Ups and downs

I know this is completely opposite to the years I spent in Belgium but recently I got so busy that I really have to make time to update my little blog. My agenda is agreeably full sometimes I even think I have to slow down a little. I haven't touched the boxes with yearn yet, well, only when I needed some rope to tight up the plants in the garden. Our empregada got ill last week, she suffered from malaria and wasn’t able to work and I finally admitted what a luxury it is to have her cleaning the house on regular basis. I still can’t say I enjoy her presence but I’m not in house that much lately anyway. A couple of weeks ago my neighbor told me about a volunteer position in a learning centre for children with special needs. When I saw the job description and requested qualification I thought they would not be interested but they reacted positively to my C.V. and cover letter and I really enjoy working there. I would like to go every day but also my Portuguese classes have restarted, I do communications for an international club and I discovered aqua aerobics at a nearby compound... Besides that there are also less fancy activities like being the bus mom, tutoring Maarten in his Dutch distance education and of course running the household. What also keeps us all busy, Maarten included, is making our new home a livable place. We can’t do much about the annoying pool pump noise which the builders placed right to the outdoor kitchen en patio! But we do our best to bring our yard to life by planting plants and growing vegetables hoping to create a wildlife-friendly garden as well. A lovely challenge! There were also some downers in the last couple of weeks. Maarten was complaining about stomach ache and had high fever. We spent the afternoon at the clinic. As usual he had to have blood drawn for the malaria test. But this time they didn’t do the simple finger prick but they drew blood from the vein. He was not happy with that and I kept telling him not to look while it was being done. Then the nurse was done filling the vial and put on a bandage. We were asked to wait downstairs but Maarten suddenly leaned against me and fainted. There he was white pale as the floor he was laying on and all sweaty. Scary view. Luckily the malaria test was negative; possibly, it was “only” a stomach bug. I experienced similar one week after that. No fun! I realize this blog is mainly about our dearest son and also my last little story in this post is about him. My arms hurt after the morning aqua aerobic and I really want to forget the feelings I experienced this Monday so I’ll try to be very brief. Maarten got lost at the school campus. As a bus mom I came to pick all the children from our compound up but there was no Maarten. You don’t want to know the feeling when you walk from one gym room to another, running down the halls checking classrooms and restrooms finding only cleaning staff or darkness. Don’t know how long it took before I found myself together with the school staff including the principal, bus drivers and older students calling to all compounds believing Maarten got on a wrong bus. After hour and a half there was still no trace of Maarten. I still feel like throwing up by recalling the event. Then our neighbor called that Maarten is happily playing at the compound. To explain: This was the first day of afterschool activities when the bus supposed to leave the school at 4:30 instead of 4. Maarten was looking for his bus and as he supposed to be the only one driving the bus that afternoon there was no one he could ask. He also doesn’t own a watch or a cell phone (something to consider?). The bus was not there at 4 as usually and he came across his (girl)friend he likes very much who offered him a lift home. Irresistible don't you think? She was on her own only with her driver so her parents weren’t aware of Maarten coming to the compound with her. That's why no one informed us.