That was the week (or two) that was

It has been a long couple of weeks here absorbing the impact of the terrible attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. And I haven't quite known how to blog about it. I know I'm not alone with this. Having a much needed relaxing lunch with some mates a week after the attack, the three bloggers amongst us compared notes on how to begin. None of us knew. We opted instead to go back to our rose tasting and help our friend choose her party supplies. Much safer ground.

The attack itself stirred up all sorts of emotions for us all - i found a good article in The New York Times which summed it up pretty well for me. The Mall is about 10 minutes from where we live. We didn't go there every weekend - as a very good friend messaged on the day of the attack, she assumed my loathing for shopping meant we were safe. But we had been there a lot the previous saturday and it housed one of our favourite places to eat as a family. These facts were not lost on Jamie or pretty much everyone we know in Nairobi - this attack was far too close to home. But we are safe and whilst we know people who were there and who lost friends, our experience of the attack was an indirect one.

The last few weeks have also highlighted what good friends we have around the world, with loads of people getting in touch to check we were OK. I'm a late arrival to Facebook and mainly use it to post updates on our work community page or to stalk my friends and show through an occasional comment or well placed "like" that we are thinking of them. When news of the attack broke (and at that point it wasn't clear if it was a police shoot out with criminals - an almost weekly occurrence here - or something terrorist) I dropped a quick email to family to say we were safe. But my later very short timeline update reached so many people so quickly that I'm properly converted. Not convinced that will translate into a fuller timeline or more effective posting but I suspect I understand the social media angle to things like the Arab spring a tiny bit better than before. And it may take the kids a week or two more to be ahead of me in their digital footprint.

And we have benefitted from a real sense of community in Nairobi with our newer found friends here. Tim worked from home for a few days and was not the only parent spending much more time in the playground than the usual drop and dash. The kids definitely needed it alongside the usual routine of school. School was great, with lots of pre-existing emergency planning coming into play and carefully tailored sessions for each age group. And there has been plenty of coffee and popping in on neighbours and just listening to each other over the last few weeks. There's been the odd mojito and glass of wine too for the grown ups and a few treat DVD evenings for the kids, and a fundraising run at the weekend, all of which are helping life return to a more normal pace. And means next week I will be back to blogging about animals and beaches and life's little routines.


Anne