Just NB

I plan on sorting through my pictures and seeing if I got any good lemur shots or anything like that, but I wasn't in photo-tourist mood. Louis and I went to the lemur park/zoo (which is only about 15-20 minutes out of town. Actually, at one point we saw a sign that said it was only 4km away and because the roads were so bad, I'm pretty sure we could have walked there in just over the amount of time it takes to drive there. But it's summer and it's hot and I had already ran in the heat, so we drove. That - and we're lazy). While there wasn't really anything spectacular, and the lemurs that are outside of the cages STINK like no other STINK I've experienced (which is really saying a lot after spending a few summers here), but it was OH EMM GEEE so nice to just get out of camp. I leave plant site and I leave camp usually once or twice during the week, but it's always for either to get groceries or cash, or to get a massage (which I have REALLY decid...

It's 21h07 on Sunday night. I'm in my pj's just about ready to (hopefully) watch a horrible reality TV show before passing out. I went to sleep Saturday not in the fantastic of moods, had nightmares all night, woke up kind of cranky at 06h23 (hate the fact that my body clock is programmed to wake up at 05h00, which means that 06h23 is "sleeping in"), went to breakfast by myself (usual Sunday as Louis tries to catch up on sleep on Sunday - even though "they say" that this isn't possible), ate a stale peice of French toast and sort of fell back asleep, pretty much dreading the afternooon to come. It's moving day again. And I hadn't prepped anything. By some miracle, I started packing the spare bedroom, and at that very same time Louis got a call from two of our friends offering help with the move. Direct quote, "You tell that Nicole that the box of my truck is empty and ready to haul her there granny pannies!!". We have a friend t...

For the past few months, every Sunday (ok, not EVERY Sunday), we have what Louis likes to call "Dzama Sunday". By the time Saturday night rolls around, we're usually at the "falling asleep while walking" point, so Sunday is the only day we can really let loose. Dzama is the local (really good!) rum, and in the afternoon we usually have one or two. This Sunday - it was more than two. I think this picture pretty much sums up the evening I can't remember who brought their guitar out last night but it was there. I need to get some pictures and video of Louis and his band-mates because they are actually really good!! The guitar player is a real rocker (and was going to be my boss at one point!) and he was missing whatever guitar-thing he wanted, so like a true Albertan (he isn't), he used an empty bottle of Budweiser. It worked perfectly. And meet our one and only American friend. Originally from Texas, currently lives in Florida (possibly the pr...

When it's nice out, we like to spend some time by the pool. The gated village we live in (until December 13th :( ) has a new pool that seems to have brought back some of the liveliness that used to be around these parts. Since visiting Hawaii, Louis and I have been in love with Mai Tais. But they don't exactly serve them here. So after a couple of months of hunting down the ingredients, we got everything we needed, according to many websites, anyway. Guava Juice Pineapple Juice Lime Juice Simple Syrup Orange/Almond Flavoring Light Rum Dark Rum Grand Marnier. We were set for the booze component.  I played Martha Stewart and made some simple syrup.  And somehow we I turned our kitchen into this: Oh well. We made some adjustments to the disgusting recipe and were off to the pool. It doesn't look that sunny out but it was SUPER hot. This time of year, the pool water feels like warm bath water. And then the horseplay starts. It seems that every Sunday is "...

After not such a fabulous two weeks....today was just what I needed. Now off to fall asleep while pretending to  watch a movie. Goodnight!

I haven't had much time to spend with any of my English friends (seems most of my weekends were occupied with French friends), so my last Sunday in Tamatave I decided to follow the group to Foulpointe. It's about a two hour drive of bumpy, bumpy, bumpy roads. Like, bumpy. We left at 8h00 after I packed a picnic lunch and a cooler of necessities: Foulpointe is tourist central. There were probably 50-75 people that gave us a warm welcome when we arrived as they watched what they thought were walking dollar signs leaving the truck. No, we do not want a boat ride. No, we do not want vanilla. No, we do not want seashells. No, we do not want our hair braided. No, we do not want necklaces. No, we do not want essential oils. No, we do not want a massage. No, we do not want lobster. No, we do not want shrimp. No, we do not want cookies. In some of the markets, they have these loud speaker things that "promote" the products. It's very loud and very annoying, and I'm...

This weekend is the first real fun I've had in ages. It was busy, but I also passed out on Saturday afternoon night, so I got some rest too. Saturday started out as usual, into the office at 07h00. But leaving at 09h30 for a wedding. I brought my dress up clothes to work and changed in the (gross) bathroom. Work was a bit - no a complete - gong show, so I wasn't exactly relaxed going to the wedding, but once we got there, I forgot about work problems pretty quickly. The venue was at my co-worker's beach chalets where I've been a bazillion times. The set-up was perfect!  After an hour or so, the wedding started. First the wedding party walked down the isle.  The the flower girls and boys. One of the flower girls decided that she didn't want to wear the dress....so she ripped it off herself. She'll be two next weekend. Guess the "Terrible Twos" have started already! The little boy (who is quite a character) couldn't get the "throw the ...