Yes, the Biddulphs finally arrived in Abidjan! We have been here 3 weeks now. We are slowly getting settled and (after our crazy summer travel schedule) are really relieved to just stay in one place for a while.
Just a brief update on our new city... Abidjan had a good thing going and the civil war messed it up in a major way. (War sucks, doesn't it?) In general, things are a lot more run-down than Jay remembers (from when he served his mission here) and the infrastructure has been especially slow to recover. Overall, the city is quite dirty, but there are some areas that are nice. Internet hookup was available the night we arrived at post... that's 6 weeks faster than Belgium... so which is the third world country? Internet is surprisingly speedy and there have been no power outages as of yet. Groceries are really expensive, but services and local market goods are cheap. (dozen bananas- $1, small container of icecream- $10). And yes, the fruit does taste as awesome as we had hoped!
We are already in our permanent quarters...thankfully. The location of our home is fabulous...fairly close to the Embassy and right next door to 2 American families, one of which has 2 kids who are close in age to ours. There is a little park down the street... no play equipment, but there is a shaded sand box, tennis court, and pool (unfenced...eek!). Our house is fine for size, smaller than a lot of the other homes we have seen but at least it is all on one level (tile stairs = scary). The kitchen is outdated and sad, so we hope the Embassy will decide to make some changes there. Even if they don't, we can live with it. The place needs a good scrubbing, but overall it is much cleaner than our house in Belgium was when we arrived and (what's more important) Jay hasn't had any allergy issues.
We haven't checked out the beaches yet, but have plans to do so. Bim has great plans to improve our yard. Plants are extremely inexpensive and our gardener charges $16 for an 8-hour work-day. So, Emily thinks it will be great fun prettying the place up...especially since she doesn't have to do any of the heavy lifting. We already have a bunch of banana trees, a papaya tree, and a young avocado tree in our yard. We hope they will bear fruit soon. We are thinking about planting some sort of citrus tree.
The people are great here. The local staff, the neighbors, the guards, the gardener, and the people at church are all very nice and friendly. The Ivoirian kids are especially intrigued by our boys' hair and always want to touch it. Our nanny (Gladys) started full-time this week. She is very kind and patient with the kids and helps clean, cook, and do shopping. The med unit is looking for nurses, so Bim may decide to work part-time while here, but that probably won't happen until after the holidays at the earliest. In the meantime, she will focus on getting our family settled and learning French. Unlike Belgium, free French classes are provided by the Embassy. Yay!
Jay likes his job. The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) are personable and reasonable and his staff are capable and easy to work with. Jay’s boss and the Ambassador left at the same time which leaves the DCM and then Jay second in command for two weeks – but so far no hair on fire. Jay remembers several of the people in our ward and even taught some of them. It’s nice for him to see some of the fruits of his mission so long afterward.
James and Simon are starting to feel at home here. Simon enjoys clapping and applauds for pretty much anything. He has just started to commando-crawl and we think he is cutting his upper middle incisors. James likes our neighbor, Connor who is just two months younger – they play nearly every day and are very active. Connor is even more rough-and-tumble than James so things can get tense at times. James is learning about conflict resolution...“No purshing Connor!” Another of James' favorite activities is chasing the local lizards, or marguias, which run around like squirrels do in the U.S. Our guards find it very entertaining to watch the spectacle.
We went to the local market and the port fish market and Jay’s colleague commented that he was impressed with Emily’s willingness and curiosity to brave the “raw” culture that Cote D’Ivoire has to offer. We bought a dorade, which was delicious. We also purchased some big-ole prawns and a tuna that we haven’t tried yet. At the port, you don’t buy fillets like at the supermarket – you buy the whole darn fish and they scale it or hack it up with a machete for you if you want. Next we’ll try the local butcher meat... beef tartar anyone?
Elections are scheduled for October 31st, and we hope they go well... for Cote D'Ivoire's sake. Also, we're not in any rush to leave Abidjan now that we're finally here and are getting used to the place.
Loves from Africa ~ The Biddulph Tribe
