Mb-i-n-g-o and Mbingo was the trip-o!

So we were in Banyo about a week and thought it might be nice to go on a trip! Our fellow coworkers were headed to Mbingo and Baminda for  some things they had to do and asked us if we wanted to go. It actually was good because we got to meet the people of the Cameroon Baptist Convention- who we are kind of partnering with while in Banyo since the hospital is a CBC hospital. So Mbingo, Cameroon is beautiful. So if you ever get a chance to go, say yes. It is really cool and up in the mountains and there are waterfalls. Need I say more?

On the road, we saw lots of these:

 

 

And funny signs like these. I was unable to get my favorite sign on camera It said, "God bless Boys 2 Men."

 

A Fulani man came to our guesthouse with his horse!

 

Did I mention waterfalls?!

Home sweet home.Third times the charm!

So I am going to go ahead and say it: "I love Banyo." Tonight while I was walking in the wonderful crisp, cool air and watching the sunset on the beautiful mountains, I thought yep, this place is great. And it is not just the amazing scenery- the people here are great too! The Fulani believers here are so wonderful. I love hanging out with them everyday- learning from them, joking, and watching our kids play together. I am also really stoked about ministry opportunities. I am now officially a home health nurse. Yesterday, I saw my first patient in the hospital that I will follow up with next week in her village. I am so excited!

Here is our "huge" house (about 900 square feet) from the outside. Look at that view!
   

 

 

The inside

 

 

 Did I mention the view?!

 

    And Charlie and her little friend Nassie (he is doing his best soldier salute for the camera).

 

We're home!

We arrived safely in Banyo on Friday! It has taken me a while to get to
the Internet to update the blog- a lot of house settling, meeting people
and adjusting to a new place. We are very excited to be here! It is
beautiful with green lush mountains. It even smells like basil/mint- a
wonderful herby smell. Saturday, we visited town and did some shopping.
Yesterday, we attended a Fulani church. It was so exciting to meet and
worship with Muxlim background believers (MBBs). We have met many lovely
people- most of whom speak English. Which is great for now, but it also
means that we will have to be that much more diligent in using only
Fufulde since it will be so tempting to fall back on English. Today we
joined the hospital staff for morning devotions and then got a tour of
the hospital. It is a lovely place with 35 beds. I am excited to get
involved. We are thinking that I can serve as a follow up nurse-
visiting people after they are discharged which will hopefully build
bridges to many different communities. Josh is already been given a long
list of things to work on- fixing an x-ray machine, building a radio
tower, and of course the internet! Well gotta run we have another tour
to get to! Thank you for all of your prayers!

To Banyo we go!

After hours of sorting through trunks, bags, and boxes, we have triaged
our earthly goods down to fit on to the tiny plane we are taking to
Banyo tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day that our lives change again. A new
town, new people, a new house, and a new way of life. Please join us in
praying that we will not be side tracked by the many changes, but
instead that we would focus on the plans of the Lord and the people He
has called us to serve. Bon voyage! May this be a good journey!

The Traveling Twosome!

Sorry it has taken me so long to update about our journey to Cameroon. Well, the short of it is that we made it.

The long of it is that it was crazy. Our 30+ hour journey started even earlier than anticipated when we saw on the news that there was a fire at the Atlanta airport and everyone flying out that day needed to get there earlier than normal. So yea, let's make this thing that much longer. We breezed through the baggage check and all of our bags were under limit- which I was sweating. We had a few hours to kill, so we roamed the airport and ran up and down the empty corridors. The time came for us to board the plane, which we did, and after a long time at the gate, we had to deplane due to a flat tire. Our 12:30 flight turned into a 2 hour wait in line to get re-booked and a new flight at 7:30pm. We roamed the Atlanta airport some more- we even road the plane train through all of the stops a few times. After 10 hours in the Atlanta airport, we finally left the ground.

When we arrived in Washington DC, I realized when we were lost on their plane train that I lost some of our many boarding passes! Once that was fixed, we just made our flight from to Brussels. Thank the Lord, Charlie and I had 4 seats to ourselves, so she was able to run a muck on our row without bothering too many people. I say “too many” because we definitely disrupted our fair share of travelers and airport workers. I mean there is just so many times a person can say “no” or restrain a cooped up 2 year old. Give me a break people! I wanted a sign that said, “Traveling alone with a toddler. If you think you can parent her better, than do it. Really. Right now. She is yours!” The row of seats allowed us to also lay flat while sleeping. That was amazing. Oh thank you Jesus! We arrived in Brussels pretty well rested. We once again ran a muck in the airport. The moving sidewalks were a hit with Charlie and the Belgium sugar waffle was a hit for me. On a plane again we went and YES we had 4 seats to ourselves again. The flight to Yaounde was uneventful until we realized only 1 of our 5 pieces of luggage arrived- even our stroller was gone. We got to the place we were staying after midnight local time and Charlie and I crashed.

Again, the short of it- we made it (eventually all of our luggage did too). It was overwhelming and exhausted, but we made it!

Girl interrupted

Whoa Nelly. These last few days have been a doozy. I mean the most challenging of all my 2 ½ years as a professional parent. The Shinars have had some major changes and moves over the last year. I have felt the stress often and had been impressed with Charlie's rubber-band like adaptability. Well, I think it has all been bubbling under the surface waiting for this very moment to explode. Oh this child is ridiculous. I have so many black and blue marks on me from the biting. Although she was almost fully potty trained before we left Africa, she will now not even sit on the potty. Her favorite phrase is “I don't want to!” (said at the top of her lungs). For the first few nights, she screamed all night long. She runs away from me at any opportunity.

All this is well and good on its own, but dealing with this as a single parent getting over jet lag, in a foreign country, and preparing to go to a new village has kicked my booty. Oh and I have a cold. Oh man. I cannot wait for Josh to get here on Wednesday!

But today I saw glimmers of my sweet baby girl. Her impeccable manners at dinner tonight almost make me forget about the expensive candy bar she took off the shelf and proceeded to eat at the grocery store today.

The Animal Child

"A two-year-old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it."- Jerry Seinfeld

(Charlie put "her makeup on.")

So on Tuesday, I am taking my two-year-old on a 30+ hour trip across the world. Solo. In a confined space. Did I mention by myself? A two-year-old. 30+ hours.

Terrible two's. I mean something happens in the 2nd year of life that is so traumatic that there is a widely known term for two-year-olds and it involves the word "terrible." TERRIBLE.

Actually, I think it should be called the "Split personality twos." There are moments in my day with Charlie that she does something so wonderful that I look at her in all of her cuteness and pray "Oh please Lord let her never grow up." Like the other day when I told her I loved her and she squealed and said, "I am soooo happy." But to put this in perspective, this sweet exchange was proceeded by an epic tantrum in Target in which she glared at me and taunted "I want to hurt you mommy." Um, ok Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

So needless to say, I am a little panicky about traveling alone with my devious angel. I am even thinking of investing in one of these.


Yes, it is a child leash and I cannot get this scene from Modern Family out of my head:

 

 

But my dog/child sealed her fate today with a mad dash run around the busy Costco parking lot. My child may look like a leashed animal at the airport, but she will not: fall down the escalator, board a plane to Tahiti, or ride the baggage claim carrousel. Thank you and Amen.

 

(If you want to shoot a prayer up for my sanity on Tuesday, that would be great! We leave Atlanta at noon (Eastern time) the 3rd and arrive in Yaoundé, Cameroon at 5pm (Eastern time) on the 4th.)