I was born in Calgary in 1965. We lived there off and on until 1980.
My Dad worked seismic and worked around the world.
When I was 4 we moved to Oran, Algeria, Africa. We stayed there for 2 years. It was horrible in Oran. We had to live in an American compound. There were not many husbands there as they all worked in camp, 4 weeks in camp and 1 or 2 weeks "home". The women were treated as dirt as it is a muslim country and women have no authority. Our maid Zora would bring my sibs and I shopping with her most days. One of my memories of a shopping day is being lined up with all the other citizens against a brick wall by guards with machine guns. Not sure why but I certainly remember the experience.
I started kindergarten there. It was a muslim school. We took a taxi there everyday. I hated it there. The other kids would taunt the foreigners and spit on us.
We were all so happy to return to Canada.
They were not all bad times though. When Dad was on break he would come back and take us to Palma Spain, which was beautiful. We also drove the coastline of Algeria occasionally and went to the white beaches. I still recall the smell of the ocean. That is about the only good memory I have of Algeria.
We moved back to Calgary for about a year and a half.
My Dad then was hired in Australia. We moved to Brisbane for about a year and a half. I loved it there. The people were friendly, the school was fabulous (gave me a good foundation for future math and had swimming lessons every day), and the beaches were phenomenal. Funny though,we loved it there but I don't have many specific memories.
I remember driving to Sydney one time and Dad ran over a brown snake, very poisonous. He backed up to see what it was and the snake raised itself up to the car window.
My mom was afraid of bugs, and in Australia they were large and plentiful. My Dad loved to tease her. He caught a large flying insect, no clue as to what it was, and chased her around the house with it. My little brother, who was three ran behind them and yelled "Eat it Daddy, Eat it!"
Christmas was very hot, 105 degrees. My sibs and I spent the day swimming in our bath tub while Mom and Dad played Risk.
We moved back to Calgary after the job was done. We stayed for another year and a half.
We moved to Brazil in 1974. We lived in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. This picture was taken by the Pink Opera house at a fountain(have to find the name and will post).
We lived in Manaus until June 1976. This was my favorite place. If I had an option I would be living there now.
I believe my weight problem began in Brazil. The food was soooo good.
When we first got there we spent a month in a small hotel. There was nothing fancy about it. I do remember the breakfast they brought up every morning, fresh croissants, fresh papaya and mango and the best orange juice I have ever had. That is still one of my favorite breakfasts.
While we were staying in this small hotel my Dad and I contracted dysentary. I do believe I spent one whole week "in the library". I was sure my insides were making there way to be outsides.
We then moved into the Hotel Amazonas. I was introduced to cashew nuts here. You have never tasted cashews until you have had them freshly roasted.
We moved into a 20 story apartment building about 4 blocks away from the Manaus Opera House.
There was an ice cream parlor which made their own pistachio ice cream. We went almost every day. There was also a neighborhood deli/bar which made home cured and smoked ham sandwiches on fresh baguette. We had lunch there most days.
Our first week in the apartment Manaus won the National Football (soccer) championship. Mom made us lay down on the floor away from the windows because everybody on the ground was shooting guns off into the air.
We slept in hammocks in the apartment.
One very hot night Mom left the windows of the apartment wide open instead of shutting the wooden blinds. There was a huge moth migration that night. When we woke up you could not see the ceiling or hammocks for the giant moths, the smallest was 6 inches across the largest at least a foot across.
(downloaded from google as I have no photos of a moth).
Our maid in the apartment was Gracia. She had never met any foreigners, especially blond haired and light eyed. Without Mom's permission she brought us out to meet her family, a good 2 hours away. My sibs and I were certain she was kidnapping us. Her family was very nice but we were so relieved when we got back home. She was fired shortly after for stealing money out of the pantry. Having seen where they lived I am not sure she should have been fired. I may have done the same thing.
This was our final house. Not much but we loved it
.
The neighborhood kids would always think of something for entertainment. This picture was from a dance we made at our house. That is me on the far left. We had to make our own entertainment. There was only TV available from 6 pm to 10 pm (and it was baaaad). None of us had much for toys. All we had was our imagination.
(Work in progress)
