Posted in Children, Family, Friends, Island life, Seychelles, tagged Calina Norton, Christmas, Kim Pockpas on December 27, 2008| 1 Comment »
Sam got a camera from Uncle T and Auntie R for Christmas, so he was the official photographer for the holiday.
Enjoy …
The discochristmas tree ... it spins!
KJ and Cj hanging out Christmas morn
Calina Christmas morning
Sam, Kimmy and Cj
Fairy bearing gift
Christmas dinner at Gay's
Christmashead Murphy
Sam and his pal, Estelle
Cj posing ... as per instuctions ... for Sam
Posted in Family, Friends, Island life, Seychelles, tagged Magnar Mork, Portia Vries on December 12, 2008| 11 Comments »
Friend steps
Portia rather dropped in from out of the sky, which was a bonus, and we put her on a plane back to South Africa this morning. I’ve only known her for a few days, but she fit well into the family and is already missed.
Magnar has been around for much longer, although not to the same degree as he has been this week. (Note the photo of the exploding Norwegian and get an idea of his impact on my veranda.)
Magnar and I are having a big party here tomorrow to mark the occasion of his 36th birthday … photos and blog posts to follow. What we’re not talking about, not even for a minute if I can help it, is the fact that it will also be his going-away party.
Yes, Magnar leaves for Norway Sunday morning, and whether or not he comes back is still up in the air and depends on factors we have little control over … although I am doing my damnedest to ensure a return soon next year.
Just writing that brings tears to my eyes, but this blog is supposed to be therapeutic, so I must slog through the feelings his imminent departure conjures.
To tell the truth, I really don’t know how I’m going to make it without him.
Magnar has saved me, and not only through his tremendous hugs and comforting love, but also because he’s a bloody annoying nag that can fix anything. He has taken such good care of me and the kids, leveled my road, sorted out computer issues, set up my phone so I can access the Internet from anywhere, taught Sam the value of hard work and challenges, and generally set the bar for all of us inspiring the best, and not just to make him proud, but because he sees us for what we are and believes in us.
(He just saw me crying while writing and noticed how much I need a hug. He knows I’m writing about him, so asked me to include something about how often I’ve left him snot-covered. Feckin’ Norwegian!)
People come into my life, then they go … although never completely. With the Internet, I now have dear, dear friends I’ve never met, and for those who have shared my veranda a way to stay in touch every day and forever. And how great is that?
But change is a part of life, and with island life a predictable part of the process. I’m much better at airport good-byes than I was the first few years here, and see them coming years in advance, but some are impossible.
This one will be impossible, and the only hope I have of not falling to bits is to be so hungover that my head stops my heart from noticing.
Yes, I have wonderful friends … the best in the world … now they just have to stop leaving me.
The detritus of an exploding Norwegian
The family ... this morning
Posted in Family, Friends, Island life, Seychelles, tagged Commonwealth Games, facebook, Magnar Mork, South Africa, Switzerland on December 10, 2008| 4 Comments »
Portia ... stong in many ways
Take yesterday, for an example …
A while back I was “friended” by a young woman in South Africa. She sent her “add” invite to me because I’m listed in the “Seychelles network”, and she was engaged to a man here, so was interested in meeting people living in the country.
We “poked” back and forth and followed each others lives as posted on our “walls”, so when I read that she was planning a trip over, I sent her my phone number and suggested she give a call so we could meet in person.
She had just returned to SA from the Commonwealth Games in Cyprus where she took the gold in her weightlifting class … an impressive achievement … and wanted to surprise her hubby-to-be.
Wish I’d had a chance to warn her about Seychellois men …
Upon finding out that it was her to be surprised … him, not so much … she was not only heartbroken, but stuck — nowhere to stay but his empty flat, knowing no one and with a ticket that had her here until the 11th of January.
I was very pleased to get her call, but less so to learn of her situation. Of course, my immediate reaction was: Get your butt down here, Sweetie.
I picked her up in town, brought her home and dropped her right into the fray that is Magnar packing and Calina and Kim doing a sleepover … a full house!
With “dumped” being a familiar word on my veranda, there was is no shortage of commiseration … or wine … so she settled in, vented, bonded and now feels like one of this fab little family I’ve grown over the past months.
And all because of an online social intro that led to a much-needed bolt hole and friendships that will go on for ages.
I won’t even go into the phone calls from Switzerland that had me sharing my moon in the wee hours of this morning …
Wow.
Amazing.
Photo Credit: Magnar Mork
Posted in Expat Living, Family, Friends, Island life, Seychelles, tagged Disneyland, The Waltons on December 8, 2008| 3 Comments »
Magnar and Calina ... beauties both
One thing I can say for not having a husband in the house anymore … it sure leaves room, and time, for friends.
Over the past week I’ve had Calina staying with me, and Magnar most days and nights, as well, and it’s been great. Relaxed and easy, it’s felt a bit like an extended episode of The Waltons, only with different accents, Calina being French and English and Magnar, Norwegian, so very little of West Virginia happening vocally here.
Goodnight, Calina!
Goodnight, Sam!
Goodnight, Cj!
Goodnight, Magnar!
Goodnight, Sandra!
Last night the kids went to Grandma’s house and we big kids went to a Christmas Party at our friend Deb’s house, and, yes, there are photos …
The three of us ...
Sleeping Beauty ... the nap before the party
Note: Calina really is Sleeping Beauty, or was … at Disneyland Paris. Just imagine her in a blond wig and you get the picture. Smile and wave … smile and wave …
Posted in Adoption, Cambodia, Children, England, Family, Friends, Fun, International Adoption, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles, Uncategorized, tagged Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Skype, Sri Lanka on November 24, 2008| 5 Comments »
Kim (South Africa), Sam (Cambodia/Seychelles/UK), Calina (France) ... all together on my couch.
Not only did we have people from Seychelles, Cambodia, the US, the UK, Norway and Australia here, Sam also received birthday greetings … via Skype, facebook and emails from a whole bunch of folks in America, Sis … New Zealand-born, now living near Portland, OR … Sas and Miss B … born in India … in Luxembourg, Liv-Synnove in Norway, Calum in Kenya, Nadiera in Sri Lanka, Mervyn in China, Clint in Lebanon, Oscar in Finland, and friends living here from France, South Africa, and so on.
The fact that the world is small should be an easy one for all to take onboard, but one that appears to elude far too many on this tiny, interconnected planet. Our differences pale in comparison to our similarities, yet seem to get most of the focus outside social networks like facebook and myspace, and blogs, where people tend to go to look for like-minded folks to share with.
We’re a simple species, apparently, and although we can conceive the most amazing ideas and birth creatures that bring us together in ways unimaginable just a few years ago, we tend to lose the plot more than we follow.
I can only hope that the closeness that happens when people from so many different places and backgrounds communicate … I’m not talking about the pinheaded fools who try to turn chat to porn every chance they get — boring, stupid gits, they are — but those who build bridges and lifelong friendships with people they never would have had a chance to know before the world shrunk … will eventually make a huge difference for the positive and lead us away from our base nature and move us into a new realm where we are happier to share hugs than lob grenades.
And send birthday wishes to a little boy in Seychelles.
Cool.
Posted in Adoption, Children, Family, Friends, Fun, International Adoption, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles, Uncategorized, tagged birthdays, divorce, Magnar Mork, Thanksgiving on November 23, 2008| 10 Comments »
Sam’s birthday was on the 10th, but that fell during his time with his dad, so we decided to do a birthday redo today, the first weekend home again.
I have to admit that the day had a tang of the bittersweet for me, and I suffered with that taste in the back of my throat through the morning. Not only did I navigate the first family celebration as a single parent since Jenn and Jaren were young, I also did my first non-spontaneous party, meaning that the tag-team Mark and Sandra show was obvious in its absence. The dance that we choreographed over 15 years that had him doing the food while I did drinks and entertainment was today a pas de one … a difference, a change to be recognized, new steps to be learned.
Stick today on top of the mountain that is Thanksgiving looming … my favorite holiday that has me bumming myself out every year I’ve lived so far from my original family … and, well, it’s the Blues grabbing me by the heart and tugging.
Had a good cry while Skyping with Sis, then sucked it up and made the day fun and love-and-laugh filled. Friends gathered. Kids played. Magnar manned the BBQ. Stan toted and tidied. A good time was had by all.
Tried to load a vid, but it won’t work. There are photos on my facebook page, though.
Posted in Family, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles, tagged divorce, Joey + Rory, Paradise FM on November 21, 2008| 6 Comments »
Just can’t resist posting this …
And when I go back to Paradise FM next year, this may be my theme song …
Posted in Adoption, Expat Living, International Adoption, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles, tagged cars, divorce, Magnar Mork on November 20, 2008| 12 Comments »
I got my new car today.
That may sound like an easy thing to those who don’t live on an island in the middle of nowhere, but here it’s quite the feat. Won’t go into details and tremendous costs for a vehicle that in the rest of the world would be considered reasonable, but will say that I like it.
One biggie about it is that it represents another severing from Mark. We no longer have a car as bait for bitching. He has the company car … a French piece of shit with windows that pop out and wing mirrors that haven’t worked for 3 years … so less shit to toss at me as ammo.
I now have a cute little zippy number that is all mine.
Plus, it has a great music system that lets me blast out “low down, cheatin’, lyin’ man” country music at full blast … and I’m belting out tunes all the way up La Misere and down Les Canelles. (Rock on, Reba. Take it, Tammy!)
Goodie.
Posted in Expat Living, Friends, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles, Writing for a living, Writing for fun, WTF?, tagged Indian Ocean, ISP, kokonet on November 15, 2008| 5 Comments »
So, sure, we break out in spontaneous parties, have fab friends, lovely weather and azure-blue seas, but anyone getting the idea that life on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean is all sunshine and lollypops was clearly not around the past couple of days.
Thursday: Just after 6pm, when I’d just finishing the agonizingly slow process of uploading a photo to this blog, the Internet crapped out. Phone call to Internet Service Provider prompted.
You must understand that the term “ISP” in this part of the world is misleading in that they often do NOT Provide any Service, and since I’m such a raging bitch I call whenever my connection fails. (Keep in mind that this is how I make much of my living, so live and die with my connectivity.) All the guys at Kokonet … my “I” not quite “S” and flaky “P” … know me too well, and answer any call with a number of mine they recognize with a roll of the eyes I can hear and a consigned-to-their-fate “Hi, Sandra” that carries the same tone conveyed by a 10-year-old whose mother just caught them smoking … crack.
Here’s the conversation from Thursday, 6:20pm:
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ad nauseam (and this is the HOTLINE number) which doesn’t daunt me one single bit.
“Hello … ”
me: Who am I speaking to?
Richard … Hi, Sandra …
me: So …
him: Routine maintenance. We sent out an email.
me: Funny, but I didn’t get any email.
him: Well, we sent one.
me: Not to me.
him: Not my job …
me: Fine … so when are we back on?
him: Eight.
me: Really?
him: Well, around 8 …
me: sputter, sputter, doubt, sputter …
him: Maybe before.
me: Yeah, right. You do realize that every time you all do maintenance the system craps out?
him: intentionally obtuse blah, blah, blah …
me: So … 8 …
him: Definitely …
Of course, 8:00 comes … and goes …
By 9 I’m back on the phone …
him: Hi, Sandra …
me: Well … ?
him: Just heard that it will be another 45 minutes.
me: And then … ?
him: blah, blah, blah …
But, miraculous as it may be, 45 minutes later we’re reconnected and I’m working away … only to have the bloody thing die in 15 minute chunks every half hour or so.
So … I dial the hotline again, and … no answer, ever.
So … at 1:30am I call the mobile number of another guy who works at Kokonet, Selwyn.
Here’s that dialog:
Selwyn, sleepy sounding: Hi, Sandra …
me: What the feck is going on tonight … rant, rave, rant, rave ….
him: I have no idea what you’re on about. It was working fine when I left the office …
me: Well, it’s not working at all now.
him: Why is it always you?
me: Tell me!!!
him: I left my computer at work so I can’t check if the problem goes further than your place …
me: Selwyn, what DO you do for a living? You left your feckin’ computer at work?
him: Yeah … forgot it.
me: How bloody comforting. Now, give me some hope, please …
him: I’ll get into the office early tomorrow and sort this out … I promise.
After trying like crazy to get him to give me his bosses private number … “You know I can’t do that, Sandra. I’ll get sacked if I do,” … I give up, turn music up loud and do my nightly stretching exercises that spring my unstrung springs. (I am VERY bendy … even at this advanced age. Former dancer, you know … )
So … Friday dawns to … no feckin’ Internet.
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring …
Selwyn: Hi, Sandra …
me: And, so …
him: Big problem. I have no idea what’s wrong. Basically, though, we’re screwed.
And that’s were it stayed until half an hour ago.
One aside, that’s is SO more than an aside, but will sit there for blog purposes …
When I woke up this morning, not only did I not have Internet, my freezer had defrosted and my 50 bags of frozen bananas … along with everything else … had defrosted. Ever seen bags of thawed out frozen bananas? Well, they leak sweet, sticky black gunk. (It’s lovely warmed up on ice cream, actually, and in smoothies, which is why I had 50 bags of bananas in my freezer. When my bananas are ripe, there are hundreds of the buggers.) These had leaked the black gunk down every shelf and out the bottom of the fridge door all over my kitchen.
We have no such things as refrigerator repair people here. None. And there are no spare parts even if we did have someone who could diagnose the problem and tell me which parts were needed.
In other words, I’m screwed.
But, at least I can write about it.
(I must, however, throw in the NaBloPoMo towel for the month, as I missed a day, and that’s a no-go.)
Feck!!!!!!
Posted in Children, England, Expat Living, Family, Friends, Fun, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles, tagged Anse Soleil, Skype, tattoos on November 13, 2008| 5 Comments »
Skyping Sis at the party ... A hoot and a half!
More often that probably happens in the real world, this can result in spontaneous parties breaking out on my veranda. Last night was typical …
We went do dinner at Julian’s down on the beach to meet up with Nic, a former Brit Army Major, who was spending her last day in the country at Anse Soleil. Dinner was lovely, when she finally dragged her sand-covered ass up to the café, but didn’t last long enough.
A few others had joined us, so it ended up being eight of us … me, Stan, Andy, Clare, Nic, Christopher, Kim and Calina … trotting up to my place with beers and wine and the willingness to yack our heads off and laugh our asses off.
And, boy!, did we.
We showed each other our tattoos … Calina gets the prize !!! … swapped outrageous tales, kvetched about rising prices, sung the praises of tropical living, and a good time was had by all.
No few countries were represented … America, England, India, Germany, France, South Africa and Seychelles (Norway was missed, though, because Magnar is ill, poor baby.) … so it was, indeed, an international affair as most on this island are.
The scope broadened considerably when my skype rang and at the other end, and from the other side of the planet, my sister, Jo, joined the party. (She’s a Kiwi living in Washington, so another country heard from.)
Video skyping is always cool, and when the result of this whizzy techno-stuff is another guest at a party … well, it was amazing.
My sis is funny. Really, really funny. (She is SO my sister!) So, when everyone ended up crowded around my computer and began to wet themselves laughing, I was not one bit surprised.
The only thing missing was music … I really need to find a roving band that does deliveries …
It was, again, a wonderful night, one that had me buzzing so much that I stayed up ’til 4:30 in the morning … Stan was a hammock lump by 1-ish, bless ‘im … IMing my heart out.
Ah … island life …
A collection of my short stories:
I'm in this one, too ...
And I'm in here, as well ...
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | |
Paradise Preoccupied 