Life in Dar: July 15, 2009

We've been back in Kenya for a week now. Last week the weather was very gray and cold - I had forgotten how cold it actually gets here in "winter". Maybe because I was pregnant last year my hormones masked the chill! But this weekend the weather was lovely and has continued to get nicer and nicer. Yesterday at my mom's group it was actually hot out and we were all confused. Of course we are happy to enjoy good weather, but it is supposed to be winter now so what does this say about climate changes in Kenya? Right now the country is experiencing extreme drought and food shortages in several parts and, because the long rains failed earlier this year, there will not be much of a harvest next month which will drive the country into an even deeper food crisis. Kristoffer says that the WFP Country Director is even more concerned about this than usual.

Kristoffer has adjusted happily back to work; he is always busy and is always taking on new projects. I am sure this endears him to his superiors and keeps him energized too. Over the weekend he took Gert & Kitte to climb Mt. Longonot (Kristoffer's 4th or 5th hike up and around this volcano) and they had a great time. On Sunday we went to church together, we visited the By Grace Orphanage, we took them to see baby elephants at the elephant orphanage, and we went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. It was an action-packed weekend and, as usual, Grace was a great sport through it all. On Monday I brought Gert & Kitte to the local musuem of modern art and to the City Park where you can feed the monkeys. One of the monkeys stole Grace's binky (sut/pacifier) out of her stroller! I think they had a great couple of weeks in Kenya and they went back to Denmark yesterday.

Grace and I had a good time with our group yesterday. One mom brought a 16-day old baby and I thought she was the tiniest thing I have ever seen. Then the mom said that she was the exact same size as Grace at birth! Could it be that I have already forgotten?! All of the other babies were older than Grace yesterday - like in the 6-8 month range - so I got a closer look at what to expect in a couple of months. Most of the conversations revolved around starting solid foods, baby eating habits, and sleep schedules. I think all of these women will be great help to me when we start Grace on solid foods at 6 months. I'm hoping she will start sleeping through the night by then too. Before we went away she was doing much longer stretches than she has been doing the last month. Some of the moms think it could be because of all the changes, traveling, time adjustment...she does need to eat but maybe she needs to nurse for stability and comfort too. Unfortunately, that isn't going to change anytime soon because we leave for Barcelona a week from Saturday!

Oh yeah...about visiting By Grace! The children had never seen a mzungu (white) baby before and they were enthralled. They all wanted to touch her; I kept her in the Bjorn and let them touch her feet and hands (which I promptly scrubbed when we left because really the children and the orphanage are so, so dirty). Gert & Kitte were overwhelmed, as our previous guests have been. Seeing pictures of By Grace is one thing, but being there in person is quite another. We were able to give them some donations - from Gert & Kitte, my parents' friends Dave & Linda Pender, and my Aunt Judy. She said it was the first money they had received since Kristoffer brought other donations in April. We also learned that they haven't received WFP for the children yet, even though they were supposed to start receiving food in January. It appears that there is a problem with one of the agencies that WFP works with to distribute food and they haven't given any to By Grace yet. Kristoffer is investigating this matter at work, because they desperately need the aid.

As for me, I'm a bit tired but pretty good. Today is the first day in a long time where Grace and I have been home alone to do NOTHING and it feels really nice. I am having a little trouble getting used to our staff again. Well Charles, our driver, is fine. He is expecting the birth of his second child any day now. But Ida...oh Ida. Right before we went on vacation she and I had a sort of confrontation, and after that I felt we made some progress and things were getting better. But now it is as if we are starting over from scratch. There has been so much miscommunication between us in the last week that I am going a little crazy. For example, yesterday I was going out and asked her, "Ida, is there anything you need in the house for the rest of the week?" and she said, "No." I said, "Are you sure there is nothing? Because I am not going to the store tomorrow, " and she said, "No, we don't need anything." Great. Until this morning when she tells me that she can't do laundry because we have no detergent. I said, "Why didn't you tell me when I asked you yesterday?" to which she replied, "Because you seemed so busy." Kitte summed this up nicely when she was here: we are speaking two different languages even though we both talk in English!

I realize that this is a very small example and might not seem that annoying, but we have several similar conversations or experiences every day and it is actually very annoying time and time again. Kristoffer feels that it is just because she hasn't been working for the 5 weeks we were gone and that with a little more time things will be back to where they were before we left. I guess we will see.

Here are a few recent pictures:

Grace loved to play with Kitte!