Hello everyone,
Wanted to give you all a quick update on
our progress. We arrived in Kenya last Sunday after a rather
interesting flight. We flew business
class. Between
the movies, games, and seats, the kids had a great time. The
London-Nairobi flight was overbooked, so we were delayed
several
hours while several passengers & luggage were unloaded. At
last, we were on our way. However, about 3 -1/2 hours into the
flight,
the pilot announced that the weather radar was broken and
they did not want to land in the dark without it, so we were turning
back. So, 9
hours after we got on the plane, we got off
right back where we started. British Airways put us up in a
hotel, but as you can imagine,
bussing a 747 worth of passengers
with baggage to a hotel and getting them checked in was a bit
challenging. After we finally got our rooms,
we went up to
the rooms, only to find they were already occupied. Eventually we
found some unoccupied rooms and settled down for the night.
Make
up flight was not scheduled until 7 pm the next day, so we had a day
to spend in London. We called Ruma's cousin Dipu who lives near
Heathrow. They came and picked us up and then gave us a
tour of London. So it worked out well in the end, although
Malia ended up
getting sick in Dipu's car and both kids fell
asleep and missed alot of the tour. The make up flight was
luckily uneventful and we reached
Nairobi at about 7 AM on
Sunday. We were met at the airport by a staff member from the
Bank, who took us to our temporary lodgings, where we
are staying
until our house is available in September.
Turns out that's
not all that happened that weekend. We were originally due in
Nairobi on Friday night. The Bank staff member who came to pick
us up did not check on the status of the flight on Friday so he
came to the airport and by the time he found out the flight was not
coming in,
it was very late. So, he spent the night at the
Nairobi world bank office. That night, there was an electrical
fire in the building. George was able to put the fire out and call
the fire department but good thing he was there! So, I guess it
was OK that our flight was delayed.
It's cool here; days in
the high 60's to mid 70's. Nights are cold though. We
brought warm weather clothes during our pre-assignment trip in June
and stored them in the main bank office, but due to the fire, the
main bank building was closed for most of the first week. So,
we had to wear and re-wear the limited warm clothes we brought with
us until we finally got our stuff out. We had a little
celebration when we retrieved our clothes from storage.
Kids
started school on Wednesday at ISK (International School of Kenya).
It's in the outskirts of Nairobi, near Ruma's office. They are
both liking school quite a bit and have made some friends already.
Cara has a new buddy who lives close to where our permanent house
will be, so that's good. We've also made friends with an
Australian family. Jeni works with Ruma at the bank and has 2
kids at ISK as well.
On Saturday, someone from Ruma's office
got married and we were invited, our first african wedding. The
music was really great. Unfortunately, our video camera is
packed away in the sea shipment so I couldnt record it. On
Sunday, we saw Fiddler on the Roof at the Kenya National Theatre. We
all enjoyed it very much.
This week, the main bank office
re-opened, so we can begin the paperwork maze. Need to get
drivers license, bank accounts, etc. We're also car shopping so
that we dont have to take taxis everywhere and looking at Internet
service providers.
Havent called home yet because the phones
dont work yet in Ruma's office and it's VERY expensive from the
apartment we are staying. Once we have the house in September,
we can buy calling cards, which will be much cheaper. If the
Internet works out, we may be able to call for free. So, bear with us
a few more weeks and then we should be a bit more communicative.
Unfortunately, I lost some of my email addresses. There
are a number of cousins missing from the email. Please pass on
to anyone I missed who would like it and send me their addresses so I
can update my list.
Finally, we have a 3 day weekend coming
up in September so we are planning our first Safari. We are
hoping to go to the Masai Mara (e.g. the Serengeti). We'll let
you know how it goes.
That's all for now.
Kevin,
Ruma, Cara, and Malia