While my first noise memory in Ethiopia was the hyenas, here it is the scrawny feral cats that are everywhere. I choose not to wonder what they are screeching about, when I hear the blood-curdling cat screech. The cats are pretty, but really, really thin. We have lizards of some type all over our property. I can’t decide if the lizards are nocturnal or if they only come out when it is a bit cooler at dusk. We also seem to have predatory birds that live near our compound. When I hear them squawking I again, choose not to wonder if it is the cats or the lizards they are after.

The kids have enjoyed the few shocked shrieks I have let out when a lizard has scurried around me, particularly when I am walking outside to the washer and dryer and a lizard is RIGHT there.

The ocean air greets you every time you exit a building or a car. It is moist and salty. The neighborhood we live in is called Heron, but I have yet to see one. The ocean views from our house are of flat water, the landscape changes very little with the tide. There is a beach, not far from our house that is used by the Djiboutians. The kids feel it is only a matter of time before I expose my white flesh on the beach, when I do; I will let you know how it goes. I will probably be the only person NOT there to poo and bathe.

Slow Food

For those of you who have jumped on the “slow-food” concept, that is the story of my day to day existence. For example, today I have made pesto pasta, cooked chicken breasts to put on top of the pesto pasta, cut up mango, apple, papaya and oranges, have bread dough rising, and have made deviled eggs and it is just 11:00 a.m. Not that this is a crazy amount of cooking, but it is more than I was doing in Virginia, and I cook a lot. I had forgotten how long it takes to clean and bleach all of the produce and we currently have ONE cooking pot in the house, which makes cooking take a bit longer ---- of course only one burner on our stove top works, so at this point extra pots would do no good!

I am getting up in the morning and making breakfast before the kids and EJ leave the house, usually around 7:30. I clean the kitchen after that and then mosey around, putting things away and organizing and alphabetizing the few things we have here, then start lunch prep. Kids and EJ come home around 12:30. Max is done with school every day at that time, and half of the week Olivia returns to school at 3:00 after coming home for lunch and rest/siesta. After everyone feeds, it is back to clean up and unfortunately I am still at the stage; one week in, of worrying about what I can make for the next meal that everyone will eat.

The grocery stores have everything that you could want, however, they all close from 12:30 – 4:00 or so each day (except one, that happens to be the furthest from our residence), so planning ahead is important. And, while there are all of the ingredients you could want to cook from scratch, you can’t just find the ingredients to make typical American dishes. Sure, you can find all of the ingredients to make lasagna – but then you have to “find” the two hours and desire to assemble the lasagna and just like in Addis, while one grocery has ricotta cheese, the other has the good ground beef, so you make multiple stops to get the ingredients for one meal. Not complaining, just the facts. Food is quite expensive as everything is imported; I paid $25 for a kilo of sliced ham the other day. There are two French grocery stores that have very normal items and incredibly expensive cheeses and meat and there is one “Arabic” grocery store that has a large selection of some scary and some normal products and then various other stores that have a little bit of everything, including one that is open 24 hours a day. There is a bakery downtown, Tom Thumb Bakery. The bakery has fluffy croissants and pain de chocolate and pain de raisins, which the kids devour as if they are brownies.

Arta Beach

September 21, 2009
Yesterday we went on our first adventure, out of the city. We went to a beach on the Gulf of Tadjoura that is located about 45 minutes from our house. It may have taken us longer to get there as the last 15 kilometers were unpaved road and we caravanned in with three other families from the community.

The scenery was what we expected as we left the city, rocky, sandy, red-dirt with camels and baboons along the way, groupings of goats eating garbage and swarms of kids brandishing their post-Ramadan toy weapons. It is going to take me awhile to get used to the kids aiming their toy Kalashnikovs at us when we drive by.

We drove by a couple of military installations on the way, a Djiboutian installation, French and a French Foreign Legion. The French Foreign Legion installation has a zip line and rope course to be envious of; we are going to try to figure out what it would take to be able to use the zip line that goes straight into the ocean!

If you look on a map of Djibouti, the name of the town where the beach is located is Arta.

The beach is on a cove, pebbly with ledges around. The view from the beach is of the North side of the bay and includes the hills in the distance. The water is a beautiful green color. The best part of the beach is that when the tide is high, you walk out 100 yards and there is a drop off onto a coral reef. I couldn’t tell how deep the first drop off was, but the water temperature changed by 15 degrees or so and it was clear down to the sandy bottom. The reef was an amazing surprise, as I had been told that there was great snorkeling at the beach but I couldn’t really fathom that we were going to see tropical fish, parrot fish, angel fish, anemones, sea urchin, one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish… When the tide went out, the reef was 10 feet from the beach, simply amazing.

I have been told that the whale sharks come right up into the reef area where the drop off is, and I can’t wait to go back when they will be there, they usually arrive in the Bay sometime during October.

The kids had a great time; Max used his newly acquired in Pensacola, snorkel gear. Olivia worked through here fear of the fish touching her! The day was a nice reprieve from the house, school, and the city, we picnicked.

We are looking forward to the arrival of the rest of our snorkeling, scuba equipment and our camping gear, so that we can drive out there and stay for the weekend. Am going to get the kids snorkel vests, though, as it is so clear and beautiful that it is easy to be floating and looking at the little fishes and all of the sudden realize you are hundreds and hundreds of feet away from where you started, which can make adult, accomplished snorkelers feel panic.

Inviting myself....

I invited my family to stay in the house of one of our family friends after witnessing the unease that the kids were feeling at the hotel. I think that there is something about the transient nature of the hotel that increases anxiety – they know we aren’t there because of vacation; there is discomfort in the stay. It made my Mama Bear come out.

When I say that I invited myself, it isn’t as if we aren’t welcome or wouldn’t have received invitations to stay, it is just that I was certain that my master-planned calendar of how we were going to move was thoughtful. I had planned on us staying in a hotel, that is what I told everyone. Turns out my plans weren’t as well thought out as I had hoped.

Here is where I made mistakes.

The first was moving out of our house as early as we did – July 15. When the kids were itty bitty, this would have been fine, we would have just gone and plopped at one or both of the Grandma’s and whiled away the summer, with a few adventures intertwined in the time. We were lucky that I was able to find us a housesitting gig, which again I initiated that kept us in one spot (other than when we were visiting people) until last weekend when the gig ended.

The reality is that instead of just vacationing, I have tried to honor Olivia’s (13) social needs and soccer team requirements – she wants to be where there are friends for her to see and her routine is somewhat normal. I have tried to cater to Max (8) who just needs a routine and comfort. He wants to know what time we are eating, what time we are going here and there, who we will see, where we are sleeping. His spirit of adventure doesn’t run much beyond what I plan for him at this stage in his life. He loves to play and is social, but he just wants to know that EJ, Olivia and I are all where we are supposed to be.

We sent our dog to be with Grandma in Maine until we get to our destination. We aren’t traveling straight through and we want the dog to fly as direct as possible because of the heat. And, we just aren’t sure the climate of our future home is going to be suitable for a Border Collie, whereas at Grandma’s she is catered to – lengthy walks and golf ball fetching (Grandma chips them and Border Collie fetches.) and the weather in Maine is perfect for her. The mistake was sending the dog away so soon, it has been two weeks now. The kids miss her. I miss her. The dog has been a good friend and a soft and fluffy “pillow” with empathetic brown eyes to snuggle in to when you aren’t having your best day. When we arrived at our friends’ house and her chocolate lab greeted us, both the kids at separate times commented on how much they miss our dog or being near a dog.

The last error (for now, at least) was not finding time for the four of us: me, EJ and the kids, to take a vacation or spend time together. EJ will be working right up until we leave and we are flying over separately – him going in one direction and the kids and I in another, and just meeting at the destination. It would have been really valuable time for us, if we had figured out a way to unwind and center ourselves together.

So, these are lessons that I am learning. Luckily they have just created a bit of discomfort and not pain. The next time we move, I am going to have to take a harder and more pragmatic look at what the needs of the family will be.

The good news is that we are getting the things on our to-do list checked off. The update from the last list is that we have our visas, we have our malaria prophylaxis and the kids have shoes other than flip-flops and cleats (seriously all that was in our luggage). We are making it to all of our appointments, having last minute hurrahs with friends and the kids keep getting the “what a fabulous opportunity and experience this move will be” party line reinforced, which is so powerful when it comes from other people. Tears are being shed, but it seems to be with less frequency.

I am cooking away at our friends house, which is really cathartic and I am so, so glad she opened up her kitchen to me. (The plus for her is that I am filling her freezer with food, too!) My family loves getting their favorite meals and baked treats and having a place where they can play with a dog, play outside and just relax.

Moving, sigh...

According to those crazy lists of stressful things, moving is the 3rd highest ranking event on the Most Stressful category only preceded by Divorce and Bereavement. Which intrigues me, because I feel like I might be on the road to divorce through the process and I am certainly mourning the loss of the friends, routines, rituals, comforts we are leaving behind….

Our to-do list for this trip keeps growing rather than diminishing. We are missing paperwork needed for shipping the car, which is a vital part of the move – as I NEED wheels. We just realized that both of the kids need new running shoes – as in they don’t have any, and the thought of going to Dick’s and shopping for them is enough, on its own, to make me feel crazy. We have last minute appointments and tasks to fulfill, like getting our malaria prophylaxis. Our flights require an overnight stop in a country that requires visas for each of us, which we don’t have…… and all I really want to do is sit down with my BFF’s and have a cup of coffee, maybe a pastry and pretend none of this is happening.

We are living in a hotel, which sounds glamorous to some, sounds restful to others – but what it means to me is that I can hear every disagreement the kids have regarding bathroom usage and which one is controlling the remote control, and have monotonous and tedious conversations regarding what point we will use the swimming pool. It also means that feeding everyone has become tricky, particularly since we have been in various stages of moving chaos since July 15. I am so done with any fast food establishment and I am the only one in the family that thinks a bowl of soup from Panera is a fabulous meal.

As I write this, I am not complaining, I am just thinking that someday I am going to write a manual – one that dictates how we can lift each other up through these processes, when we are truly the cornerstone of the family foundation. Our children are looking at EJ and me to set the tone through this move and while I am feeling more “needy” they are, too. The move has become a cycle of meeting one need and being faced with the other. Putting on my happy face and going forward each day, business as usual, has taken on a new meaning. This is really no different than every day parenting, the intensity has just been amped.

I am ready for that skinny double vodka mocchachino, with whipped! Who wants to join me?

DECAN Cheetah Refuge

DECAN Cheetah Refuge in Djibouti.

Here is a brief description of the program in English.

Dr. Danger - Djibouti

I found this informative television show with Dr. Danger regarding Djibouti - short and sweet but leaving me curious as to whether the FOX network produces the show - HELLO America.

History of Djibouti - from the Encyclopedia of Nations

Somali (Issa) and Afar herders, nomadic, Muslim and Cushiticspeaking, lived in and around Djibouti for hundreds of years before European explorers in the 19th century brought the region to the attention of the modern West. Obock and, later, Djibouti city were recognized as ports of great usefulness on the sea routes to India, Mauritius, and Madagascar. The Italians and British were active colonizers farther south along the Somali coast, and Britain was gaining control in what are now Yemen, the Sudan, and Egypt. France decided to establish its colonial foothold in 1862 along what is now the northeastern coast of Djibouti. This tentative venture became in 1884–85 the protectorates of Obock and Tadjoura, which were merged to form French Somaliland.

The administrative capital of French Somaliland was moved from Obock to Djibouti in 1896, a year before the boundaries of the colony were officially demarcated between France and Ethiopia. In 1898, a French consortium began building the narrow-gauge railway that finally reached Addis Ababa in 1917. During the Italian invasion and occupation of Ethiopia in the 1930s and during the early part of World War II, there were constant border skirmishes between French and Italian forces. In December 1942, French Somaliland forces joined the Free French under Gen. Charles de Gaulle.

After World War II, French Somaliland gradually gained a measure of local autonomy. In 1957, it obtained a territorial assembly and a local executive council to advise the French-appointed governor-general. The following year, the voters of French Somaliland opted to join the French Community as an overseas territory, electing one deputy and one senator to the French National Assembly. In late 1958, the first elections to the local assembly were held under a system of proportional representation. In the second elections, held in 1963, plurality voting based on party lists in seven districts replaced proportional voting. The result was the election of an Afar leader as head of the executive council; the more numerous Issas felt they had been prevented by the new electoral procedures from gaining control of the council. In 1967, 60% of the voters in a special referendum opted to retain the colony's association with France, but the Issas again complained that the franchise lists had been unfairly restricted in a way that favored the Afars. After the referendum, French Somaliland became known as the Territory of the Afars and the Issas.

The country's independence movement had been led throughout the postwar period by the Issas, but their movement had been opposed by Ethiopia (which wanted French control to continue) and by the Afars, who feared Issa domination. Finally, in 1975, the French began to accommodate increasingly strident demands for independence. The territory's citizenship law, which had favored the Afar minority, was revised to admit more Issas. In a referendum in May 1977, the now-enlarged Issa majority voted decisively for independence, which was officially established on 27 June 1977, as the country officially became the Republic of Djibouti. Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the territory's premier, had been elected the nation's first president by the territorial Chamber of Deputies three days earlier. Although Gouled, an Issa, appointed Afar premiers and the cabinet was roughly balanced, the dominance of the Issas in administration led to political conflict, including cabinet crises. Gouled was reelected without opposition by universal suffrage in June 1981 and April 1987. A one-party Chamber of Deputies list, elected without opposition in May 1982, consisted of 26 Issas, 23 Afars, and 16 Arabs. Only 12 seats were won by newcomers in the April 1987 election of a one-party list.

A new constitution was voted on in 1992, although the vote was boycotted by opposition parties. In December, legislative elections were held, which, according to the constitution, were to have been open to all parties. Due to administrative restrictions and opposition resolve not to participate, by election time only two parties had been officially allowed to contest seats: the ruling People's Progress Assembly (RPP) and the newly formed Democratic Renewal Party (PRD). Due to the anti-democratic nature of the electoral process, more than half the electorate refused to vote. The RPP was said to have won all 65 seats.

Presidential elections were held in March 1993. Five candidates contested the elections for president. The leader of the PDR, Mohamed Elabe, was Gouled's main opponent. But, again, fewer than half the electorate voted, and Gouled was reelected with officially 60% of the vote.

Dissatisfaction with Gouled grew in the late 1980s and contributed to an uprising by Afar guerrillas of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) in late 1991. FRUD gained control of some areas of the north and west. In February 1992, France deployed forces in Djibouti, and the Afars declared unilaterally a cease-fire. Yet, fighting continued and a government counteroffensive checked the FRUD by July. Rebel bases in the north were occupied, and many opposition leaders were imprisoned, including Ali Aref Bourhan, for an alleged coup attempt. He was released in December 1993. By the end of 1993, about 35% of the central government's budgetary expenditures went toward maintaining "security"; that is, the military occupation of the north by troops of Somali origin.

In 1993, the FRUD suffered severe losses to a government offensive. In 1994, its leadership split over the issue of negotiations with the government. A more moderate wing then entered into negotiations and called a cease-fire. In March 1995, in compliance with the peace accords signed in December 1994, the majority of the FRUD disarmed, and the military integrated a segment of the insurgents into its ranks. Two FRUD leaders accepted ministerial posts. In March 1996 the FRUD was given legal recognition as a political party. A radical wing of the FRUD, (FRUD-Renaissance) led by Ahmed Dini, remains opposed to the cease-fire. Djibouti and Ethiopia jointly attacked the FRUD rebels in October 1997, and skirmishes continued in 1998.

The human-rights record of the authoritarian Gouled regime came increasingly under attack in the late-1980s and 90s, with allegations of beatings, rapes, arbitrary, prolonged, and incommunicado detentions, extra-judicial killings and disappearances of political/ethnic opponents of Gouled, and union leaders. Journalists have also been harassed, intimidated, and detained.

Gouled became ill in December 1995 and spent several months in hospital in France. During this period there appeared a succession struggle between Ismael Omar Guelleh and Ismael Godi Hared, both close advisors of the president. In part to cut down on inter-party fighting, Gouled elected to remain at the helm after his convalescence. In February 1999 he announced his intention to retire and that he would not be a candidate for the scheduled April 1999 elections. At that point the RPP named Guelleh as its candidate. The FRUD, in alliance with the RPP, accepted Guelleh as its candidate, as well. An opposition coalition, which included the PRD (Democratic Renewal Party), the PND (National Democratic Party), and (unofficially) the FRUD-Renaissance slated Moussa Ahmed Idriss as their candidate. An estimated 60% of the electorate participated, with Guelleh garnering 74% of the votes cast to 26% for Idriss. There was no official boycott of the elections, for the first time since Djibouti's independence from France in 1977. In January 2003, an RPP-led coalition won all 65 seats in the National Assembly.

The election of Guelleh, a key advisor and chief of staff to the former president for over 20 years, coupled with the landslide parliamentary victory of the RPP, signals little change in the status quo. The Issas with the President's sub-clan, the Issa Mamassans, continue to wield disproportionate political and economic influence, and the opposition's accusations of elections fraud have fallen on deaf ears. In early 2003, a US State Department report cited evidence of on-going human rights abuses by the government, but given US interest in Djibouti as a strategic ally in the Middle East and for the war on terrorism, donors were unlikely to apply strong pressure for reforms. There is no independent electoral commission.

What is Camp Lemonier?

Many people are surprised to learn that the United States has a military presence in Djibouti and while we will not be part of the official Camp Lemonier community, I have found their website interesting --- to read about the projects they are working on in DJ and the surrounding countries.

Here is a link to the page on the website that includes a concise newsletter of the service activities the troops are involved in and some of the R & R.

Here is the story of Lemonier from Wikipedia.

Books that can be claimed as "Professional"

Move Prep - How do you decide what to take?

We are only allowed to take about one third of our Household good weight with us to Djibouti.

When we move in the US, the military will move 16,000 pounds of our stuff to the location they are sending us, but abroad our allowance is coming in at around 7000 pounds and that includes the 1250 pounds of consumables and whatever is considered professional gear.

For those of you who don't move all of the time, there are various ways that you can estimate how much your household goods weigh and I haven't found one that is really good. For example, one way is to use the guide of assuming each room weighs 1000 pounds.

That has never worked for us, because we have so many items that are high in weight (like books). Below are pictures of three bookcases that are in our family room. I didn't tidy them before I took the picture, mind you. These bookcases are stacked three deep and were purged and books donated within the last year. This room weighs a lot more than 1000 pounds.



Most of the books on these shelves will go into storage. We are taking as many books as we think we can load into our shipment, but know that Amazon will be our friend when abroad.

One way that we are getting to take a bit more than we thought is that because of Darling Husband having a certain job title we are able to claim some of our items as Professional Gear. The military member always gets some professional gear, like reference books, one computer, etc., but this move we get to add his civilian clothing (suits,jackets,shiny tassled loafers) and our china, silver, stemware or anything we will need for entertaining - so.... all of the below will be in our professional gear pile.

It has been a long time since I last posted....

That is due to the fact that we are fully engaged in the move preparation. Our packout for Djibouti starts in seven days and that has become all consuming.

As I wrote in my previous post, I have been working on consumables. Some people go to the big warehouse shopping clubs and do their consumables in one sweep or you are able to go to the commissary and shop for your consumables and have them picked up at the commissary. I haven't ever done it that way (the whole two times I have shopped for consumables). I have been picking up things all along, since we had a hint that we would be moving - so when holiday paper goods went on sale after the holiday I picked them up for our move.

We have been inventoring what we have so far as we pack it. Due to our last experience with the rats, we have made a decision to pack our consumables in the utility style black foot lockers that the military guys use - here is what it looks like so far... and this is just a sampling, about one third of what we have packed.

The packing may seem a little random, but we are trying to fit as much as we can in to these sturdy containers.

I am doing one more run for consumables this week and then have decided that I will do one substantial net grocer order or pack my own boxes of our absolute favorite things right before we leave with the hope that it will be waiting for us when we get there.

Black Trunk #1
11 cans black beans
4 cans cranberry sauce
10 cans mandarin oranges
5 cans pumpkin
6 cans rotel with lime juice and cilantro
3 cans crushed pineapple
1 can dal mahkni
1 can saffron cream sauce
6 cans sliced jalapenos
4 cans tomato paste
2 boxes of proactive skin care
3 boxes of tampons
2 boxes of pantyliners
1 box of q-tips (750 count)
1 box of basmati rice
2 boxes of gallon size freezer bags (46 total)
2 popsicle mold trays
2 boxes of gallon size storage bags (12 total)
2 boxes of quart size storage bags (16 total)
4 rolls waxed paper
3 rolls reynolds wrap aluminum foil
2 tubes full size – aquafresh
2 travel tubes –aquafresh
2 travel tubes crest
1 full size tube crest
1 box (100 count) snack size zip lock bags
1 box (100 count) sandwich bags
1 tube prevident toothpaste
3 packages of bath puffs (2 each – 6 total)

Red Trunk
6 cans blueberries
9 cans refried beans
10 cans kidney beans
6 cans French onion soup
6 cans double noodle soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
10 cans summer crisp corn
4 mosquito nets
Spare umbrella canopy
Mosquito netting for umbrella
2 packages of 16 mandarin orange cups
12 boxes annie’s mac and cheese
1 white twin sheet set
12 red, white and blue kitchen towels
6 scrubber dishcloths
8 black and white kitchen towels
2 individual size water coolers

Blue Tote A
4 packages of 14 patriotic paper plates
4 pkgs. of 20 patriotic cocktail napkins
3 pkgs. of 14 luau plates
3 pkgs. of 20 luau cocktail napkins
3 boxes of disposable cupcake carriers
1 package of individual popcorn servers
2 pkgs. of 20 9-inch Halloween plates
1 pkg. of 25 8-inch Halloween plates
2 pkgs. of 12 halloween dessert plates
3 pkgs. of 24 Halloween beverage napkins
4 packages of 8 birthday dessert plates (cupcake theme)
36 outside plastic beverage cups
1 package of bamboo skewers
1 pkg. of 48 plastic forks
2 pkgs. of 36 plastic forks
2 pkgs. of 10 snowman dessert plates
2 pkgs. of 12 snowman cups
2 pkgs. of 15 8-inch snowman plates
3 pkgs. of 20 snowman cocktail napkins
20 medium size Christmas gift bags
10 small Christmas gift bags
32 Christmas cards
2 small Christmas wreaths
1 package of Easter raffia
1 package of plastic Easter eggs

Consumable Weight Allowance

We are authorized a consumable shipment for this move to Djibouti. Consumables are any items that you will use up while you are residing at the assignment location and many remote locations are allotted this allowance. We are authorized one thousand pounds a year or so. You are not obligated to take consumables, this is a benefit.

The biggest plus in taking consumables with you is minimizing the cost associated with living in the new host country ~ because it isn’t as if you can’t find similar things there, you will just pay a lot more for them and sometimes the quality is inferior. The secondary plus is that when you host people at your home, they want, desire, like eating American food (I am basing this solely on my time in Ethiopia.). Third plus is that when you have a lot of house guests from the US come through; it makes their trip exponentially more comfortable as they are inevitably fighting off Montezuma’s revenge, when you have chicken noodle soup and Ritz butter crackers available. The last plus, is that it is also really nice to have comfort food and things familiar for the adjustment and general quality of life when abroad. During the holidays, it is also wonderful to be able to make the dishes that represent how you traditionally celebrate holidays.

When preparing for our move to Ethiopia, I chose what to take in our consumable allowance by essentially doubling the dry goods I bought at the grocery store for the last six months we were in the U.S. I felt like that system would allow me to cover all bases and for us to have a little bit of home with us. The American compound in Addis Ababa had a commissary so I was hopeful we would be able to supplement our consumable allowance with items from the commissary.

The difference between how I am planning for Djibouti vs. how I planned for Ethiopia is that we no longer have a toddler AND I sent baking goods like flour, sugar, chocolate chips in my consumable shipment to Ethiopia. I will not be sending those items with our household goods to Djibouti.

Friends and family across the world received the story about the Ethiopian move via e-mail that led to the reason that I will not be shipping baking supplies to Djibouti and while I no longer have a copy, I believe the subject line started as, “and then there were rats…”.

Simply told, when our household goods were delivered there were 12 adult and 2 baby rats living in our items. They were big, fat healthy rats because they had eaten through a fifty pound bag of sugar that had been packaged in a rubber maid container. They had also devoured any and everything that was soft enough for them to get their teeth through, food, clothing, rubber, really anything.

I can laugh about it now, but when it happened it wasn’t funny. At all. We had only been allotted a small amount of weight to ship and the rats had ruined half of our total household goods, because what they hadn’t eaten they had lived in, peed in, poo-ed in.

On that forever-etched-in-my-memory delivery day, Darling Husband was at a luncheon, enjoying himself immensely while I was at the house coping. The Ethiopian, who delivered the crates of our things, laughed and told me to claim it on my insurance. The guard working at my house stomped the rats to death as they ran out of the packages. I cried.

When I say they ate everything, we had taken our seven year olds bike, and the rats had eaten the seat. I had taken my cappuccino maker and the rats had eaten all of the rubber components. They had chewed holes through work uniforms and eaten little people toys in addition to devouring all of the consumables that were not in a can.

The frosting on the cake is that there had been a pick up glitch and our household goods had sat on the airport tarmac in Ethiopia, during the rain. So, what wasn’t consumed by the rats was wet and molding. Essentially the first two feet of every crate that we had packed was wet. And, crates had been open and we were missing some essential items, like the bottoms to every uniform that had been sent.

After that day Darling Husband carried my passport in his pocket for the next few weeks, afraid that I would just go home. The airport was not a too horribly unpleasant walk from our house.

So, for Djibouti, all that I am sending over in our household goods will be in cans or other less-permeable packaging. Things the rats can smell, like chocolate chips or brownie mix, I am just going to have mailed over as I need them or I will use Net-Grocer.

There are a number of ways to manage a consumable shipment. I have been picking up non-perishables for the last few months and stacking them on a shelf in our garage. Having now lived in a developing country without the benefit of a consumable shipment I have a better idea of what I think we need or what will make a difference.

Ethiopia had been occupied by the Italians and still has a substantial Italian ex-pat community so you could find almost any Italian ingredient you might desire. I am counting on the fact that Djibouti was a French colony as I make my consumable choices, to make it safe to not bring anything distinctly French ~ like mustard.

Later, I will share the list of what we are taking and why.

I think that it is legitimately hard to imagine what it means to move to a developing country. Both Darling Husband and I had traveled, but we still didn't have a clue.

When we moved to Ethiopia in July 2003 we certainly had no idea what to expect, even though we were given excellent resources for information. Prior to leaving for Ethiopia we had attended workshops, read extensively and hounded the people in Addis Ababa for information, which they readily supplied. We still had no idea what to expect or even what it meant to move like that.

Our arrival in Ethiopia will forever be imbedded in my memory. We were, or at least I was, exhausted. We were allowed the opportunity to lay-over for a week en route, and we chose to go to Paris. A dream to some, I know, not so fantastically wonderful when you are traveling with a 2 year old, a 7 year old and, know that I am not exaggerating – 12 duffel bags.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to travel to Europe – I will tell you that traveling with tons of luggage is not ideal as hotels, taxis, and other forms of mass-transit are not user friendly when you are traveling with 12 bags, a toddler, a seven year old and as a grumpy couple.

But, more on France later…..


(Max and Olivia, Paris 2003)

After a week of Darling Husband death marching the family through Paris, using his newly acquired French speaking skills and charm (did I mention more on France later?) we left Paris to travel the rest of the way to Ethiopia via a layover in Germany. Note to those of you who are not acutely aware of what traveling in Germany is like, but the “oh so sterile” Frankfurt airport is also not a great place to be with 12 duffel bags, a toddler, and a seven year old and as a grumpy couple. We managed to leave the airport with all of our baggage and check in to a hotel for the longest part of our layover and then we were back to check our bags in and fly the rest of the way.

The US government, when they buy your plane tickets, mandates that you fly American carriers – so know that you don’t always go the most direct route anywhere and our trip had us go from Frankfurt to Egypt for a layover and then on to Addis Ababa. I have, thankfully, forgotten how many hours it took to get there.

When we landed, I used what little information I remembered from correspondence to persuade myself that someone was going to meet us and whisk us through the airport (as I had recollected that there would be an expeditor). Ha. What that meant was that we had someone greeting us on the other end. Nothing expeditious about it and we didn’t know at that time that we could use the “Fast” lane to get through the airport. So, we stood there waiting to clear immigration. We had the two year old in his car seat, the seven year old wallowing on us, and I don’t think that Darling Husband and I could even look at each other we were so tense and wiped out. The two year old had to go to the bathroom…too.

After we made it through immigration, we were greeted wonderfully by the “Boss” and Wife and Darling Husband’s colleagues who did, in fact, whisk us past the crowds and out to what would be our vehicle while there. It was dark, raining and smelled of eucalyptus. Still, every time I smell eucalyptus I am taken back to that evening. First smell of Ethiopia. Fortuitous that it was during the rains, because had it not been my first smell memory of Ethiopia would probably be goat!

We drove straight from the airport to our house. Beeped at the gate and were let in by the guards. I tried not to cringe at the concertina wire over the fence that was 8 feet high. Out of the car, up marble steps, in to the kitchen with a quick tour of the house and a welcome and we were alone. In a mc-mansion. In a foreign country. Alone. Phone lines were down due to the rains. And it felt really overwhelming. Mind you, I hadn’t even seen anything yet – it had been dark.

First sound memory of Ethiopia was a hyena. A HYENA. In my “neighborhood”, outside of my concertina wired fence. Second sound memory of Ethiopia was the morning call to prayer. Nothing you read can prepare you for these things. The assault on the senses.

The first morning there, Darling Husband loaded us all up in the truck and instantly we were following a colleague and neighbor through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to the U.S. compound. The windy, horribly excavated, muddy streets lined with people, animals and refuse. Ethiopia. Ethiopia. Ethiopia.

Know that I spent the first few weeks, maybe months, picking my jaw up off of my lap as we drove around the city and figured things out. The people are fantastically beautiful. The poverty overwhelming. The history of the city and it's people are fascinating.

Summer at an American compound is when most of the families transition in and out, but also many, many are away on their R & R. A large group of U.S. ex-pats traveled almost immediately upon our arrival on vacation to Kenya, making the Compound a ghost town. In hindsight, this is probably a good thing because we were able to get the lay of the land at a leisurely pace – although it felt frantic.

We were unbelievably blessed to have friends from California, who had been in Cameroon for six months already fly in for a conference the first two weeks we were in Addis - which then turned us in to tourists in our home city. We had a huge advantage because they were "old hands" at doing the maneuvering around an African city thing and they just dragged us along with them. I truly believe that my time in Addis would have been very different, maybe even less enjoyable and enriching had they not come. I believe I wouldn't have felt as safe or at "home" in the city had I not been immediately forced out of my comfort zone and into the streets of Ethiopia.

I take these first moment memories and try to hold them close, hope that I can use them as learning tools, and move on with preparations for Djibouti.

Assignments - Part Two

The jobs for the Army that lead you to living in countries like Djibouti are part of a very small section of the Army. Essentially, the Army provides Military Liaisons to the US Embassy in a host country. The jobs vary, as well as the responsibilities - but that is what the jobs are in a nutshell.

So, this is what my husband will be doing and that is how we were able to go to Ethiopia and now how we are going on to Djibouti.

You might be asking yourself, can't you do that job, say in France or Sweden or Austria? The answer is yes - those jobs exist there, just not for my husband.

Years ago - I am going to estimate 10, he filled out paperwork asking to be part of this Liaison program. I was excited about the opportunity to move somewhere exotic, like France, Sweden or Austria.

We had learned about the program during my husband's first year in the Army when the soldiers who were years ahead of Darling Husband were putting in their paperwork and getting their futures planned.

My husband listed his credentials, took a language aptitude test - or supplied them with his scores, and gave the Army all pertinent information. Later in the process, he was asked to put preferences for areas of concentration. He put down his preferences and for a bit of drama, listed Africa as his last choice for an area of concentration.

We were fairly confident that he would be put in the European program, he had studied Russian, and has a high aptitude for languages (which I will address in a later post, I am sure). We were certain he would be picked up to do the Eastern European program.

Imagine our surprise when the paperwork came back and said that he was slotted to go to Niger, Africa. Huh? That is not Nigeria, that is Niger. French speaking in the middle of Africa.

I wrapped my mind around it, we started doing research. We bought books about Niger. We studied everything we could, laughing that every bit of tourist information regarding Niger warned to "Stay off of the Kennedy bridge" and were generally excited to give it a whirl.

Kosovo, 9/11, Army and life got in the way and while Darling Husband was in language school for Portuguese we found that his assignment had been changed and we were going to Abidjian, Ivory Coast. Back to research, reading, preparing, etc. I was exchanging e-mail with the family we were replacing and one of the last I received was from the wife who was hunkered down listening to the coup d'etat that was happening out on the streets of Abidjian. Coup d'etat's trump assignments and all of the sudden we were moving to Ethiopia. (Where they don't speak French OR Portuguese.)

Language school finished, we were off to Ethiopia! (More to follow on Ethiopia.)

What I wanted to tell was the story of Djibouti. For many reasons that I am sure I will address in later posts, the opportunity to go back to Africa is a real gift. When Darling Husband was supplied the list of places in Africa he COULD go and asked to put in preferences, it had some seriously uninviting locales and Djibouti is one of them. I know people who LOVE Djibouti, but when the list of locations are Tanzania, Botswana, Kenya, etc., Djibouti is not the natural first choice. In fact, it was the LAST place on the list Darling Husband supplied. And when he put it down, I said to him, "You know we are going to go to Djibouti because I am sure you are the ONLY person who put it on their list."

Voila!

That is how Djibouti became the next military assignment. As I type this, know that had we stuck to the other plan I would be in Vicenza drinking a REAl macchiato right now and deciding what flavor of gelato I wanted for lunch..

Assignments

The assignment process for the Army remains a mystery to me, and I am going to go out on a limb and say that is the case for most of us associated with the military.

Many of our assignment stories would be hard to share, because they just don't make sense -- and if they don't make sense to us, how would they make sense to those of you who are dear to us who don't live ARMY day in and day out?

Djibouti came about in a very convoluted way. The bizarre part of this assignment, to most people, would be knowing that we gave up an assignment in Vicenza, Italy to move to Djibouti. If you refer to my previous post on moving, you will see and most likely agree, that Vicenza is a GREAT assignment compared to some of the places we have been or could go...

There were a lot of factors involved in our choice, but I say with great humor, a smirk, a snort (yep - I am a snorting type of girl) and a chuckle, that we are excited about Djibouti and are not regretful that we aren't going to Vicenza.

As I sit here and go over the constantly running "to-do" list in my mind in preparation for the move, know that I will complain & whine and bemoan the process - but I want to chronicle it, because I didn't do a very good job of sharing our Ethiopian experience.

More to come..

Moving

Being a military spouse has been an adventure with moves all over the United States and now the world. A blessing in many ways, we have made wonderful friends and had amazing life experiences.

We started this process of zipping around by eloping while my husband was moving en route from Fort Huachuca, Arizona to Fort Riley, Kansas. I flew out to Huachuca from Maine and we drove to Vegas. We drove from Vegas to Fort Riley and I will never forget descending in to Western Kansas and sitting in the car thinking, "What have I gotten myself in to?". Darling Husband tried to ignore the crocodile tears rolling down my cheeks.

From Fort Riley we went back to Fort Huachuca, had baby number 1, and then on to Fort Campbell - home of the 101st. We were there for five years, which could lead to an epic novel if I were to go in to detail, but the short version is that the 101st is our "ARMY" home. Baby Number 2 was born at Fort Campbell and I have kitchy Screaming Eagle baby stuff to prove it!

After the five years at Fort Campbell we moved to Fort Ord, California. From Fort Ord we went to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. An adventure of a lifetime!

We returned to the US to Fort Belvoir, Virginia. My children and I moved to Maine for one year during a deployment and when the deployment was over we all came back to Fort Belvoir.

In the midst of those moves and assignments my husband has been on countless NTC and JRTC rotations, a deployment to Saudi Arabia, one to Kosovo and two to Iraq and has even spent time on a Navy boat. Let's not forget that while I LIVED in Ethiopia, he traveled to 20 different African countries as part of his job description. I am sure that I am missing some of the "adventures" but you get the gist.

So, now we are on to Djibouti, which represents another adventure and two years during which, in theory, my husband will not deploy. I have to say that I would even move to Fort Polk if it meant two years in a row together... in fact in many ways Djibouti is a lot more desirable than some of the stateside assignment choices.

Fort Polk has long been on my "Will not go" list, because even our friends who are from Louisiana didn't like it... along with Fort Drum, simply because of the rumor that they issue you a snow blower when you get there....

Djibouti, Djibouti, Djibouti...

Djibouti

The first time that I pondered Djibouti as someplace other than a random African country, I was on a Scuba Trip. At that time, when I wasn't scuba diving in the Bahamas, I was preparing to move to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. One of my fellow divers had spent time in Djibouti and was trying to sell me on the idea of Djibouti vs. Ethiopia. He had me at Whale Sharks and lost me at 100+ degrees every day.



When I was living in Ethiopia I didn't try to visit Djibouti. Not because I didn't think it would be interesting, but because my choice was to travel with my two children who were 7 and 2 at the time or to take a weekend away with my husband. As you might imagine, Djibouti wasn't where I was dreaming of taking my children, nor where I fantasized about a weekend away with the husband... that was Zanzibar. So, I never made it to Djibouti.

I have been back to East Africa a number of times since we returned from living in Addis Ababa and I still haven't found a good reason to choose Djibouti as a destination, but as luck has it, my husband's career has dictated that will be the next place we move. And this will be my attempt to share the process with friends and family.

Wish me luck...