Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Some of the little things..



The above are 2 interesting items in the local Nakumatt (Kenya's version of WalMart). Along with hair mayonnaise, they also had Hair Cholesterol. ? . And as far as this green veggie, or is it a fruit, is concerned. . .I have NO IDEA what it is!

We are in Blackrose Apartments- Nairobi, Kenya. A stones throw away from Ya Ya Center, and if you want more of a visual of that, I'll work on pictures. The apartments themselves are about 20 years old, but have been kept up very nice, and the trees and bushes are mature. The swimming pool is lovely, and everything is quite clean. I have no complaints! There are minor things that are annoying- it would cost us for a family of 3, one of us which is only a year old, to have our clothes laundered- around 75 USD a week- and that's wearing things twice! They want to charge almost 2USD to wash a pair of Cute Child's socks.  Needless to say I am taking up hand washing, and have responded quickly to a friends offer that we could use her washing machine. Also, today our cleaner (yes, I have a cleaner, his name is David, he wears a cleaner outfit too, it's fun!) said he could do our handwashing, and ironing for 500sh a week, I said how about our items that I give you and ironing some shirts, for 250sh? He agreed. All is well.

75sh=1USD. 

The power is out Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 10am-12. and again from 2pm-6. It's a pain in the butt. I never thought I would be praying so much for rain. I know that when it comes, things won't get so dirty, the dust will settle, the grass will grow, and the rivers will flow again- which means we will get continuous power. Well, as long as where we are has a backup generator! I don't know if continuous power exists anywhere in Africa as we know it!


Monday, September 28, 2009

I live in Africa.

We landed, my brain was in a whirrr, my adrenaline starting to wane, but I felt alert and ready. All our bags came through- all 7 of them. Customs and immigration went quickly, all's well. (It helps having a cute kid that smiles at everyone).

Our friends here got a taxi to meet us. One of the many men holding signs outside had one that said, "Jayzon, Krisper Wendey", we knew, that was us! haha! Unfortunately, all our bags and us did not fit in one car. Hot Husband rode with all the luggage, and I rode with Cute Child, and unknown man, alone in a taxi behind them. Besides the fact that it cost us over 50USD to do that, (taxi's are draining us dry here, quite quickly) it was the weird feeling I had in the car.

I suddenly realized we were moving to Africa. That, crap. We were in Africa. My first expectation was realized- I had thought it would be a bit more like South Africa, and a bit less like Ghana. But, it's more, way more, like Ghana. It was dark, but you could feel the difference anyways. Not only were we driving on the left side, but it was the lack of street lamps, the crazy traffic(apparently there is only one- 'keep left'), and the starking reality that your family are the only white people in site. I'm not usually aware of color, but in Africa, when out after dark, I often find myself wishing I could blend in a lot more.

It wasn't scary, and we weren't in any danger, but I definitely had a big moutful of culture shock. I just hadn't prepared myself for coming here... not for what it would mean. I think I thought and prayed so much about HotHusband's job, and what we would need, the basics, the nuts and bolts of everything that the simple reality of living in Kenya didn't quite hit me till I was in that taxi, speeding over pot holed roads, in the pitch black night, with a plume of dust in our wake.

I'm sorry I don't have pictures yet, will soon. Our internet is scarce, and Cute Child has been more then active lately (i.e. wild).... with jet lag to boot. Lady Missionary here told me that the rule is 1 day for every hour time difference. We've just had our first night last night without him waking, he bucked the rule with only 4 days jet lag, instead of 7. That's my kid! :)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

So many questions.


I am inundated. With questions. My brain, a swirling, writhing (at times) mass of questions. Lest you think that it's also all worry, or strife, let me be clear- it's just simply questions. After a year of mulling this move over, researching it, praying over it, crying and analyzing it- it's here! It's 5.5 days away. I can hardly believe it!

What will Salaam Apartments look like? Will not having a back up generator, and a city having electrical rations (from 6am-4pm every day) be a huge detriment? Will I like satellite television, or not need it? Will the internet be unbearably slow? Will not having a pool (Blackrose had a pool) still give us enough to do? Will be on the third floor be good? Will I worry about our security during the day if the power is off (which means the electric fence is off)? How will I buy food if I don't have a car to drive to a market? Will I buy only what I can carry (and only what I can carry, while carrying Jonah?) ? What food will I find at the market? Will I be able to lose 15 pounds by the time brother in law gets married? Will I not look like a giant in the pictures? Will my period start regulating itself? Will we have money for Christmas presents? How can I get a Christmas tree in our house in Nairobi (we don't leave till the 26th)? Will there be any trees? What will the weather be like there? Will it feel like higher elevation (Nairobi is about 6,500 feet above sea level!)?

SO many questions....

Monday, September 14, 2009

Celebrate


Is it possible to have a celebration over 14 days of not having a period? If so, party on, dear friends, I'm on day 14!!!! YEEHAW! No, but seriously, it does make my heart warm.

I've started the metformin, and though I've not lost any weight, I do feel more even in regards to my energy throughout the day. I'm hoping the "met" has something to do with my not starting up the eternal period again!

In an effort to not spend all day writing a post, I will list for you below my facebook status' today- it's a window into my thoughts...

hot husband is sick. really sick. in bed sick. and we have a week to pack everything! i'm really praying he gets better and we don't get it!

oh the eternal small items that don't fit anywhere.

my finger bones itch= having a (mild) allergy to cardboard is yet another reason i detest packing.

trying to get jonah to take all naps this week in peapod= consistency is the hardest part of parenting. (so far).

and that's the end of it, now it's the evening and instead of packing boxes, i'm going to order things i need on the internet. a cover for my peapod, a case for our carseat when we travel. you know, the usual! :)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Roots.


A bit of my roots- this is the house a bit over 3 miles down the road from the house I grew up in, the house I had so many dinners at, sleepovers, prayers, dreams, that it might as well be one of my 'other' houses that I claim as my own. Scott Johnston, is the father of that house, of those 6 children (2 of which I have been in their weddings) (1 of which was in both my sister and I's weddings), and has an awesome gig going on- right on their front porch. Recently he got some great exposure via The New York Times.

check it out here

ps. (photo courtesy vanessa!)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Torn, Bloody Flesh.



Today I went to the dentist. Hot Husband has been to him once. His name, Dr. Kwitnicki. It's kinda fun to say, that's why I chose him for our family. Seriously, that's really the truth! When in our lovely health care system, you just get a long list of who takes your insurance, and you have no other information except their address to go on. So I often go on how goofy or fun their names are. Or whether or not they are accepting new patients, that always helps. BUT, I digress. This isn't about Dr. Kwitnicki's name.

And it's not really about how his office staff were amazing, both women so friendly and polite, and totally in love with Jonah at first sight. Or how one of them watched him and played with him the entire time I was getting my cleaning and x-rays.

It's not about how despite not going to the dentist for 3 years, I had no cavities, and fairly decent gums (though he did give me the you need to floss more and use a waterpik lecture for a good 20 minutes).. No it's about how the dentist, this man, was a BUTCHER TO MY GUMS! I have never in all my years of getting routine cleanings experienced such agony. My knuckles were white, my gums (8 hours later) are still inflamed, still raw, my teeth are aching in recollection of the massacre I put them through. And I, after the initial shock of how the digging and picking and scraping was not letting up but only increasing, closed my eyes to wish away the time and... pray for deliverence from this horror. About 10 minutes into this, I opened my eyes...

And what I saw will be forever ingrained in my mind, nay, in my very core. The shiny metal, silver instrument, with hooks and scrapers on each end, was in my mouth- one hooked end right in front of my direct line of sight- and hanging from the hook was a piece of torn, bloody flesh. Or gums. Whichever way you want to look at it. To me, they are the same, and it was awful, bloody, bloomin', awful!!!

I felt like I was in a horror film.

And I told the dentist, when he was done what I had seen. He assured me that it was not a piece of my gums... paused, and said, "Well, it could have been from right near the front of your mouth... " another pause, and then, with a low and amused chuckle, "Horror movie, eh?", and then more chuckling.

I, however was not so amused.

Neither was I amused at the parking ticket I got while in getting my horror flick story.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Where is the wind?


I feel like someone punched me. Hard. Right in the stomach.

After months of waiting, I finally got my tests back. And nothing showed up. I am, in the doctors words, "Normal." Adrenal, normal. Thyroid, normal. No diabetes, no insulin resistance. My cholesterol is great. Duh, I don't eat fried food, high fat food, hardly any sweets- if any, low salt, etc. My testosterone levels were the only things that came back high- but not like high- out of the normal range, high- like high, in the normal range on the high end, high.

On top of that, she is waiting a cancellation, her schedule is completely booked for all of September, therefore we will have to do our consultation over the phone. Better then nothing right?

Oh, Lord, where is my cup, half full, overflowing?! It seems completely empty today...

Over three months of exercising every day, I lost no inches, no pounds. And it would be fine if I could just keep that up.. but exercising, even for 30 minutes, takes all my energy. ALL my energy for the day. That's what I do when I resolve to work out. That's it, I work out. Even then I need more sleep, more rest. I have no energy to make dinner, to stay up, to do much more then converse, while laying flat on my back on the couch.

On top of that all my periods now are averaging 6-8 weeks straight, with 8-13 days break in between. Lovely.

Add into this uplifting scenario the migraines. Two this week. Two last. *sigh.

My final thought?

I want to be a better mother- and this, all of this, makes it really hard. Really.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Expectation.




I have some expectations for Nairobi. I am praying that none of them are so big that if they do not prove to be real I feel as disappointed as I have felt in the past year over dashed expectations.

Broken expectations are brutal. I'm bouncing back from quite a few. And in this bounce back, I am looking towards the future with new vigor, new hope. Trying not have too much expectation, if that is at all possible.

Some of the things I think about in Kenya. I think we will have a nice place to live, with sunshine, and cool breezes. I do not expect it to be hot or humid, at least in Nairobi. The market will be alive with stories and adventure, fresh fruit and all manner of 'plastics'. The expat grocery will be incredibly expensive, but not so expensive that we can't ever go there, just in extreme moderation. We will find a good used car/suv, hopefully semi-new, but most definitely reliable. I expect hot husbands hours to be the same as here= awful and barely survivable. However, I secretly hope that isn't the case and that he gets to at least sleep 6-7 hours a night, every night. I expect some things to be cheap, and some things to be wildly expensive. I expect to love Kenyans, to smile at the children, my heart growing every day. I know that son and I will take pictures everywhere.

Lord heal my broken expectations, give me peace for this new phase of life, hope for this incredibly future and path that lays in front of us, and take my glass- make it always half full.