Eight Weeks

 

Our Front yard. Now that the flowers are blooming, our yard is beautiful.

Another view of our front yard.

Our driveway with a view of the guard shack.

 Another view of our driveway with our garage.

 Our back yard.

Another view of our back yard.

This past Thursday marked the 8^th week we have been here in Kenya.  We are slowly adjusting.  Part of the adjustment is finding stores we like and products locally that we can eat and use.  The other part of adjustment is finding our rhythm amid the different rhythm of our new home.  I think that last part is the hardest.  It is slowly coming, though. 

I found a green grocer a week or so back that made me excited – almost giddy – when I went inside.  I had been sorely disappointed in the fruit and vegetable options here until I went to that store.  Not only are there more offerings but what they have is superior in quality to what I found in the regular grocery store.  The store is located in a mall that is more of a labyrinth than anything else.  I feel like I find a new treasure every time I go there.  In the US, I really hate the mall but here it is my connection to the outside somehow.

Finding a rhythm for our life has been much easier since the kids entered school.  School always helps to focus our family and gives us opportunities to reach out to others.  AJP and BLP are involved in a number of after school activities that they really love.  They both joined the swim team which practices twice a week.  BLP wasn’t so sure what she thought in the beginning but loves it now.  She participated in her first meet yesterday.  Look for a guest blogger post with her thoughts on it.  AJP loved swimming from the start and now reports that he is the fastest swimmer in the freestyle.  He has his first meet next Saturday.  BLP joined Girl Scouts and had her first meeting this past Wednesday.  AJP’s first Cub Scout meeting was Saturday.  He is also on a Saturday soccer team and was chosen to be on the travelling team as well.  He went to a tournament on Saturday and plans a guest blogger post about it.  He rounds out his activities with a graphic design class after school.  BLP rounds her week out with a knitting class after school.  After all these activities, they spend the evening on homework.  This means no time for TV which makes me happy.  All in all, they are both busy but happy and that makes me very happy.  

I spend most of my day caring for AQP.  I feel lucky to have help that will let me focus on her and not be stressed about a dirty house or picking up the older kids.  When I am playing with her, I can be fully present.  It is a really nice blessing. When I am not directly caring for AQP, I am managing the house.  It is a lot of work here to grocery shop and to manage our employees.  Sometimes at night, I think back on my day and find that it was busy with so many different tasks that I can’t remember them all.  

A great blessing is that JTP loves his job.  He leaves as we are all getting up and gets home for dinner.  He often has calls or works directly on Saturday.  He is great about getting everything done so that Sunday is free.  He is happy which makes us all happy.  

I suppose the crazy part about trying to get a rhythm in a new place is that it comes so slowly that when we look back, we see that our life has had a nice steady beat to it for a while.  That usually happens to us about the time we are assigned to a new post and have to start planning for a place with another rhythm entirely.