A & A on R & R

Life is not so hard for an expat in Nairobi. Still, we looked forward to our R & R vacation over the school spring break. Here are some of the highlights.

Amsterdam: 1 Historic Haus
Early morning arrival, cold weather (!), strolling the now-familiar canals, and... wonder of wonders...the grocery store. Stocked up on cherry tomatoes, yogurt, deli meat and cheese, baguettes, and drooled over just about everything else. Had a lovely visit to the Anne Frank House.

Bonn: 23 Castles
Stayed in long-time friend Laura's lovely flat in her lovely neighborhood while she chauffeured us and met every whim. Saw castles and monasteries, visited Rhineland, ate great food, drank great beer, and purchased all manner of crazy things like soccer shoes for Andrew and a sling for kiddo's arms. One of us cried when we had to leave Laura's cat behind (poor Andrew just loves those kitties!). We counted 23 castles on hilltops along the Rhine as we rode the train to the Frankfurt airport.

Florence: 500 Steps

Our "attic" room at a B&B afforded views of the famous Duomo created by Brunellsechi right outside our window... you just had to look down the street a bit. 500 steps from our B&B to the Duomo and a center of tourist-action. Also 500 steps up to the cupola...which was more like 1000 for Andrew since he had to carry the kid up most of the way. I did not anticipate how much I would freak out to have my naturally-reckless 5-yr-old jumping about the exterior cupola walkway----way high up there --- nor did I anticipate that she would freak out trying to get down those steep, steep, narrow, dark echo-y stairs (hmmm, maybe I should have). It didn't help that she couldn't hold on to the railing due to the casts. At the Uffizi I was really glad Andrew had taken art history in college - the child had a lot questions.

Rome: About 20 dead popes
We did not count them - the popes interred at St Peter's Basilica - because there was a serious concern that they would outnumber the German castles; simply not acceptable. The adults estimated and worked hard to convince the child the castles won. The Forum / Palatine Hill and Coliseum were predictably and amazingly impressive. We did not take a peek at St Paul's jail cell - apparently the catholic church has turned the formerly free jail-cell viewing into a multi-media event, considered to be irrelevant at best and offensive at worst (according to the all-knowing TripAdvisor).

Home: 1 ginormous traffic jam
It took us longer to take the taxi back to our house than any of the train rides or within-Europe flight. The traffic "flow" engendered by the inexplicably placed downtown Nairobi traffic circles and the brand-new roads that seem to have little concession to how cars get on and off them is mind-boggling. However, reaching our own little garden oasis and all 3 of us collapsing on our extremely comfortable and much-missed bed made me think... maybe home is where the mattress is!

Rough day

I don't know why I never considered the possibility of a broken bone in my kid. Because she's a girl, I guess. She climbs like a monkey but holds my hand going down stairs and doesn't attempt anything too daring unassisted.

But alas, I was sitting, having a little chat with another mom (rare!), our girls were playing, and a little slip off a little swing sent us into 7 hours of hospital time over 2 days, with a sleepless night in-between. The hospital visit - for fractures and not breaks, at least - entailed 5 exam rooms or specialists on 3 different floors and standing in the cashier line on at least 4 separate occasions (not including the pharmacy visit). We are tired.

While the process was daunting the docs were good. The kiddo has two casts, one of which allows her thumb and one finger to barely touch, the other doesn't allow her fingers to close at all. Somehow we've got to muddle through a thousand daily tasks that are now quite tricky. And the plane ride for our upcoming vacation. The poor kid says "I do not like these times!"

Our first boat safari

It was about 10 days ago now, but we took the car out to enjoy the new heavy-duty off-road struts and springs (standard options for regular old in-town driving). We ended up on a boat safari, mainly to see the hippos, like these guys:

We also got to see a kingfisher, swooping in for the (well-staged) kill. And I enjoyed these guys all in a row:

After, we had a picnic in a spot where giraffe had been munching earlier (note the artiste, struck by sudden inspiration, is about to abandon food in favor of crayons):

As we were leaving, we couldn't help but notice a little bit of a ruckus amongst the zebra and buffalo, in fact, the ruckus was such that we didn't think we should continue to drive:

After the stampede passed by, a few zebras left behind were quite literally belly-up, feet twitching in the air. Once we noticed the Kenya Wildlife Service rangers walking around, we ruled out the possibility of lions in the area and, naturally, got out to investigate. On rare occasions, I really love how the safety/lawsuit craziness that so permeates US culture has very little foothold here. We got the up close and personal view of KWS tranquilizing and moving these zebras to another locale:

When I made conversation with the other tourist couple in the photo above, I was especially glad there hadn't been a lion. That adventuresome couple are 85 years old if they are a day. They wouldn't have stood a chance with a lion. (Flash forward: I hope that's me and Andrew 50 years from now! On safari, that is, not facing down a lion.) A guy who had been horseback riding, from a nearby lodge, jumped in to help. Much like my dad at our local mechanic when he was here visiting, this is not an every-day developed world experience:

Let me tell you, that zebra was HEAVY. Makes me wonder how they manage the elephants.

Why my housekeeper thinks I'm crazy...

Our housekeeper: a kind and cheerful emissary from the real Kenya into our own little Pleasantville. She cleans like a fiend, as noted in a previous post, and we are really her first expat family. With this comes a world of intercultural exchange and misunderstanding. So the top 10 reasons my housekeeper thinks I'm crazy, mind you from her perspective:

10. My child colors, cuts, hole-punches, glues, folds, and proudly displays every scrap of paper she can get her hands on... and I'm OK with it.

9. We do not shove all furniture against the walls.

8. We keep a tennis ball in the guest room.

7. We keep our shoes inside.

6. We have all these things sitting near the bathroom sink that she is forced to push into the far corner every day to make it habitable.

5. I had her make pasta and hand-cut it instead of using the perfectly good cutter on the pasta machine.

4. We keep used coffee grounds and eggshells in a can on the kitchen counter, and she is not allowed to throw them away and wash out the can.

3. We are obsessed about making sure the trashcan, dishwasher, and washing machine are full before anything is done about them.

2. We eat cheese but not goat.

1. I had her cook fish in the toaster.