a few of my favourite things (2 & 3)

Tea. Tea is one of my favourite things, and while I drink less here in the heat than I used to back in Europe, I do enjoy starting my day with a hot cup of tea. I then use my teabag again for my breaktime tea at 10.30am, since good teabags are not the easiest thing to find here!

This mug is another of my favourite things. It was sent to us by an English church home group for Christmas 2009, and what amazed me was that they had - I assume without realising - managed to find one of the two verses we chose for our wedding: "We love because He first loved us." (I John 4:19)

French at last

We heard on Christmas Eve that I had successfully obtained French nationality through marriage, and we were invited to a ceremony at the French Embassy in Cotonou last week. It was a bit of a long way to go, but it didn't seem like the kind of invitation you can refuse!

Our first challenge was to find Embassy-suitable outfits for Marc and the boys. Fortunately they had all we needed at the big hypermarket in Cotonou – though only just! I also found a handbag I could carry which would be big enough to put nappies in without actually looking like a change bag!

It was funny to see that Simon chose to wear a tie like Marc, and was very proud to do so, whereas Benjy, despite choosing to wear the same thing as Simon, very obviously only did so because he realised he had to look smart! He did love his new shoes, however, which he chose himself.

The ceremony was actually an informal reception for myself and two other (Beninese) ladies who had also obtained French nationality through their husbands. We were each allowed up to six guests, and then there were various Embassy and Consulate staff members there, so there were between 30 and 40 people. We were complimented on our smart and extremely well-behaved children (Proud Parent moment!) despite Eve sitting down on the thick-pile carpet, pulling her shoes off, and then rolling around. Poor little village kid, used to dusty concrete floors!

We were served drinks to begin with, as one party were held up in traffic, and once they arrived the Ambassador called us ladies forward. She gave a little speech congratulating us and reminding us that French nationality brings both rights and privileges. The “Marseillaise” was played, she gave each of us some paperwork, and there were official photos taken.

After that there were canapés and small-talk. We enjoyed meeting the Embassy and Consulate staff. While in some ways our life up in the village is very different from theirs in Cotonou, ex-pats always have things in common, and so we talked about bringing up children overseas and that kind of thing.

I was glad to have marked my becoming French in a special way, and it will certainly be a family memory!

Our family with the Ambassador:

The Embassy:

a few of my favourite things (1)

I have decided to write some posts about my favourite things. Not that I am, I hope, too attached to objects, but there are a few things that make life easier or more beautiful. The first I love for its usefulness:

This vegetable peeler has been with me for nearly 14 years now, and I can honestly say that in all that time I have never found a better one! In fact sometimes on holiday I have wished I had it with me. Bought at Lakeland, made in Switzerland, and a joy to use!

We nearly had a tragedy last week, though. I was looking for the peeler and couldn't find it. Marc was sure he remembered washing and drying it the evening before, so we started looking through all the drawers and cupboards. No luck. So I suggested looking in unlikely places, and opened the compost bucket. There it was, nestled in a pile of sweet potato peelings! "Oh, I must have been remembering washing it the day before yesterday..." was Marc's comment. Thank goodness we didn't throw the compost onto the compost heap before needing the peeler again!