Dear family, friends and colleagues,

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To the question “How fa?” you respond with “No Walhalla” in Nigeria, this means ‘how are you?” “Everything is good, no worries.”

I still like the way it sounds, ‘no walhalla’. We have now been living in Nigeria for a year and five months and are still loving it. Well, except for that one moment on September 13th where Rob obtained a nasty ankle injury while playing tennis and we got to see a Nigerian hospital from the inside for the first time. A long story short, he has a torn tendon on the outside of his ankle which is too long. This tendon leaves the bowl on the outside of his ankle which causes the pain. Having spent four weeks walking around on crutches and wearing a type of ski shoe (a medical one) Rob had enough and decided to travel to the Netherlands to get the medical advice of an orthopaedic here. It turns out you can do something about this injury, you get the tendon shortened and you make the bowl deeper. Then you spend 6 weeks wearing a ‘walker’ and finished, easy peasy. The last part is rather optimistic, but a Nigerian would say ‘No Walhalla’ in a moment like this. So Rob had an operation on November 18th in a clinic named ‘Annatommie MC’, which is a very bizarre name in Dutch, but the operation went quickly and well. Now he is sitting in our newly renovated house in the Netherlands recovering. The renovations where partly managed by Jack and Ailsa, it’s nice to have them living in our house when workers constantly show up. A nice tv-room with wonderful steal doors, has replaced the old practice we had, and we built a veranda with a beautiful garden and outdoor terrace. This is the first time in the 23 years that we have this house that we really invested money into the garden, everything is already in place for the Jacuzzi ;-)

 

We again experienced a lot this year, because there is never a dull moment in exciting Lagos. We’ve been to fashion shows, the Lagos Oktoberfest, King’s Night and much more.

In January Sanneke joined me to Lagos, she had a lot of fun and indulged in taking pictures of all of the beautiful people here. Hugo visited our ‘hotel’ twice this year, end of January and a whole month this summer.

Noa visited during the Nigerian presidential elections, which wasn’t the smartest move, but we didn’t know that you wouldn’t be allowed to drive during the election day. Traffic in this period is horrific, some companies even sent families back home a few days before the elections start. Nigerian Breweries is a bit more relaxed where elections are concerned, because we were allowed to stay. After a long journey from Canada she safely arrived at Bella Vista, but the evening before her arrival the President communicated a delay in the elections by a week because some voting locations received the wrong (or no) ballot papers. This meant two Saturdays without a car for Noa and that we were bound to Bella Vista, which is not horrible because with a swimming pool, gym, tennis courts and a barbeque we really enjoyed ourselves.

 

Herman also came and visited us. His timing was perfect because that’s when the Champions League Trophy Tour came to Nigeria. He could almost touch the Champions League Trophy but this was only allowed while wearing white gloves. We enjoyed some nice events with Carles Puyol and Jay Jay Okocha, two stars in Nigeria and Africa, along with some great pictures. Herman arrived on a Wednesday evening during a party at the Eko Hotel, after which we spent some time in a nightclub with the men. However, the two days before were already exciting when we travelled to Uyo. We finally got to see another part of Nigeria. It’s a beautiful state, very tidy and green. Rob coached the Shine Shine BoBo team while his colleague Emmanuel Oriakhi coached the Chairman Heineken Team there. In an almost fully packed stadium (20.000 spectators) Rob had to coach a team of old internationals. They were ahead for a while but in the end the team with Puyol was stronger, so they lost 5-2. As this game was on live tv, Rob had to report on the game to the journalists, like any coach has to after a game. Dave and Rianne, the son and daughter-in-law of our friends Mathilde and Dennis joined us. Dave customizes shoes, meaning he paints sport shoes for football stars and had packed two pairs, one for Puyol and one for Okocha. They had the time of their life, so did I as we spent a lot of the time together, when Rob was busy coaching.

 

This year there are no graduates in the family, but many more next year.

Jack and Ailsa will both hopefully graduate for their Masters in February. Noa and Hugo will then graduate for their Bachelors in the summer. Noa is going to start looking for a job because she doesn’t want to do a Masters just yet, nor does she know in which direction her Masters should go yet. Hugo will go for a Masters and might live in our house in Zoeterwoude just like Jack and Ailsa. The house is becoming more of a dorm every year.

Robin and Armin replaced the mountains in Innsbruck for the green hills of Steiermark when they moved to the village Bad Gleichenberg, which is where Kaiser Franz-Joseph opened his first spa. In March we went skiing with Robin and Armin and then spent the night at theirs. At least, we were in the amazing spa hotel in Bad Gleichenberg. Robin then visited her colleagues in Lagos in November, we already got to know one on St. Patrick’s Day. We had a very warm welcome there and had a lot of fun. They would even like for her to come to Lagos for a project. So who knows, our oldest daughter might spend some time living with us there J, it would be very special indeed. Robin and Loes came over together, we had a very nice time, we did and saw a lot together. They helped me do volunteer work in the little school where we do arts and crafts with the students. Furthermore, we painted scarves and we visited Makoko (the floating city). We went out for lunch and dinner regularly and also spent some time at the Nigerian Breweries beach house.

 

In May our family expanded in Zoeterwoude. Her name is Zara and she’s a mixture between a German Shepherd and a Collie who comes from Romania. She is about 1.5 years old and is a sweetheart although she can also be pretty fierce to others. We are noticing that she keeps on learning and is slowly learning to become calmer. Jack and Ailsa love her and spend hours walking with her. Thankfully, Ayo and Zara get along with each other very well.

 

This year we visited Accra, the capital city of Ghana, this was very enjoyable and there’s a bit more freedom than in Lagos. We needed to get away from the busy, slightly crazy and slightly intense Lagos for a week. We went for long walks and relaxed in a wonderful hotel.

Rob also managed to get his papers as a register accountant this year. Furthermore, we had a very nice garden-party in Zoeterwoude this summer, it was very special to have family and friends that we don’t see a lot spend some days with us. You continue from where you were the last time you saw them.

Jack, Ailsa, Noa and Hugo joined us to Tenerife this summer, Robin and Armin couldn’t join because both of them work so you really have to plan your holidays. It was a fun week with lots of funny and crazy moments on (and in) the water.

Back in January I started going to painting class and I love it. Our utility room is now full of paintings I made. I am not so patient and love the expressionistic painting, meaning without too many details but with a lot of colours. My paintings often include animals.

 

Meanwhile I am still travelling to Vienna every 3-4 months for check-ups. I feel good though, sport a lot, am active and luckily healthy.

 

This weekend we were meant to be on our way to the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, but due to Rob’s operation we had to cancel our trip to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. However, next year we will have another chance to go.

“Karin kaa  kpo…. yi yeee ni yeeni”, in Yoruba this means; “to walk in a team is better than alone”. I think we can relate this to Rob, we all try to help him to pull through this tough time for him.

I think that’s also a good greeting for the new year, a new round of opportunities and it will (all) be okay.

Have a wonderful Christmas, do not eat too much, be careful with the fireworks, also for the dogs and we will hopefully see each other again in 2020.

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Rob & Viv, Robin & Armin, Jack & Ailsa, Noa, Hugo and Ayo.