Yea Hoo!

There was much joy and celebrating this evening as a surprise
'care package' arrived from Fiona Mcelroy. Esther LOVED the Cheerios and Max went nuts for the roll of tape which I suspect will be emptied and sticking all over the house by end of week.


Kayla and I were doing a little of our own celebrating too, we now hear that our air shipment is in Nairobi....maybe. We'll see




















I'm experimenting with adding video to this blog, let me know if you are able to see video or if you have problems

Hangin' With Esther

Watch the video

Esther and I were just hanging out after returning from swimming.

Need a room for the night?

And the Lord said "let there be video"

Ahhh, we borrowed an VCR and some Barney tapes from a friend and it has made a huge difference. We are not that big on letting the kids watch a lot of TV but ya know, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. At least we have a half hour here or there break before the Tazmanian devil (Max) returns. Poor guy just wants some of his things, like he's starting to ask about his guitar alot, he really misses it, so I'm glad we have something new to offer him. We are starting to visit other families on play dates too. The only problem is he doesn't want to come home to his boring house!

We have just found out that all our stuff, the air and maybe the sea shipments haven't left Atlanta yet!!!! There seems to be some glitch with processing our papers on the Kenyan side. No word yet on how long it will remain there....sigh...

We also finally have satellite tv hooked up, haven't had the chance to view it much yet.

Smile...'click'

Decided to take a walk through town this morning to photograph. You can see some of the results by looking thru the new album in the photo gallery. I had a great time. People were responsive too. I was worried at first they would not like being photographed but it was just the opposite. I'm sure this will become a routine for me.

Haven't washed clothes in two day because the water coming from the street has been off but we still have showers and toilets.

Found a 'for real' physical therapist to help with my back problems, can you believe it! I SO lucked out! Life is good.

Day 20

Whew, made it thru another weekend. There aren’t a lot of ‘planned’ activities for the kids over weekends so we need to become more creative. We decide to do a walking tour of the town. Our first on foot visit and it actually reminded me of New York, lots of people milling about, crowded sidewalks, jay walkers, lots of street vendors side by side selling exactly the same cell phone accessory thingey or whatever. I felt right at home.

We bought our lunch from an excellent bakery and walked. Most stores look like they are hardware stores from the front, and most of them are hardware stores but we also found electronics stores, book stores (a lot of them for such a small town) even a music store of sorts, max was really interested in that store of course. Found the local barber and I had my first haircut here. The barber came from India 20 years ago, gave me one of the best haircuts I have ever had. He even includes a sort of massage at the end, he leans you over and slaps the crap out of your back a few minutes…..

On Sunday Kayla went to the Kubuye market [see a previous post to learn more about Kubuye market] with a friend. She was pick-pocketed, luckily she only lost about $10 usd but it shook her up a little. She said she didn’t feel a thing. She also stopped by a new mall on the way home. Apparenetly there is a new gym there that she says in equally as nice as the Decatur YMCA in Atlanta, go figure….

So if you are reading this it’s because I have found a way to upload it. The Internet has been down for two days in a row, mirowave to the house struck by lightning, plus the power went out on Friday, all day, plus they turn the water off during the day to ration water because of the drought situation. Geez.

We are still living with only what we brought with us on the plane. Yes, we brought a lot of stuff with us but now I am glad we did. On one hand it shows you just how little you really need to get through the day, on the other hand I want my stuff already!! I’m starting to become bored in paradise, I need some of my toys. And I know the kids want some of their toys too. It turned out to be a huge blunder when I lost that DVD player, it would really have come in handy. Although I think I can borrow a VCR and hopefully they have some tapes to go with it.

Today is my birthday. It’s been an especially quiet one. Kayla had the car today so I was sort of stuck. I walked the kids to school; Max wanted to know if I was going to have my birthday at his school with cake and ice cream and presents. I said I didn’t think so, he leaned over gave me a big kiss and said that was my birthday kiss. Just when I want to send him to the Moon for a while he does something like that and gets me all choked up. Anyway, after walking the kids to school I return home and read most of the Sunday New York Times, took a nap, then picked up the kids at noon, went to the pool with Max for an hour, the kids then took naps, finally, Kayla came home we went out to eat at THE Chinese restaurant in town which turns out to be fairly respectable.

The kids are still really needy. They want to be carried and held all the time, they become jealous of each other now and really compete for attention. So you hold one of them while the other lies on the ground crying. It’s exhausting.

Boda Boda Beware!

Got my Sunday New York Times today!!! Whooohooo! Never mind it’s dated Feb 5th, I’m gonna enjoy this, I actually have time to read the damn thing now. This also means I am now getting my regular mail…finally, so I know the APO address is now really working for us.

We still have only one car so I’m taking Kayla to work and back everyday. It’s a 20 min ride on the road thru town which is a direct road to Uganda. In the morning it’s a rather pleasant, scenic drive, but in the evening it is treacherous. Thin road, mostly straight with some MAJOR pot holes and lumps. the evening rush hour...tons of people on bikes going home, the occasional cow, goat or dog deciding to do a little tap dance in the middle of the road while these huge oil trucks spewing black smoke and lots of these mini vans used for buses, a VW mini bus just packed with people hauling ass down the road, hair splitting passing, saw four near misses today, like playing chicken or something,. By the time I get to Kayla’s office I’m a wreck. It was even worst today because we were racing the sunset so as not to get caught after dark on this death trap, wheew, I need a drink! I mean I’d rather be going down 400 in Atlanta in the middle of rush hour that this road.

These boda boda bike taxi guys are really intriguing. Each has a uniquely decorated bike (some have the un-decorated look too, if you know what I mean), some are pretty elaborate. Someone told me today they saw one guy peddling down the street carrying an entire living room suite (sofa, chair, etc) on the back of his bike, man! I’m thinking of doing a photo essay on these guys.

Ahhhhhhh

• Finally a break in the weather. Today feels more like Florida in the winter. There is a cool breeze blowing tonight as well. Ahhhh, the sounds of lions and hippos calling in the night……


• This driving on the left is starting to feel a little better. Although all the bobbing and weaving you have to do while driving is still unsettling.


• Esther is doing really well, she says hi to everyone. But Max seems to be having a bit of trouble adjusting, we think. He has reverted to some of his terrible two behaviors. And he has become hard to hand. It is also true that so much is new to him and he doesn’t have as active a life here as he did in Atlanta. He only goes to school here til noon and we don’t have that many friends either.


• I now know where the butcher is located, where to get freshest bread, where you can get a haircut and a chiropractic neck adjustment as the same time (I’ll let you know what it’s like) but I’m reluctant to get the ‘adjustments’, where to buy the freshest eggs, where the best street vendor is for children’s clothes. I walked around the city today for the first time, it’s going to be great to photograph in the town, I saw a billion pictures while I was walking around.

More pictures are on the Shutterfly site which
you can get to by clicking the View Photo Galleries
link on the bottom right.

House Staff And More

This thing about having a staff has actually turned out to be rather stressful. We are expected to have at least three people working here. A gardener. We employ one already, his name is Rueben, super nice guy. I’m not really sure just how much he knows about gardening though, mostly he sweeps a lot, waters the plants, which is a good thing and washes the car, everyday. We have a Iyah or nanny, her name is Pamella (accent on the second syllable) who is a very sweet bubbly person but seems to be a much better housekeeper than nanny, she doesn’t really interact much with the kids, I am told this is a cultural thing so we have to teach her which is fine I guess. And we are currently interviewing for a cook. We think we’ve found someone but she can’t start until April. In the mean time now that we’ve put the word out that we are looking for staff, people are coming from far and wide to interview (someone came just today after an 8 hour bus ride from Nairobi) and it is really hard to turn them down, everyone is so needy here, We have to develop a thicker skin or we’ll go broke!

It is very awkward to be seen as such a super wealthy person, which is how the average Kenyan on the street sees us. The fact is there are so many who are so genuinely needy. Reminds me of a sad neighbor in Atlanta. he had a drinking problem and would constantly pester me for odd jobs. It’s sort of like living among hundreds of sad neighbors like that only most don’t have the drinking problem, they are just poor hard working people.

Most all the Kenyans we met so far are really warm inviting people. Very soft spoken and engaging. Actually along with their soft spoken ways plus their accents I have a lot of trouble understanding what they say to me. I am embarrassed to say that sometimes I have to ask three or four times what they are saying. Apparently I am learning it is a common problem among the expats and I will soon ‘get it’. In the mean time it is still frustrating when I’m trying to get gas for the car and it take three or four tries before I understand that the gas attendant is just asking me what kind of gas I want.

The day...

• So today was Esther’s very first day of school, ever. She had a great day too. Our nanny (they are called Iyah here) spent the day with her and I am told she had a great time. So now Max and Esther are in the same school. It’s only 8am to 12am, kinda wish it were all day, but they do take them to the pool twice a week for swimming lessons, I’m happy about that.

• Esther’s cold is starting to improve, but she still has a nasty cough, and now Max has had fever and a cough for the past two days off and on.

• We only have one car and we’re trying to decide whether to import one and wait a couple of months for something of pretty good quality or buy one here of lesser quality, probably more expensive but we’ll have it now. As it stands we are juggling who gets the car and as you may know that can get old fast.

Busy Sunday....with photos!

We did a lot today. Visited Kibuye market. A very interesting and crowded market, you can find literally anything for sale there. As we walked through this enormous market we heard people shouting our arrival (we are starting to pickup a little swahili) so everyone would prepare to triple their prices to us....

Then home for nap and lunch. After that it's off to Kiboko Bay Resort to watch hippos and swim in the pool.

Click the View photo galleries link on the bottom right. There are new photos of the day and of our house.

Just another family day at the park

Today we visited the nearby game park called Impala Park. Yes, Impalas do roam free there so you have to watch your step, lots of Impala poo poo to dodge. Mostly this place looks like an old city park with a few scraggly cages strewn around on a dirt trail. Aside from this humongous Ostrich they have a hyena, jackal, a male lion and a baboon all in rather small cages.

As I write this entry at 9pm I thought I heard something out side our house so I started walking around to investigate when suddenly from the darkness I hear this lion roar! Did I freeze in my tracks for a second, did my heart go up into my throat for a minute pounding like a jack hammer? Oh no, not at all. So I hurried back to where Kayla was sitting and she had heard it too so I know I’m not just hearing things. We live fairly close to the Impala Park so it was ‘probably’ from there…. I hope.

This was also Kayla’s day to practice driving on the left…in our new mini suv…with the whole family in the car…. It went rather well I thought, even though Max has become quite the back seat driver and I only made that ‘hissing’ sound a few times. You know that sound? The annoying hissing sound you make when you inhale rapidly through your teeth, that sound you make when you think you are approaching impending doom, yea, the one that really sets off the driver?

After naps it was off to the pool to cool off. Then to the Nakumatt, again.

[Did you know that if you click on one of these images you can see a larger version....]

Kayla and Max with the largest
Ostrich I have ever seen!




















On the shores of Lake Victoria








At the pool which is right across
the street from our house.

To cheese or not to cheese

So I am standing in the dairy section of the Nakumatt grocery store, which is like any other grocery store, and I am discussing the merits of one type of cheese over another with two Masai warriors who are dressed in their full Masai warrior wardrobe, can you picture this? Am I living in a Dali painting or have I just not woken from my sleep yet?

We're not in Kansas anymore...

This Saturday Max was invited to his first birthday party. Instead of pony rides, they offered camel rides! We all took turns. It was fun. The scary part was when the camel stood up, first his back legs go up and you feel like you're going to be tossed over his head. Max was a little afraid at first but wanted to ride again after his first try.

Saturday was also our day to practice driving. They drive on the left here with the steering on the right. If that isn't enough to get use to it's also every man for himself on the streets. Lots of people walking and tons of bikes with NO sidewalks. Narrow roads, mostly paved, not too many pot holes. As far as I can tell you just have to weave back and forth to and from the middle of the road dodging pedestrian and on coming traffic while continuing to say to yourself "keep left, keep left". It's a little nerve racking but we haven't run anyone off the road yet... More on roads and driving later....

One of our first trips for practice was to this enormous store called Nakumatt City. It's sort of this combination Wallmart and Kroger, it seems you can get almost anything there from motorcycles to peanut butter so I suppose we'll be visiting it often. Some things are very expensive i.e. a box of cereal (which we usually live on for breakfast) is $10 usd and children's toys i.e. a little plastic push/ride thingey for toddlers was around $50 usd.

Hot!

It's just fri'king hot here, ok! We seemed to have landed in Kenya in the hottest month and in the hottest week plus there is no air conditioning anywhere. Even the locals tell me it's hot. It's hard to sleep at night. Hope I get used to this soon.

Turn Back Now!!

Close your eyes and try to imagine arriving at an airport to travel for 23 hours with two adults and two babies including 25 separate pieces of luggage. What’s that, can’t imagine? Well neither could I until today. We had to hire a separate taxi just for the luggage. It was an eight foot pile on the airport porter’s wagon! Joseph Campbell said that before any mythic journey first you must traverse a threshold into this world. Atlanta airport was that ‘ring of fire’ for us to pass through which then would propel us like a t-shirt in a washing machine into this new life.

Getting our baggage checked at Atlanta airport took almost an hour. Each piece was weighted, locked with approved TSA lock, and shipped off. We were told we could each carry two carry on bags so, there were four of us, that’s eight bags plus stroller and car seats bags included 3 laptops, external hard drives, portable dvd player, and lots of toys and snacks for the kids since we were terrified they would be bored and make us crazy. Great that we could take all this stuff to keep us happy before our air freight arrived as well as on the trip

As we began our walk through security with crying babies(by now Esther would not allow anyone to put her down. She had to be carried or tantrum would ensue) and eight bags and car seats and stroller the first TSA woman to examine our ID and tickets muttered profoundly to herself ‘too many bags…too many bags’. It was a warning too late to be acted on and only served to make the already large knot in my stomach even larger. It is of course a nightmare going through the scanners and takes a while. Luckily help magically arrives in the form of Kayla’s boss’s boss’s wife who we run into as we are repacking our stuff and putting on our shoes. She has graciously taken pity on us and offers to carry Esther to our gate. This proves to be a huge favor as I really don’t think we would have made the plane had we to do it on our own. I was so desperate at that point that I started complaining about my back to TSA people trying to get wheelchair assistance so we would have something else to carry baggage.

It takes three hours to get from taxi to gate. Once there we find the plane had started boarding. And oh, by the way, now they say we have too many carry-on’s, geez, why couldn’t they have told us that when we were checking baggage! As we found out much later in our journey the airline had only recently changed it carry-on policy to one bag per person . After a lot of arguing with the airline people and more anxious crying babies in tow we compromise with the authorities and repack everything so only two bags are then checked. Most of the toys are now under the plane. So much for these distractions. Taking the car seats on board turned out not to be such a good idea after all either, we thought the kids would feel more comfortable sleeping in them but they were out of them as soon as the captain turned off the seat belt sign and after that they were just in the way. We were already fried by now and hadn’t even left Atlanta.

The calm, smiling Scandinavian stewardesses were a sharp contrast to our frazzled, stressed appearance and they looked at us like ‘what could possibly be the problem, hey, enjoy your flight!’ The flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam, the overnight flight, Max might have slept 4 hours, I might have slept 4 hours and Esther who had a pretty good cold tossed and turned in Kayla’s arms the whole night and they got almost no sleep so at 3am our time when we landed in Amsterdam we were not a pretty picture. It takes a lot of teamwork and thought to negotiate in and out of airplanes with as much crap in tow as we had, first we all left the plane together then one person, namely me, would go back in when most folks had left and retrieve each car seat separately along with any other bags left, usually three trip.

In Amsterdam airport we had one hour to transfer to our next flight and when we got to the gate, guess what, we were told again that we had too many bags. More arguing and ‘negotiating’ took place but alas we of course lost. So its time to repack again. More stuffed checked into oblivion; who knows if we will see it again when we reach Nairobi airport. Now Max is acting out, tired and stressed he started grabbing anything he can get his hands on, smashing people in the face with his fists and pushing me to the ultimate ends of my abilities. Poor Esther had developed laryngitis from the dry air and stress of flying. Her cries are an airy whisper. She’s really cranky and not at all her characteristic self. Finally, after takeoff things began to settle down. This part of the journey was surprisingly easier than first predicted. We all actually slept. A little here, a little there. The kids seemed entertained even without all the toys although we had the DVD player for Max which took the edge off of things when things got really hairy. The main thing I remember from this part of the journey is that my in-flight multimedia center wasn’t working and a huge mound of trash was accumulating under our feet.

So we land in Nairobi and there is someone there to assist us in moving through the maze. Lord knows what time it is for our body clocks but it’s about 7pm local time. We carefully gather ALL our baggage and, yes, it all did arrive (Nairobi airport is notorious for things getting lost or stolen) safely. There are only two flights to Kisumu from Nairobi and we’ve missed both for the day so it’s off to a hotel room for 6 hours. Esther is asleep in her Pack And Play in ten minutes but Max is bouncing off the wall until 2am, Kayla and I take turns sleeping and trying to contain him which proves to be daunting.
We have also realized I have left our portable DVD player on the airplane under that huge pile of rubble, I thought I had search it well but apparently not thorough enough.

Bing! The alarm goes off, there is chaos get dress and loading up all that luggage again to go back to the airport. Max is all over the place now, can’t sit still, can’t listen, really tuff. We check in and again find we have too many carry-on’s! This plane is a small propeller commuter aircraft (two rows of seats) and will not accommodate much carry on so again I have to repack and now it’s really ridiculous. No stroller, one rolling carry-on and I am precariously carrying all the computers in an over flowing briefcase along with diaper bag and camera bag. Max is loving the walk on the runway to the airplane. Lots of little trucks going by and loud airplane noises. We squeeze on to the plane and find we can only sit one in front of the other, Max is in front of me, I can only see the back of his head. I’m relying on a man sitting opposite him to tell me when disaster is imminent so I yell at him. Other than dumping a whole thing of yogurt in his seat things went pretty well.

Watching the landscape change during the flight was wonderful. First desert like with interesting patterns in the sand then a sharp change to green and farmland as we passed over a mountain range. We land. A teeny tiny airport. Family and luggage arrive safely albeit disoriented and worn, it will take us a week to fully recover.