That's what it has been over the past couple weeks since leaving the US
and coming here -- in a good way; so many new experiences and things to learn -
not a dull minute!

I haven't posted since before we left, so I have to acknowledge the
unbelievable send-off we received from our friends in Nyack. What a powerful
and strong evening it was - it will be in our memory forever. Thanks so much to
Tom and Lisa for organizing and for all who made it so special.
When we come back in a year or two or three,
we hope we can reciprocate.
That was the Friday night before we left. The next 48 hours were a blur, as so many
things were going through our minds. We did get to enjoy Stu's performance and
last minute goodbyes to Nana and Papa and Oma and Opa. One of the most
memorable things was packing a suitcase full of just random toys... My dad must
have thought we lost it (mentally) ... Most of the things in there were just
small random objects, but the kids have such an imagination that I am pretty
sure they have used every single knick knack we brought (highlighter pens as
hockey sticks, etc).
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playing birthday party pinata with
all the random objects we brought |
Thanks to Oma and Opa for bringing us all the way to JFK. We had to caravan
in two cars since we had so many suitcases!
Flight was great - it was quite memorable to
fly over the Alps, down the Adriatic just west of Greece, and then many hours
over the vast brown expanse of the Sahara. Finally, right before dark, we spotted
the Nile and I think Khartoum. Then it got dark, and about an hour later at 8pm
local time we landed. We collected our luggage and visas and got scooped up by drivers
from Rhonda's work and whisked to our temporary apartment here in Nairobi.
We like our temporary home.
It's
fairly basic, but we are all comfortable. The maid comes every day to clean (I
keep telling Rhonda - you don't have to do the dishes!). We get to the pool
most days, and Matthew has become an unbelievable swimmer. Despite the pool
water being maybe 60 degrees, he just jumps right in!

Our first week was fairly straight forward. We laid low the first day - just
venturing to the local shopping center to get some key supplies. The rest of
the week we visited some schools and made lots of local taxi drivers happy with
our frequent trips all around.
As
mentioned on an earlier post, we had Shabbat dinner that first Friday with an
American family who has made us feel very welcome. Then Saturday night we went
to a get-together with some of Rhonda's work colleagues, which was also great
to make us feel even more welcome. Sunday we got to feed monkeys in a local
park - the kids loved it and we even saw a mommy monkey carrying a baby monkey. Thanks to Rhonda's Director for showing us that.
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mommy and baby |
The next Monday, Sept 3rd, Rhonda started work and the kids and I began our
ceaseless search for schools and housing. At this point, I feel like an expert
in both the housing supply in Westlands (our neighborhood in Nairobi) and pre-k
and elementary schools for expat kids. Most interestingly for housing, there is
no central database for what's available - no real Craigslist. There are a
couple of sites, but nothing has a comprehensive list. Some of the most promising
places we have seen have come from just calling "To Let" signs and
looking at postings on bulletin boards in the shopping centers (talk about
pre-internet - this is pre-newspaper!). Then for schools, we found a couple of nice
possibilities for Ruby that we hadn't even discovered during web searches - just
from networking. It turns out Ruby is going to the German School, which we
identified back in the states, but the lesson learned is that nothing compares
with being on the ground and just searching things out physically.
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playing -- replicating Nairobi's traffic |
It’s been a great bonding experience with the kids for a couple of weeks. Naturally
there were lots of complaints about seeing "another apartment", but
for the most part we’ve been a tightly functioning team, always leaving a bit
time for the pool, football / baseball practice in the complex's parking lot,
and free play in the apartment. This phase is coming to an end, however.
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first day of school |
Ruby started school on Tuesday and is even
taking the
bus!
(thanks to Mr. Matthew for the great
videography!) God bless her -
this morning was tough for her, crying desperately when getting on the bus
because she didn't want to leave mommy, but later she still said she likes it. What
a trooper that little girl!
How many
other American 4 year olds are riding the bus - let alone through Nairobi!
(I
should mention it’s not like an typical 30 seat American yellow school bus, it
is actually a much smaller scale bus with a dedicated driver AND a second
grown-up to help and watch over the kids.)
On Monday, Matthew will start the local American school. He CAN NOT WAIT!
Got the call yesterday that it is a go, and he didn't understand why he
couldn't start today!
.jpg) |
crossing the highway |
Yesterday and today, he and I really started to explore our local area. Of
course, at first we were kind of nervous to go out and about with all the
security issues we hear about, but, as we expected, gradually you acclimate.
Even in one of the guide books it says
mzungu aren't out walkin' the streets.
BS– they are out there in force. So, with confidence, we started to pound the
pavement (I use that term loosely), and we ventured forth from the apartment,
across the huge highway that separates us from the main shopping area and
basically tried to be with the people. Matthew couldn't understand why we
weren't taking taxis anymore, but I think he really started to dig all the
crazy sights, smells, and characters. It's not that we saw anything in
particular, we just were making our way to the market, post office, real estate
posting, etc., but it is great to feel a part of the rhythm of the city. Next
we need to figure out the
matatus, so we can venture further afield!
That might have to wait though -- the other big news this week is that
Rhonda got access to a car (actually a totally tank size pick-up truck that
could swallow our old Subaru in one bite). She was amazing on the first day she
got the vehicle, darting in and out of traffic to get us to a cub scout meeting...
remember the driving is on the other side of the road and it is a stick shift,
so since the driver’s side is on the other side she also had to shift with her
left hand... Safari here we come!
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