I keep wanting to say “It’s so good to be home!” but
considering this is one of over half-a-dozen places we have “lived” in the past
six months that doesn’t quite feel right. But it is so good to be together
again. Last week was one of the hardest of my life, (which is probably a good
indication of just how easy my life has been up to now). There is nothing like
watching your babies struggle though. Just like I was all jittery about our
physical safety only after we were a
thousand miles out of harm’s way when we evacuated North Africa over a year
ago, I was similarly sick with worry about Mary Katherine only after I felt
pretty confident she was going to be ok and could let down a little bit. Now I
think about that drive to the hospital and look on the nurse’s face when we got
there and just feel shaky inside. But we are all together again now, and all
healthy and moderately rested. To those of you who have been praying for our
family, thank you so very, very much.
We have spent the last two weeks in a house that is new to
us here in Nairobi. It belongs to some good friends of ours who also work in
North Africa, but travel back to Kenya as a family several times a year. They
were looking for someone to help cover rent and we were happy to spend some
time as a family in a place a little more private than where we were before.
It’s in a housing estate across town from where we usually stay and backs up to
the Nairobi National Gamepark. There is a treadmill upstairs which I have been
making good use of as I try to get rid of those last lovely pounds Mary
Katherine left me with. As I run I can see over the game park fence; a couple
of weeks ago I counted over 200 zebra strolling by only a few hundred feet
away, oblivious to the sprawling suburbia all around them. A sweet Rhodesian Ridgeback
named Uchie is part of the package and she has been quite hospitable. There is
satellite TV and Annabelle has been soaking up enough “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”
and “Charlie and Lola” to last her through a childhood in the boonies. (Bryan
has also gotten hooked on American Idol after years of mocking me for liking
it, but I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.)
However, as nice as playing house is right now, I still
haven’t completely relaxed into it. It’s on a side of town much less familiar
to me and harder to access by public transport. I haven’t gotten to know any of
the neighbors yet. And like in any house any where, there are sounds at night
that make me curious and uneasy for no good reason.
Perhaps part of the reason for my unease may have something
to do with the elections going on in this country right now. You may have seen something
about it on the news. Five years ago the presidential elections left over 1,000
people dead so people are understandably concerned this time around. And now
that results have been delayed for a second day, people are getting anxious.
We are traveling to Tanzania for branch meetings on Sunday,
a little bit later than we had planned on since the doctor didn’t want us to
travel with MaryKat for at least a week after she was discharged from the
hospital (and even that took a little bit of convincing). So we are just lying
low this week, catching up on piles of office work at home and keeping the TV
on the local news channel. But the week in the hospital put some of our
contingency planning on the back-burner so we had to make a quick trip out
yesterday to stock up on things like groceries, phone credit, gas and a few
extra US dollars just in case. Town was noticeably quiet. The grocery store was
picked over - there was no UHT milk or frozen food of any kind. A handful of us
rummaged through the left-over produce with polite urgency. Police with AK’s
strolled quietly down the aisles and a couple of soldiers nonchalantly bought
cigarettes from the cashier. Everyone seemed normal. But uneasy normal.
Every time my phone blinks out or the electricity cuts off I
give Bryan a dramatically ominous look, something I attribute to a childhood
spent planning for coups and crises that never actually took place. But as an
adult, an adult with a little more experience in political instability, and,
probably most importantly, an adult with babies, these things aren’t just
exciting now. Yes, my college roommates can rest assured I am still the crazy
girl who daydreams of dramatic escapes and harrowing get-aways that make great
stories years later over a cup of tea. That side of me exists I think to make
me well-suited for the life I feel like I have been called to lead.
But tonight, that side of me sleeps lightly next to the side
of me that checks the locks on the doors an extra time and prays for peace.
