Driven Crazy

We have rented a car to keep us moving while awaiting the arrival of ours from Japan. First non-embassy trek: the local market less than a mile away. A very easy trip, if you don't consider the crazy matatus zipping down the street; front-tire-swallowing potholes; curved, hilly, bi-directional roads that are - I swear - less than 2 lanes wide; and the occasional bicyclist or cart driver pulling impossibly wide heavy loads given their mode of transport. While driving is not stress-free, it's better than walking along the same road.

Additionally deterred from braving Nairobi traffic to see "animal stuff" by the fact that our GPS is still somewhere in the mail and we are not sure we could get both there and back, we headed the closest direction out of town and went to Hell's Gate National Park. After navigating a too-narrow, truck-clogged, matatu-ridden drive clinging to the edge of the Rift Valley wall, driving in and around the park was cake. The biggest challenge was this steep grade, rocky hill where we were met by shepherds sheep and goats, and an oncoming safari vehicle. Andrew handled it like a pro and I actually enjoyed it, except for worrying that our rental car tires would pop.

Pleasantville

It's weird how living among expats in a foreign country is in many ways more like being in America than it was being in America. Take the following:

1. Our neighborhood has nice sidewalks lined with flowering trees, a playground where all the kids gather, a pool and gathering spot

2. Neighbors always say hi or wave as we pass.

3. I walk my kid to school every day.

4. At first glance, there may be more Africans at our home church in Herndon, VA, than there are at our ex-pat dominated church here.

Websites that don't cooperate

Issue: All our kid-photos since day of baby's birth through age 4, as well as various vacations and remodeling projects, are stored and shared online from Kodak Gallery.

Obstacle: Kodak Gallery does not like my IP address, and won't let me access my own photos to make our annual kid-picture-filled cheesy calendar for the grandparents. Grrr...

Solution: Shutterfly! I realized after a friend posted her photos and oohing about how cute and big etc her kids were getting... I can actually SEE these photos! It's going to take me a while to catch up, though.

I know a lot of expats use a VPN, but I have a work-related VPN that only covers access to work related sites and servers, and it cannot work with other VPNs. Double grrr.

Other websites that are on the naughty list (I won't put links since I can't see them anyway):
Pottery Barn
Williams Sonoma
ABC (streaming video)
NBC (streaming video)

That video becomes really important when you don't have a TV, CD player, or even a clock radio!!

Sites that are internationally-friendly:
Crate and Barrel (they even ship all over Kingdom come!)
Amazon (a dear friend)
Kohl's

There are other online shopping sites that let us visit, but won't ship to a DPO address. Enter 3rd party shippers. That's a whole other hassle.

Safari Song

I always thought "going on safari" was a trek undertaken with ages of planning and executed with mysterious methods of communing with nature. We weren't here a week when an individual from the general expat community was impressing us with the sheer volume of safaris they had done. It turns out, you call a guy up (at least when you are car-less like us at the moment), and he comes and picks you up and takes you to see animals. It's a day trip. Or more, if you want.

Our first safari was this weekend to Lake Nakuru National Park. Holy flocks of flamingos, Batman, that was a lot of animals! As impressive as seeing them was hearing them, especially at the lake where the thousands of flamingos are softly honking, birds screech across the water, hundreds of pelican wings beat overhead, and winged critters of all kinds splash their wings against the surface.

On the way back we stopped in a downpour for some good old fashioned roadside nyama choma - grill-roasted meat. We had goat - a little tough but tasty. Our guide was impressed at how easily the 5-year old adapted to this foreign culture of eating with her hands. Yeah, she's a natural.

Big time birthday

I took the kiddo to a classmate's birthday party today. May I just say, whoa. Bounce house, clown, horse rides, bungee trampoline, puppet show, magic show, not to mention food, cake, candy, playground, presents, all in a tranquil but extremely difficult to find nursery school campus.

Pachyderms and Paintings

A colleague took us all to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to view the morning orphan elephant feeding. The elephants and their handlers are something else. Imagine living with a pachyderm, 24/7!

We then went for a lovely lunch at the Talisman. The food was nice and the setting was peaceful. We enjoyed watching a local painter recreate the restaurant on canvas.

Travel weary tyke

So a freshly-minted 5-year old on her way to Africa just won't go to sleep on the first leg of the flight - even on the red-eye. Who knew? She valiantly explored Amsterdam with us, and then collapsed as we've never seen her do. In the middle of the busy square where we paused, her head went down, eyes closed, and she was done! Andrew lugged her dead weight back to the train, and she was appropriately alert for the leg on to Africa the next morning.