TravelingTribe

We’ve been sitting between 98-103 F for most of the last week.  Now this is in a country where a/c is virtually nonexistent.  A few stores have it…most don’t use it.  So when it’s this hot it’s…..well oppresive.  Just two hours north of here are a few mountain towns…where the temperature is totally different.  Sunday it was around103f here in town but in the low 80’s in the mountains…so… we headed to the mountains.  We joined our entire team for a much needed get away from the heat.  We had a great picnic, the guys played kickball and volleyball and the kids….got dirty.  It was an exhausting but great day away.

She’s been asking me for a long time.  When?  Please?  Well I finally gave in this week.  Hailey has her own blog.  I’ve owned the domain for around 6 years and for the last year it’s been redirecting to this blog.  But she persisted and she now is among us bloggers.

Check her out at www.haileybean.com and leave her a message of your visit.  She’ll be thrilled if you drop her a note.

Sorry for the lack of posting over the last few weeks.  I kind of got burned out on blogging and had alots of stuff to do in other areas of life. But I’m back and will probably be tweaking this blog (as I’m doing to the others as well) over the next few weeks. 

So what’s going on in our lives?  We’re busy getting ready for the new baby.  It’s very different here because we can’t run down to Babies R’Us and pick out the stuff we need.  They have stuff here…but man it’s expensive.  Like over $10 for one baby bottle….$30-40 for an outfit.  Where’s Old Navy and the Gap when we need it?  So we’re shopping online, looking for deals where we can and doing our best to get ready for his arrival in 16 weeks.

We’ve decided on a name…Landon Manusos Fussell.  For more on the meaning of this name check out Tina’s pregnancy blog www.diaries.travelingmama.net

Here are a few photos we did to mark her 24th week of pregnancy.

From the Travelingmama :::

This weekend, my family and I were filled with grief when we found out that my Papou passed away suddenly.  We are thankful that he didn’t suffer and went quickly, but I think it’s taken a day or two for the reality to hit me because it happened so fast.  If only I could grow wings and fly quickly to my family!  For now all I can do is pray for my family and remember the sweet times I had with my Papou. 

Photo: Taken at Greek Easter 2005

It’s been several years in the making…and it’s opening in the fall.  My good friend Chris is opening a cooking school in the old medina.  It’s a great idea.  People can go to a half day class where they learn to cook for 3-4 hours….some type of local Moroccan dish.  Then they eat it together as a class.  The teacher is fluent in Arabic, French and English….so almost anyone can take the class.  The house the school is in is recently remodeled and is beautiful.  In the coming months the other two stories will be converted and transformed into a type of hotel….with kitchens on each floor.  It’s been a lot of fun to watch it come together over the last few months.  Here are a few pics from one of his trial classes the other day.  When he gets his website up…I’ll link to it.

I love taking pictures of my wife. There are a few reasons for this. First, she’s beautiful.  It’s easy to take photos of her because she’s naturally beautiful. Second, she’s pregnant….which makes her even more beautiful.  Third, she lets me take pictures of her.  She knows me and knows I’m not a stalker…so she lets me shoot away.  Fourth, I use digital and can edit all I want….which is sooo much fun.

So here we are at 22 weeks.  Tina’s been feeling the baby move and kick for a while but I was able to feel him for the first time last week.  This time around is a little different.  When she was pregnant with Parker we had a ritual.  We would go to Babies R Us…after checking out we would buy Hailey a bouncey ball….then we would go eat at Sweet Tomatoes.  It was fun to have this time together every few weeks.  Well needless to say…there are no Babies R Us here in Africa….and we’re missing this ritual.  Tina has been doing some shopping online…but it’s not the same.  So we look for every opportunity we have to buy something special.  So thats life at 22 weeks.

I’ve posted two photos below.  I’m experimenting with lighting and creating shadows.  The first shot is the original.  The second is the edited shot.  I removed some stuff, changed some overall colors and threw on a few filters.

This was a really good weekend in our town.  The weather has been nearly perfect…slightly warm in the day…nice and cool at night.  Saturday we spent the afternoon with some friends of ours at their twins birthday party.  We went to a local place that has inflatables and the kids had a blast.

Then on Sunday morning our gallery friends opened their art exhibit.  It’s in a beautiful location in the heart of the old city.  I always enjoy their exhibits because of the people I get to meet.  I ran into several people I’ve met before, the Professor History, the Professor of Music, the leading drama producer in the country….great contacts.

So this week…..transitioning into the new role…director of the local language school.  In addition I hope to go on a photo shoot with my photography friend…we got rained out last week and had coffee instead.  It should be a full but fun week.

Nine years ago today I married the most incredible woman.  We had went through an 18 month engagement (which was around 12 months too long.) The good thing was that during this time we got to know each other really well.  So on May 29, 1999 I was definitely marrying my best friend.  Since then we’ve lived on 3 continents, in 13 different houses.  We have two children with another on the way.  It’s been a busy nine years but an incredible nine years.

So who is Tina? She’s strong, passionate, focused.  She’s an incredible student (much better than me), a great mother, an incredible wife.  We’ve been through some significant struggles over the last few years and she has maintained both her character and strength through it all.  I’m amazed at her conviction and focus during difficult times.  I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be who I am or what I am without her.  She’s the most incredible person I’ve ever met and to top it off…she’s gorgeous.  Thanks for marrying me!

It all started a few days ago when I was hanging out with my artist friends at the gallery.  We were talking about their upcoming exhibition and then she mentioned it …”Maybe we could do an exhibition together.”  You see, photography is quickly evolving from an occassional hobby to a true passion.  So we talked some more and we’re looking to do a joint exhibition in the fall.  Her art work and my photos…..wow….never thought I’d be doing this.  The cool thing is that because arts are not as prevelant as in Europe events such as this get alot of press and usually significant government officials attend.  So I’ve got a few months to get ready and I have a feeling I’ll need the time.

Then today I met a local photographer for the first time.  He’s a friend of a friend and I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Well, he’s not only the professor of photography at the local university but he’s also the dean of one of the “schools” there.  He’s a well known photographer in the city and is one of a few “artistic” photographers in our city.  He’s also a fellow Nikon user.  He knows sooooo much more than me but has already told me that he would love to have me visit his class and students and even wants me to join them when they go on class shoots in the local area.  He’s excited about the opportunity to learn from each other, even though it’s obvious I’ll be getting more out of it than he will. We’re going to try to meet up on Sunday or Monday to go take some photos together.  This is exciting.

And is if the day wasn’t good enough.  We had lunch with our friends from the gallery and Hailey did something for the first time.  Normally, she speaks to them only in English…not today.  Today she switched over completely to French and had entire conversations….none of which I could understand.  The couscous was great, the conversation engaging and getting to see Hailey coming out of her shell and embrace the culture was priceless.

It was truly a great way to end the week.

One of the best things about the new house is outside the house….the yard.  When we lived in the US we spent countless hours out in the yard, doing work, playing together, planting flowers.  Since we sold our house 2 years ago we’ve missed this aspect of our lives.  We’ve enjoyed our last few days in the house and have already made a difference in the overgrown yard.  Here is the before photo and a few from now :::