Friday 28 November
My day in three words.
Sickly: We were packed, ready to check out of the hostel. Jonathan decided to get sick. Quite sick. At some stage he decided to vomit. Then he was fine. Unfortunately, after we had lunch he got sick again, threw up again, and hasn't quite recovered yet. No more food for now.
Historical: We then went on to Alphen a/d Rein, where my mum grew up. We got to see a bit of the place, but we didn't get too much time there due to having left later than expected, because of Jonathan. It was cool though, to see her old house and where she grew up before going to New Zealand.
Friendship: After that, we went to Eindhoven, where we are now. We are staying with old friends. He is a pastor, and was the pastor of our first church in Masterton, until he came here to pastor an English international church in Eindhoven, 6 years ago. We will be here with them until Monday, when we travel with them to Paris.
So there it is: The compact version of this day.
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Friday, 28 November 2008
Way to not be tourists!
Thursday 27 November
My sister and I both decided that we would most definitely not be tourists whilst travelling Europe.
Well, today we were most successful in not not being tourists.
Why? We managed to gain an extra day in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the castle we hoped to visit is actually only open on Saturdays and Sundays, so we had nothing to do. There is this free walking tour around amsterdam which seemed pretty good. We decided to go on it.
It was actually a very good tour. The guy who led it, Neil (Canadian), was very funny and very knowledgable. I highly recommend it to anyone who goes to Amsterdam for the first time and is interested in the place in general, plus its history.
I learned a heck of a lot of history about Amsterdam, and it is actually very interesting. Lately I have been becoming more and more interested in history. I still won't be picking it up at school, but I do like learning about it, preferably on my own time in my own way.
On the way back, after the tour was finished, we passed a Christian book store, which happened to have English books in it. I went in for a quick look, and there, sitting on the shelf, was Sinner. Dekker's Sinner. Released a couple of months ago, it is at the very top of my list of books to read. Unfortunately, it was quite expensive, and I didn't want to spend that much of my money on it, so I had to leave it. I guess I will just have to wait until it arrives in New Zealand, which I doubt it has yet (though I am not sure, mind you) and most likely will not arrive for a long time.
Anyhow, my last day in Amsterdam was great.
My sister and I both decided that we would most definitely not be tourists whilst travelling Europe.
Well, today we were most successful in not not being tourists.
Why? We managed to gain an extra day in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the castle we hoped to visit is actually only open on Saturdays and Sundays, so we had nothing to do. There is this free walking tour around amsterdam which seemed pretty good. We decided to go on it.
It was actually a very good tour. The guy who led it, Neil (Canadian), was very funny and very knowledgable. I highly recommend it to anyone who goes to Amsterdam for the first time and is interested in the place in general, plus its history.
I learned a heck of a lot of history about Amsterdam, and it is actually very interesting. Lately I have been becoming more and more interested in history. I still won't be picking it up at school, but I do like learning about it, preferably on my own time in my own way.
On the way back, after the tour was finished, we passed a Christian book store, which happened to have English books in it. I went in for a quick look, and there, sitting on the shelf, was Sinner. Dekker's Sinner. Released a couple of months ago, it is at the very top of my list of books to read. Unfortunately, it was quite expensive, and I didn't want to spend that much of my money on it, so I had to leave it. I guess I will just have to wait until it arrives in New Zealand, which I doubt it has yet (though I am not sure, mind you) and most likely will not arrive for a long time.
Anyhow, my last day in Amsterdam was great.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Generations
Wednesday 26 November
Today we travelled up north, to Friesland, to a city called IJlst. We went there to see my great-grandfather, who is currently 95 years old. Pretty cool, ay?
I have been to his house but once before, three years ago, on our way to Niger. It is a really cool house, too. It has so many random rooms built into it, such as an attic-ish type room in one part of the roof, which can only be reached by a ladder; And the other part of the roof with two rooms and a bathroom, which can only be accessed by climbing the stairs in the back of the cupboard on the second floor. He has lived there for like 70 or more years--he and his wife hid Jews in these rooms during World War II.
He is a carpenter of sorts. Up until very recently, even at the age of 93, he was still making things on occasion. He made a wheel barrow for me when I was like 2 or 3, when he came down to New Zealand to visit family. I think we still have it...
His wife (my great-grandmother) died almost four years ago. I can't even remember her, as I only ever met her once, when I was about 3. Last year he was on his boat (which he still, even now, owns) and he fell on his back. Early this year he had a stroke and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Still, he lives on.
Unfortunately, he doesn't really have much English, and I have no Dutch, so I can't really talk with him--only mum can. But it was still really cool to see him again. I know it will be the last time.
Today we travelled up north, to Friesland, to a city called IJlst. We went there to see my great-grandfather, who is currently 95 years old. Pretty cool, ay?
I have been to his house but once before, three years ago, on our way to Niger. It is a really cool house, too. It has so many random rooms built into it, such as an attic-ish type room in one part of the roof, which can only be reached by a ladder; And the other part of the roof with two rooms and a bathroom, which can only be accessed by climbing the stairs in the back of the cupboard on the second floor. He has lived there for like 70 or more years--he and his wife hid Jews in these rooms during World War II.
He is a carpenter of sorts. Up until very recently, even at the age of 93, he was still making things on occasion. He made a wheel barrow for me when I was like 2 or 3, when he came down to New Zealand to visit family. I think we still have it...
His wife (my great-grandmother) died almost four years ago. I can't even remember her, as I only ever met her once, when I was about 3. Last year he was on his boat (which he still, even now, owns) and he fell on his back. Early this year he had a stroke and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Still, he lives on.
Unfortunately, he doesn't really have much English, and I have no Dutch, so I can't really talk with him--only mum can. But it was still really cool to see him again. I know it will be the last time.
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Of Paris and Amsterdam
Saturday 22 November
Exhausted, again. We spent the entire day travelling all across Paris, being led by my sister to see some of the tourist spots, but also some of the not so tourist-y spots. All I can say is, we went everywhere. I can't begin to list the places, nor can I guarantee correct spelling, so I shall just leave it out. The pictures can explain it when they come.
Paris is awesome. That is all for now.
Sunday 23 November
We took the metro from near our hostel to the North Paris station, where we took the Thalys (a fast train) to Amsterdam. It was supposed to travel at around 300km/h, and I am pretty sure it did! This is the second time I have travelled on this train, but it was cool nonetheless.
You know what awaited us in Amsterdam? Snow.
That's right: SNOW. From desert to snow in three days. Talk about major climate change! And it isn't even winter here yet.
So we must freeze, apparently.
Tuesday 25 November
The past two days we have done a lot of stuff around Amsterdam. Yesterday mum wasn't feeling too great--she still hasn't fully recovered, though I think the malaria has gone. Continued prayer would be great. Anyway, we have done lots of travelling around the place, looking at stuff such as the Anne Frank House, eating Dutch food. (Oh, man, I love Dutch food...)
Oh yeah, we also got to see Noah's Ark--the one here in Amsterdam that has been built according to how it says in the Bible, just scaled down. That was cool. The real one was supposedly twice as long and three times as wide. They are building a full size one at the moment, in Rotterdam (another part of Holland). Once that is done, they plan to take it around the world. That will be incredible.
So we are enjoying Holland at the moment. Have a lot planed for the next few days. It is cool to be back here, seeing where mum grew up (I have been to Holland only once before, for two weeks). But I must saying, my energy is running out quickly. Soon I will just want to get home.
Compared to Paris, Amsterdam is not as nice, in my opinion so far. I loved Paris, I loved Holland in general, but Amsterdam? Not that great. Amsterdam is cool, but no where near as nice as Paris, and the general feeling, atmosphere, whatever, is not as great. Also, the public transport is a heck of a lot more efficient in Paris. But hey, it's still awesome to be here.
Exhausted, again. We spent the entire day travelling all across Paris, being led by my sister to see some of the tourist spots, but also some of the not so tourist-y spots. All I can say is, we went everywhere. I can't begin to list the places, nor can I guarantee correct spelling, so I shall just leave it out. The pictures can explain it when they come.
Paris is awesome. That is all for now.
Sunday 23 November
We took the metro from near our hostel to the North Paris station, where we took the Thalys (a fast train) to Amsterdam. It was supposed to travel at around 300km/h, and I am pretty sure it did! This is the second time I have travelled on this train, but it was cool nonetheless.
You know what awaited us in Amsterdam? Snow.
That's right: SNOW. From desert to snow in three days. Talk about major climate change! And it isn't even winter here yet.
So we must freeze, apparently.
Tuesday 25 November
The past two days we have done a lot of stuff around Amsterdam. Yesterday mum wasn't feeling too great--she still hasn't fully recovered, though I think the malaria has gone. Continued prayer would be great. Anyway, we have done lots of travelling around the place, looking at stuff such as the Anne Frank House, eating Dutch food. (Oh, man, I love Dutch food...)
Oh yeah, we also got to see Noah's Ark--the one here in Amsterdam that has been built according to how it says in the Bible, just scaled down. That was cool. The real one was supposedly twice as long and three times as wide. They are building a full size one at the moment, in Rotterdam (another part of Holland). Once that is done, they plan to take it around the world. That will be incredible.
So we are enjoying Holland at the moment. Have a lot planed for the next few days. It is cool to be back here, seeing where mum grew up (I have been to Holland only once before, for two weeks). But I must saying, my energy is running out quickly. Soon I will just want to get home.
Compared to Paris, Amsterdam is not as nice, in my opinion so far. I loved Paris, I loved Holland in general, but Amsterdam? Not that great. Amsterdam is cool, but no where near as nice as Paris, and the general feeling, atmosphere, whatever, is not as great. Also, the public transport is a heck of a lot more efficient in Paris. But hey, it's still awesome to be here.
Let's cruise then, shall we?
Thursday 20 November
Our final days in Niger passed very quickly, and the next thing we knew, it was Thursday afternoon.
The Air France strike finished as planned, so all was good. They have this funny thing for the Air France midnight flights to and from Niamey--for some reason, those on that flight to Paris must check in their luggage (all except for hand luggage) when the plane first arrives at 4:00 or 5:00pm. (It then goes on to Burkina Faso, then comes back for passengers and on to Paris.) So we went to the airport to check in our stuff. When we finally got in, it was all good and things went quickly.
Yes, there is a "but".
But, guess what! Typical Niger: Their x-ray machine wasn't working. Every single bag must be opened and looked through by airport staff. This wouldn't be so bad, if we didn't have ELEVEN bags, all taped shut and padlocked! We finally left the airport by about 6:30, at least 2 1/2 hours after we arrived.
Friday 21 November
Just after midnight. We are sitting in the departure lounge, after going through the police checks and customs, boarder patrol etcetera. Soon enough, we are allowed to board. The French like their security, so after our hand luggage had been passed through the x-ray (yeah, that one works. Don't ask why we couldn't use that one for the rest of the stuff) they felt they had to manually search through all our bags. Their only metal detector was a hand held one (from what I could tell, there was no other one in the airport that we had to walk through), and the only thing I was caught with was a flash drive. How exactly that is picked up by a metal detector, what with the tiny amount in it, I have no idea. Anyway, that was of no threat to them, apparently, so I was fine. Little did they know...
We arrived in Paris just before 6:00am. No trouble in getting out of the airport, except for that minor hiccup when Jonathan went missing.
Okay, maybe not so minor. A long story short: He was suddenly gone. Not there. We had absolutely no idea where he went. After giving us all the frights of our lives, we found him about 15 minutes later. He had walked off ahead of us, thinking we were just behind him, and then when he couldn't see us he assumed we had gone through some doors. He went through them...and the rest is fairly obvious. Eventually we found him, thank God.
As we were going to go to Amsterdam for almost two weeks, we wanted to leave most of our stuff in Paris, as we didn't want to take it all across Europe. So we had to take all our stuff from the airport, outside of Paris, to Kimberley's (my sister) friend's place, on the other side of Paris. A long way, with more than 200kg worth of stuff. And we did it by trains (RER, metro). The Paris metro system is very good, I must say. But I am never doing that again. It was crazy. Nuts. There was this one station in which we had to switch from an RER train to a metra train, and it was massive. We had to lug all that stuff across it (at least 30 minutes). By the time we got there (just after 10am) we were all absolutely exhausted, and our muscles ached like nothing on Earth. I am never going to forget that. And I am never doing it again.
Later, after going to the hostel we were staying in, me and Kimberley went around Paris just looking at stuff, window shopping, wandering the streets. (She lived there for 6 months earlier in the year, so she knows the place.) It was cool. I loved Paris. Eventually we headed back and had dinner and then crashed (went to bed) early, for a nice long sleep.
Our final days in Niger passed very quickly, and the next thing we knew, it was Thursday afternoon.
The Air France strike finished as planned, so all was good. They have this funny thing for the Air France midnight flights to and from Niamey--for some reason, those on that flight to Paris must check in their luggage (all except for hand luggage) when the plane first arrives at 4:00 or 5:00pm. (It then goes on to Burkina Faso, then comes back for passengers and on to Paris.) So we went to the airport to check in our stuff. When we finally got in, it was all good and things went quickly.
Yes, there is a "but".
But, guess what! Typical Niger: Their x-ray machine wasn't working. Every single bag must be opened and looked through by airport staff. This wouldn't be so bad, if we didn't have ELEVEN bags, all taped shut and padlocked! We finally left the airport by about 6:30, at least 2 1/2 hours after we arrived.
Friday 21 November
Just after midnight. We are sitting in the departure lounge, after going through the police checks and customs, boarder patrol etcetera. Soon enough, we are allowed to board. The French like their security, so after our hand luggage had been passed through the x-ray (yeah, that one works. Don't ask why we couldn't use that one for the rest of the stuff) they felt they had to manually search through all our bags. Their only metal detector was a hand held one (from what I could tell, there was no other one in the airport that we had to walk through), and the only thing I was caught with was a flash drive. How exactly that is picked up by a metal detector, what with the tiny amount in it, I have no idea. Anyway, that was of no threat to them, apparently, so I was fine. Little did they know...
We arrived in Paris just before 6:00am. No trouble in getting out of the airport, except for that minor hiccup when Jonathan went missing.
Okay, maybe not so minor. A long story short: He was suddenly gone. Not there. We had absolutely no idea where he went. After giving us all the frights of our lives, we found him about 15 minutes later. He had walked off ahead of us, thinking we were just behind him, and then when he couldn't see us he assumed we had gone through some doors. He went through them...and the rest is fairly obvious. Eventually we found him, thank God.
As we were going to go to Amsterdam for almost two weeks, we wanted to leave most of our stuff in Paris, as we didn't want to take it all across Europe. So we had to take all our stuff from the airport, outside of Paris, to Kimberley's (my sister) friend's place, on the other side of Paris. A long way, with more than 200kg worth of stuff. And we did it by trains (RER, metro). The Paris metro system is very good, I must say. But I am never doing that again. It was crazy. Nuts. There was this one station in which we had to switch from an RER train to a metra train, and it was massive. We had to lug all that stuff across it (at least 30 minutes). By the time we got there (just after 10am) we were all absolutely exhausted, and our muscles ached like nothing on Earth. I am never going to forget that. And I am never doing it again.
Later, after going to the hostel we were staying in, me and Kimberley went around Paris just looking at stuff, window shopping, wandering the streets. (She lived there for 6 months earlier in the year, so she knows the place.) It was cool. I loved Paris. Eventually we headed back and had dinner and then crashed (went to bed) early, for a nice long sleep.
Thursday, 20 November 2008
The Lord of the Sickness III: The Return of the Malaria
Mum had malaria. One week later, I got malaria.
The day before we leave Niger, mum comes down with malaria yet again.
Twice in two weeks had malaria hit our family. Now, but one day before
we leave (about a month after the last lot), it has made the return.
At this stage we are still leaving as planned, as it isn't really bad.
It would have to get a lot worse to stop us. Of course, it would be nice
for her and everyone else if she was healthy again as soon as possible.
So please, pray with us that mum will be healed as quickly as possible.
Planetary Plans
At some stage during the past week or so, I promised to post an Itinerary of our coming travels. I believe I have not done that as of yet, so here it is.
Friday, 21 November, 2008, 12:35AM, GMT+01
Fly Air France from Niamey, Niger, to Paris, France.
Sunday, 23 November, 2008
Travel via train from Paris, France, to Amsterdam, Holland.
Friday, 28 November, 2008
Travel via train from Amsterdam to Eindhoven. Stay with friends that now live there (from NZ).
Monday, 1 December, 2008
Travel via train and car from Eindhoven, Holland back to Paris, France.
Wednesday, 3 December, 2008, 9:05PM, GMT+01
Fly Emirates from Paris, France, to Dubai.
Thursday, 4 December, 2008, 8:40AM, GMT+
Fly Emirates from Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand, via Singapore and Brisbane.
Friday, 5 December, 2008, 2:15PM, GMT+12 (NZ local time)
Arrive in the Homeland (being New Zealand, of course).
Immediately when we arrive in Auckland, we will be staying at my Uncle and Aunty's place (mum's sister). Unfortunately, my uncle will be in the States at the time, with the RNZAF, the Royal New Zealand Air Force. At some stage shortly after we will be going to some place near the beach for a week or so (not sure of the dates or location) and after that, well, we have yet to decided. Further plans are as of yet unplanned. Just go with the flow, that's how I get by.
Friday, 21 November, 2008, 12:35AM, GMT+01
Fly Air France from Niamey, Niger, to Paris, France.
Sunday, 23 November, 2008
Travel via train from Paris, France, to Amsterdam, Holland.
Friday, 28 November, 2008
Travel via train from Amsterdam to Eindhoven. Stay with friends that now live there (from NZ).
Monday, 1 December, 2008
Travel via train and car from Eindhoven, Holland back to Paris, France.
Wednesday, 3 December, 2008, 9:05PM, GMT+01
Fly Emirates from Paris, France, to Dubai.
Thursday, 4 December, 2008, 8:40AM, GMT+
Fly Emirates from Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand, via Singapore and Brisbane.
Friday, 5 December, 2008, 2:15PM, GMT+12 (NZ local time)
Arrive in the Homeland (being New Zealand, of course).
Immediately when we arrive in Auckland, we will be staying at my Uncle and Aunty's place (mum's sister). Unfortunately, my uncle will be in the States at the time, with the RNZAF, the Royal New Zealand Air Force. At some stage shortly after we will be going to some place near the beach for a week or so (not sure of the dates or location) and after that, well, we have yet to decided. Further plans are as of yet unplanned. Just go with the flow, that's how I get by.
And The Photos Will Follow...
When I published the previous post, I did so by email.
I viewed it, to make sure all went as planned, and it did. It was
displayed exactly is in Thunderbird...
With one minor problem. The photos were not there.
Yeah, annoying. So I added them in via Blogger.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to do so once I have left this here
country, tomorrow (Thursday) night.
So, if I cannot work this out, there shall be no photos until I reach
NZ, at which stage I hope to get my photo galleries back up and running
and updated, and I might even add in photos to these posts. We shall see.
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Striking travels
Sunday 16 November
Yesterday we found out that Air France pilots have gone on strike for four days.
We fly out on Air France.
Mm. A problem. Luckily, it is only supposed to go for four days (ending the 17th I think), which shouldn't effect our flight. Unless they extend it, which is likely if they don't get what they want. These French just love to go on strike. Please pray with us that our flight does not get canceled!
During the past couple of days we have said goodbye to lots of friends, some of whom we won't see again for a very long time, as they live in the States. The last two days in Maradi have been really great, and we will have many good memories to take with us.
Today we travelled to Galmi. It took just over three hours, as the road is not the best and the car we are using (taking to Niamey for friends to use there) is a bit old, and not the greatest to travel in, so that made it take a little longer than usual.
Before we left, we had breakfast with the Hughes family. They are really good friends of ours, from New Zealand, and we won't see them for at least another year and a half. (These are the people with the two little kids previously mentioned in "Oh, gosh!")
The Nicholsons with the Hughes family (top) and some of the Cunningham family (bottom).
The trip was a bit bumpy at times, but overall it wasn't too bad. In my opinion, we finished up well in Maradi.
Who knows, maybe some day I will be back?
Monday 17 November
After saying goodbye to yet more people, now those in Galmi, we were on the road again bright and early this morning. The trip to Niamey was uneventful (rather boring), and took about 7 1/2 hours.
The final countdown begins, as we have now three days in Niamey before we fly out.
As to what is happening with the Air France strike, I do not yet know. It is supposed to end today, but I haven't heard anything.
You may have noticed that I have blog posts for the 16th and 17th in one post, posted on the 18th. I do not know when I will be able to use the internet, and so I write when I can about the various days and will send them off whenever I get access. Thus, you may get many days worth of blogs in one post (until we get back to NZ and settled in), or you may get but one. Who knows?
Yesterday we found out that Air France pilots have gone on strike for four days.
We fly out on Air France.
Mm. A problem. Luckily, it is only supposed to go for four days (ending the 17th I think), which shouldn't effect our flight. Unless they extend it, which is likely if they don't get what they want. These French just love to go on strike. Please pray with us that our flight does not get canceled!
During the past couple of days we have said goodbye to lots of friends, some of whom we won't see again for a very long time, as they live in the States. The last two days in Maradi have been really great, and we will have many good memories to take with us.
Erik Kozakowski, me, Kevin Kozakowski
Today we travelled to Galmi. It took just over three hours, as the road is not the best and the car we are using (taking to Niamey for friends to use there) is a bit old, and not the greatest to travel in, so that made it take a little longer than usual.
Before we left, we had breakfast with the Hughes family. They are really good friends of ours, from New Zealand, and we won't see them for at least another year and a half. (These are the people with the two little kids previously mentioned in "Oh, gosh!")
The Nicholsons with the Hughes family (top) and some of the Cunningham family (bottom).
The trip was a bit bumpy at times, but overall it wasn't too bad. In my opinion, we finished up well in Maradi.
Who knows, maybe some day I will be back?
Monday 17 November
After saying goodbye to yet more people, now those in Galmi, we were on the road again bright and early this morning. The trip to Niamey was uneventful (rather boring), and took about 7 1/2 hours.
The final countdown begins, as we have now three days in Niamey before we fly out.
As to what is happening with the Air France strike, I do not yet know. It is supposed to end today, but I haven't heard anything.
You may have noticed that I have blog posts for the 16th and 17th in one post, posted on the 18th. I do not know when I will be able to use the internet, and so I write when I can about the various days and will send them off whenever I get access. Thus, you may get many days worth of blogs in one post (until we get back to NZ and settled in), or you may get but one. Who knows?
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Empty, Lost.
"containing nothing; having none of the usual or appropriate contents: an empty bottle."
Or, in this case, house.
Uh...huh. Right then.
Mm. I moved this morning.
We are now living in the guesthouse for last two nights, so that our house can be cleaned properly. Tomorrow is our last day in Maradi.
Our house is empty. It echos. Everything we own has been packed into bags and suitcases. The place in which we have lived these past three years has now been stripped of every sign of us. On the inside, at least.
Sunday morning we begin the final leg of goodbyes: Galmi; Niamey. And then we are off, to Europe, then New Zealand. The country I was born in, the country I was raised in until we came here...My country. Home.
I am excited to be going home again, after these past three years. However, this does not completely hide the other feelings.
Lost. I feel lost.
Or maybe it is confused?
It could be both.
Lost Confusion.
I can't wait to get home, be with family and friends again, see my country, taste our food, smell our air and that smell that cannot be defined other than simply home.
Who would have thought that I would be disappointed to be leaving this country? More often than not I have been frustrated, annoyed, angry, with this country, the people, the culture. I have longed to return home again. Dreamed of it. Awaited it more than ever when feeling depressed.
Thus the confusion.
I feel somewhat lost, as if I have no idea what is next. Which, in some ways, is true. I guess it is the questions like Will I adjust back to school life in New Zealand? How will I get on with the friends I haven't seen in years? Have they changed? Have I changed?
In the middle. That is what I am. I want to go home, yet some unknown part of me wants to stay here. I say unknown, because I honestly have no idea why. I suppose I will miss some things, but I probably won't know what I really feel about Niger until I am no longer there. You never know what you've got till it's gone. Will that apply to me? Who knows. Only time will tell.
But before I have settled back into NZ life, I guess I will stay this way. Lost. Confused.
I hate goodbyes. The next day will be full of them. I have said way too many of them in the past few years--life as a missionary, or missionary kid. The difference is this time it is me who is leaving. This time is unlike every other time, in some ways, because I don't have to say goodbye to only one person or family...
I have to say goodbye to everyone.
Or, in this case, house.
Uh...huh. Right then.
Mm. I moved this morning.
We are now living in the guesthouse for last two nights, so that our house can be cleaned properly. Tomorrow is our last day in Maradi.
Our house is empty. It echos. Everything we own has been packed into bags and suitcases. The place in which we have lived these past three years has now been stripped of every sign of us. On the inside, at least.
Sunday morning we begin the final leg of goodbyes: Galmi; Niamey. And then we are off, to Europe, then New Zealand. The country I was born in, the country I was raised in until we came here...My country. Home.
I am excited to be going home again, after these past three years. However, this does not completely hide the other feelings.
Lost. I feel lost.
Or maybe it is confused?
It could be both.
Lost Confusion.
I can't wait to get home, be with family and friends again, see my country, taste our food, smell our air and that smell that cannot be defined other than simply home.
Who would have thought that I would be disappointed to be leaving this country? More often than not I have been frustrated, annoyed, angry, with this country, the people, the culture. I have longed to return home again. Dreamed of it. Awaited it more than ever when feeling depressed.
Thus the confusion.
I feel somewhat lost, as if I have no idea what is next. Which, in some ways, is true. I guess it is the questions like Will I adjust back to school life in New Zealand? How will I get on with the friends I haven't seen in years? Have they changed? Have I changed?
In the middle. That is what I am. I want to go home, yet some unknown part of me wants to stay here. I say unknown, because I honestly have no idea why. I suppose I will miss some things, but I probably won't know what I really feel about Niger until I am no longer there. You never know what you've got till it's gone. Will that apply to me? Who knows. Only time will tell.
But before I have settled back into NZ life, I guess I will stay this way. Lost. Confused.
I hate goodbyes. The next day will be full of them. I have said way too many of them in the past few years--life as a missionary, or missionary kid. The difference is this time it is me who is leaving. This time is unlike every other time, in some ways, because I don't have to say goodbye to only one person or family...
I have to say goodbye to everyone.
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Portability
I leave next week.
Technically, I begin the journey this week. Sunday. But I don't fly out until next week.
And what does this have to do with portability?
Everything, indirectly.
I like being portable. It makes things so much easier.
I want to keep you updated while I am traveling, if possible. Luckily, Google makes things incredibly easy to do things quickly, efficiently and it is all easily done from any computer. As I only need one account to check my emails and post a blog, it is simple. Portable.
However, they make it all the more easier with this cool feature that lets you post blogs via email. Sweet, ay. That is the whole point of this post: To get the system all sussed out. If you are reading this now, then, well, it must be all good.
It means that I can post on my blog from the exact same place as I check my emails. It also means that if I am on an offline computer, I can plug in my flash drive, open up Thunderbird portable, write the blog post and send it when I am on an online computer! Yeah. I thought so, too. Awesome.
Let's just hope I actually make use of it, ay?
Technically, I begin the journey this week. Sunday. But I don't fly out until next week.
And what does this have to do with portability?
Everything, indirectly.
I like being portable. It makes things so much easier.
I want to keep you updated while I am traveling, if possible. Luckily, Google makes things incredibly easy to do things quickly, efficiently and it is all easily done from any computer. As I only need one account to check my emails and post a blog, it is simple. Portable.
However, they make it all the more easier with this cool feature that lets you post blogs via email. Sweet, ay. That is the whole point of this post: To get the system all sussed out. If you are reading this now, then, well, it must be all good.
It means that I can post on my blog from the exact same place as I check my emails. It also means that if I am on an offline computer, I can plug in my flash drive, open up Thunderbird portable, write the blog post and send it when I am on an online computer! Yeah. I thought so, too. Awesome.
Let's just hope I actually make use of it, ay?
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Oh, gosh!
There is a kiwi family living next door to us at Maza-Tsaye. They have two kids, Joe (4) and Andie (Andrea, 2).
Today I was in the car with them, driving out of their house. Joe was having a conversation with his mum, and in reply to something he said "Oh gosh..."
So cute coming from a four year old. He is going through a "gosh" stage at the moment, whilst his younger sister is at "actually".
Oh, gosh!
Every time I hear those words come out of his mouth I can't help but start laughing. Where he got it from, no one has a clue. I adore little kids, and when they come out with things like this I just love it. Such enjoyable and memorable moments.
We were driving past my house. "Oh, gosh, there's your house Brandon!" says Joe. I cracked up laughing, as did the rest of the group in the car. Not just what he said, but the way he said it... *sigh*
Kimberley (my sister) and I were talking earlier tonight when we were at a friend's place for dinner. Whenever something happened we were like "oh, gosh". Just the thought of Joe started it up again, and all it took was me remembering that earlier comment about the house to make me start laughing all over again.
Andie comes out with some funny stuff, too. I love those kids, they are incredibly cute and just great kids in general. Man am I going to miss them when we leave in a few weeks.
I thought this innocent comment was worth a blog, but oh, gosh, I better go and do something else now.
Today I was in the car with them, driving out of their house. Joe was having a conversation with his mum, and in reply to something he said "Oh gosh..."
So cute coming from a four year old. He is going through a "gosh" stage at the moment, whilst his younger sister is at "actually".
Oh, gosh!
Every time I hear those words come out of his mouth I can't help but start laughing. Where he got it from, no one has a clue. I adore little kids, and when they come out with things like this I just love it. Such enjoyable and memorable moments.
We were driving past my house. "Oh, gosh, there's your house Brandon!" says Joe. I cracked up laughing, as did the rest of the group in the car. Not just what he said, but the way he said it... *sigh*
Kimberley (my sister) and I were talking earlier tonight when we were at a friend's place for dinner. Whenever something happened we were like "oh, gosh". Just the thought of Joe started it up again, and all it took was me remembering that earlier comment about the house to make me start laughing all over again.
Andie comes out with some funny stuff, too. I love those kids, they are incredibly cute and just great kids in general. Man am I going to miss them when we leave in a few weeks.
I thought this innocent comment was worth a blog, but oh, gosh, I better go and do something else now.
Saturday, 1 November 2008
Little Creatures
Those who know me, know that I am not easily excited nor amused by bugs, insects, birds or any animals in general. Animals are animals. End of story.
However, I must say that the Chameleon is one creature that absolutely fascinates me every time I see them, which isn't often, unfortunately.
A chameleon on my dad's hand.
We were on our way home from the market this morning. Coming into our driveway, mum suddenly stops. There is a chameleon walking very slowly across the drive, about halfway between the posts of the gate.
I have absolutely no idea how to describe the way it was walking, but it was really cool. It was kinda like it was dancing, sort of...on it's front left and back right leg, with the other two in the air moving backwards and forwards several time, then switching, slowly making it's way across. I wish I had a camera with me to catch it on video, or at least get a photo of it. I didn't have one, though, so you'll have to do with the ones I have on my computer.
Once it was finally across, it started climbing up the fence, which is wire threaded with thorns to keep the goats out. Anyhow, it moved slowly, clinging on to wire and/or the thorn branches with it's funny feet/hand things. Better than an explanation, see the photos.
A chameleon on the ground.
One of the best things about them are the way they change colour. It was green when it was walking across, and as it climbed I could see it starting to get darker. Incredible.
Chameleons are amazing creatures, really. Even though I don't see them that often (maybe once a month), it will be a shame that I won't get to see them in New Zealand.
Well, there you have it. My 2 cents on chameleons.
However, I must say that the Chameleon is one creature that absolutely fascinates me every time I see them, which isn't often, unfortunately.
A chameleon on my dad's hand.I have absolutely no idea how to describe the way it was walking, but it was really cool. It was kinda like it was dancing, sort of...on it's front left and back right leg, with the other two in the air moving backwards and forwards several time, then switching, slowly making it's way across. I wish I had a camera with me to catch it on video, or at least get a photo of it. I didn't have one, though, so you'll have to do with the ones I have on my computer.
Once it was finally across, it started climbing up the fence, which is wire threaded with thorns to keep the goats out. Anyhow, it moved slowly, clinging on to wire and/or the thorn branches with it's funny feet/hand things. Better than an explanation, see the photos.
A chameleon on the ground.One of the best things about them are the way they change colour. It was green when it was walking across, and as it climbed I could see it starting to get darker. Incredible.
Chameleons are amazing creatures, really. Even though I don't see them that often (maybe once a month), it will be a shame that I won't get to see them in New Zealand.
Well, there you have it. My 2 cents on chameleons.
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