Random things...

This is the longest I've gone since moving here without blogging. I've been crazy busy. And, I never know if anyone reads this, and so I lost some of my umph to write. :)

But never fear, I'm back.

We are moved into our new house, er, apartment. It's large- 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a big kitchen, dining and living room... 2 porches. In Kenya they call the first floor the ground floor, and then the next floor up, what we would call the 2nd floor, they call the 1st floor. So we are on the Kenyan 1st floor, the American 2nd floor. Nice enough that I know we can make it out in a fire, and yet high enough I don't feel like anyone can just jump through our windows or onto our porches.

There is a lovely pool here with a great garden. I miss our Askari (I think the translation is guards/workmen) that did the grounds at Blackrose, they were all sooo nice. The Askari here are really friendly with Jonah, and the main gate Askari, Winston, is super friendly, but the others are slightly odd. I wonder what goes on in the minds of the Kenyans who work for all these expats. What do they think of us? Are we really weird? Snobby? Spoiled? Rich? Mysterious?

I have a great Kenyan woman named Doris that is coming twice a week to help me. Today we cleaned the house- okay she cleaned the house- did all the weeks cooking of meals, and now she is watching Cute Child while I have some God time, and write. I learned a lot from my time at the Vessenes, I was treated really well by them and know how I want to make sure Doris gets treated.

We weren't able to find used appliances by Saturday, and so we ended up buying them all new. ack. Almost $1300 for a washing machine, stove (cooker), and refridgerator. All of these items are about 1/3 less in size compared to the American ones we have at home. The one thing that we did find at the Roslyn school sale out by the UN, is a car. A Nissan X-Trail, 2001, with 65,000km on it. Only driven in Kenya for 2 weeks, it's imported from Japan. A Korean family bought it here, they were with YWAM, and something happened (very mysterious, but not a positive thing I fear) so they are going home immediately. They've lived here for 7 years. Anyways, they are selling us the X-Trail for a bit less then what they paid, and including all the legal docs, insurance for a year, a new sound system, a new roof rack, and a new alarm system with it. We've majorly scored. Add into that we feel that we can trust this couple and therefore the car isn't a dud. Also if we leave in 2 years and don't put too many miles on it, we will be able to sell it for what we are buying it for since we got such a great deal. I think sometime next week we'll officially have it in our hands. :) To have our own wheels! This brings such joy to my heart! No more bumming rides off of everyone! Or paying 50 bucks a week in taxis!

I'm feeling very homesick this week. I don't know if it's the season, or what. We have this amazing apartment here, and it's so empty that our voices echo in it. Some of my furniture is even loaned out to family members (Hot Husband's idea, I don't like doing that, because I feel bad asking it back, and i don't want things broken)- furniture I saved all my pennies for when we were just getting married. Why does this bother me so much? I don't even know. I just want my things, my stuff, my my my. Oh man, I sound like Cute Child. (new word: Mine, or My- it drives me crazy). Sigh. Another round of purging, breaking, burning, and dying, Lord? Very well then.

Hot Husband has been working since 3am yesterday, and he's not home yet now. That means he is on hour 38 of work. He was upset I cancelled dinner with our friends tonight. I just knew he wouldn't be quite coherant, and he was still frustrated that I cancelled. He doesn't seem to realize that a person isn't quite cognitively 'there' after being awake that many hours. I try to explain to him the health benefits of sleep, and he's yet to agree. He's one stubborn horse.

I've been doing a lot of thinking too lately about my life, my story. I'm about to turn 30 in a bit over a month, and I'm reading a book by Donald Miller (you might recognize him from Blue Like Jazz) called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, What I learned by editing my life... I'll do a whole entry on Thursday (when Doris is here next) but here is a clip (I love my Kindle's note taking ability) that struck me:

"I was watching the news the other night, and they were still covering that story in Mumbai about the terrorists who went on a shooting rampage. The man on the news said that before the terrorists killed the Jews in the Jewish centre, they tortured them. I had to turn off the television, because I could see the turture in my head the way they were describing it. I kept imagining these people, just living their daily lives, and then having them suddenly ended in unjust tragedy. When we watch the news, we grieve all of this, but when we go to the movies, we want more of it. Somehow we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are actually in. We think God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller. "

Not okay.

*to be noted: i'm quite hormonal today, so my lenses aren't exactly rose colored.

The only high light of my entire world today, is that I hit a new low on the scale, officially having lost a total of 12 pounds since arriving here. That's just really awesome, thank you Jesus so much!

Onto other news.

I'm not okay. Hot husband leaves tomorrow for a 4 days- he's back Saturday- of fun in the sun in South Africa. Wined and dined, 4-5 star hotels, 4-5 star restaurants, company team building up the wazoo. It's the African office company retreat. He leaves at 5am, and comes home at 5am- an all night flight on Saturday. 

I'm fine with him going- it's a short trip.

This why I'm not fine right now. It started yesterday... A really really cool family we met the first week we were here... Mandi, Eddie, 2 gorgeous little girls (2 and 4 years)- Jasmine, and Jada... He a Kenyan, her an Aussie. He died yesterday in a plane crash at Wilson Airport. He was a pilot. I can't imagine the heart ache that they're going through right now. Everyone at the British High Commission play group found out. The group of women I've gotten to know are all very close to this family. 

I don't want Hot Husband to go anywhere. Life feels really fleeting, very precious right now.  That's how it always feels when we have mortality thrown in our faces. 

Add onto that, Cute Child is sick. He woke up with a fever yesterday, and though it ebbed throughout the day, last night it spiked higher then ever before (103) and wouldn't go down. Bring out the cold washcloths, the medicine, the scrambling to find numbers of doctors. Add into it all, this morning when he awoke, I found him covered head to toe in a horrific looking rash. It doesn't itch, so at least he doesn't seem bothered by it, but it's enough to make a mommy cry at the site of it. It's awful looking. I spent all morning calling and texting everyone I had ever had a conversation about pediatricians with to ask for the numbers, names and locations of the doctors. When no one got back to me- and I mean no one- and I spoke with Miriam who urged me to go straight to Nairobi Hospital ER, I tried to get ahold of Hot Husband, and for 3 hours could not. It was a horrific moment for my emotional stability. 

Long and short is I finally heard from one woman, Marti who is starting up a branch of 10,000 Villages in DR Congo, and is super kick butt awesome woman. She sent me 2 doctors names, and 2 hospitals. I chose one, called and made an appointment with Dr Anupt Patel. 

Cute Child apparently is allergic to either the Nurofen (ibuprofen) or the Nutella that he ate at Miriams house the night before. Whatever the case- no more of it will enter a radius of 2 feet of him! He also has a horrible sore throat, and the fever is due to him fighting a virus of some sort. Dr Patel gave me all this natural stuff to do. A concoction of honey, ginger, water, and turmeric for this throat, and echinacea drops 3 times a day..

I'm just overwhelmed at this moment, so yucky! I don't like the idea of Hot husband leaving, and me trying to figure everything out alone. Because all my friends have children, I can't ask for their help or swing by- I can't infect their kids. And I want to live near my family!!!! Sometimes it just hits ya real hard up side the head- nobody can help out like family can. Truth!

So if you think of us in the next few days, please pray that I don't lose it and start crying uncontrollably, and that Cute child's rash disappears overnight, his fever totally breaking and disappearing to the four corners of the earth.

And that Hot Husband is surrounded by traveling mercies every second of his absence.

The roar of the bullfrog.

About 3 weeks into living here, Hot Husband and I were lying in bed, marveling at a new sound filling our apartment. It was dark, and had just finished raining here.

One thing you need to know about the rain here. It isn't like your "western" kinda rain. It isn't like Florida, or Georgia, or Montana, California.. No, God does it different over here. You know when it rains really really hard where you live, and you see the gutters just over flooding and pouring off of roofs? That's what it's like in the SKY here. In fact, when it's raining, you don't even see droplets!

Kenya says that when the rain comes the Bullfrog tells everyone of it. Lying there in our bed, listening to that roar the first time- was a wonder. I have never heard such a noise in my life. Like the gurgling of a horrible motor on a car, the Kenyan bullfrog springs to life at the first sign of rain and starting at dusk, tells us all his song of it.

Last night when we were dropped off after home group (this thing that some people do where you eat together and talk about life and the Bible and relationship with God), the Bullfrogs were at full force. Cute Child had been sleeping but was now awake, we took the opportunity, while the guards were not busy (too late for many people to be coming in and out of the gates), to find these Bullfrogs. I asked the guards if they had a large torch (flashlight). They don't. (I'm not going to think about why they don't... or the fact that they probably should). But our cell phones have flashlights on them, and with the help of the guards, we tried our best to sneak up on these bullfrogs and look at them. They're big.

Real big. I'll get some pictures soon. Somehow. And we'll try and take a video so you can hear them too. It was a moment, the three of us, traipsing down the side of the road, peering into the ditches filled with rainwater, our ears filled with the roar of the Bullfrogs, and 2 armed guards, dressed head to toe in green, helping us find them. The giggling (me) at the wonder of finding them, and the uncertainty of whether we could touch them or not. One guard claims they bite? I've never heard of a frog with teeth, but hey. You never know, this is Africa! Lol. We didn't touch them, just in case. . . But wow!

The rain in Spain falls Mainly on the Plain.

cute child just drank his first cup of rooibos, made with extra milk. he loves it. or maybe he is enjoying the straw more then the tea? :)

we were doing a load or 2 of laundry at a friends house and when we came home got caught in a rain storm. the 3 feet from the car to the overhang drenched us. 3 feet. africa knows how to rain! it comes down in gushing torrents, traffic goes to a standstill, and everyone walks in the street because the side of the road turns to mud and mush.

i'm not as homesick as i was- miriam- kiwi friend, reckons that it is most likely because i don't really have my own home yet, and none of our stuff is here. once she brought that up, i started to realize that it does still feel like we are living our of our suitcases. 6 weeks of this so far! i can't believe we're almost half way to going back for Bro-in laws wedding/Christmas.

we've decided to put off hiring a cleaner, or nanny/babysitter till we get back here in January. i've heard so many frustrating stories about contracts, and making sure you get the right person, that i really don't want to jump into anything.

this top of picture of me hiking (above) is in South Africa a few years ago. it was winter, and super super dry. when we got here in nairobi, everything was that color, and it felt quite appropriate. with all the rain here though- it's now green. lush. vibrant. everything is blooming, and when the sun comes out, i realize how incredibly beautiful it is. even normal looking trees have these huge flowers in brilliant yellows, reds, fuschia's, purples...

i've been mulling a lot of things over lately. one of them being the death penalty. south africa does not have the death penalty, and in fact none of their police are allowed to carry any weapon of any kind. would changing this help the horrific crimes that are a constant part of daily life there? or would the huge amounts of corruption just mean that it would only worsen it?

living in a corrupt country, where bribes are a part of many peoples daily life is incredibly difficult. i am a moral person. i stick to the rules, and i abide by the law. but what do you do if you know that justice is not served. so even if you don't pay a bribe to the traffic policeman who pulled you over- for no apparent reason, and you go to court for it... you know you will see a judge who will give you a sentence that may have nothing to do with traffic- he will make the crime up, or you can pay a bribe to him. am i making sense? there is no justice here. so how do i, a law abiding citizen, make sense of all this?

for instance, hot husband is a big stickler for obeying copyright laws. he does not take part in anything having to do with pirating. until now. we paid almost 35 USD to have an account at the local (in a mall, looked totally legit) video store. we rented 2 dvds, for 200sh each. (about 3.50USD)... and when we got them home, they were excellent versions of the originals- pirated. the whole store is pirated. the frustrating thing, is that i can buy my own pirated, to keep, for 200sh on the corner of our street. we've looked everywhere, there seems to be no option at all for buying anything original. they don't exist here. pirated is our only option. that or not watching anything at all.

isn't there something about 'when in rome...' ??

i feel so conflicted about all this! and this is barely skimming the surface when it comes to things like this here! oh America. how much you take for granted!!1

Home, Home on the Range

Home, Home on the range, Where the deer and the antelope play, Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word.. And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Things I miss: (feel free to laugh)

Americans.
American accents.
Worship at church.
Chicken nuggets.
Magazines.
Spaghetti sauce in a jar. This includes: Vodka sauce, Alfredo, and just regular Marinara. (we can buy it here for about 10-12 dollars a jar- obviously I'm not that desperate yet!)
My furniture.
A house of my own, with my things.
A washing machine.
A dryer!
Fall leaves.
My family.
My nephew (big time!).
The Gap.
NCIS and episodes of the Office. And don't even talk to me about how I will miss the new Lost episodes in January!
Fast internet.
Drinking water from the tap.
Sleeping without a dumb mosquito net (so NOT romantic).
My mom's food.
Sleeping in while my sister gets Cute Child up in the morning.
Fox and CNN news. 24/7. oh the bliss.
Big refrigerators.
Taps that aren't separated hot and cold (dumbest thing ever invented).
Sidewalks.
Continual electricity.
Lack of famine, death, poverty, beggars, and corruption.
Shallow subject matter in conversations.
Having things not always covered in dirt or dust.
Natalie.
Deoderant that isn't spray.
Cheese.
Not being the only white person, or the only American.
Not being the only one who thinks Obama is scary.
Hulu.
Having a car.
Driving on the right side of the road.
Natales Bakery in Summit.
Being able to look up things on Yelp.

(Hot Husband misses: Sidewalks,Trisquits, Stir Crazy popcorn maker, Fall leaves)


yeah, I think you all get my drift...