Guest blogger: Joaquim
Hi, it's me again. I've been doing lots of cool stuff and I want to tell you about it. First of all, I am a karate champion. I won two gold and a silver medal at the Pemba karate championships and they look soooo cool.
I took the medals to school the next day to show my friends, and now I've put them in my treasure box. The gold medals were for the juniors championship, I did a really good demonstration - I've been practising at home - and then I had to fight this mean little kid. He kicked me in the neck - which is against the rules - and made me cry, but I got up again and kept fighting and then won. We shook hands after the fight so it was OK. Sebastian, Eva, Mum and Pai were there to watch, and we had grilled chicken and chips to celebrate afterwards.
S: I love chicken and chips.
Then there was a cowboy party. Sebastian and I looked cool and dangerous. There was a horse, but I didn't get on, it was really big. Sebastian did though.
S: I wasn't scared.
Then there was another karate thing, a graduation this time, and our teacher was really tough on us and made us work really hard in the sun for hours. But I got my next belt.
S: I got a bit bored and took lots of photos, but we had more chicken and chips afterwards. I love chicken and chips.
And then, there was a fund-raiser at school, International Day. Everyone had to go dressed in a national costume. Sebastian chose French, Eva and Mum went Chinese, Pai wore a silly straw hat, and I was an English Country Gentleman and I won a prize: PIZZA AND A SOFT DRINK! Awesome! Mum also won a prize with her cupcakes, for the prettiest cake. I thought they were pretty delicious.
S: I liked my moustache.
Hmmm, that's about it. We're going on holiday in 10 days, which is soooo exciting. Sebastian and I are crossing the days off on the calendar. Pai and Mum seem to be quite excited too. Eva is too little to know.
S: It's MY turn to cross it off today.
Byeeeeeee! Joaquim xxx
PS: This is Pai looking silly.
Labels: holidays, Joaquim, Pemba life, Sebastian
New Year, new beginnings
I am no longer working at the Quirimbas National Park, as my contract came to an end on Monday. It was not unanticipated, and I'm looking into a number of other possibilities, but at the moment I am enjoying using our office in Chuiba, which has a lovely view over the coconut trees, and a nice cool pool just down the path.
Chuiba Palms was officially inspected, approved and inaugurated in December, which was a great relief and source of some pride to us. So we are open for business, and in the process of getting a website, marketing materials and good promotioanl photos together. (As you can see, I have things to fill my time with.)
Meanwhile, the boys begin a new year at school, with Sebastian happy in Reception at THE BIG SCHOOL and Joaquim in Year 3. The fact that all bar one of Sebastian's colleagues graduated from kindergarten with him, and that he knows many of the older kids already, have made the transition apparently painless. They are both also very proud of their new uniform, which is a rather smart but practical aertex shirt embroidered with the school logo, in a choice of 5 colours, and navy shorts. Have photos, will post.
Eva has also embarked on a new adventure of her own: mobility. She is commando crawling - at last - and I have no doubt will soon be all over the house and into everything. Must get that shelf up in the bathroom before she sidles up to the washing machine and downs a cup of washing powder.
Labels: Chuiba, Eva, Joaquim, Sebastian
Taking Halloween by storm
On Saturday we celebrated Halloween at Joaquim's school. We forgot our camera, which is a shame, as Joaquim won the prize for the funniest costume. (Also I was wearing a much-admired outsized witch's hat, and plenty of black eyebrow pencil, lipstick and wart to accessorize.) On the other hand, it's not such a shame, as he was wearing his alien costume again (see party pics below), only with new hands as he had popped the last lot, and eyeballs rather than pan scourers on his antennas. I rather over-inflated the hands this time which is apparently what clinched his win.
On Sunday night we had the first storm of this year's rainy season. Huge downpour, loads of dramatic thunder and lightning. Cue plenty of bed-hopping as the boys woke up and got scared: first Sebastian came to our bed, then Joaquim got scared so I went to his bed, then I couldn't sleep so I moved to Sebastian's bed, leaving Sebastian to sleep in our bed. Eva showed great sang-froid. She woke up at the beginning of the storm, drank her bottle of milk and slept through until 6.30 the next morning; as we all did.
That's called a lie-in in these parts.
Labels: Eva, Joaquim, parties, Sebastian
Boys just wanna have fun
Joaquim: Hi. Mum's a bit busy so I want to tell you about all the fun we've been having recently. First, Pai got us this great water slide.
Sebastian: It's AWESOME.
J: Then we were invited to a Princes and Princesses party. Mum found some cool stuff in the second-hand clothes shop, and she made us some costumes, and then we made these crowns. I put loads of stars on mine.
S: I LOVE these trousers, they're so HANDSOME. That means beautiful, but for boys.
J: And then, we were invited to an aliens party.
S: SO COOL.
J: Mum went back to the same shop and found all this alien stuff and made us these costumes, with, like four arms, and antennae and stuff. I was a really scary alien.
S: And I LOVED my extra arms. These are the extra ones, not my real arms.
J: Then Sebastian and our friend Matteo did a kind of four-armed aliens dance, I think.
S: I like bread.
J: And it was like, so cool, and we had lots of fun. Oh, and here's Mum with our baby sister Eva.
S: Eva is the cutest baby in the WHOLE WORLD.
J: I don't know why Pai gets so tired.
J: There's no party this weekend. We'll have to find something else for Mum to do. Bye!
Labels: Joaquim, parties, Sebastian
Lateral thinking
Sebastian, holding a shell to his ear: "The sea is telephoning us."
Labels: Sebastian
Sleepy lions.
Aaah, look. Paulo and Eva enjoying a lie-in at the week-end.
Now, where have I seen this before…? Oh yes:
That’s Joaquim at a similar age. And then there’s this:
And where are all the pictures of me enjoying a lie-in with my children? Oh, yeah, I don’t get lie-ins with my children. Or indeed at all. Grumble, grumble.*
But don’t they all look cute?
*To be fair, Paulo tried to give me a lie-in on Sunday, but Sebastian had other ideas. Specifically, another game of airports. We play airports quite a lot.Labels: Eva, Joaquim, Paulo, Sebastian, sleep
2s, 1d, welcome number three!
One or two people have mentioned to me that it's been a while since I last posted and so I have succumbed to the flattering impression that people want to read what I have to say. I can barely remember what I last wrote, but I think it was about my up-coming caesarian which is now - incredibly - 9 weeks past. As it happens, it was not particularly scary - although Paulo was so pale as we waited in theatre for me to be anaesthetised that I thought he was going to pass out ("Who's looking pale?" the obstetrician called out in alarm, and Paulo told me not to worry if he had to slip out for a minute, which I vigorously protested, but which didn't actually happen, I think the big blue screen helped him stay put and stay conscious, and he held my hand throughout, but I digress) - but it was pretty weird. I didn't like the pure medicated nature of the procedure, nor particularly the way the obstetrician had to tug and push and wrench to get the baby out. It was all distinctly unnatural, and I find it strange that women should choose to do it more than once. Give me a vaginal birth with an epidural any day.
That said, the recovery was not as bad as I expected, in fact it was easy, although not being able to drive for 6 weeks was an absolute pain in the *rse, and most importantly of all my gorgeous little baby girl arrived safe and well. As it happens she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck three times which may be why she couldn't turn over and which could have made a delivery dangerous, so all in all the c-section was definitely a good thing.
How can I have got this far without posting a photo? Here she is, little Eva at 4 days, as sweet a little bundle of joy as anyone could wish for:
Of course, she looks just like her father, as did the boys when they were born. I am resigned to my role as rent-a-womb.
And then, just as we thought we could relax and enjoy her, the fun and games started. A paediatrician who saw her on day 2 thought she looked dysmorphic, with her widely-set eyes and large head. "Have you met my husband and my sons?" I asked in vain. We were dispatched to see a whole bunch of specialists, including a geneticist who took one look at the lot of us, measured everyone's heads and sent us home. When they all gave her a clean bill of health she went on to fail her hearing test, twice. Cue referral to the ear, nose and throat hospital, where it was revealed that all she had was a little fluid behind her ear-drum, due to a cold, that should clear up by itself. (In between we slipped off to sunny Portugal for a week - lovely - but there were 10 days during which we were contemplating full or partial deafness.) Phew. But what's this little lump that has popped up in her groin? A hernia, no less, that required surgery.
At this point the gods - or to be precise Vulcan - must have taken pity on me for they caused my flight home to be cancelled, giving us time for the op and a free re-scheduling. So for the rest of you inconvenienced by the Icelandic eruption, sorry, it was our fault.
Eva is now absolutely fine, or at least seems to be, and we leave for Moz tomorrow. I have missed both the boys' birthdays (they left with Paulo 4 weeks ago, and are both smitten with their little sister), but I come laden with presents which should make up for it. See you there!
Labels: birthdays, Eva, Joaquim, Paulo, Sebastian, sisters
Just and bit of an update
Hmm, not doing very well in keeping this blog up to date, am I? It's been a month since the last post, and what have the Phillips-Marques clan been up to? Much of the usual as it would turn out.
Joaquim's doing well at school; his report card for last term mentioned an exceptional ability in maths for his age. I think it's a bit early to be proclaiming him a maths genius, but it's certainly his favourite activity after drawing. His drawings are great: full of dinosaurs, boats, planes, aliens (not usually all together), very dynamic and detailed. Sebastian has also discovered that he can draw. It all started with planes - still an abiding obsession - which continue to be his favourite subject, but he's branched out into cars, dinosaurs and stick people. Our fridge is that stereotypical item of a young family's household: an exhibition of frequently changing, many-hued young people's artwork. I love it!
Paulo is as always busy on many fronts, but especially pouring lots of time and energy into the houses in Chuiba. They're really coming together, and we're hopeful that we may have two or three finished by the New Year. Many compliments have come our way, and we think they look pretty good. It occurs to me that I should post some photos...
I am fattening up nicely, a combination of slack tummy muscles and a desperate chocolate craving. Number three is a busy child, wriggling and kicking and generally making its presence felt on a regular basis. I'm in that happy window between the nausea and prodigious burping which characterised the first three months of this pregnancy (completely unlike either of the previous two), and the last three in which I will inevitably be huge, lumbering, and hot. Why do I always time my pregnancies so perfectly so as to coincide with the hottest time of the year here? Have I not learned my lesson? Oh well, bit late now.
Been spending time on Ibo. Last week I was there for a few days, discussing the community camp on neighbouring Matemo island with a possible investor. I hope it works out. The camp is in a beautiful spot, and has huge potential. As I flew back I saw breaching humpback whales from the air for the first time. They were tiny, little white tic-tacs leaping from the water and causing a huge splash. We've been lucky enough to see lots of whale activity from the shore this year, even Joaquim and Sebastian got a good view the other week-end and were suitably impressed. It's an astonishing sight, no matter how many times you see it: this huge creature rearing out of the water almost to its full 14 or 16 metres, 60 or so tons of whale flesh shooting up into the air then falling in apparent slow motion into a pure white explosion of foam. Definitely one of the highlights of the year.
Another of which is of course the season of the beloved mango, officially opened with the consumption of my first two yesterday.
Marvellous
Aromatic
Nectar-filled
Glorious
Orange-fleshed food of the gods. Sigh.
Labels: Ibo, Joaquim, mangoes, Paulo, Pemba life, Sebastian, waxing lyrical, working mum
Let them eat cake
I don't think either I, nor you - dear readers - nor indeed the computer have the stamina for a full run-down of the last two months or so. So let's ease ourselves in with some easy viewing pics of the birthdays of the men in my life, starting with that lovable rascal Sebastian, who turned three on 18th April. Here is Sebastian opening his presents at breakfast:
Nice of his big brother to help him out with all that tricky paper tearing don't you think?
And here's the birthday boy with his Cars cake:
Which was duly admired and then destroyed in post-Happy Birthday 15 lap race to the death:
After which much fun was had with new toys and old favourites (it was raining so we just brought everything inside):
And we moved swiftly on to big boy Joaquim, who turned five on the 26th of April, for whom a slightly more elaborate party was in order.
So we had lots of games and the now-traditional treasure hunt.
And of course cake, this time a Spiderman motif, wddaya mean you can't tell (and those chocolate ladybirds are doing quite a good job standing in for spiders, don't you think?), although to be fair I feel that this year's efforts do not quite reach the dizzying heights of last year's pirate ship, though they wipe the floor with Sebastian's rabbit/mouse (it had long ears I tell you!) from two years ago, so I must be making progress. (At this point I wish I could remember how to link to my old posts so you can judge for yourselves.)
So here he is blowing out his candles, and isn't nice of his little brother to help him out with that?
As if this weren't enough, Paulo turned 40 on the 4th of May, which we decided to celebrate not once but twice, first at the week-end at Russell's place (gloriously renovated and reopened to a collective sigh of relief), with a friend who was also celebrating.
The fantastic gold confection is - alas - not mine, but I think you can see a few crumbs of mine here if you look closely:
And then again, on the day itself, at home with some good friends.
After which I found it hard to look a mixing bowl in the eye for a while.
Next up...India.
Labels: birthdays, Joaquim, Paulo, Sebastian
Headless chicken
Or blue-arsed fly. Either way, that's been me over the last month or so. And on Monday I'm off to India for 10 days. So all my good intentions of posting photos of Sebastian and Joaquim and Paulo's birthdays and my latest birding trip with Malcolm have gone out the window.
So see you all in a couple of weeks when I shall endeavour to make good!
Labels: birds, birthdays, Joaquim, Paulo, Pemba life, Sebastian, working mum
Happy holidays
When your friends think you may have died it's definitely time to post something.
We had a family-tastic Christmas and New Year, with a wonderful visit from my parents and sister - you know, the once struggling author who talks too much. Feel free to pop over to her blog for an envy-inspiring pic of the beach we were on at New Year's. I really must add to her eulogy that Nkwichi Lodge was without a doubt one of the loveliest places I have had the pleasure to stay in. The boys loved the jungle adventure mixed with fabulous beach, Joaquim discovered to his delight the joys of swimming underwater with a mask (aided by the presence of hundreds of multi-coloured and very tame fishies in the crystal clear water), and Paulo and I found it hugely relaxing (no mobile phone reception, for one, how blissful is that?). All-round a big thumbs-up. Aside from that there was the usual present frenzy at Christmas, the highlight of which for me was Sebastian's reaction to my urging him to open his other presents after he found an all-singing all-dancing Lightning McQueen at the bottom of his stocking: "I don't need that, I just need this!" (He has barely let it our of his sight since, he sleeps with the big hunk of plastic, bless his cotton socks.) Great Super-Maman Christmas lunch: turkey and trimmings and chocolate roulade (if you ain't tasted it you ain't lived), and all the rest.
Since then it's been back to work, where I have a new member in my team; we are now three (my management skills are being stretched). He is taking over responsibility for the community-based tourism projects, leaving me freer to concentrate on other stuff, like strategic tourism planning and working more closely with the operators and er, blogging. He seems promising.
For Joaquim, Monday was his first day at "The Big School". He has been counting down the days, so excited is he at joining his best friend Milan and the other big kids there. He was so confident and happy, waving me away with barely a glance as he showed off his new exercise book and pencil to his teacher that I was filled with a warm glow of pride. Sebastian is back at nursery next week, which he is equally keen on, but meanwhile has been kept busy playing with his new best friend, Samuel. And what a beautiful pair they make.
Labels: food, Joaquim, Pemba life, Sebastian, sisters
Curtains
Like Gandalady, I have just received Joaquim's end of year report. Among other nice things, it says that "he is happy to perform before others". Well, that was not in evidence last night at his second end-of-year school play. Last year he was supposed to play a shark, refused to go on, and then sobbed inconsolably when he realised he had missed his chance. This year he was supposed to be the narrator, refused to go on, and was not particularly phased when his teacher had to step in. I suppose that's progress. It would seem he's just not cut out for the stage, but on the way home he recited his part perfectly.
Sebastian, however, participated gleefully. He was a monkey; how apt.
Labels: Joaquim, Pemba life, Sebastian
Happy birthday!
Toblerone. Surely one of the finest chocolates in the world. What could be more satisfying than those chunks of top quality chocolate (intense dark or rich milk, as you prefer, and I prefer the former) peppered with perfect nuggets of almond and honey nougat? And the excellent presentation: triangles of bliss. And yet – and I’m sure I am not alone in this – I only ever buy Toblerone in Duty Free. Which is how I come to have not one but two (see options above) large bars nestling in my fridge. When and how did it become such an airport staple? In the course of our five-hour stop-over in Heathrow I had the chance to compare the special offers on this Matterhorn of chocolates, currently celebrating its centenary (and may there be many more). I plumped for 3 for 2 on the large bars, spurning the arriviste limited edition fruit and nut, and sticking with the classics. The third bar, pure white, has found a happy home next door.
So it would appear that we have survived the flights and had a smashing holiday. I will not bore you with the details of our return journey which took a whopping 30 hours from the moment we entered Lisbon airport to the moment we left Pemba airport, but I must give credit where it’s due and in this case it’s due to my boys who were exceptionally well-behaved, all things considered. It did help - a lot - that they are very keen on planes and as a result relatively easily entertained watching take-offs and landings at the various airports, and remaining remarkably enthusiastic about every flight, yes even the eighth. Bless ‘em. What could have been Hell was downgraded to Purgatory.
So, highlights of the holiday.
Joaquim’s: Mekyla, the theme park in Johannesburg and in particular the big wheel, dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, running with the pack (of cousins) in France, discovering mini-golf, pony-riding, the big sunfish at the Lisbon Oceanarium.
Sebastian’s: the elephant doing a poo at Jo’burg zoo, the “robot pick up rubbish” (wall-e), riding a chairlift up the mountain, late bedtimes in Lisbon, so many enormous aeroplanes.
Mine: being with my parents, siblings and all their offspring for a week against the background of the beautiful Alps, the London Eye (at last!), spending a night and a day at the house we restored for our wedding, exactly 8 years earlier, with a bunch of my favourite in-laws, eating figs straight off the tree.
Paulo’s: dramatic walks in the Alps, bonding with the lads (my brother, brother-in-law and oldest nephew), having his phone on silent for 4 weeks, seeing his 3rd sister for the first time in 3 years, late-night sessions with old friends.
What more do I need to say?
Labels: holidays, Joaquim, Paulo, Sebastian
Boys on a plane
On Saturday we are leaving for our holidays. Four weeks of fun, family and friends. Oh, and lots of flights. 8 in fact.
First stop is Johannesburg (2 and a half hours), where we'll be staying with the lovely family who made friends with Joaquim and me during our 6-week stay in Milpark hospital and made us feel human again. Joaquim is besides himself with anticipation at being reunited with his "best, best friend", 10 year-old Mekyla. Sebastian is unaware that anything is up. I'm wondering just how chilly it will be (it's mid-winter here, down South) as I have no closed shoes and can just about remember what it feels like to have cold feet.
Then we'll be stopping-off in London (10 hours) for three days, followed by a week in the Alps in France (2 hours), another brief stop in London (2 hours) and ten days in Portugal (2 hours) before flying back to Pemba via London (2 hours) and Joburg (10 hours plus 2 and a half hours). That makes 33 - count them - hours in a plane with two children under 5. (I wanted to take the train to the Alps but our tickets would have come to almost 1 grand, and on Ryanair they cost 280 quid. That's how easy it is to take the environmental option.) Much as I am ardently looking forward to the holidays, in fact Joaquim and I have been crossing the days off the calendar for getting on for 2 months now, this prospect is slightly scary. I have plasticine. I will take a couple of books. I will buy some cartons of juice. Our portable DVD player is - alas - broken. I'm a bit wary of sedating them as Joaquim is unbelievably heavy to carry. Any winning tips?
Labels: holidays, Joaquim, Sebastian
A wee post
Today, for the first time, Sebastian went to nursery without a nappy on. Thanks to the close attention of his carer, he came home wearing the same pants and shorts as when he left. Cause for celebration indeed!
Labels: Sebastian
New house
Well we've been in for a while, and we're still all loving it, so I thought you might like to see it. Apologies for the over-exposed pics of the boys' room, it was a very sunny day.
This is how it looks from the outside (at least in the rainy season, when the garden is green):
These are the two ends of our open-plan living room...
and kitchen:
This is our bedroom:
And this is the boys' room:
That's Sebastian having his afternoon nap btw.
Didn't think you needed to see the bathrooms.
As you can see, we need to do some decorating and get some more furniture and curtains and the like, but it's a wonderful, big, light, comfortable, cool (in both senses of the word) space and we LOOOOVE it.
Labels: new house, Sebastian
In no particular order and for no particular reason
5 things Joaquim loves:
His best friend Milan
Pancakes
Planes
Munchy Mike (his tiger cub)
The colour pink
5 things Sebastian loves:
His best friend Noa
Pasta
Cars (with a capital C, as in Disney-Pixar)
Kissing
Dragonflies
5 things Joaquim does not love:
Onion
Spiders
Cutting his hair
Wearing shoes
Hurrying up
5 things Sebastian does not love:
Bedtime
The straps on his car seat
Wearing clothes
Potatoes (except chips)
Washing his hair
5 things I love:
Their smell
Their feet
Their hugs
Their brotherhood
Their dad
Labels: Joaquim, Sebastian
Birthdays and bird days
It's been a while, hasn't it? I have been submerged in birthday cake making, birthday party throwing, and - for a change of scene - bird watching.
Following hot on the heels of Sebastian's wonky plane came Joaquim's rather better rocket (easier design) and then on the day of the great pirate party, well, see below. My boys were born 2 years minus a week apart, which is convenient when it comes to parties as I only have to do one a year. Thank god. No doubt there will come a time when they insist on having one each, but for the time being they are content enough to share, and I'm happy with that as I seriously doubt that I have the stamina to do this twice in a 10 day stretch.
So there were two birthday boys. One had a rather extravagant curly moustache, which didn't last long in the paddling pool.
The other spent most of the party stark naked, apart from a brief appearance in a dino costume, which was not really in theme, but that's hard for a two-year-old to understand. Perhaps it was a sea-monster.
There was also a treasure hunt, pass the parcel, a pin-the-tail type game, a bouncy castle/paddling pool combo, more party games and a rather fabulous pirate ship cake (if I say so myself). We nearly burned the new house down with the canons, which were these candle-style sparkler-ish fireworky things which are probably illegal in any developed country, but looked fantastic stuck in the side of the cake and also set fire the paper tablecloth in a rather dramatic battle-scene simulation.
The kids were kept busy and sugar-fuelled, the parents had plenty of cold beer and wine, the boys got lots of presents, and it seems that a great time was had by all. But by the end of the day it was all I could do to stay out of bed until the boys were in theirs.
So the next day, I jumped ship and headed off to the bush with Malcolm, a visiting ornithologist who I last saw 11 years ago in Uganda. We spent a week with binoculars at hand, assessing the Park's potential for bird-watching and starting a training course for some of our rangers and community guides, who - we hope - will at some future point become top-class bird guides. I love spending time in the bush, and this time the pleasure was compounded by re-discovering an old friend and by finding out that we do indeed have great bird life and that this might just be the saving grace in terms of tourism for the interior of the park, where we don't have enough big game to compete with such neighbouring giants as Tanzania, Kenya, SA, Botswana, Namibia and the like. But who needs rhinos when you have brown-breasted barbets, Zanzibar red bishops and Livingstone's fly-catcher? None of which are the fellow in the pic below, but isn't he beautiful?
Labels: birds, Joaquim, parties, Sebastian
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