Family life

I've said in a previous blog that although the backdrop is very different, family life here is similar in many ways to our London life. Recent highlights include Katie finally mastering her bike - something I hadn't anticipated her doing on Nairobi roads;

Matthew narrating and racing round with an Olympic torch in his school show.

And Jamie thriving on a mass of competitive sport with success for his rugby and football team in local schools' tournaments.

Still to come is Katie's ballet show next week - she is one excited girl; an olympics themed sports day at school this Thursday - at least dressing as a sports star is relatively easy; a football tournament for Jamie; and Tim running his first half marathon this weekend in Lewa conservancy. There will definitely be photos of the first 3 but I've been warned that no one does Lewa and keeps their dignity so I might hold back on pics of our own marathon man.

Anne

C is for cocktail parties, conspiracy theories and car jacking

We have been getting out and about a bit in the last week or so. A friend celebrated his birthday last saturday with a "party like its 1982". A great evening despite some truly terrible music and many very wrong attempts to dress in the style of the day. They are leaving Nairobi in a few weeks so this was also a bit of an excuse to empty the drinks cabinet of those mysterious bottles that gather in the darker recesses. Blue curaçao - what is its purpose in life? As for advocat...Of course, we mainly drank coke in 1982 so Tim and I lived to party another day.

Our next social gathering was the Queen's Birthday Party at the High Commissioner's Residence this Thursday. A big celebration, privately sponsored (for those of you who worry about what your taxes go on) of UK/ Kenyan partnership with lots of Olympics and Jubilee references and the landrover used by the Queen here in 1952 in a very big marquee on a very big lawn. It was a fun, if slightly surreal evening where we both met lots of interesting people and also realised quite how many people we have already met, albeit from a very narrow spectrum of Nairobi society.

But life here is of course not all socialising, safaris and sunshine. The unexpected death of the interior minister and other senior officials in a helicopter crash last weekend has dominated the news. Conspiracy theories abound. The Minister, Professor Saitoti, was a longstanding politician who has survived under multiple Presidents - a relatively rare occurrence suggesting he was either very good or very influential or knew where the skeletons are buried. As former President Moi's deputy and Treasury Minister he was linked to (but never convicted of) a major fraud. And whilst in the UK I would discount almost all conspiracy theorists as unhinged, it does feel different here. That said, having spent nearly 4 months driving now, mechanical failure or pilot error would still be my best bet.

This week has also seen a friend of ours deal with the aftermath of being carjacked at gunpoint leaving their road in the relatively early evening. They weren't hurt but they were held for 5 hours or so (to give the guys a chance to take money from the atm before and after midnight so doubling their haul). Of course there have been numerous similar stories of crime since we arrived - it is a topic that comes up at virtually every social gathering we have been to including all the kids parties. But this is the first time it's happened to someone we know, and locally, leaving a slightly uneasy feeling. Doubt the afore mentioned landrover ever found itself in such a situation.


Anne

Moving in

After 3 months of getting to know Nairobi from the comfort of a serviced apartment we took the plunge and moved into our new home last weekend. Having picked up the keys last friday, we stalled moving in to the empty shell by heading off to the Rift Valley for a long Independence day weekend. Although obviously not a public holiday here, the jubilee celebration has had a fair amount of coverage partly because her maj was staying in the Masai Mara when she became queen, so it seemed fine to spend a weekend amongst the Zebra, gazelle and Rhino near Nakuru. It also meant we slept in comfy beds and ate good cooked food rather than camping out in our empty new home for too long. Tim took the boys on a mammoth drive in the national park. Matthew kept a list of their sightings and Katie and I were later talked through each one - black rhinos, lions and some great birds were the highlights but being allowed to "drive" the landrover on the way back to our camp trumped even that.

Batteries recharged, we headed back home and set up camp for the night. Everyone seemed very pleased to be in a bit more of a permanent base. And even more thrilled when our possessions arrived on Monday - I would like to claim credit for such slick organisational planning but the reality is that we were very very lucky! I've been immersed in boxes and cleaning and generally sorting stuff since. We still have a few boxes to go but we are nearly there, our hammocks are hanging in the mango tree, kids toys are scattered across the house, and a major backlog of washing is giving our home the feel of a Chinese laundry. Despite various attempts I have yet to succeed in getting us hooked up to the Internet or satellite tv. Luckily we have very nice neighbours with kids at the same school as ours and so we are able to enjoy Euro 2012, even if it means bilingual match analysis from the comfort of French and Belgian sofas.




Our new home is an old Nairobi house thats just been refurbished so it looks and feels quite shiny and very secure (which matters here) even if the plumbing and wiring are always going to be a bit flakey. The garden has just been replanted after all the building work and needs time, and a bit of love and attention to flourish and to turn the red mud lawn green. But even in a week we can see that the grass has grown and we all have plans for how we will develop it over the coming months. I sense that there will need to be some compromises as a major cricket net/football goal/ rugby posts is not entirely compatible with successful vegie growing or a peaceful, tranquil space away from the hubbub of central Nairobi. I will keep you posted. In the meantime here is Katie's tour for you.