Christmas in January
Even though my barrel of goodies arrived after Christmas day, it did finally get here. I was over the moon to finally have it arrive, and I dug through it all so quickly that Varun didn’t even have time to take pictures of the process! It didn’t get to our house until well after 10 pm, but I was too excited to just set everything aside. Some of the items were clothes I needed for the girls, because they are growing like weeds and needed new clothes that fit them well. Plus, Abigail is moving out of diapers and into big girl underwear! I had also asked for a few things for myself, including the girls’ blankets that I had worked so hard on and some delicious maple syrup!
Then, of course, were all the Christmas gifts, from Mommy & Daddy, their aunt and uncles and grandmothers, and Santa! I wrapped them one evening with different wrapping paper from what I had used on Christmas day, to continue the illusion that Santa was bringing all the gifts himself. Then, one afternoon after Varun got home, I had him play outside with the girls while I quickly brought all the gifts under the tree, and set it up with a new note from Santa announcing the arrival of the real toys, and how he picked up the gifts from their family on his way over. The girls were thrilled! Sara Gail was so happy to have the things she had asked for, as well as the surprises that came along too. And I was finally happy, knowing that the girls finally got the long-awaited gifts that I had picked out for them, as well as having the things back that I had been longing to have.
So even though it was a little late, we finally did get the perfect Christmas that we all had waited for!
Anniversary
January is also a big month for Varun and I, because our wedding anniversary is on January 15th. We usually try to go out to a nice steak house but those are very rare, and very expensive, here in Accra. So, we asked our friends for recommendations and we tried a very nice restaurant not far from our house. We had our cleaning lady come at night and we put the girls to bed before we went out so we could enjoy the evening together stress-free. It was really a lovely dinner and time spent with wonderful company.
Last Days of Virtual Learning
Even though the beginning of January meant the girls returning to school, they still had about a week of virtual learning before the schools would fully open. These last few days were not easy on either of them, because they really wanted to go to the school, especially Sara Gail. These last days were hard on our tablet too, thanks to Abigail. I stepped away for just a few minutes while she was playing her game for school, and she got frustrated with the slow internet speed and threw it on the floor. Needless to say, even our technology was feeling the brunt of the virtual learning stress.
But some aspects of virtual learning were still fun for the girls, including the yoga videos they got to watch. Yet, in the end, all three of us were counting down the days until school truly began on campus.
Sports
While the girls were finishing up with their virtual learning, and even after school started up again, the girls were continuing with their sports and thriving. Sara Gail and Abigail continue to love going to the swimming pool and taking their lessons. And there’s always the added bonus of the playground. Sara Gail is also loving her gymnastics class, she’s getting very, very close to doing cartwheels! Abigail would love to join her gymnastics class too, but unfortunately the youngest students they take are 4 year-olds. Regardless, I’m doing my best to keep them active and having fun!
Big Events
First Day of School
With the end of virtual learning came the first day of school! Sara Gail was so excited to go back to campus and see her friends and teachers in person. For Abigail, it was her very first time going to school ever! She was a little nervous at first, crying a little bit at the goodbye, but after the first few days, it was a quick goodbye and off to her teachers and friends. It was wonderful to finally have some free time to myself, at least in the mornings. And the girls were thrilled to be back in a school environment after being stuck at home for so long.
First Lost Tooth!
This month had a few firsts, and for Sara Gail it meant her first visit from the tooth fairy! She actually lost two teeth right in a row! Each one was loose for a while, so I was always worried that it might come out in her sleep or while she was swimming and that she’d accidentally swallow it. Luckily, they each came out while she was brushing her teeth. So, we were able to catch them from the sink and stick them under her pillow. It was very exciting for her, and to me it just means that she’s growing up way too fast, right before my eyes!
My Car
The last big thing to happen this month was my car. It just all of a sudden stopped working properly. After we first purchased it, the repair shop wasn’t too far from the house. Then, for some unknown reason, the shop I was taking it to stopped repairing my car’s make. The new repair shop was all the way across the city, and with typical traffic, it is a nightmare to get there. Plus, the car wasn’t working, so I had to have it towed to the shop and then repaired. When it was finally ready to be picked up, Varun took me across Accra to the shop, only to realize that my car wasn’t at that particular branch. It was actually at a shop in an entirely different city about an hour away. Varun and I were furious, especially Varun because his whole morning was wasted just running all around to try and get my car back. When we finally got to the shop they made us wait forever to give us the car. In the end, after Varun was finally able to head back to work, there was a small silver lining because the ride back home for me was right along the coast. So, at least I had some really nice views once the ordeal was finally over.
Food
As always, I have the daily struggle of trying to prepare, cook, and plan for healthy and delicious meals for the girls. Variety isn’t easy to come by here, but I try my best to rotate the vegetables they get. Plus I still have a rotating dinner schedule with three nights of Indian food and three nights of American food. One of the girls favorite dinners now is taco night, and admittedly those nights are fun to prepare. Unlike in the US, I make my own tortillas for taco night, as well as sour cream. As for the tortillas, I just have fun making them myself. And as to the sour cream, well that’s not available here at all. Thankfully, the girls, and Varun, absolutely love it, so I make sure to add the taco nights into the rotation regularly!
Hair
As with every other month, I’m still having lots of fun finding different kinds of up-dos to try on the girls. It is really like having my own little dolls to dress up and have fun with their hair! This month I also took the opportunity to get my own hair done. I knew we wouldn’t be traveling any time soon, so I arranged for a hair dresser to come to our house and she gave me some new highlights. The girls had fun watching me get all the foils done. And even my cleaning lady was intrigued. She didn’t even know that one could dye their hair a different color! It’s just not something that the locals really consider doing. Rather, they have their hair braided. So, it was a fun day for all of us!
The rest of the month was spent just relaxing and enjoying each other’s company, as well as getting to hang out with close friends. Our closest friends here come over to our house all the time, and Varun and his friend love to relax by enjoying a nice cigar, an actual Cuban because they are legal here!, and a nice scotch. In the meantime the girls have fun with their friends and my friend and I enjoy a nice chat. It’s been great to develop close relationships here for our whole family. It has been especially helpful during COVID to be able to expand our bubble even just a little bit so none of us get lonely. And while it is just the four of us, the girls are continuing to develop their own relationship with each other. I just feel like the luckiest person in the world to be able to witness this sisterly bond grow!
Come back next week to read more about how our year 2021 began!