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06 January 2008
Today, we actually were up by 10 a.m. --some of us by 9:30...so we're finally adjusting better. Bobby slept long, too, so DeDe is finally feeling like she got some sleep. After breakfast, we headed out for another walking tour. This time we were interested in seeing the more touristy area of St. Juliens. DeDe carried Bobby in the front pack and Dave pushed Nathan in the stroller. We allow David to walk alone as long as he listened and stayed close-by. When he gets too independent, he gets placed on a leash. The sidewalks aren't kept up very well, and they're narrow, making the stroller driver always ready to hop over holes and bumps in the path. One thing that's very surprising is the amount of litter. Seems folks don't care much about where their trash ends up. There is a green space between the lower soccer field and the track, and it's filled with debris; everything from food wrappers to broken coffee tables! Sad. We ought to form a clean-up crew and start making strides on this problem. It would be a great home-school project. We found the tourist area with no real trouble. It was probably a total of two miles walking. It seems to take forever with our crew, but it's really not far. The kids enjoyed the unique playground areas they have here. This one was right on the bay with a fabulous view. We were even treated to a beautiful rainbow as we came down to the water from the hilly streets. We wandered around by the water awhile, and then hiked along the bays and found a Pizza Hut. Sad, I know. With all the great restaurants here, we choose Pizza Hut. The reason is that we were starving and many of the other places do not open until almost 7:00. We just couldn't wait with kids in tow. So we ate there and topped our American meal night off with milkshakes from McDonald's down the hill. Don't worry, we have plans to sample the local fare – in fact, DeDe keeps telling Isabelle that she's going to have to babysit one night soon, so DeDe and Dave can go have a nice dinner out. Then she and DeDe will go and Dave can have a movie night with kids. :) Before heading out on our excursion, DeDe gave Nathan and Dave haircuts. Dave insisted we do his on the patio, and DeDe is sure she has sunburn from the time spent out there. The sun is very fierce. We need to find sunscreen soon. Dave hasn't heard from anyone at the campus yet, as they've been on their Christmas break. Joanna, from the Embassy, has loaned him a cell phone so he can get in touch with the campus tomorrow. He is wondering if we'd be better off getting a van somehow. The buses aren't terribly expensive, but when you count fares for six of us (the little ones are free), it does add up. And it is somewhat restricting. We had our first bus ride tonight. We jumped on a bus to return from St. Julien's. The buses are old and very classic. They're truly in great condition even though many are from the 1950's. They're painted bright orange, with a yellow stripe, and the driver has change strewn all around a platform next to his seat and he makes change by hand with each passenger. Amazing! We have some very tired children tonight after all the walking. Hope we can have another successful night of sleep. Praising God for safety on these excursions! Bonne nuit! Send us an email about this post! dgibbs at uwsp dot edu or dedegibbs at gmail dot com |
