Ste. Agathe-Des-Monts Winter Vacation

We were lucky enough this year to get a vacation! Yay!

We had booked some cabins in advance  – for a more affordable price, of course - along with 15 or so of our best buddies. Our beautiful destination was a tiny nook hidden away up in the mountains of Ste. Agathe - a little north of Montreal in Quebec.

It took about 6 hours to race there from Toronto, but it didn’t seem that long at all, what with anticipation egging us onwards! Dear Jono had to do all the driving for our vehicle. What a trooper. I held the phone, juggling the multiple roles of map guide, super-texter, and DJ all at once. Gabi and Lizzi cuddled in the back seat, while Julianne coughed and sneezed away…poor thing.

We spent the next 4 days half-submerged in hot tubs and whirpools in more than sub-zero temperatures, watching French television, skiing and snowboarding down dangerous and questionable slopes, soaking up the steamy saunas, cooking in homestyle log cabins, and just being simply happy as baby larks. Heh…

Be jealous.

Here are the photos:

Up in the Air…

So, God has spoken…

For those of you who don’t know yet, Jono and I will be flying back to our beloved Canada on April 26th, Tuesday. We would appreciate your thoughts and prayers for our preparation to leave, and also for all the needed funds to set up there. If you could keep Jono in your prayers as well – for the speedy and complete healing of his leg. Thank you!

We will certainly miss South Africa and everything it means to us! I hope we can come back one day!

There is probably no one we will miss more than Phil and Stephie, who have been our bestest buddies here, as they sat listening to our every exclamation and culture-shock paranoia; laughing, crying and screaming with us; working with us, and working through tough times alongside us. You guys are the best and we will think of you fondly and often! You’d better miss us too! Remember our conditions for visiting you in Reunion, and we’ll hopefully see you soon!

Thank you to everyone else who has also been a help in time of need for us – especially Eduan and Tina, the Lynnwood Home, and our very own Val-de-Grace! You have helped to make our time here in South Africa something we will never forget!

We love you!! xxx

I miss Lizzi!!!

So my sister, Lizzi, has gone back to Canada for a long-awaited family visit, and also to deal with some legal paperwork. But…sniff, I miss her!

She had a tricky trip having to fly by way of the London Gatwick airport, which had only just recently reopened, and was still issuing numerous flight delays and cancellations due to drastic weather conditions. Thank the Lord for His interventions and also thanks to you all for your prayers for her! She made it safely to Toronto, and on time!

Have a merry Christmas with everyone, Lizzi! We all miss you terribly back here, but we’re happy for you too! Please don’t hesitate to have a relaxing, awesome celebration. We will still toast to you in your absence! I love you!!! xxx

Countdown!

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And here are the last pics from Taiwan, mostly taken in the gorgeous city of Hualian.

A friend of ours put us up in her lovely house for a few days, that was walking distance from the mountains in one direction and from the beach in the other. This was my actual dream house, it’s not even funny. – Wooden high ceilings, a perfectly manicured lawn and yard, one handsome playful puppy, a real live attic (heh), a huge clean kitchen, very earthy, but tasteful decor throughout the house, and aircons in every room! Her husband works with leather and wood and had hand-carved some of their furniture! They had 14 different fruits and vegetables growing on the property, not to mention about 20 varieties of bright flowers and adorable little plants. And, to top it all off, she drinks Yellow Tail Cabernet!! Classy, I tell you…

I do think that Hualian is the most beautiful city in Taiwan. Truth.

I also got to see Cristina and the kids on one of my last days in Taiwan. The kids are so big now and all talking away. Of course, they’re still polite as ever. I was surprised that they remembered me! Aww…I miss you munchkins already! And Cristina, you’re an excellent role model of a mother. Don’t read into that! I’m just saying…

(I’m sorry about the awful settings on my camera, making everything yellow!)

Arrived!

I arrived safely in SA this morning, thank the Lord! It’s so nice to finally be back home after so long away. My bed is simply fantastical. Oh, how it has missed me! And the weather here right now is just perfect!

Thank you all who prayed for my trip. Even though I had quite a few travel incidents happen that I wasn’t particularly a fan of, at least I made it here in one piece!

I still have a suitcase waiting in Taiwan that I’ll have to have shipped over here (they only let me take one check-in bag. Sniff…), so there’s a new prayer request for you, if you have a chance.

I took Jet Airlines (which is an Indian airline) from HK to SA, with a 3-hour stopover in Mumbai in the middle of the night. It wasn’t something I would repeat, but it was certainly an interesting experience. And I didn’t even have to leave the airport! Ha.

Things I found most interesting about my short Indian cultural encounter:

• Everyone wears flip-flops to travel, even the men in suits.
• We had to separate into ‘Ladies’ and ‘Gentlemen’ for the security check, and the ladies get to go first.
• All the Indians speak to each other in English that is so thickly accented, you wonder how they understand each other, and why they don’t just speak in Hindi.
• Apparently I could pass as any number of nationalities, as I was spoken to in German, Afrikaans, Hindi, Cantonese, Indonesian, and Portuguese.
• Nobody queues. They all just sort of crowd around the boarding gate and see who pushes the hardest.
• I had my boarding  pass and passport checked 7 times by 7 different officers, in the 3 minutes it took me to get from the boarding gate to my seat on the plane. I guess they really are paranoid about random civilian stowaways.
• No one wears their seat belts on the plane, even when we were landing.
• It was a special request for me to have a non-vegetarian meal, and I was one of the only ones.
• When they say, “Please prepare yourself for landing,” they really do mean it! Out of control!

I made a friend of the nice British chap sitting next to me on the flight, and together we tried to decipher the slightly English announcements made, and smile through the endless curry! We also had some good talks about life and its meaning, and helping others. I thank the Lord for that man, God bless his heart.

Anyways! All together from beginning to end, it was a 28-hour trip, and I am exhausted! I’m also all traveled out, and seriously cannot think of packing one more bag, standing in one more queue, taking one more shuttle bus, or eating one more pretzel!

God willing, I won’t have to for a long time…

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Here’s another batch of pics from Taiwan, mostly of going-away parties, and barbecues. It seems we can’t get enough…

Flying home…

…finally! It’s been almost 10 months, from what originally started off as a one-month trip. It feels like a lifetime! Twill be good to be home, I just know it.

I fly first from Taiwan to HK, then to India, and lastly SA. If it’s not too much trouble, I would appreciate your prayers for a safe and pleasant journey, and particularly for my baggage this time. I’ll be taking off at 4pm tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon, and landing at 7:30am Friday morning (SA time). Thank you for your support.

I will miss all of you, my dearest friends. Despite the overwhelming heat, it really has been a good trip, thanks to you! I’d like to especially thank Paul and Joy and family for putting me up, and putting up with me! You guys are the best!

Please keep us in Africa in your prayers, because by God, we need them! And as if I can’t say it enough, thank you, once again.

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So, I finally got my hair done! Yay. God bless my stylist, Terry, he’s such a jewel. He cried a bit at the sorry state of my hair, but soon got the victory and helped to transform me! Thank the Lord. It’s so much easier to take care of again. (Not that any of you care much about that…)

We’ve been enjoying a few days break, with time to rest, go to the beach and visit with old friends! Cat came up to see us, which touched our tiny hearts. So nice to see you again, Catarina! I mean that. And Chelle finally arrived as well. I only got to see her for an hour or so, but it had a strange and comforting effect on me. Sigh. The world makes sense again. I love you, Chelle!

We were also invited to a small BB-gun BBQ, the first of its kind. It sounds weird because it is weird. But it’s also a heck of a lot of fun. I think my new true passion is shooting… Look out, world! Mei deleted off of Phil’s camera the only photo of me shooting, and so spent the rest of the evening trying to make it up to him. Quite humorous attempts, ha ha.

Anyhoo, here are the photos! I apologize again for the bad quality. One day, not too far away, I shall get me an awesome SLR, but until then, these will have to do:

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Here are some more pics from the last few weeks in Taiwan:

We went to this beautiful mountain town called JiuFen and had such a gorgeous view for a few days. It’s a real touristy spot, with Japanese historical buildings and temples. Mei and I went into this old Japanese house on a tour. Most of the rooms were too fragile to enter, but it was all very cute to look at. They wouldn’t let you turn your flash on either, so some of the pics are rather fuzzy. My apologies.

We’ve been visiting old friends, and of course that’s always a lovely thing to do. Everyone is so grown up now, sometimes I feel very out of place. Ha!