late Christmas in Yaounde

Awhile back, I posted something about what I would have brought with me to Africa had I known more about what life here would be like. Then I found out that our friends Dave and Kate and Brian (who is house-sitting for us) promptly put together a package and sent it! It arrived yesterday, and I went to the post office to pick it up! One of the things on that list was extra underwear, and sure enough, they even shipped me extra underwear halfway across the world. I left that out of the pictures below.

So it's Christmas for us here in Yaounde, a bit late perhaps. Maybe in honor of Chinese New Year? Gung Hay Fat Choy! Year of the Rat, woo-hoo! AND, in addition to this largesse, our families also recently sent us a package. They didn't use the postal system, though. Our Yaounde friend Christy W just returned to Yaounde from a visit home to Michigan, where her folks and all 4 of ours live, so they sent a package with her. It contained cards, letters, good things to eat, tea, and the first two seasons of Columbo on DVD. Yes, Columbo, the 70s TV show about the rumpled detective played by Peter Falk. We found season 4 at the house when we moved in and got hooked, so when my folks asked what to send by way of movies, we asked for more. Ann and I both like it; Columbo is a hoot.

Finally, a few enterprising people also sent us Christmas cards and pictures, and those recently arrived as well. Thank you for bringing us some holiday cheer, and giving us some pictures to put up, card-senders! We now have our neice and nephew Anna and Calvin up on our fridge, along with Gwynne and Phil's kids, and River City Improv Michelle's family, plus Ann's extended clan at Christmas and a friendly shot of the Cameroon flag Ann's folks hung out in front of their place in Grand Rapids.

Here's a few pictures of all this Christmas goodness, all delivered just after Chinese New Year! A thousand thanks to our family members in Grand Rapids and all over the US, and to our good friends Dave, Kate and Brian in San Francisco, who have not forgotten us in spite of being abandoned for a city where it's 80 degrees and sunny every day! We'll be back in October, never fear.

This is the contents of the package from Brian, Kate and Dave. It was all the stuff on that list I posted a few months back. Unbelievable. Apparently it costs eighty-five bucks to ship everything you forgot to take with you to Yaounde. Plus there's a Halo 3 t-shirt that I didn't even ask for. And instead of the sunglasses I left behind, they went out and bought me a new pair: Foster Grant Iron Man sunglasses, 100% UV resistant and made out of some flexible synthetic material that appears to be indestructable. My Thomas Pynchon novel, half-completed. Underwear, and a disc wallet full of movies and music (not pictured). Bug repellent on nifty carabiners. Additional goodies for Ann. That incredibly holly-berry hand soap that makes Kate and Dave's place smell so good at Christmas, which I believe they told me you can't even get anymore. Thanks a ton, guys! (And Dave, as far as I'm concerned, this makes us even for the prank you pulled on our place when Ann and I were away on our honeymoon :P ).

Here's the fridge. It's starting to feel like home in the kitchen, thanks to these.

Finally, some of the Christmas cards send by our family. The one in the middle, from my parents, says "Sorry you're safari way." Heh heh. Safari. :)