June 2012 - Malawian winter?

Hello everyone

After completing our last blog entry for May, Gavin and I took Joshi away to Huntingdon House in the tea estates for a luxurious weekend to celebrate our 5^th wedding anniversary. It was a beautiful time with gorgeous weather, only marred by being attacked by soldier ants at our favourite picnic spot on Thyolo mountain. Anyone who has read the poisonwood bible will know what that can feel like- ouch. Joshi enjoyed beating me at croquet (that is how bad I am) and we chilled out in Malawi’s oldest colonial home.

playing catch on thyolo mountain

Joshi beats mummy at croquet

wish we lived here sometimes....

Joshi nearly walks

Gavin and I have both been rushed off our feet this month with work, the meningitis season is underway so my study is very busy, and the dialysis unit continues to keep people alive with all the attendant ups and downs of trying to deliver high tech medicine in the 10^th poorest country in the world. The new president, Joyce Banda, is still popular, and despite the massive devaluation of the local currency by 40%, the country has not suffered significantly and the donor money and forex is now flowing and business is brisk. We hope this means that the fuel queues and diesel dramas are a thing of the past. I am still using Malawi’s first fold up bike to get to work which uphill every day means the baby weight is nearly gone now, which is great. I have moved office into MLW’s new building which is air conditioned, with fast wifi- I could almost close my eyes and believe I was working in the UK on my first day there, until I see the hornbills in the tree outside the office. Our chickens are growing and we hope to see eggs in the next few weeks.

Old office building

New office building

gav and Joshi check out the chickens

We very sadly said goodbye to Kate and Chikondi, very good friends here who looked after me so well when we arrived with Joshi a year ago knowing very few people with babies, and all my baby group friendships have come from her. Their fabulous soap making business will also be sadly missed, as one friend put it ‘what will we wash with now?!’

Kate (left) and Sam

I made a foray into the world cup football with a trip to Malawi v Nigeria in the national stadium. It was a great result for Malawi who drew with the favourites, and the atmostphere was fantastic. We bought tickets from a tout for the grand price of 3 quid each – and even touts dressed as the Marx brothers added to the mad African atmostphere – along with a man in a santa costume and another with a cardboard box on his head.

would you buy a ticket from this man??

Kamuzu national stadium

Red is the colour of the national team, but in 30 degrees I bet he was hot!

Joshi is still not quite walking un-aided (in June.....) but loves to go everywhere with his new trolley, including to the shops, can blow kisses, make animal noises and is every day becoming brighter and more interested in his surrounds. We have discovered a new soft play area in a local hotel which he loves along with lots of other local children. He had fun at Lola’s third birthday party this weekend and can say ‘was-dat’ along with lots of words now, and is hardly a baby anymore. It feels almost unreal that it was a year ago today that we arrived back here with him still a small 3 month old baby, and the time has flown so quickly.

Joshi in a ball bath and loving it

Flying visit from Auntie Ros

Joshi with Annie on my bike

Picture of joshi from our first Malawi blog aged 3 months+ time is flying..to this......

Shopping in Chipiku with Gav aged 14 and 1/2 months!

Congratulations to Clare and Steve,  Al and James and Jackie and Andy on the birth of their new babies, we can’t wait to meet the new arrivals when we are back in September for 3 weeks – along with baby Russell and baby Whitely arrived last week. Also congratulations to Jez and Ayako who got married this June, we are gutted tohave missed it.

This July we are off to the lake for the first time in a long time, and can’t wait for a swim in the warm water…if we can’t be at the Olympics we might as well enjoy spending time in a tropical paradise beach………….and then off somewhere exciting hopefully for my birthday.

Lots of love to everyone

Emma, Gavin and Joshi J

April and May Malawi blog: Highs and lows

Hello everyone

Last month’s April blog update has been delayed so we have merged the two to let you all know what has been happening in the last two months.

We got back from Mike and Julie’s wedding in California at the end of March, and 10 days later welcomed Stephen and Louise back to Malawi for their second visit for Joshi’s first birthday. We had a lovely passover just after they arrived with Sarah and Naor Bar-Zeev and their kids and a few days later hosted baby group in honour of Joshi’s birthday. Thanks everyone who came and brought such special presents including home made play-doh from Lisa, glow stars from Helen, Thomas the tank engine from Ruth and books from Sarah. Our present to Joshi was his home made recycled tyre horse swing- thanks Nation and Robyn for building it for us!

Happy birthday Joshi!

Stephen and Louise celebrate with Joshi

Thanks Nigella for the recipe

Gav and Annie get Joshi used to his new swing

Louise and Stephen very generously took us to the new Robin Pope safari lodge in our local park, Majete Wildlife reserve and we had a very luxurious weekend in the family chalet – so gorgeous and relaxing, and we even saw a civit cat and chilled out with the friendly local elephant and bush baby in the restaurant.

Friendly local elephant at dusk from our room

The only route from the main park to the lodge on a river island - bouncy when carrying a baby!

Joshi checks out the animals from his game viewing seat

Louise Gav and Joshi enjoy the infinity pool overlooking the river

Far too exciting being on safari to sleep mummy!

Just after Stephen and Louise left, I received the very sad news that my mother’s cousin Alison had died after a long illness aged only 52. A day later my grandmother was admitted to hospital in London after a collapse and rapidly deteriorated. We made the decision that Joshi and I would go back to London to see Granny and support mum and dad, and also go to Alison’s funeral, while Gav stayed here. Joshi was his usual chilled out self on the journey and through all the difficult hospital visits and day of the funeral, and so many people afterwards remarked that it was lovely to have him there, providing refreshing smiles and cuddles. After a very up and down course, Granny is now re-couperating in a very posh Wimbledon nursing home and we all hope she stays well for as long as possible.

While we were in London Gav caught up with a lot of work and sleep in Malawi, and we managed to catch up with some new friends for Joshi amongst my old school friends who now also have babies of similar ages, including Alec, Max, Izzie and Imogen, and Lou and I managed a lovely dinner out together for a proper gossip and catch up. I sadly had no time to catch up with everyone I wanted to talk to/see, but we hope when we are back in September for our UK holiday we will see everyone then J.

Joshi learns to stand unaided in his first pair of shoes

Imo initiates Joshi into the delights of Sushi

Old JAGS friends with their bumps and babies, Clare, Jackie, Lou and Polly

Mum and Joshi in the garden in the only sunny day of our 3 week trip

Malawi has also been going through its own up and down course in the last two months. In April the former president, Bingu who as deeply unpopular and corrupt, died dramatically during a government meeting of a suspected heart attack. After a weekend where his cronies tried to work out how to make his brother (illegally) president, the vice president, Joyce Banda who had been ex-communicated from the ruling party, stood firm and was sworn in peacefully in a legal power transition. She is setting about sorting the country out, very quickly, and so far has the donor money coming back in, is repealing unpopular laws, tackling corruption, trying to sort out the economy, and the diesel is back in the pumps! We all hope she can continue as she has started and this is a new dawn for Malawi to get back on track. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/29/malawi-president-joyce-banda-women-rights

Joshi and I got back to Malawi last week and are settling back in. While we were away our chickens finally finally arrived and are now settling in and looking happy in the garden, and we hope to be eating our first eggs August time………….all going well J. Ros appeared for a flying visit which was wonderful, and Gav and I celebrate our 5^th wedding anniversary next weekend and we can’t wait. Joshi is now saying some words, can walk holding on, and stand un-aided and  continues to be a happy delight in all our lives.

Ros Gav and Joshi go for a evening stroll

Joshi and Gav inspect the chickens - at last!!

Lots of love to everyone

Emma Gav and Joshi J

California Dreams

Hello everyone

When Mike was late home from a work trip to New York in May last year, Louise suspected immediately it was because he had met someone special. But none of us expected back then that we would be flying in from all over the world to see him get married to Julie 10 months later.

We decided that we should all go to California to the wedding, despite the very long journey and the cost as it was going to be a once in a lifetime occasion – and boy were we right. We set off from Malawi on the 14^th of March and after 30 or so hours of flying arrived in LA with Joshi grinning at Melissa and Nick, our hosts, covered in melted chocolate chip cookies. We spent the weekend in LA chilling out with old family and friends – the Traub family who are  amongst the Dreyer family’s oldest  and closest friends from South Africa and whom have mostly relocated from London to the West Coast (with the exception of Jason). It was fabulous to see them and spend the weekend hanging out, although it was too cold and rainy (!) to go to Venice beach and we were too jetlagged to do anything else touristy like seeing the Hollywood sights/go to Disneyland/Universal studies etc.

It didn't look like this on 90210!

Mez Gav Joshi and Jill

 We also managed to catch up with my cousin Jane, who is an actress and her gorgeous family, although we sadly missed my other cousin Akure who was away. I tackled the challenge of what to wear to a posh California wedding after 18 months of pregnancy/breast feeding by booking a personal shopper at a local upmarket department store, which was so much fun and I came away with some fabulous clothes- although I didn’t buy the size 10 Jimmy Choo’s (anyone who knows how much I love shoes and how many problems I have buying them will understand how excited I was to try them on!) I was seriously tempted. I think we were the easiest guests Nick and Mez had ever had, as we were excited by the hot water pressure in their shower and the bagels in the kitchen. Thanks so much guys for such a restorative weekend.

Joshi checks himself out in the 4 way mirror at Nordstrom

Cousins! Emma with Jane plus Joshi Jack and Freya

Joshi, Gav, Jill and Melissa chat to granny Louise on skype

When we were over our jet lag we set off for our road trip up the coast from LA eventually ending up in Calistoga in the Napa Valley for the wedding. We took 3 days to drive from LA to SF along highway one which was totally stunning. We managed to see elephant seals, whales and a sea otter from the car, ate a LOT of seafood, walked on the beach, admired Hearst castle from a distance (sadly we missed the tour), had lunch in a winery near Santa Barbara, drove through cattle ranching land with spectacular scenery and circling condors and soaked up a lot of scenery- I had no idea California was so beautiful, and so cold! We loved Monterey town, but arrived too late to get to the famous aquarium as we had stopped too many times on the way to admire the beautiful views along the coast, especially around Big Sur.

Mountains near Santa Barbara

Fabulous views

Joshi and Gav check out the US relatives

sunset from our hotel room on Pismo beach

San Simeon on highway 1

Giant slugs or comatose elephant seals?

Stunning scenery and whale watching on the Big Sur coastline

We had lunch in San Fransisco admiring the golden gate bridge from Crissy Fields and then had a terrible lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf in town (huge tourist trap a bit like Leicester sq by the sea), where Gav tried to find a fabulous place he had been to on a conference 5 years before and we ended up in a hot crowded dingey overpriced fish restaurant. It was however the only bad meal we ate on the entire trip, so we can hardly complain. We spent the night with an old University friend of mine from Bristol, Matt, who is a SF native and his wife Lonnie and their two beautiful girls(3 years and 2 weeks old) and had a lovely evening catching up and hearing about life in the US under Obama – thanks again guys for having us with a newborn in the house.

Downtown San Fransisco from the Golden Gate bridge

Golden Gate bridge from Crissy fields park - sunny and gorgeous!

Matt, Lonnie, Leiyali and baby Nyiali

plus Joshi

We drove onto Napa the next day and managed to meet up with Stephen and Louise who had flown in the night before at a deli outside of the main town. It was really lovely to see them and for them to see Joshi whom they last saw when he was 4 months old. We managed to catch up before the wedding whirlwind started. To get to Calistoga in the Napa Valley where the wedding was being held, we drove up the Silverado trail through the wine country. It was another stunning drive of winding roads, canyons and snow capped peaks, with beautiful wine estates dotted on the slopes.

One of the many vineyards on the Silverado Trail

The wedding was being held at a spa resort ‘The Solage’ outside the town of Calistoga – a large complex of small wooden chalets connected by paths and a giant heated swimming pool. We spent the next 48 hours before the wedding meeting Julie (Joshi and I for the first time) and getting to know her warm and welcoming family, as well as catching up with old friends and family, and relaxing in the gorgeous spa (me!). We were so grateful to Mez for giving us some of her son Dash’s old warm clothes for Joshi as it was much colder than we expected – somehow I expected California in March to be just like I had seen on TV where everyone is permanently tanned and wearing shorts – the reality is that Napa felt like England in March (weather wise only) cool and chilly even with the sun out.

Dreyer family reunion at Solage

The traditional pre wedding dinner on the Friday night was held at the Clos Pegase wine estate, and we ate in the cellar next to the wine barrels. It was a stunning dinner, and Joshi who, after coming to the drinks reception, bedded down in his cot in the (heated) winery laboratory. Louise and Gav both made fabulous speeches that night, along with Avivith the mother of the bride and the maid of honour.

Joshi gets ready for bed in his strangest bedroom yet - the wine laboratory at Clos Pegase

Dinner for 140 by candlelight at Clos Pegase

Louise gives her lovely and moving speech to Mike and Julie

We spent the day of the wedding socializing, preparing and organizing as the seven wedding planners had Louise, Stephen and Gav on a strict schedule, and my job was to make sure Joshi had some semblance of a routine in the build up. He was unbelievably good throughout the trip, snoozing in the back of the car, putting up with all the schlepping around, and loving meeting all our friends and family along the way. Mike and Julie posed for photos before the wedding and still managed to have the outdoor ceremony they planned thanks to the transparent marquee and the hired heating and we waited inside for our turn to pose with the happy couple.

It's official - we travelled the furthest to come to the wedding

Stephen and Louise keep warm waiting for the ceremony and looking v glamorous

Joshi and Gav model their matching African waistcoats

The ceremony under the Chuppah was simple, beautiful and traditional and despite the cold the couple were glowing with happiness. Joshi was brilliant during the ceremony and looked adorable in his smart African get up. Once he was in bed we could all let our hair down and enjoy the fabulous party that followed the wedding, with everyone dancing and both the bride and groom’s parents being lifted up onto the chairs in the traditional Jewish wedding dance – something I don’t think Louise and Stephen expected or had done since their wedding in 1970! Julie and Mike did a hilarious and totally original wedding dance and it was wonderful to see Mike dancing in public looking so happy.

The groomsmen walk down the aisle

Julie walks down the aisle with Bill and Avivith

Julie circles Mike 7 times

and they are married!

The gorgeous cake even matches Julie's dress - magical

Sunday brunch the next day was lovely, catching up properly with all the friends and family who had travelled so far and who we see far too infrequently at the moment- along with the opportunity to eat nearly Joshi’s weight in smoked salmon between us J. After such a wonderful trip it seemed all too soon that we were driving back to SF to get on a plane for another 3 day flight back across the world, stopping for a night in a vile New York airport hotel, the absolute antithesis of the Solage. Joshi saved his fed up screaming for a perfectly timed customs inspection back at Blantyre airport when he yelled so loudly he put off the customs man from rifling through our bags of shopping and waved us through- back to the Malawian sunshine, chaos, diesel queues and our lovely house with a bump.

Mike and Louise at brunch

Family and friends at brunch

The new Mrs Dreyer/Drufe/Juyer with her new family

Thank you so much to Louise and Stephen who made our trip possible and to the Oppenheim family who made us so welcome, along with Mez and Nick and Matt and Lonnie who put us up along the way – we had a fabulous time and will definitely be back to California one day. This month coming up is Joshi’s 1^st birthday on the 11^th and Stephen and Louise will be here for it which will be wonderful.

Proper Malawian news in the next update

Lots of love to all

Emma Gav and Joshi J

Joshi and Gav contemplate the child size pizza we ordered him at Solage