Friday, August 08, 2014

What I miss about Djibouti and some pictures

Lions and babouins and caracals-- Oh my!
It has been three weeks since movers loaded our materials possessions into containers and we boarded a flight out of Djibouti, so I thought I'd share some of the things I'm already nostalgic about in no particular order.
  • the wonderful friends we made
  • the ease of going to the beach, the islands and the pool any day that struck our fancy.
  • the ease of driving around town--not dealing with traffic jams or missing the turnoff
  • smoked salmon pizzas at all the pizza places (don't knock it until you try it) 
  • parties hosted by the French military community (great music, food, dancing, atmosphere etc.)  
  • never feeling cold (except in the embassy)
  • letting our dog run off leash on the tidal flats
  • Camp Lemmonier (while we rarely went, it was comforting to know that we could go catch dinner and a movie at camp or pick up junk food and electronics at the Exchange)
  • the French Protestant Church and its pastor-- so many nationalities and theologies together
  • ecumenical collaboration (since the government only permits one Protestant and one Catholic congregation in town, it is a very small world indeed)
  • Seven Seas/the embassy commissary: keeping our food bills down and our freezer stocked with cookie dough, bread dough and other luxuries
  • the massive embassy housing-- our daughter got to have an upstairs and downstairs playroom. We could hold parties on our roof.
  • road trips with our friends at Phoenix Travel
  • snorkeling and whale shark trips with our friends at Dolphin 
  • the old garrison town vibe: small town meets international hub
  • compound living: with so many toddlers and nannies, our house was always full of life.
walking the tidal flats to nearby Turtle Island
Air show at French air base

at a 40s party at French air base

Does your church rent 2 boats like this to spend the day on an island?!

Loading boat for church retreat

church retreat on Maskali Island

driving on the Grand Barra 

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