A Ghanian Thanksgiving!

Among all the things I am thankful for, I am thankful for all of our travels.

Hansin just completed a school project that mapped his 'timeline' (from birth till date), and we were surprised to notice that he has visited, lived, or vacationed in over 13 countries (25+ cities) on 4 continents - and he is only 9 years old!!

This Thanksgiving we headed out to Ghana (a couple of countries west of Nigeria) for 4 days. We felt we needed a break after 4 fairly hectic months in Lagos, and what a break it turned out to be. We flew in to Accra with the Barnas (another consulate family living in Lagos). Johnny Lo, my A-100 classmate, hosted us in his home in Accra that first night. We went out for some fine Italian fare in Accra's Osu district and saw a bunch of locals dancing the samba to some sexy latin beats on the dance floor. Though the beats were catchy, we were just too tired after our travels to join them. Next time ...

Later the next day, after spending a relaxing morning at Johnny's place, we headed out to the local market, where Prasanna spent a couple of hours shopping for fabric & dresses; we had our cadence worked out just so -- Prasanna would go in try out a few dresses and pick the ones she wanted; I would then walk in a bargain, starting off by quoting about 25-35% of the stated price and buy it at about 40-50% off. Fun!

That afternoon, the 9 of us (the Arvinds, the Barnas, and their babysitter), headed out by road to the Cape Coast. We spent the next 3 days at the Elmina Bay Resort - walking on the beach, playing in the pool, visiting the nearby nature preserve and doing an amazing canopy walk 40m off the ground, followed by an equally amazing rainforest hike, swimming in the sea and the pool, drinking lots of club beer (juice for the kids :)), and generally lounging around in the sun & on the beach.

We also visited a few of the slave castles that dot the cape coast (Ghana was the epicenter of the slave trade during the 16th-19th centuries). (We heard that the Obamas visited the same castles on their trip here last year, and Michelle even traced her ancestry back to one of the castles - don't know if that's true.)

We also bought a couple of exquisite hand-carved masks; though I also wanted very much to buy an African drum, but couldn't work out a fair price with the vendor. Oh, well.

Now, back in Lagos and its incessant heat, and pollution, and dust, and noise, our thoughts are focused on our next break ... and newer adventures.

Happy Birthday Marines!

Wow! Our very first Marine Ball was awesome. On this 235th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps, the marines in Lagos threw a classy, pomp-filled bash at the local Civic Center.

We came away impressed with the pageantry & symbolism of the event and thankful for the sacrifices made by these (& other) fine young men & women. Among all the speeches by the Ambassador, the CG, and our staff sergeant, the highlight definitely was the cutting of the cake with the ceremonial sword ... wish our kids could have seen this.

Gotta order my tux well in time for next year's event.

Trip #2 - Tomaro Island, Community Project

Halloween at the CGR

Post from a proud friend of ours ...

http://woodlandtravels.blogspot.com/2010/10/standing-in-solidarity.html

... together ...

So, with the dearth of stuff to do in Lagos (actually, there's lots to do, but with plenty of restrictions), there is a lot of participation in school activities ... and in-community activities ... and more school activities ...

... like, soccer ...

... So, with my current job that gets me out of work by 4 every day, I get to participate in a lot of my kids' activities and stay involved. Yay!

Community in Need: A request

I am reaching out to you'all to see if you have clothes, toys, household items that you would like to donate - we will make sure that 100% of what is donated reaches the island's inhabitants and post regular feedback/pictures on our blog. We also need medicines, lots of it - malaria meds, antibiotics, pain meds (ibuprofen), and oral rehydration solution packets (in powder form).

After our first successful trip, we plan to "adopt" this island and help them out in the coming months and years.

So, if you do have 'clothes/soon-to-expire medicines/household stuff' that you wish to donate, please box them up and send them to:

Kris Arvind
8300 Lagos Place
Dulles, VA 20189

Just remember, you can NOT send liquids, aerosols, or batteries through the pouch; 

everything else in a standard-sized box (~20-30 lbs) is OK.

Thanks so much!

Kris, Prasanna, Om, & Hansin.

The few, the proud, the brave! - one of our marines with an island child.

A Community in Need

Wow, what a great day; after our usual half-day at the consulate on this Friday, and instead of heading off for drinks at the GQ, we headed out instead to this island barely 10 minutes away from Lagos. An island of (est.) 50,000 inhabitants - whose needs are numerous.

For instance, we learned from our RMO (who coordinated this whole trip) that they hadn't had any medical care/attention for the past 18 months; their only school is a building with 2 rooms and no supplies. So, off we went with our medical supplies and good cheer and spent 4 hours doing basic, primary care for the women, children, and men of Tamaro island.

I see a huge opportunity for our entire consulate community to get involved, provide very specific care & services to this community, and produce measurable results that benefit these island folk.

Stay tuned, since I will probably reach out to the greater (Foreign Service) community & beyond (to our friends worldwide) to see how we can all contribute and make a difference!

O da abọ!

An African Wedding

Loud music, dancing, "showering" the bride/groom with money ... African style.

Back in Time - summer in DC!

I am glad we took the time to visit many of the Capital's sights ...

Into Africa

Well, after all the excitement of A-100 (which is the entry training for the U.S. Foreign Service) and finding out we were headed to Lagos, and our brief, but exciting, trip to New York, it's been quite a hectic couple of months. We are finally settling down quite comfortably in our new home in Lagos. Life is busy, but this new job does give me/us some time in the evenings, and hopefully, we can update this blog with tales of our adventures in Africa. Thanks to all of you for your wishes; please do think of visiting West Africa (& Lagos) even if it is on your way to more exotic locales!