Happy Holidays blog readers! Soooo, I was ridiculously lucky to kick off my holiday season in style with tickets to the National Christmas Tree Lighting (courtesy of cousin Kyle who works at the...
Foreign Service Life
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We’re about 90 days out until “wheels up” for Malawi, which means it’s crunch time. It sounds like a lot of days, but I know from experience that it will evaporate in no time...
Let’s start with the good news. WE WENT CAMPING! Yay us! Now for the bad news. We bailed after 24 hours. Here’s how it all went down: We left Friday around lunch, right after picking Nia...
Remember back in 2009 when I was newly married and getting ready for our first overseas adventure? Funny how long ago that seems. Well, back before we shipped out, one of the posts that prompted a...
I can’t place my finger on exactly when it happened, but sometime in the last week we kicked into full on prep mode. I was hoping to have 10 more days or so until the insanity hit, but ready or...
Hard to believe but the movers come one week from today (Deep breath, everyone). As you might expect, the beginning of June was a whirlwind of graduations, good-byes, shopping and coughing (great...
Six Months ago today I started something that I honestly wasn’t sure I could complete. I decided to join a program that would help me cut sugar out of my diet and more importantly, help me free...
This is part two in a series about my experience giving up sugar six months ago. If you haven’t read part 1, you should really start there for some background info. This post is going to focus...
This is my third post in a series celebrating my six month anniversary of going sugar free. If you’re just starting to read, you’re best off reading Post 1 and Post 2 first. In my second...
Hard to believe, but today’s the big day. Nine months of waiting over. Now all that’s left is to make it through the 20 hours of flying with the 4-year old. Fear not though, we’re...
I’m embarrassed to admit this, but in the back of my mind I was totally picturing that Lilongwe (our new city) would look like a scene out of the Lion King. In case you had that misconception...
Our first full day in Africa (Tuesday) started with a doorbell. We have several rotating guards that patrol the property 24 hours a day. We had forgotten to tell the one on duty that the gardener was...
Day 2 started with (you guessed it) the doorbell ringing at 9 AM. Once again I was still in bed and groggily stumbled to the door in my pj’s. This time it was my neighbor (the one who had...
Hi all–I was hoping to post pictures of our yard today, but I’ve been delayed. Hopefully I’ll have some up early next week. We have a big weekend coming up. We’ve been invited...
Hey blog readers – Thanks for all the interest in our adventures. I’m really enjoying sharing our experiences with you. Thanks especially to those who’ve left comments on Facebook...
Hey All–I’m beat after a long day but didn’t want you to think I forgot about you, so today I’ll share a few funny stories and then give you a longer post tomorrow when...
Apologies for the delayed post, the internet has been a bit wonky the last few nights when I’ve been trying to write. That’s Africa, I guess. Speaking of Africa, we’re coming to the...
Today was Nia’s first day of preschool in Lilongwe. School starts early here, around 7:15 AM, and gets out around noon. I am the family chauffeur now, needing to get Nia to preschool and Nick...
I know I’m not going to get much sympathy on this one, but I’ve been super stressed the last two weeks trying to find the right staffing fits for our household. If you remember back, I...
So last week my neighbor Alison decided it was time for me to visit the fabric market. The fabric sold here is very unique – it’s all brightly colored and has wax in it. They call it...
I’ve been driving all of 10 days by now, so I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about the rules of the road here in Malawi: 1. Avoid hitting livestock that’s crossing the...
One of the things I love most about our life is the ability we have to see the world. Having two years on a continent really gives you time to dive deep into your host country and often the...
This past weekend was pretty much nonstop social engagements. We started the weekend with an Embassy-wide party at a mission member’s home. The party started around sundown (around 5:30) and...
It’s a big week here at Casa de Novak. Not only does our new nanny Esther start tomorrow, but Scholasticah and her two daughters moved into the quarters on our property, where they’ll be...
Meet Grace Banda. Grace is a ridiculously talented massage therapist who provides in-home massage in Lilongwe. I estimate that I’ve had around 250 massages in the last seven years, so I...
African posts, while often characterized by the hardships encountered there, come with a surprising ton of perks. These perks (along with the natural warmth of the people) are so enticing that they...
Nesting has officially begun at the Novak household. I got the itch this week, probably because we received confirmation that our stuff is arriving Tuesday. And by stuff I mean, all 10,000 lbs of...
Today we ventured out to Kumbali Cultural Center for breakfast. It’s a hot spot with the expat crowd, as they have a market, decent food and live music. This was yet another one of those...
It was a big week at the Novak house. Last Tuesday the truck pulled up containing all our Household Effects and Consumables that were shipped by boat. All in all, somewhere around 10,000 lbs. As...
I thought today I’d document the variety of animals we saw on this safari and showcase the best image I captured of each. The Nile Crocodile – Every croc we saw was out sunning in the...
One morning we decided it would be fun to do a walking safari. The high for the day was near 100 degrees F, so our guide insisted that we be out walking by 5:30 AM. We left from the lodge and...
So our little lady turned five this past weekend. She is becoming such a cool little person and I’m eager to see what year five will bring us. She’s very inquisitive, kind and been really...
One of the many reasons we wanted to live in Africa was because of the huge yards. One thing I didn’t anticipate though was all the ‘extra’ projects that would stem from having a...
Halloween is a big deal to Americans overseas, as it gives them a taste of home. The Embassies we’ve been at have always excelled at Halloween and Embassy Lilongwe was no different. In fact, we had...
Our house is about 90% set up at this point and I’m feeling pretty good. It’s a strange house (quirky and small) and while I disliked it at first, it’s starting to grow on me now...
I had the most delightful cultural experience this past weekend. Our Community Liaison Officer or CLO (my soon-to-be title!) planned a fabulous day trip down to Mua Mission Cultural Center about 2.5...
This past weekend we officially launched the Embassy Scuba Club with our first trip to Cape Maclear on Lake Malawi! I’d love to take credit, but my husband was the driving force behind this one...
I’m getting used to bizarre animal encounters in Africa now. Here’s a story about one that occurred in our very own backyard yesterday. I was out talking to Davie about the yard when Nia...
So, remember when I mentioned awhile back that we have a strange house? Well, it’s true. The layout is bizarre and the rooms are quite closed off. It’s fine for everyday life, but not so...
I can’t remember a time in my life when I was so eagerly anticipating rain. Guess the brown is really getting to me. Happily, rainy season is nearly upon us! The heavy rains that mark the...
So last week when we “talked” I updated you on the deck project. What I failed to mention was that the deck project was just one of MANY large-scale projects happening on our compound. We...
Last Friday we attended an embassy holiday party at the Ambassador’s House. It was a lovely affair and included holiday traditions like cookie decorating, eating copious amounts of food and my...
For those who have been following the blog awhile, you may remember back to the staff appreciation party we threw in 2010 for Rudy, Norma and their families. For some reason we didn’t do this...
Our first Christmas in Malawi has come and gone and was quite delightful, if I do say so myself. The weather cooperated (mid-80’s, no rain) as did our little lady (mostly). I still struggle...
It was a BIG week people. I know I say that a lot, but I really mean it this time. You see, this week was the first time in eight years that I was back in an office job! Yes, it’s true. After...
I’ve completed three weeks of work now and am slowly but surely starting to find my groove. I can’t emphasize enough how much I’m enjoying the daily interactions and connections...
Hey all – Did you miss me? Sorry about the lack of blog posts. Turns out this work/life balance thing is WAY harder with an office job. Go figure. Speaking of jobs, I’ve been asked for...
Happy belated Valentine’s Day, my beloved blog readers. Just think about this –if you’ve been reading the blog since I first started, we’ve been ‘in a...
Just back from a week of CLO training in Johannesburg and boy oh boy am I REVVED UP! Not only was the training amazingly comprehensive and well-delivered, but there were movies, food and shopping...