Posting Photos on this Blog

I’m not sure if it’s because of our Algerian ISP or this blog editor, but it is very difficult to upload photos into the blog.  Videos are totally out of the question.  It sometimes takes hours of loading and reloading to get just a few photos uploaded.  So aas soon as I'm finished with the upcoming blog about my trip to Aix-en-Provence, I’m only going to put a few photos on each blog entry and I’ll direct you to our facebook pages if you want to see more.

Adventures at the Butcher

I tried two chicken vendors last week.  Seems poultry butchers have separate shops than other-meat butchers.  My mission was boneless chicken breasts.  Before I went, I wrote this down in French so I could simply show it to the butcher.  Both butchers had them.  The first simply cut up the whole chicken I picked out, the second butcher had a pile of boneless breasts on the counter.  Both butchers were friendly and anxious to help me. 

But I have to say the lack of sanitation is unnerving.  Here’s how it goes.  I indicate what I want.  The butcher picks up a chicken and takes it to the big butcher block where the other butchers are working and tossing chicken and turkey parts about.  He grabs a knife from the rack, cuts up and debones the chicken, puts the knife back in the rack.  Then he slaps the chicken parts on the scale just vacated by the meat purchased by the customer next to me.  Then he wraps up the chicken in paper, stuffs it in a plastic bag, and hands it to me.   I give him some money, he takes it to the cash register and fumbles about getting change and hands me my change.

Did I once mention plastic paper or gloves, wiping anything off, even paper towels?  No.  I was so unnerved that I rinsed my money in bleach when I got home.  I also gave all the chicken parts a quick rinse in water with a tad of bleach.  I hope I didn’t ruin the chicken, but I just had to do it.  I was too freaked out by the slapping around of chicken parts with not the slightest hint of a wipe down of any equipment, hands, or even money.

I have since cooked some of this chicken and we are still alive.  I guess the solution is to cook it thoroughly. 

Over the weekend we found a real mall (more on that another day) with a real supermarket called UNO.  Though nothing like a Safeway, the butcher at this store did have cleaner equipment.  Here we bought more chicken and some beef.  We'll report on how the beef is later.

Tipaza and The Casbah

Over Memorial Day weekend I went on two embassy-sponsored tours. 

Tipaza, a town about an hour to the west of Algiers, was one of many settlements constructed along the Mediterranean coast by early travelers, perhaps Phoenicians, on their sea journeys west from Carthage.  Tipaza reached its peak of wealth and influence around 200 AD under Roman rule.

Roman Ruins at Tipaza

Many of the original Roman tile floors remain in situ
and unprotected.  Visitors scramble all over the entire site.

Today Tipaza is a seaside archeological site.  The site is beautifully located above the sea and the ruins are remarkably extensive.  Several especially well-preserved segments, such as the tiled floor of the judicial building, were removed for museum preservation during archeological excavation; but today most of the ancient city is accessible and available for all to explore.  There are still several tile floors and wall paintings in situ and nothing is off limits.  We spent several hours in the morning with our tour guide exploring the Roman town.  Then we enjoyed a lunch of fresh fish by the sea.  After lunch we visited the “Dome of the Christian Lady” so named because of the cross symbols carved on the edifices, even though the carvings were done at the time of construction, prior to the arrival of Christianity.  It is an enormous pyramid-type dome sitting on top of a hill, which overlooks one of Algeria’s most beautiful and fertile valleys, nicknamed the “breadbasket of Europe” during the French period.

Select your lunch

Pyramid Dome of The Christian Lady

Breadbasket of Europe

During our drive along the coast, we discussed the enormous potential for tourism Algeria offers.  Our guide, an historian by profession, is passionate that now is the perfect time for Algeria to invest and to attract European tourists who love to be by the sea but are a bit nervous about going to Tunisia or Egypt.  And the resources here would likely appeal to so many: the history, the archeology, and of course the extensive Mediterranean coastline.  Our guide tells us that he and his colleagues cannot seem to raise the government’s interest in investing in the infrastructure to make Algeria a world-class tourist destination.   

The Casbah

Going again the next day with our guide, a small group of us explored the maze of the ancient city, the Casbah, for several hours on Sunday morning.  (Though it’s inside – and truly the center – of the city, it is off-limits for us without special arrangements.)  Built before the 18^th century, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site listed as a “unique urban environment,” and unique it is.  Still occupied by Algerian families, the buildings are mostly interconnected step-like structures rising up the steep hillside from the sea front.  When constructed, no one house (each 4 or 5 stories tall) was allowed to block another’s view.  And the tiny alleys and hallways connecting everything allow for excellent shelter – from the sun and from adversaries, thus its reputation as a place where anyone can hide out for years.  Such was the case during the Algerian fight for independence when the freedom fighters slipped into the Casbah and out of the grasp of the French.  Our guide (this is my third tour with him) took us all through the twists and turns, ups and downs, of the alleyways and inside several of the buildings.  One of the “rules” during the early days of the Casbah was that no one could show his standing or wealth on the exterior of his dwelling, so all the homes looked then and look now, pretty much the same on the outside.  But inside some are actually palatial villas covered with Dutch tiles, marble fountains, and lush gardens.  We were treated to a wonderful lunch on the terrace of one of the residents.  He and his family love cooking for visitors and so it was quite a spread, very traditional with all of us sitting on big cushions and sipping mint tea.  The lunch lasted a couple of hours, and we all agreed a nap in the shade of the terrace would have been perfect.  But our day in the Casbah was done after that.

A Scotch-Tasting Soirée

Last night we attended a scotch tasting.  How timely!  It was a very informal affair at the home of the Dutch consul and her husband, who is a Scotsman.  His collection was quite impressive.  And all the guests brought a bottle to add.  Apparently, they have established a sort-of club, getting together once a month or so to taste whiskey.  So the stash actually belongs to the group.  Baboo was happy to contribute the Edradour he bought during our trip.  http://www.edradour.co.uk/enjoyframe.html  There were some interesting things presented, but I'll let Baboo elaborate on the scotch.  I did taste several, and still like Glenmorangie best, which was one of the first ones I ever tried in Scotland.

I especially enjoyed meeting so many nice people including a gentlemen in the shipping industry and his wife from Denmark, an oil man from France, the Deputy Chief of Mission and her husband from Britain, the Consul from Canada, and, of course, lots of our new friends from the American embassy.  Our group went together in a big armored van and, as often happens, we were the largest contingent - even more Americans than Dutch, on whose compound the party took place.

No photos this time.  One of our colleagues took lots of pix; maybe I can get a few from him.

A Vacation in Scotland

For his first R and R, Baboo arranged a 17-day trip to Scotland for late April/early May.  I knew none of the details except the dates and general locations.  He outdid himself; he is the best tour manager you could imagine.  I will be hard pressed to describe all that we saw and did.  I can tell you it was magical.  We visited 29 castles and stayed in 6.  We visited a couple prehistoric sites (standing stones and cairns).  We visited lots of abbeys and churches, mostly ruins.  We tasted lots of scotch and I found myself starting to enjoy it by the end of our trip.  We went to a show (Chicago), visited the National Gallery in Edinburgh, attended a concert in St. Giles Cathedral, and had tea on the royal yacht Britannia.

Our main itinerary was from Edinburgh to Spittal of Glenshee to Fort William to Tarbert to Sterling to Culzean near Maybole to Bonnyrigg near Edinburgh.  One giant circle mostly through the central highlands. We drove over 1200 miles through the Scottish countryside.  It took us both a couple of days to get used to the right-hand driving in the UK.  I did none of the driving and kept feeling like we were slipping off my side of the road.  Amazingly, as soon as we were outside the city, the roads were mostly single-track.  This does not mean one lane in each direction; it means only one car can fit on the road, and the roads are bi-directional!  So if another car should be coming along in the opposite direction, both must stop and back up to the closest “passing place” (these are basically mini shoulders the size of one car randomly placed along the roads) and then passing can occur.  These roads went up and down, round and round the hills and glens so we had to drive very slowly, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the gorgeous countryside.  Fortunately for us, no one in Scotland ever seemed to be in a rush, so this system worked fine.  Anyway, Baboo did a fabulous job getting us around these tiny roads.  He remarked that the system seemed to keep the driving and drivers calm, everyone smiled and waved.

We considered ourselves very fortunately regarding the weather in Scotland.  Of our 17 days, we had only 2 rainy ones and mostly sunny ones.  We had a few sprinkles at times, but those only lasted a few minutes.  But it was cold.  I never left our room without four layers -- a long-sleeved t-shirt, a turtle neck, a blouse, a sweater -- before I put on my vest, wool blazer, wool jacket (sometimes I could get by with either the blazer or the jacket), and rain slicker.  And of course a scarf and gloves.  It was cold!

So how do I begin to describe this magical journey of castles and scotch?  The history, the geography, the people, the castles, the food and drink, and the climbing and climbing and climbing.  

 

View from Our Room at Culzean

Castles and History

As I said, we stayed in six castles.  One of them was so magnificent that I lost my breadth as we drove up.  Since “spending the night in a real castle” was my last major bucket-list item (the A list anyway), I was overcome that Baboo had done this for me in such a big way.  Each of these castles was so different too.  Some had big, magnificent bedrooms, some small cozy ones.  One had a very challenging 6-hole golf course on site.  (No carts here since you have to climb up and down ravines from hole to hole.)  One had archery and falconry available for guests.  A couple had spas and fabulous gardens.  With the exception of walking the 6-hole course and a couple of the gardens, we did not take advantage of any of the on-side activities (except, of course, the bars and restaurants) since we were out and about every day. 

Most of the castles we stayed in dated to the 18^th century, during the heyday of European opulence.  Castles were no longer built for fortification by then but for the pleasure of the lord and mostly to impress his peers.  One castle, Culzean, had a bit of modern history to it since the apartments on the top floor of the central tower were reserved for Dwight Eisenhower and his family during his lifetime.  We stayed in those apartments.

We visited so many different castles, and every one seemed to have some claim on Scottish history.  Some of the ruins made it hard to visualize the great feasts and events that had occurred there and some of those were especially hard to reach, but we managed to climb up and into all of them.  The restoration work at Sterling Castle was particularly spectacular.  It looked like it had been built yesterday.  Several of the castles were still occupied by the owning lairds (earls, dukes, and even the Queen (Balmoral)) and could only be visited when the laird was not in residence.

Below is a list of the castles we visited:

Edinburgh Castle

Holyrood Castle

Scone Palace

Dalmunzie Castle (stayed in the MacKintosh suite in the turret)

Balmoral Castle

Glamis Castle

Dunnottar Castle

Fyvie Castle

Kildrummy Castle

Blair Castle

Inverlochy Castle (stayed in the Princess suite)

Doirlinn/Tioran  (not sure about the correct name of this one)

Stonefield Castle (stayed here; our room had no name L)

Castle Stalker

Barcaldine Castle

Dunstaffnage Castle

Carnassairie Castle

Inverary Castle

Kilchurn Castle

Tarbert Castle

Balloch Castle

Culcreuch Castle (stayed in the Baron’s suite)

Sterling Castle

Doune Castle

Newark Castle

Dundonald Castle

Culzean Castle (stayed in the Eisenhower Apartment; we could see Ireland)

Craignethan Castle

Dalhousie Castle (stayed in the Laird’s room)

And for ancient history, we found a few prehistoric sites of standing stones and cairns (burial mounds) in Kilmartin Glen.

We also visited many abbeys, a priory (we had to take a shuttle boat to reach it), some cathedrals, and the famous Rosslyn Chapel, which I found to be even more mysterious and intriguing than it was in Dan Brown’s book.  (This site had an impressive, brand-new, high-tech visitor center … I’m sure thanks to Mr. Brown.)

Eating and Drinking

Baboo was on a scotch quest.  And he was successful.  We started off at the Scotch Whiskey Experience near the Edinburgh Castle.  This seemed at first very touristy, but it was a very well-done instructional tasting.   They had a good multimedia presentation and a very nice special collection museum and tasting room.  I knew nothing at all about Scotch, except that it was made in Scotland and burned my mouth, so I highly recommend this as a starting point.  I learned how to pick out some of the scents and what the properties of the different Scotch-making areas were.  By the end of our trip, I was ordering my own wee dram. 

We visited a couple distilleries and an especially great little shop near Loch Fyne.  The proprietor was so passionate and he shared some of his special advice and favorites with Baboo.  He even shared a taste of a very special limited release, which of course we bought.  This tiny little shop had more Scotch than I had ever seen in one place, even filling rafters in the ceiling.  And they ship to the US!  Check out their site at http://www.lfw.co.uk/.

As for the food, all the castles we stayed in had superb service and outstanding food.  We were surprised to find such excellent chefs out in the countryside.  We ate and drank like royalty.  In a couple of the castles, we were the only guests and so we really were treated like royalty.   Each night we would convene in one of the drawing rooms for cocktails and canapés.  We’d discuss the evening’s menu with the staff, place our order, and a bit later be escorted to our table.  Every single night was an event.  We often dressed up for dinner or occasionally we just caught a hearty pub meal on the run.  I had a lot of seafood, especially local salmon.  Baboo was especially excited about the opportunity to eat pork products, so bacon for breakfast every day!   And the most surprising thing … when we finally got up the nerve to try some haggis, we were delighted.  Delicious!

It’s hard to select a few photos to include here from the hundreds we took. So I invite you go to Baboo’s Facebook pages to see those that he posted along the way.  We arrived back home to a bright sunny day in Algiers with our driver waiting and bags heavy with liquid souveniers.  A wonderful, dreamy vacation and I thank Baboo for taking care of every little detail (one of the things I love about him) and making it so so special.

My Prince

Grocery Shopping

First I should mention that we do not have a car.  And I’m glad.  Driving appears to be a complete free for all with every man for himself.  This seems to include pedestrians too.  Apparently the zebra stripes are just for decoration.  That being said, how do I lug groceries?  Well, I am still exploring, but for now there are a few options within walking distance.  I take a canvas bag and a small backpack.



105 steps from our little street to the main street.
I practice counting in French.

You might remember I mentioned the hills.  My first challenge is climbing up the hills.  Fortunately, the uphill parts of this adventure happen before I load up with purchases.  But sometimes I convince myself that, after huffing and puffing up the hills, I need an energy boost; and where better to find that than … no not the minimarket along the way where I could buy water and an energy  bar … the patisserie.  Just a quick little cookie or tart or … oh how can I pick just one!  And I need the energy!



Does this look like buttermilk to you?

I find my way to a small store that’s like a mini supermarket, where I can get dry goods, dairy products, sodas, cleaning products, and other things but not meats and produce.  This is not to say that I have a clue what any of the labels say.  All the labels are in Arabic and if I’m lucky some include French (although most of the food products are clearly labeled, even in English, that they are free of pork products or derivatives.)  The pictures help.  For instance, I know lait is milk, so I get the bottle that says lait with a picture of a cow.  No, I don’t want sheep’s milk or, yes they have it, camel’s milk.  And once I ended up with buttermilk.  (That was a big surprise in my morning coffee!)  Also, the fresh milk is often not homogenized having a thick layer of cream on top.  I do love cream, but would like to know before I pour a big blob of it on my cereal. 


The Market At Kennedy Square

On the way back home, I browse through the open-air market.  This looks like you would expect … packed with people buying and selling everything from used hub caps to Persian rugs, from plumbing fixtures to gold jewelry, from bras to shoes.  I am headed for the veggies.  There are lots of things to choose from and believe it or not, it looks mostly fresh.  But no touching is allowed.  I cannot pick out the specific pieces I want.  And I have decided that it’s best for me to go to one of the actual stalls rather than the guys with stuff on tables out in the open because the stall guys can show me on their little calculators what I owe.  When I buy from the open-air guys, I can never understand what they are saying to me and I just hold out a pile of money and let them pick out what they need.  Not a good strategy.

When I get home I need to wash all the produce.  First I rinse everything in a sink full of tap water (which we are not supposed to drink, by the way - we have a water-distilling machine in our kitchen).  Then I drain and refill the sink with water again this time adding a bit of bleach.  I let everything soak for about 15 minutes.  Then I rinse twice with tap water, and then soak everything one last time in a basin of distilled water.  After that I let everything drain and dry. 

I haven’t found a butcher (that I will buy from) close by yet; the one we like is far away – a good 45-minute walk, and did I mention the hills.  Nevertheless, I hope I will learn how to go there by myself before too long.  On the way to that shop, there are other grocery and sundry shops, so I am anxious to explore but still too nervous to try to find my way without Baboo.

This is a butcher's window.  It looks very scary to me and all is I know is that none of this is pig.

Weekly Supper Club



The view from El Aurassi

Baboo had organized an informal supper club over the last several months. It has become quite popular and I was excited to join in. I’ve been to three supper-club nights so far. The first week we went to a newly renovated upscale hotel called El Aurassi. Very elegant with a fabulous location overlooking the city.  The second week we went to Mesk Elil, which was very exotically and elegantly decorated. Both offered French and some North African cuisine and I enjoyed both venues very much.   The third week (this week), we went back to an embassy favorite, Taj Majal, for some Indian cuisine. 


Decor at Mesk Ilil

We went to these places in armored vans, which is the recommended way to get around the city. It was quite an adventure riding through these tiny winding streets with a big van that nearly touched the walls on each side of the street.  I am very happy not to be driving.





Reception Desk at the Taj Mahal

And finally, though the food has been really good so far, my favorite part of these dinners has been meeting some of Baboo’s colleagues. I am looking forward to making lots of interesting new friends.



A Day of Sightseeing

Last weekend, an officer who is here on temporary duty (TDY) hired a guide to show her around the city.  I managed to invite myself along.  Our guide spoke nearly perfect English and was very knowlegeable about the history, culture, and stories of Algeria.  Here are some of the places we visited.

Below the hill we are on is a botanical garden where the
Tarzan movies were filmed in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Martyr's Memorial (Makam Echahid) in remembrance of the unknown soldier who
fought for Algerian independence.

The Martyr's Memorial seen from our apartment.

Djemaa El-Djedid

This mosque is known as the New Mosque.  It was built in 1660.  The Turkish architecture is unusual for Algeria.  Also unusual, it was built in the form of a cross.  Local legend has it that the architect was a Christian and was executed for his trickery.

Djemaa El-Kebir




This mosque is the oldest in Algiers.  It was built in the 11th century on a site used for worship by the Phoenicians, the Romans, and the Christian crusaders.

 

We did not go into the mosques.  Here in the inner city, we just drove through enjoying the sites and our guide's stories. 

Main entry to Le Grande Poste

Le Grande Poste

Nearby the mosques is the Grande Poste, the city's main post office built in the Moorish style. This we can also see from our apartment.





The highlight of the day for me was a visit to the Basilica of Notre Dame d'Afrique.  Though built in the byzantine style, this is a western Christian church constructed by Frenchmen during the latter 19th century.  It sits high on a hill and was completely restored from 2007 to 2010.  Photography inside is prohibited.  Too bad because it is really gorgeous.  I took loads of pictures of the exterior and looking down from the hill.

Basilica of Notre Dame d'Afrique.  Photo taken 4/20 from El Djamila

Basilica entrance

A couple photos of the exterior

This is a photo of a postcard.  Too bad I couldn't
take real photos inside.

There was quite a magnificent view from the basilia's courtyard.  I tried to upload my video, but it wouldn't work. 

And though I didn't get any photos, we also saw many of the French colonial buildings, still in use today as offices and ministries. Our guide told us this style is very much the same as other French seaports such as Marseille. I have not been there (yet) but the buildings did look a lot like New Orleans with big French windows and wrought-iron balconies.

We ended our afternoon with a little shopping at La Maison de l'artisanat, a tiny shopping mall of artists' studios. Of course we bought a few things. My companion spent all of her remaining dinars here.

Gammy's First Impessions of Algeria

I arrived the first week in April to a beautiful breezy day – low 60s maybe – with a few clouds and some drizzle off and on.  A beautiful sea breeze.    I noticed immediately the palm trees as well as the scores of unfinished constructions projects - abandoned building sites.   And the smell of diesel reminiscent of my early trips to Europe.  No emission controls here!

The roads leading from the airport to the city were dotted with roadblocks.  And in the city it seemed there were armed police every couple of blocks.   Between our apartment and the embassy (a 10-minute walk), there are two police checkpoints.

The city, at least where we live, is very hilly with tiny, switch-back streets; no sidewalks.   Barely room for two small cars to pass each other.  As a result, they honk at every turn; lots of honking.  (Our kitchen window is right over the street.)

    Street side of our building.  The street is only as
wide as you see it here.

The little courtyard just inside the blue gate.
The white door leads to our stairway.

Our building is nice.  There is a small ceramic tile courtyard just inside the front gate.  Our apartment is on the third and fourth stories.  It is bright and spacious – at least the living area is.  All marble floors and counters with 3 crystal chandeliers.

The kitchen pantry

I was overwhelmed by all the boxes stacked everywhere even though Baboo had unpacked lots of stuff already, including all our consumables (an extra shipment State Dept allowed us for being assigned to a remote post).  The cupboards are stuffed, but somewhat organized in a way I would have done myself.  Good work, Baboo!

Good Morning Algiers

Our bedroom is tiny with our king bed taking up most of the floor space.  However, we have a floor to ceiling, wall to wall slider looking out over the city and the sea.  Really spectacular view.  The sun comes up directly into this window, but we have one of those cool European blackout shutters to bring down.   We have a gorgeous deck off the 4^th story.  (A photo of this at the bottom.) The people on the first floor (this is an all-American building) have their own deck filled with flowers – so I see a hobby in my future.  I like the apartment a lot and spent my first day trying to get the bathroom a bit organized so I could fit my things and take a shower.  It is quite adequate with lots of hot water (at least today), good pressure, and plenty of space to put my stuff.

Baboo took a bunch of photos of the apartment when he first got here.  If you would like to see more, send me an email.

Looking out the LR window from my desk.  The grates on the windows are for security and mostly safety since
there are no screens or decks.  The grates keep you from falling out over the cliff when you open the sliding windows.

We went for a long walk the first day.  Baboo showed me some of his favorite shopping places, including the small artisan shop where he had bought hand-made silver necklaces for our daughter and me (as well as a fun one for granddaughter and a fun carved box for son-in-law).  We bought a few things at the “supermarket” and a box full of yummies at the patisserie.   All the people in the shops were very friendly.  I suppose in time I will wander off by myself, but it did seem kind of complicated with long stairways, winding streets, and crazy traffic (though I think most places outside the US [including some places inside the US] are filled with crazy drivers).  Anyway, I felt a bit intimidated. 

I did walk up to the embassy myself on Monday.  (Baboo had taken me up there with him on Sunday morning so I knew the way.  It’s very close to our apartment.)  I was a bit nervous and decided I would probably wear a scarf whenever I am out alone.  Not all the women do – seems about 50-50.  But my hair is so light (even though I am in desperate need of a touchup!) that I just don’t want to be conspicuous.  I didn’t worry about my personal safety (except for playing chicken with the cars coming around the little bends in the streets – did I mention there are no sidewalks),  I just didn’t want anyone to think I was a saucy blond walking the streets alone and I didn’t want anyone to speak to me because I was sure I would not understand them.  I did speak with our cleaning lady on Monday.  She does not speak a word of English, so I felt pretty proud that we were able to communicate in French.

The people at the embassy were all very nice, as expected.  Baboo had made a big deal about my arrival, so everyone else did too.  It was sweet and helped ease my nerves.  One person even asked to see a picture of the kids.

For the first several days after arriving, the weather was bright and sunny with a wonderful breeze coming through.  I could even smell the sea.  The weather was very reminiscent of San Diego.  And to top it off, a big full moon rose from the sea.  Then the rain started, pouring buckets for most of the next 5 days with lots of thunder and lightning.  Since our building is on a steep hillside, I couldn’t help but think that we might slide right down to the port.  I even had to turn on the heat, which is radiator heat; each one gets turned on individually.

We have the Armed Forces Network (AFN) TV here, with the same goofy military commercials we came to know and love in Budapest.  The programming in not too bad though.  We watched most of the Masters golf tournament but gave up at midnight.  And I think Baboo is enjoying having someone to talk to in the evenings.  I try to be really cheery when he comes home from work.  So far, that’s easy.  One day I baked some beer bread.  Didn’t have any beer so I used a bottle of Sprite.  This is the first time I have used a metric oven, and it came out perfectly!  (Thanks to the previous tenants who left a C-to-F cheat sheet.)  My biggest challenge was figuring out the “universal” markings on the oven -  what’s “bake” what’s “keep warm”, and what’s “off.”

I’ve been here two weeks now and I am finished unloading all the boxes!  I tackled them one by one, going through a whole box before going on to the next.  I broke down the boxes and took them downstairs for pickup; but a neighbor had a good idea: keep them around until after the local elections on May 10 in case we are forced to evacuate quickly.   A sobering thought, but a good idea.  In the meantime, I found all sorts of stuff that I can’t believe we actually shipped here.  We shipped our bikes but we can’t use them.  Security forbids it and besides, there is no way we could compete with the cars on these hilly little streets. 

We are expecting one more shipment of all the stuff I sent when I left Virginia.  After all that, we'll be settled in for the duration of our assignment here.

The view from our patio.  Lots of room for entertaining up here.

Gammy here.  With Baboo’s permission, I am hijacking this blog to bring it up to date.  (I will continue his semi-anonymous style, if I can, by not including any real names.)

Since his last entry in September 2010, wow, has our life changed!   We did sell our house in NC.  We enjoyed one last family hoopla Thanksgiving of 2010.  Sad to leave, but it was time.  Twenty years of happy memories made there. 

And Baboo started his new career.  And perhaps his choice for this blog title was an omen because completely coincidentally he was assigned to a French-speaking post, Algeria.  Of course, for nearly a year before arriving there in October 2011, he was stuck at FSI trying to learn French.  (After being there so long, he dubbed it “The Bastille.”)








As for me, I totally loved my time in Arlington and am now convinced I am meant to live an urban lifestyle.  Maybe partly because I don’t like driving, and loathe parking hassles, I was happy to be able to walk to nearly everything I needed.  And to get into town, Metro was only two blocks away.  I loved it.  Best of all, we lived a short 12 minute drive from my new BFF, our darling granddaughter, now 4 years old. 


As an aside, I should mention that I retired from federal service in July 2008 and am now living the luxurious life of a pensioner.  I don’t mean “luxurious” in the sense of expensive lifestyle but rather with regard to having time of my own, quite a “luxury” in my book.   And it has been a joy beyond my expectations to spend so much time with my granddaughter.  I supposed I have a nurturing side of me that was much stronger than I knew because I have found spending the last year helping and taking care of our daughter (our only child) and her children (more on the plural used here later) very fulfilling and satisfying, much more than I ever would have admitted even to myself some years ago.   

So at the beginning of 2011, we found out we would be grandparents again – to twins.  It was obvious that our daughter would need some help and so I stayed with her as much as I could during the final weeks of her pregnancy and moved in with her, her husband, and my little BFF in August when a tiny little boy and girl joined our family.




Baboo and I agreed that I would be much more useful to the growing family than in far-off Algiers and so I stayed behind when he left in October.  Our plan was that I would join him shortly after the holidays; but once again, fate kind of got in the way.  Our daughter and her husband decided to buy a new house and move.  After a long, heartfelt discussion, Baboo and I again agreed to postpone my arrival so that I could help with this major project.  In the meantime, our new little baby girl had serious medical issues requiring 24-7 care.  We hired additional help and I took responsibility for our baby boy. 

Well, to get to today, everything worked out.  Baby girl is well on the mend, new house is settled in, au pair was hired to take my place; and I am now finally with Baboo in Algeria.  Let the adventures begin!