Memories and Minutes

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty five thousand moments, oh dear
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

            525,600 minutes, that's how long it's been since I moved away from the States; And so much has happened! Moving to France, traveling through Europe, learning French, meeting awesome people, cutting my hair off, getting my nose pierced, moving to Congo, seeing Vanga for the first time, feeling a baby inside the womb for the first time, and so on. It's been a year of growing for me, a year of learning and a year of adventure!! I am so blessed to have made such new, great, lasting friendships and to have old friends come visit me as well as family!! I loved all the weekend trips I took with my one-of-a-kind parents!! These last 365 days, I have learned more about my parents than ever before and they have become my friends. It hasn't been all peaches and cream (although that does sound good in this African heat) there were plenty of trials and there are now and will be, but with God's, my parent's and my many, many wonderful friends I made it through and will continue too!!! It has been one of the best 12 months of my life and I hope to have many more just as full of adventure, travel and amazing people!! Here's some photos that I haven't posted yet, because well....the internet isn't great, I wanted to post more but well.... the internet.

Heidi and I at my French Language School Graduation!! She has great taste in coffee, music and movies!!! (I mean what else matters.....)

Greg and I saying a final goodbye. It has been the worst part about the last 12 months.

The past 365 days, Heidi and Roxy (aka Charity) have shown me some of the best films including V for Vendetta!!

Guarana Antarctica, the best soda, shout out to Jonathan who introduced me on my birthday!

Yay for Gecko friends and Megan friends who make moving much better!

High on the happiness of traveling and adventuring!

Irene and I, Irene is one of my friends here in Vanga; we're still working through cultural differences including smiling in pictures!! 

Thank you for all of you have followed my wanderings and have supported me through all of it with kind word, prayers and well-timed Skype calls!!!

Wanted One French Alps City, Goes by the Alibi Albertville

Our visit to Paris!!

This is a journal entry I wrote a couple of days ago, while I was in Kinshasa. I found myself surprisingly homesick and wrote about what I was missing. Here it is, with some edits and additions for clarification!

Today, I was looking at a toy camera that the Lind Kids’ got in Paris and each time you pushed the shutter button, it would show pictures from Paris. Oddly, when I saw them, I got homesick….it’s not like we lived there or even visited often; but there was something about it that made me miss France.

Last picture in Albertville

 

Most of all, I miss the people, our short time with those people in Albertville. I miss my classmates, who made class fun and the talk of cockroaches ever-present! J I miss Greg’s love of limes and sassy comments, Tom and Melissa’s shared coffee, Rachael’s perfectly understandable notes, Bryant’s love of brownies in yogurt containers, Patrick’s stories of his son’s eating habits, Donette’s healthy in-class snacks, Susan and Melissa’s unintentional matching outfits and Nathan’s good explanations. I miss my friends there (this not extensive, if it was you’d be here for quite a while). I miss Jonathan’s amazing guitar playing, Sarah’s sarcasm, Amanda’s always available hugs, Heidi’s sassy spunk, Roxy’s listening and presents (not the gift kind), Julia’s love of Gilmore Girls, Pascal’s readiness to go, Emma’s art talent, and Naomi’s silliness! I miss Anne and her laugh, her cough. I miss her gentle corrections and quick smile. I miss living in such a close-knit community.

Family Friend Photo

I miss my friends there who didn’t go to the language school. Our language partners, David and Isabelle, who are sweet, kind and hospitable. Roxanne, Fanny and Anaelle and our laughing and observing. Allen, I miss him too with his warm smile and quick bisou. His constant compliments. His commenting on my Savoyard accent with his Savoyard accent.

Hiking in Albertville

I miss being a hop away from Sydney. I miss walks to the clear, swift river. I miss ConFlans (our medieval city). I miss being a courtyard away from my friends. I miss quick internet and plenty of pillows. (Not sure where that came from…) I miss having full #CongoTeam dinners and bringing baked goods down a flight of stairs to the Linds. I miss boulangeries and delicious cheese.

I miss my coffee shop. The Wednesdays I spent there with Heidi and Roxy and our frappes. I miss Tuesday night movie nights with stellar movies and delicious “lemonade.” I miss night walks. I miss the lights of my city from way up high. The way they glowed and reminded me to look up at the many stars up above. I miss cooking and being able cook several course meals from Julia Child’s cookbook. For euro prices that I can understand and little grocery shops. My heart aches for it.

Albertville at night!

Albertville won’t ever be the same and, honestly, I’ll probably never go back. Maybe, but it’s not an easy place to get to. I had my little stay there. I was put there at the right time with the right people. I love my Albertville. It is my home. St. Louis don’t worry so are you, but now I have 2 homes. Soon, I’m sure another will be added, but Vanga hasn’t felt like home, yet; but it will come with time, it will come.

Playing with Mama

But there are tastes of Albertville here, tastes that make moving easier. The Linds are just a short MAF plane ride away and the Potters are just a walk across the village. Both families have been to our home in St. Louis, our apartment in Albertville and our house in Vanga, they’re our family and friends here and I am so very thankful to have them so close.

I spy a Lindian!

The Strange Predicament of Being Called Nounou

     "My highlight is probably finally being here, it's just so nice after years of preparation to final be at the finish line; to actually know what we were working towards. Another thing that's been really nice is finally knowing what I'm going to do with my gap year, at least for the most part. Working for my Aunt Rebecah, doing YWAM, looking at universities...I just have a clearer plan, which is nice. The only problem is that means I have to realize that in May, I'll be leaving." I turned to the wall, hiding my face from the others around the dinner table. I look over at Sydney whose playing beside the table, smiling up at me. "It's hard because I really want to a part of..." I cover my eyes with my hands, and stop, unable to continue. I pull my hand away, wet. "I just really want Sydney to remember me, I want to be part of her life." Now tears are just pouring down my cheeks, and as I look over, Shannon's checks are also wet. "It's hard because she's so young and she probably won't remember me. And yeah, I am going to try and visit, but it's not...." I can't go on. "She'll remember you, when kids have big life changing events when they're young they usually remember something. I remember when I moved when I was 3." I nodded, "Yeah, that's true.... And I am going to try and see you whenever you guys are in the states, no matter where ya'll are at. If you guys end up staying here, then when I visit my family, I can also visit you. Leaving and having to say goodbye to Sydney is definitely my lowlight."
     This is my predicament for all of Sydney's life, I've lived in the same city. I met her as a sweet red-headed newborn, a day after she'd been born, in the hospital. I held her in my arms the second day of her life and I've held her for many after. For the first 10 months of her life, I would watch her whenever and as much as they needed me to, which wasn't very much. I was still a part of her life, able to get to her with a 15 minute drive. Then, our families moved. I watched her 4 days a week and saw her everyday, all day, as she only had to crawl and then later on walk, across a hallway to get my house. Then, our families moved once again, this time to Congo. It was a big transition on many front, instead of being 3 steps from each other, we are now a 10 minute walk. Our commute is now 10 x longer than it was in France. But I also saw another transition happening, somewhat undetected during our larger transition, I saw Sydney transition from baby to toddler. It had already started happening even before I realized it, but as I saw her running around the airports while waiting for flights, I knew it had happened. We've been through quite a few big transitions. But we won't always go through transitions together. We won't always live in the same city. I have to go university at some point, live on my own and get a job. I won't always be able to touch that beautiful, round, toddler face. I won't always be able to mess with her spunky, red curls, that I promise she gets from me. I won't always be able to get an extra-tight squeeze and a sweet kiss from my little Fraggle. And that breaks my heart. Honestly, it breaks my heart. I love her with all my heart, no matter what. I want you to know that, Sydney. Someday, when you can read, I'll show you this, so you can know how much your Nounou loves you. I will always be here for you whether or not we live in the same city. I will always be ready to Skype or message you. I will always want to give you advice on things that you're struggling with. I love you, my darling. You will always be my Sydney Fraggle and I will always be your Nounou.