people to start coming to visit us!  More next week!

The Lead up to the adventures

Ok, so this is just a short commentary on moving across the North American continent hauling a U-Haul that was a teensy bit too heavy for the vehicle hauling it.  (Or maybe a bit more than teensy...) Once again, thank goodness for Kyle and his knowledge about large mechanical things! Who knew there was such a thing as a "transmission cooler" that prevented your transmission from overheating and killing the car while hauling heavy loads?  (I think we all know the answer to that question - obviously not me!)

We left Saint John on Thursday, August 14th in the afternoon - only 36 hours later than we'd hoped to leave and arrived in Scandia, Alberta sometime between midnight and 2 am early on Tuesday, August 20th.   (It's all a bit blurry to me).  We did not take 1 single picture.  Mostly because we spent the entire time chugging along the US interstates at a top speed of 62 miles/hour (100 km/hour) - and often considerably less than that.  My bad eye gets quite tired driving (and we've since discovered that my depth perception is terrible), so Kyle did most of the driving.  Thanks love!

Here's a brief summary of the trip:
New Brunswick - farewell!  We'll miss New Brunswickers but not the rain!
Maine - If I never have to drive the "Airline Road" between Calais and Bangor again, it will be too soon.  Little scary winding roads through the woods will forever remind me of you.  Particularly scary hauling a large trailer.
New Hampshire - "Live Free or Die" (the state motto).  Except not, since we only nip through the corner of the state and still have to pay $2.50 toll.  No sales tax however so make sure to fill up!
Massachusetts - Happy memories of year in Boston.  But very unhappy when get to some construction in the middle of the night and have to go 5 miles/hour for 3 miles because of heavy traffic.  (Kyle, who was taking a short nap break, wakes up to Joanne muttering imprecations under her breath).
Connecticut - Don't remember much as I slept through most of it.  Stopped at a lovely hotel right before New York border.  Thanks to night clerk who gave us great rate and free breakfast!
New York - Sadly since we were so far behind we didn't stop to see brother and family in Brooklyn but went right on through.  Somehow manage to not pay any toll at all.
Pennsylvania - Lots and lots and lots of hills with wind gusts.  Nerve wracking for people driving with large trailers (at this point decision made to base road decisions on flattest route - Google maps now has topographical information, very useful)
Ohio - Lovely interstate but WOW, you pay for it ($30.75 in tolls!!!)  Kyle messes with the minds of little blond Ohio farm girls:  The girl at the toll booth is impressed that we've made it so far in so little time and makes a comment about speeding and the Speed limit being 70 mph (which obviously we haven't been doing).  Kyle responds that we're from Canada so we operate in Km/h.  She is shocked and looks at the speedometer in awe.
Indiana - Sorry to say, crossed in the dark so saw absolutely nothing except tool booths ($12.80)
Illinois - Pulled into Brother and Sister-in-law's house just west of Chicago at around 12:45 and snuck into bed.  We felt bad that we'd timed it poorly as other relative there at the same time.  Had a fun breakfast and morning then on our way again.  Again, what's with the toll booths!  ($18.70)
Iowa - Rainy and miserable, nothing to see.  Felt bad for the Mormon Pioneers and started to understand why it took months to cross Iowa on foot.
Nebraska - decided to stop in Omaha for an early night to be ready for church in morning.  Super friendly ward - Kyle is jealous of their Young Men Group as apparently they had enough for 12 to pass the sacrament and 2 to bless.  Headed out on the road again, this time due North.
South Dakota - Did not like the crosswinds so elected to turn West again.  Wow, there's really nothing in South Dakota but grass, wind and lots of homemade billboard signs.  Arrive in Rapid City and decide to spend the night before heading into Black Hills.  We are sort of jealous that we can't go see Mt Rushmore but feel like it might kill the car.  Next morning head North again trying to skirt any hills/mountains.
Wyoming - only in the very Northeastern tip for about 15 miles - dry grass all around.
Montana - Winding our way through Montana on roads I'd never been on in order to avoid mountains.  Only one tense moment on the Cheyenne Reservation where we went 40 km/h (25 mph) up a very long steep hill and I prayed the whole way up.  Finally made it to the boarder around midnight and had no issues.
Alberta - Yay, decided to just make for Kyle's parents so finally arrived and fell into bed!!

The rest of the week was taken up with putting stuff in storage, running around visiting people and doing other errands.  We were able to attend Kyle's brother's wedding in Duchess, Alberta on the weekend which was lovely.  I really enjoyed getting to know many of the relatives he has talked about but hadn't yet been able to sort out.  I still can't figure out all his cousins but I think I have most of the aunts and uncles all straight!  We were also able to visit our Grandparents: his Grandma Link and my Grandpa and Grandma Salmon.  We are blessed to have them still living and able to see us.

Whew!  Lots of writing and no pictures - I promise there will be pictures in the next one!

The Teaser Prequel Adventure

I am turning over a new leaf (again) with my blogging and going to try and use it to keep track of all our adventures in Europe.  Actually, if you want a more accurate reason, I just have more time now and something more exciting to report on than:  "this week I went to work and Kyle went to school and our spare time was spent doing church stuff."  So, here is the first of the adventures, or what I like to call "the teaser prequel adventure".

We were frantically trying to get everything ready to move.  (I CANNOT figure out how I managed to accumulate so much stuff in only 3 1/2 years).  We'd gotten as far as we thought we could and decided that it was a shame to not go see Newfoundland since we were so close (relatively speaking).   We looked into flights, which weren't bad, but there were no available cars for rent - none at all.  In the end we decided to go the traditional route and make for the ferry.

Throwing stuff into the car and heading out towards Nova Scotia took no time at all but it occurred to us that we should make sure we could make the ferry.  Turns out that night's sailing was full as well as the next morning so we made a little detour into Halifax for the night and were able to go to the temple and Peggy's Cove.  

We drove the rest of the way to Sydney, (Nova Scotia, just to clarify) -7 hours or so - and caught the Saturday night sailing.  Unfortunately, as we were last minute there weren't any little cabins left, so we were left in the regular room.  Kyle managed to get some sleep on the floor while I tried to sleep in my seat.  It didn't work so well...I think I managed about 2 hours of the 10.

Thank goodness for Kyle, as soon as we got off the ferry he drove straight for Corner Brook arriving about 15 minutes before church started.  I dozed for most of the 3 hours.  We had a lovely time at the branch and even got to be photographers for a little branch photo after church

After church we headed north and made it all the way to a little campground in the very northern peninsula.  We saw Labrador faintly in the mist across the straight.  I suspect that might be the closest I ever get to Labrador.  

The next morning, I was told by the park ranger that I could go onto "Th' Five Hunred Stips" (as I thought I heard him say) - here is approximately the rest of the conversation:

Me:  "Umm, pardon...what is a "stip"?

Ranger (looking at me like I've just said something colossally stupid): "500 stips, like, a stip."

Me (Noticing that Kyle is killing himself laughing by this point):  "Oh, a stip....OOOOO, you mean a STEP, 500 STEPS!!"

Ranger:  "Ah course"

Me:  "Sorry... it's just you have a bit of an accent, and I'm not used to... Sorry"

Ranger:  "You're the one with the accent Miss."

(N.B.  All the spelling errors are intentional - it's me trying to spell out what a newfie accent sounds like)

Anyway, after that lovely interlude, we went to L'Anse aux Meadowes, which is the site of the earliest European settlement on the North American continent (circa 11th century) - here's the UNESCO link if you've never heard of it: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/4

The thing I couldn't understand - why in the world didn't the Vikings just sail another 3 or 4 days south or something where it's way warmer and there are way more trees?  (Since apparently that's one of the main things they came to harvest).  I mean, we were there in August, which is the nicest time of year, and, as you see, it's pretty bleak. I guess maybe they felt it was better than Greenland, where they were stopping before...

Kyle resting on the grass covered ruin of one of the long houses

Outside a reconstructed peat long house

Both of us demonstrating Viking gender-specific activities:

Kyle inside the smelting hut

After this we took a quick trip into a little town at the very tip of the peninsula called St Anthony (home of the infamous "500 Stips" - which we were too lazy to climb incidentally) and checked out the last of the season's icebergs, climbed some rocks and enjoyed Canadian scenery.  (Which really consists, in most of Canada as rocks, trees, water, more rocks, more trees and occasionally some scrubby grass/bushes, more water and more trees and rocks):

That afternoon we drove all the way back south to Gros Morne National Park.  I am totally embarrassed to note that we did not take one single picture.  It's touted as one of most photogenic national parks and it was indeed lovely but I must admit that it didn't really seem that much different than parts of interior BC.  We camped right along this beautiful beach and noted that the water wasn't nearly as cold as in the Bay of Fundy (near Saint John) oddly enough.

We drove back to Corner Brook that night and called up one of the families that we'd met the previous Sunday - they ended up taking us out to one of there favourite picnic sites on the coasts.  Fabulous.  We had a delicious mussel boil (well - some of us ate mussels, other of us (Kyle and the kids) ate hot dogs).  The scenery was breathtaking.

Our last stop on the way home was at a little diner where Kyle got "A Mess".  This is a Newfoundland treat that one of the sisters he home taught had told him about.  It's basically poutine on steroids. French fries with the gravy and cheese curds as per normal poutine but then add in a whole bunch of greasy fried ground beef and stuffing (like turkey stuffing).  You'll notice me rubber-necking, it's like a train accident, you can't look away...

After that we headed to the ferry terminal, slept in the car until 3 am (when the ferry started to load) and then went into our little cabin, had a shower and went to sleep.  I would HIGHLY recommend the cabin option when taking the ferry overnight!!  We drove home that day back into the moving mess having had a lovely time.  It was a short trip with a ton of driving but it was great!

The Turducken!!!

Bet you all thought that I was going to FINALLY post about the wedding with wedding pictures... I do promise that is coming but in the meantime, here are some crazy photos from our first Thanksgiving (Canadian) as a new family.  We decided our motto was:  Go big or go home.  Consequently, we decided that a Turducken would qualify...(For those of you who are not familiar with the concept of the Turducken, it is a Turkey stuffed with a Duck which is in turn stuffed with a chicken - but as you'll see, we didn't stop there...)

The beginning phase:  de-boning the chicken (and the duck)

With our good friends Lisa and Hubert, approaching the end of the deboning phase (turkey)

 Putting it all together:  Turkey, then stuffing (mom's recipe) then the duck

Then the essential bacon weave!!!

A Special view of the Bacon weave (Kyle's masterpiece contribution)

Close to the end, you can see the chicken and then the spicy sausage stuffing (final layers) 

Lisa, very intently sewing up the Turducken

Finally, trussed and ready to go in the oven!!

And there it is, all ready for eating!!

Beautiful!

The aftermath...

Thanks to my good friend Shan who gave me the idea in the first place!!  (And, quite rightly, called it the "most epically ridiculous recipe you will ever make"!)

Ny toa mzungu

(English translation from Kinyarwanda: My name is foreigner)

As I come to the end of my stay in Rwanda I've been reflecting on being a foreigner or mzungu. It's very interesting being judged on your appearance so profoundly. I'm not even what I would term a real "expat" - I walk a lot of places (and people think I'm crazy for doing so), I cook my own food, wash my own underwear and even ride the public transit. I do get rides to places more than most Rwandans and there's a lady (Vestine) who comes into the apartment twice a week to clean floors and such so I guess I'm living an elevated lifestyle to some degree. Anyway, it is interesting, like I said to be judged on appearance. I often forget how it feels when I'm not in Africa. It's a good reminder for me to not make judgements on externalities.

I really have loved living in Rwanda, there's a real positive energy here that I admire and although it can still be very chaotic, it's a lot of fun. I'm going to miss it. Here are some highlights from the last 3 weeks (I had some internet issues my last couple of weeks so I'm now posting this from Boston)

- A trip up to the north west edge of Rwanda to a town called Gisenyi. This meant a 4 hour bus ride one-way so a bit of a trek just for an overnight trip but still fun. We slept in a hostel, ate brochette (Rwandan-style kebabs - yum) and enjoyed Lake Kivu (a huge lake between Rwanda and the DRC)

Biljana and I on the bus

The crew - waiting for Broschettes

Beautiful Lake Kivu

Lake Kivu

I like to call this one:  The ID doc risking schisto (it's a silly personal joke...)

- data-entry for our project - Hurray!! We didn't think the Ministry was going to let us get on it so quickly! It was great to almost finish all the data entry - even though 10 hours a day is exhausting.

-FESPAD - A Multi-country African Dance Festival/Competition that took place at the national stadium.  We ended up being there 2.5 hours early - we were told it started at 3pm, arrived just before 4pm (adjusting for "African time" or so we thought) and got to sit there until the actual start time of 6:30pm. It was great though, neat dancing from numerous countries around Africa (including Madagascar - reminding me of the time when I and some other sister missionaries won a talent show in Madagascar for our attempt at traditional dancing - Prize: 1 live chicken - donated to a needy family in the congregation after all the ladies in the congregation were horrified when we admitted we had no idea how to kill and pluck a chicken - apparently my mother failed in her duty to teach me such skills)  Anyway, here is a video of the champions (the Kenyan drummers) - I apologize for the sad video skills, this is a new thing for me and obviously I need more practice.

- Saying goodbye to all my friends at church (although this was hard, perhaps not a highlight) - I did love attending church in Rwanda, such great people

The brand new church building in Kigali, Rwanda and branch members milling about after church

 -Eating Rwandan food!  (I couldn't go without a comment on the food of course).  No East African meal is really complete without at least 3 starches and preferably more - here we only have two:  Matoke (non-sweet banana - I totally love this stuff) and potato.  For a real feast we ought to have had sweet potato and/or cassava root plus rice and maybe pasta as well.  Here there's chicken and peas with some sauce but normally there would also be beef or goat and beans as well.  Usually there's also sauce with spinach or isombe (ground up cassava leaves).  

And finally, the finishing touch:  Fanta.  (Most prefer orange, I do not - I prefer "citron").

Close Encounters of the Cockroach Kind

A lowlight (as opposed to a highlight) of living in the tropics - an episode I like to call a close encounter of the cockroach kind: A few days ago, there I was, minding my own business, when I spotted a HUGE cockroach in my bathroom. I must confess, I really don't like them. I've managed to get over my aversion to any vertebrate or spiders or bees/wasps etc. but I still have issues with cockroaches. It's visceral. (It may stem from an experience in Madagascar involving a cupboard in one of our apartments that at first glance had a back wall that moved...enough said)

This cockroach was, no joke, 5 cm long. (U.S. translation = 2 inches) Now, I realize that I am, in fact, 178 cm long, which is considerably larger than this cockroach but remember, 5 cm is long for a roach. This guy/gal had a gimpy leg as well, making him/her pretty slow. Regardless of his/her handicap, I still made a loud sound and Biljana, the other girl living in the apartment, came running. She helped me shove it into a paper sack. We took it outside and our night guard came running to see what the commotion was. He started laughing a fit to kill himself when he found out what the problem was and after getting himself under control he disposed of the bag.

(A bad picture of the cockroach peeking at me from around a bucket)

We thought the excitement over although I did comment (prophetically as it turned out) that cockroaches rarely travel alone. Sure enough, an hour later I was getting into the shower and I went to adjust the shower-head when I noticed ANOTHER 5 cm long cockroach sitting right on the shower-head, wiggling its nasty long antennae at me. I made another loud noise (a loud screaming-type noise if the truth be known) and Biljana came running again. We tried our paper bag exterminator trick again but sadly, THIS cockroach did not have a gimpy leg. She/He/It jumped OUT of the bag and ran somewhere. We screamed really loudly (again) I'm sorry to say.

Unfortunately we never saw where she/he/it went so, consequently, I couldn't shower there and had to bathe in the other bathroom. (Highly pathetic I know, but it just felt icky)