The rough with the smooth

As Expats living in Kenya there is a lot to enjoy. The country is amazing and varied. We have made some very good friends. The weather and space means we all get to spend loads of time outside in the sun - and I for one find that feeling healthy (ish) in body helps my state of mind. My life is made much easier by having a small army of people to help look after the kids, sort the house, drive us around, do the shopping and babysit. Tim and I have stimulating jobs that get us out and about round the region, meeting interesting people and learning a bit more about the place we live in. The kids are happy at school. And we all have full social lives with parties, good places to eat, swimming pools to splash in and weekends out of town.

We also get to do some pretty surreal things, like running round a garden with the Commonwealth baton and Kenyan Olympic legend Kip Keino. The premiership trophy appeared that night too.

I didn't take photos of last night's eating haggis, drinking whiskey, sitting with men in skirts (a girl's checked school skirt in the case of a Frenchman who thought it the next best thing to a kilt) or the Scottish country dancing in the middle of a Nairobi garden to celebrate the Scottish national poet. That would be an odd experience anywhere.

Feedback from a few mates suggests that I may have blogged a bit too much about the new, exciting, fun and interesting aspects of life here at the expense of incisive political observations. And I accept that it is insensitive to make too many references to the Indian Ocean when friends in the UK are suffering extreme flooding and friends in DC are snowed out. Thinking what to blog about next I do try and avoid too much "sunshine and swimming pools" but there is a bit of a cumulative effect showing more of the smooth of life than the rough.

The rough isn't of course as photogenic and it is not so good for talking about as a family - as I have learnt from the mix of inquisitive minds and one too many horrific world service Africa news item about genocide, war crimes and rape on the way into school. But just in case anyone is getting jealous of the tales of exotic animals, white Sandy beaches and outdoor living I thought I'd reflect briefly on some of the less positive aspects of our "Nairobbery" life. These of course came to World attention during Westgate. That was horrible and still impacts on how people feel about living and visiting here. But the underlying crime that gives Nairobi its nickname is a big thing too as is the Truly awful traffic which probably merits a blog all of its own.

The last week has really highlighted the contrast of rough and smooth for me. The weather is great just now - Nairobi at its best. People are being sociable after the Christmas break so alongside the Burns supper, I've been drinking mojitos at a friend's birthday and we are camping with friends this weekend. The kids are loving their hockey and have matches and school camps this weekend with much excitement. Pretty smooth.

But against that, this week we have an attempted terrorist attack at the airport (4 hours after I travelled through) and one of Matthew's friends was at a sleepover during an armed robbery at the house. He was threatened with an ak47. His mum was travelling (hence the sleepover) and it took the whole day for her to get back so he came and hung out with us for a bit after school. He and everyone else at the house is physically fine and over the scaletrix track he told Jamie all about it. He is 10. That is really really rough.

I worry that none of this feels unusual to me any more. After the airport incident Matthew just observed that it couldn't have been a lightbulb as the police were claiming because that wouldn't have blown up a bin. And Jamie and Matthew's first question on the robbery was to check with their friend if the guys had been armed. Those aren't things they even considered when we lived (and were burgled) in South west London. It is hard to convey the anxiety that incidents like this leave behind - expat life is good here but it certainly is not all sundowners on the veranda.



Anne