"So, what does a normal day look like for you?"

The heading says it all.
                 
                          That question, "So, what does a normal day look like for you over there?".

It is asked at every gathering that I go to when I'm back "Stateside", and is always answered a bit differently. I try to be positive, I try to not sugar coat things, but not complain about things either. The truth of the matter is that while at 'home' it is often really hard to think of what my normal life looks like. I am on overdrive, overstimulated by all of the familiarity, culture, family, goodness, and excess that a visit Stateside can entail.

 Last week I had a somewhat normal week.

Here it is: 

 Sunday morning: We skip church to go on a hike up Mount Longonot. My husband has been wanting to do this for months now with me, as he has done it several times. We carry the kids on our backs in ergo's. I am so exhausted once I reach the top that I can barely appreciate the amazing view. Once I do come to my senses I am not longer exhausted but totally freaked out at the huge cliff drop offs and the idea that I brought my kids to the top of this thing. Lesson: hike Mount Longonot without your 1 and 3 year old.


 5pm Sunday night: Brown out. (this is where the power flicks on and off for a bit, and then doesn't come back fully on, but at half power. The lights are on, but very dim, the microwave won't work, the plugs (outlets) work but the fridge doesn't... you get the idea. Also, the city water hasn't turned on and so our tanks are almost empty. No laundry can be done, no toilet flushing till it does. (it ends up filling our tanks in the middle of the night).

 Monday morning: power is bouncing all over the place. Flickering, full power, brown out... and then by 9am goes completely off. It's a bad disco. Because it has been doing this we have no hot water (hot water heater isn't getting enough power to heat the water), and I have no shower. ick. Doris, our house helper looks like she's about to drop- and is, she was up all night 3 nights in a row helping our great friends' house helper have a baby. She's exhausted, and I can tell that she's getting sick. So I take the kids, do all the groceries and shopping with both of them in tow, and run a bunch of other errands while Doris can clean the house in peace at her own pace.

 Monday afternoon: power still off. Rest at home. Make dinner. Prepare my diet food (veg and chicken). Kids nap. Let Doris have a 2 hour nap, so she doesn't get pneumonia.

Monday evening: Pick up hot husband from work. When Doris get's off her work I offer her the SQ (staff quarters) room off of our house to sleep in overnight instead of walking home in the cold and rain. She takes it. (she's never done this. I know she must be bad!) I give her a hot water bottle (explaining how it works since she's never seen/used one) and load her up with Nyquil, Shaklee, and EmergenC. She is in bed asleep by 7pm, and doesn't wake up till 8am the next morning. Chat with Swedish neighbors in the compound for a bit. Laugh. Eat dinner. Still brown out. Give boys a bath by candle light and with boiled water.

 Tuesday: Even though baby boy was up sporadically at night, I figure he's teething, and running a light fever. I take him and his brother away so that again Doris can do house stuff without us around. Cute Child in school, Baby brother and I go to visit a little friend and have a play date. I drink tea and chat with the new lady and her boy the same age as mine, and they empty drawers and play with toys while we talk about the life of Expats. I like her. First play date with them and it was a success. Pick up Cute Child by noon.

 Tuesday afternoon: Power is off. It was on in the morning, having come on sometime in the night, but now it's off again, completely. Kids take naps and around 3 we go to friend Wendy's house for a playdate. Her house is amazing, her garden beautiful, and her toys- in abundance. The kids LOVE it there. Her and I do a 'biggest loser' workout DVD, have a cup of tea, and enjoy our kids and each other. I pick up Hot Husband with kids and Doris in tow, and we navigate Nairobi traffic for an hour in rain, huge puddles and bad drivers.

 Wednesday: Cute Child to school. Baby brother to Baby Bible play group. 1pm go to Seikh/Singh friend who invites me to her house to pray with her and read her the Bible and tell her about Jesus. She's on a journey, (I'm hoping straight to His heart!). She sends me home with a plate of Malai Kofta. Hot Husband is ecstatic. We have brown power, and then full power. I got a shower that morning. At 5 I go to Friskas and Svetis, my Swedish workout at the Swedish school. One hour of cardio, mat work, and jumping up and down with a bunch of blond happy people. I LOVE it. I'm hot and sweaty, and come home ready for a shower but there is no hot water, and I have a date with the girls, and so I clean up as much as possible so that I don't stink and drive to the Italian restaurant where we laugh and tell stories and have good food. This is the first I've done this since Baby Boy has been born. It feels very good. When I get home at 930, baby boy is stirring in his cot, and that stirring goes to full blown crying. He pukes everywhere, has a fever of 103, and dry heaves for the next 3.5 hours. Torture. No hot water to wash up with.

 Thursday: I had been up half the night, so I'm exhausted. But today is Thanksgiving, and I've promised that I would bring major things to a big feast at a friends house at 4pm. Hot Husband and Cute CHild will go without us... Doris and I set to making bread rolls (her) and stuffing (me) and pumpkin pie (me).  With children running around our ankles. Here you make everything from scratch. All the herbs for the stuffing are fresh, need to be cleaned/sanitized, pie crust from scratch, the bread is fresh, and the rollls that Doris makes are almost (but not quite) as good as my mothers. (My mom did teach her, after all!). We send them off, Baby Boy is very ill... and I stay home with him for Thanksgiving. I ask Doris to stay with me, I take a nap from 4-530 and then send her home. Oh I forgot to mention. The hot water heater is broken. I have had no shower since before Friskis and Svetis and feel DISGUSTING. Sweat and cooking and baby puke lingers on me. Doris knows how I feel so when I've woken she has gotten our biggest bucket and has been boiling water for me to take a bucket shower. (I love Doris!) I do. I feel 10x's better and when I see her off at 6pm, I'm ready to tackle caregiving for very sick little guy. Am up in the night every 2-3 hours.

 Friday: Call pediatrician. we both agree that since he isn't dehydrated, and isnt getting worse it sounds like a nasty virus. I set a appointment for Saturday morning in case it gets worse Friday night. I'm exhausted. I take Cute Child to school. Have a brief chat with a friend. Meet up with electrician who is there to fix hot water heater. Meet 3 gardeners I've hired to cut down branches from 2 huge trees in our backyard. It's raining the whole time, and I oversee them cutting 4 big branches.. The tree cutter has stripped down to his boxers, and climbs up the tree, so high he's level with the roof of our house, and I just pray that he doesn't die or paralyze himself in a fall. He's cutting everything down with a machete, and swears he is "okay madame, everything is sasa, okay!". *sigh. I get a cup of rooisbos and watch him from under my umbrella, praying. I run off to Christmas party at Cute Child's school. Santa is coming and giving the kids a present, but Cute Child has gotten upset because Christmas is Jesus' birthday, and "Where, (wail) is JESUS!!?!!". After calming him down a bit, he gets really into the Santa thing, and loves his car that Santa brought. Baby Brother still sick but a bit better. By evening we have hot water, kids get a good bath. Lights go off (no electricity) at 8pm. And Baby Brother pukes all over me for what feels like the 10th time that week. Disgusting. It's pouring rain, which is calming, but it's been raining so much I'm feeling a bit sad now. Hot husband and I go to sleep early- 9pm. I still am awake doing paracetemol suppositories to keep the fever and vomiting at bay every 4-4.5 hours.

 Okay- so this is feeling long and tedious. There are probably a lot of little things in my life that would make it different then the average American's. Like, when I say I am going shopping I have to add in more time, because of all the security checks. They check my car for bombs, check my diaper bag for bombs, la la la la. But outside of those little things, my life, I think, is like a lot of stay at home moms. I have the luxery of having Doris. But I have the not-so-luxury of having frequent power cuts, no hot water, rationed water in general, and crappy virus' that attack my kids' health. (Good thing, Cute Child has been healthy for several months now- I think his system is so strong after over 2 years of living here... they both are going to have amazing immune systems when they get older!!).

 I would love to know if this brings up questions about my life? Is this what you thought it was like?

 I think there are some things I don't even realize are different any more and I am just on auto pilot with them, and don't even think to mention them. Like I text Hot Husband after the Italian restaurant and him after the Thankgsiving dinner, because we were driving home in the dark, and it's good to know that the other is on the road in case of hijackings, just a simple security thing that we do.

 All in all, we love our life here. Last week was not as fun. I didn't get as much exercise in as normal, as many fun things with kids and friends, as many prayer dates as normal.. But I really do love things here even with those crazy things.

( I just went to post this and the electricity has gone off while typing this. How ironic. I can only laugh!!)