Even though I am baby-obsessed these days and, therefore, my blogs are all about getting ready for Simba, I do acknowledge that there has been some really interesting news in Kenya lately that I'd like to share. Here are what I would classify as today's top 4 news stories (or at least the four stories that I talk to our driver, Charles, about the most when we are in the car):
1. Teacher's strike: Public school teachers in Kenya have up until now made very little money (I believe around $130 (US) per month), particularly compared to other employees of the government. It is important to remember that in many schools in the country there are up to or more than 60 students in a classroom with a lack of textbooks and teaching materials and other poor conditions, so it is not like these teachers have an easy job. Occasionally they threaten to go on strike, or actually do, but very little seems to ever improve between the government and the teacher's union. Starting last week, the teachers went on strike again - or at least many of them did...in some parts of the country the strike never actually materialized - and today the government and the teacher's union came to an agreement that teachers will accept. While I don't know the actual time frame, teachers' salaries will be increased in three phases with the first and second phases seeing increases of 40% and the third phase increasing by 20%. It is good for the country to get its education system back on track (or at least not shut down), because of course students are hurt the most by teacher strikes in any country, and I hope that this is a sign of progress with the government showing more respect to the teachers it employs.
2. Big Fire Downtown: In the city center yesterday afternoon, a fire started in one of the large Nakumatt grocery stores (which I have written about before, but this one is not one that we ever go to). Apparently the whole street had experienced a power outage and the store was operating on its generator. When the regular power was restored and the generator turned off for the regular electricity, there was some kind of explosion that ignited the fire, which spread quickly. Initially, it was believed that only 4 people were injured and nobody was killed, but 24 hours later there were 34 people still reported missing from that store and it is likely that they didn't make it out. Hundreds of people were evacuated and traffic is STILL (literally) backed up on the highway because they had to close a major road. One of the flaws of the city's government that is highlighted here is their lack of preparedness to handle such a serious fire: the fire department could not maintain the fire on its own and relied on the help of several private security companies as well as the military to get it under control. Currently in Kenya, Members of Parliament do not pay taxes on all of their non-salary allowances (homes, cars, entertainment, etc.) which amounts to a LOT of money and which I find to be a horrible crime. I loved reading in the paper today several letters that noted if MPs were paying taxes on all of their income then maybe the city could afford a larger, more effective and efficient fire brigade Oh yeah.
3. Local Tribunal Court: Towards the end of last year, an independent commission that studied the events of post-election violence handed over to the panel of prominent African leaders (headed by Kofi Annan) a list of suspected Kenyan leaders - specifically six high-level government Ministers and five Members of Parliament - who were involved in planning or financing the violence that took place. Kenya has been sentenced to conduct its own local tribunal to determine the guilt or innocence of these 11 politicians so that they can be held responsible if they were involved. If they don't legally establish this tribunal by next week I believe (or maybe it is tomorrow?!?!), then the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague (the Netherlands) will hold its own tribunal and Kenya's "dirty laundry", so to speak, will be aired for the whole world to see and judge. There is increasing pressure from several prominent politicians that Kenya needs to hurry up and establish the local tribunal to save the country this public embarrassment, particularly because a Kenyan judge was recently appointed over 19 candidates to sit on the ICC at the Hague. Hopefully the country will amend its laws so that the tribunal can be set up before the deadline. It will help the country heal, I believe, to get this over and not drag it on for years.
4. Maize Scandal: Basically, the country is experiencing an extreme food shortage right now, so much so that the week we came back to Kenya the President declared a state of emergency because 10 million people were/are at risk of starvation. Much of this is because of drought and failed rains, some of this is because of the shortage of crops that were planted last year due to the post-election violence, and some of this is because of allegedly corrupt policies and practices between some government officials and local maize millers and farmers. It is an extremely complicated issue and I am not the authority on it by any means (Kristoffer has much more inside knowledge given his work with the WFP) but what I do find VERY interesting is that one of the MPs who is believed to be involved in this maize corruption scandal is the Minister of Agriculture, who is also suspected to be one of the names on the secret list of politicians accused of being involved in planning or financing last year's post-election violence (see #3 above). I have written this before: we are not fans of his. It will be very interesting to see what happens here.
So you see, the news in Kenya does not entirely (or even partially) revolve around Simba's impending birth. Clearly his or her entrance into the world will be the biggest news story of our year, but the rest of the country might find that some of these other stories take precedent.
LMW
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
January 28, 2009 - Baby Doctor Round 2
Before delving into the details of the doctors, I have to say that last night's lamaze class was much better than the first class. There was still a lot of the mid-wife asking questions that most people felt too uncomfortable to answer aloud, but this week's mid-wife was much better than last week's. The whole class was about the three stages of labor (pre-pushing, that is), what mothers might feel physically and emotionally, what both the mother's body and the baby's body are doing during labor, how partners can help mothers, when to go to the hospital, etc. In other words, it was about "game day" details which is what we have been looking for, and it did include a lot of useful and new information. The two hours went by pretty quickly and, even though we were so tired before the class that we really didn't want to go, we were happy we did. There were only two moments of minor panic for me and Kristoffer:
1. The mid-wife said that it is "safe for the baby" if labor begins any time after 36 weeks...at which point we both looked at each other and said, "that's next week!" A few of the other couples noted our reaction and thought it was a little bit funny...they, of course, are only at 23 weeks right now. I think at 38 weeks we will be ready, but next week might be pushing it a bit for us!
2. The mid-wife also said that we won't be discussing pain management options until the 5th class (3 more weeks!) and should the above come true (labor shortly after 36 weeks) we wouldn't make it to that class! The mid-wife agreed to bring us the notes from the pain management class next week so that we can have them ahead of time and use them to complete our birth plan. We are hoping to get to the 5th class anyway!
So, lamaze class for the week: check. And today I interviewed two more pediatricians. I have to admit, I liked them both for different reasons and looking at all three doctors had anticipated a much clearer "winner", thinking that I would find one doctor I instinctively liked the best, rather than 3 doctors with different yet equally redeeming good qualities. Of course tonight I will spill all of the details to Kristoffer - my pros and cons of each doctor - and see if he will weigh in on the decision, but at the end of the day good old medical insurance might help make the decision for us because I don't believe all three of them participate in our insurance company (which I just discovered this afternoon). If that is the case, then it is good to feel comfortable with any of the three. Generally, I do think this hospital provides good care and that all three doctors were of very high quality and standards.
Today I also ordered custom-sized mattresses for Simba's cradle and crib, which is another thing to check off the list, but am still hunting for some key baby supplies, such as a changing table pad and sheets for the new mattresses (I think I'll have to go custom on those too but haven't figured out where I can do that yet). It is a good thing I am not working full time because I have a lot more things to do than I thought I would. At the same time, I am still doing a little bit of work for UNICEF to wrap up something from last year...but I have to admit that my heart is not really in it at all and I can't wait for it to be over.
To get back to lamaze class for a minute, the reason I was so tired before going last night is because I am not sleeping well at all anymore and on Monday night I really only caught 4 1/2 hours of solid sleep. My sister would tell me that my body is getting me ready for sleepless nights with a newborn (which I think is a raw deal...I should be allowed to get as much sleep as possible pre-newborn, right?), which might be true, but that doesn't make it anymore fun! Last night, for example, I woke up every hour on the hour to go to the bathroom for 6 straight hours in a row. I have been used to 2 or 3 bathroom trips a night for the entire pregnancy, but last night reached a new high, "even for you", as Kristoffer said to me this morning. I basically give up on sleeping between 6 and 7 in the morning, but by 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon (right about now, actually) I am desperately in need of a nap.
In fact, I think that about wraps up this blog and I will take a nap right now.
LMW
1. The mid-wife said that it is "safe for the baby" if labor begins any time after 36 weeks...at which point we both looked at each other and said, "that's next week!" A few of the other couples noted our reaction and thought it was a little bit funny...they, of course, are only at 23 weeks right now. I think at 38 weeks we will be ready, but next week might be pushing it a bit for us!
2. The mid-wife also said that we won't be discussing pain management options until the 5th class (3 more weeks!) and should the above come true (labor shortly after 36 weeks) we wouldn't make it to that class! The mid-wife agreed to bring us the notes from the pain management class next week so that we can have them ahead of time and use them to complete our birth plan. We are hoping to get to the 5th class anyway!
So, lamaze class for the week: check. And today I interviewed two more pediatricians. I have to admit, I liked them both for different reasons and looking at all three doctors had anticipated a much clearer "winner", thinking that I would find one doctor I instinctively liked the best, rather than 3 doctors with different yet equally redeeming good qualities. Of course tonight I will spill all of the details to Kristoffer - my pros and cons of each doctor - and see if he will weigh in on the decision, but at the end of the day good old medical insurance might help make the decision for us because I don't believe all three of them participate in our insurance company (which I just discovered this afternoon). If that is the case, then it is good to feel comfortable with any of the three. Generally, I do think this hospital provides good care and that all three doctors were of very high quality and standards.
Today I also ordered custom-sized mattresses for Simba's cradle and crib, which is another thing to check off the list, but am still hunting for some key baby supplies, such as a changing table pad and sheets for the new mattresses (I think I'll have to go custom on those too but haven't figured out where I can do that yet). It is a good thing I am not working full time because I have a lot more things to do than I thought I would. At the same time, I am still doing a little bit of work for UNICEF to wrap up something from last year...but I have to admit that my heart is not really in it at all and I can't wait for it to be over.
To get back to lamaze class for a minute, the reason I was so tired before going last night is because I am not sleeping well at all anymore and on Monday night I really only caught 4 1/2 hours of solid sleep. My sister would tell me that my body is getting me ready for sleepless nights with a newborn (which I think is a raw deal...I should be allowed to get as much sleep as possible pre-newborn, right?), which might be true, but that doesn't make it anymore fun! Last night, for example, I woke up every hour on the hour to go to the bathroom for 6 straight hours in a row. I have been used to 2 or 3 bathroom trips a night for the entire pregnancy, but last night reached a new high, "even for you", as Kristoffer said to me this morning. I basically give up on sleeping between 6 and 7 in the morning, but by 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon (right about now, actually) I am desperately in need of a nap.
In fact, I think that about wraps up this blog and I will take a nap right now.
LMW
Monday, January 26, 2009
January 26, 2009 - Baby Doctor Round 1
Simba is doing somersaults these days - I don't think s/he can figure out which way to settle, so sometimes his/her head is up and sometimes it is down. I am hoping that one of these days s/he will stop flipping, pick a spot and stay put (preferably head down) because the gymnastics are not so comfortable for me. It is getting harder for me to sleep long stretches at night without having to rotate my own position and, of course, go to the bathroom. Good news is that my leg cramps are a lot better, even if the rest of me is more uncomfortable. We have another checkup this week on Friday afternoon with my doctor.
To keep up with the active little one, I began my search for a pediatrician today. I had two appointments, but one of them was cancelled because the doctor was too busy with sick babies to meet with me. I can certainly appreciate that the babies are more important than a list-full-of-questions-bearing-potential-future-patient's mother. So I will meet that doctor and a third doctor on Wednesday morning. From three interviews, I hope to find one doctor that is a good fit for us.
The doctor I did meet with today was very nice; she reminded me a lot of my obstetrician in that she is very calm and relaxed and answers questions very thoroughly. Her medical training took place in Russia, actually, and she did her internship at our hospital here in Nairobi. She has been a practicing pediatrician for 14 years and in private practice for about 5 years. While she is a general pediatrician, she is currently doing a fellowship for a sub-specialty in pediatric endocrinology. She easily and comfortably answered all of my questions about the baby traveling, vaccinations, making appointments, etc. and she also said that she appreciates when parents come with their questions written down because it usually makes the parents calmer and appointments go smoother. I was happy that she wasn't turned off by my polite grilling! The only hitch with her is that for her fellowship she will have limited office hours in May, June and July and I am not sure that I am very comfortable only having access to her in the evenings and on Saturdays. Of course, we will also be away for the month of June so maybe it isn't that big of a deal. As much as I liked her, I am happy that I will have two other doctors to whom I can compare her before deciding.
Kristoffer and the guys had a great climb up and around Mt. Longonot yesterday and I had a girls day with my friend Stephanie. All is well in Nairobi - despite the immense afternoon heat - and I am now in my 35th week of pregnancy. I can't even express how excited I am getting to meet Simba!
LMW
To keep up with the active little one, I began my search for a pediatrician today. I had two appointments, but one of them was cancelled because the doctor was too busy with sick babies to meet with me. I can certainly appreciate that the babies are more important than a list-full-of-questions-bearing-potential-future-patient's mother. So I will meet that doctor and a third doctor on Wednesday morning. From three interviews, I hope to find one doctor that is a good fit for us.
The doctor I did meet with today was very nice; she reminded me a lot of my obstetrician in that she is very calm and relaxed and answers questions very thoroughly. Her medical training took place in Russia, actually, and she did her internship at our hospital here in Nairobi. She has been a practicing pediatrician for 14 years and in private practice for about 5 years. While she is a general pediatrician, she is currently doing a fellowship for a sub-specialty in pediatric endocrinology. She easily and comfortably answered all of my questions about the baby traveling, vaccinations, making appointments, etc. and she also said that she appreciates when parents come with their questions written down because it usually makes the parents calmer and appointments go smoother. I was happy that she wasn't turned off by my polite grilling! The only hitch with her is that for her fellowship she will have limited office hours in May, June and July and I am not sure that I am very comfortable only having access to her in the evenings and on Saturdays. Of course, we will also be away for the month of June so maybe it isn't that big of a deal. As much as I liked her, I am happy that I will have two other doctors to whom I can compare her before deciding.
Kristoffer and the guys had a great climb up and around Mt. Longonot yesterday and I had a girls day with my friend Stephanie. All is well in Nairobi - despite the immense afternoon heat - and I am now in my 35th week of pregnancy. I can't even express how excited I am getting to meet Simba!
LMW
Saturday, January 24, 2009
January 24, 2009 - Happy Birthday, Pops!
FIrst, Simba would like to wish his/her "Pops" (my dad) a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today. Simba is really hoping that Pops and Nene will get here in time for his/her actual day of birth - which is expected exactly 6 weeks from day (a few days earlier than that would be OK by me).
The baby furniture did arrive yesterday ON TIME, which is the first time such a thing has ever happened in Kenya's history...or maybe just in our history in Kenya. We really like it and now I have all kinds of small projects I want to do to organize/decorate the nursery. I feel like every day I organize or reorganize something...how much longer can this go on?! Even Kristoffer was as happy as I was when he saw the furniture in the room and last night he was like, "do you wanna go hang out in the baby's room?" Unfortunately, with the baby's room missing its key ingredient (eh hem...the BABY!) it is not that fun to just "hang out" in there...although Simba already has a lot of great books and toys to read and play with!
Last night two friends from Denmark - Stig and Steffan - arrived to visit for two weeks. They will go to the Masai Mara this week and next week will climb Mt. Kenya. It is fun to have visitors; Kristoffer was very giddy when he picked them up at the airport at 11:30 last night. Today we are going to take them to visit the By Grace Orphanage and will also give the orphanage some donations that people gave us when we were home in the US and DK. Tomorrow the guys will climb Mt. Longonot - Kristoffer's favorite thing to do with visitors...this will be at least his 4th time climbing the volcano!
Those are our weekend plans...hope yours is a good one!
LMW
The baby furniture did arrive yesterday ON TIME, which is the first time such a thing has ever happened in Kenya's history...or maybe just in our history in Kenya. We really like it and now I have all kinds of small projects I want to do to organize/decorate the nursery. I feel like every day I organize or reorganize something...how much longer can this go on?! Even Kristoffer was as happy as I was when he saw the furniture in the room and last night he was like, "do you wanna go hang out in the baby's room?" Unfortunately, with the baby's room missing its key ingredient (eh hem...the BABY!) it is not that fun to just "hang out" in there...although Simba already has a lot of great books and toys to read and play with!
Last night two friends from Denmark - Stig and Steffan - arrived to visit for two weeks. They will go to the Masai Mara this week and next week will climb Mt. Kenya. It is fun to have visitors; Kristoffer was very giddy when he picked them up at the airport at 11:30 last night. Today we are going to take them to visit the By Grace Orphanage and will also give the orphanage some donations that people gave us when we were home in the US and DK. Tomorrow the guys will climb Mt. Longonot - Kristoffer's favorite thing to do with visitors...this will be at least his 4th time climbing the volcano!
Those are our weekend plans...hope yours is a good one!
LMW
Thursday, January 22, 2009
January 22, 2008 - One Step Closer
Today we took the plunge and bought some high-quality-yet-extremely-overpriced-because-it-is-imported-from-South-Africa baby furniture, specifically a crib and a changing table, and they will be delivered tomorrow or Monday. This is what we bought:
I also went to a UN spouse club meeting today for the first time since last March. All of the women in the club are in agreement with the majority of our blog poll-takers so far in that they are convinced that Simba is a boy (there are several women in the club from Indonesia, India, and Malaysia and apparently these women have extremely accurate instincts about these matters). I am trying once again to initiate a book club with the group, which may not be the smartest undertaking just before having a baby, but in the meantime I am doing a lot of reading so I figured there is no harm in trying again.
Anyway, it is good news that we are one step closer to having an official baby nursery in our house, and of course our surprise find last weekend of a rocking chair makes it even better. My increasing nesting instincts are very pleased.
LMW
I also went to a UN spouse club meeting today for the first time since last March. All of the women in the club are in agreement with the majority of our blog poll-takers so far in that they are convinced that Simba is a boy (there are several women in the club from Indonesia, India, and Malaysia and apparently these women have extremely accurate instincts about these matters). I am trying once again to initiate a book club with the group, which may not be the smartest undertaking just before having a baby, but in the meantime I am doing a lot of reading so I figured there is no harm in trying again.
Anyway, it is good news that we are one step closer to having an official baby nursery in our house, and of course our surprise find last weekend of a rocking chair makes it even better. My increasing nesting instincts are very pleased.
LMW
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
January 21, 2009 - Teachers Make Bad Students
Last night Kristoffer and I attended our first of six childbirth (aka lamaze) classes. We should have predicted that the class - supposedly from 6-8 pm at the hospital - would have started on African time (approximately 30 minutes late) but we were so anxious because we planned to dash out a few minutes early to get to a television in time to watch Obama's inauguration live. We definitely started off a little irritated that it took so long for the class to begin.
Once it started, we were with about 10 other couples, all of us in our first pregnancies. The facilitators of the class were two mid-wives at the hospital. It is fair to say that Kristoffer and I were both underwhelmed, because most of the class discussed things that we have already gone through and experienced in addition to the fact that the lead mid-wife was very slow and everything she talked about could have been condensed to about 30 minutes total. People were very shy to talk and there wasn't a lot done to encourage trust and sharing. As a teacher by training, I don't do that well sitting in a class that I think is being taught poorly because I just think of all the things I would be doing to engage my students instead of the topic at hand.
We are definitely farther along in our pregnancy than anyone else in the class; most people are around 28 weeks and I am in my 34th week. The facilitators were like, "You should be taking a weekend crash course! You might not make it through all 6 of these classes!" That is very true, but I had previously been told that there were no upcoming weekend classes. Last night they said that this coming weekend there is a class, but we have friends coming from Denmark and Kristoffer would not be able to attend the class with me if I chose to do it (which defeats part of the purpose: for partners to learn how to support mothers during labor and delivery!).
So class started 30 minutes late, after 45 minutes there was a 20 minute tea/snack break (it is nice that the hospital provided snacks and beverages) and then it was almost 7:45pm which is when we planned to make our exit. We hung on a few minutes longer as the mid-wife talked about some possible solutions to aches and pains we might be feeling (note: I pretty much had every pregnancy symptom she described so she got the impression that I was really suffering in my pregnancy, but that is not true. I have probably had very mild versions of every symptom and because I am farther along than everyone else in the class I have already experienced more third trimester symptoms than the rest of them). I suppose because we have done a lot of reading throughout the pregnancy we didn't feel there was much new information at all. We finally snuck out at about 7:55pm and we aren't sure what the last minutes of class entailed or how long class actually went!
But we did arrive at our friend Stephanie's in time to hear President Obama's inaugural speech live in its entirety. We had missed his taking of the oath by just two minutes...which is too bad because in the replay it seems that he was pretty giddy as Justice Roberts messed up his lines! While we were not as overcome with emotion as we had been on election night and when he gave his victory speech, we thought his speech was pretty amazing, we were totally jealous of everyone in Washington, DC (because we used to live SOOOO close to the Capitol!), and we were so happy for the change in American leadership. It was an incredible night (save for Ted Kennedy's seizure, that is). We did not stay up for coverage of the parade or any of the inaugural balls, but I am getting caught up on all of that on CNN this morning. We did stay up much later than we usually do and I even slept in one hour later this morning as a result (until 8:00 am - wow!).
Right now, we have high hopes for the future of America and the world, and we have mediocre hopes that our next childbirth classes will be a little bit more engaging and informative than last night's class.
LMW
Once it started, we were with about 10 other couples, all of us in our first pregnancies. The facilitators of the class were two mid-wives at the hospital. It is fair to say that Kristoffer and I were both underwhelmed, because most of the class discussed things that we have already gone through and experienced in addition to the fact that the lead mid-wife was very slow and everything she talked about could have been condensed to about 30 minutes total. People were very shy to talk and there wasn't a lot done to encourage trust and sharing. As a teacher by training, I don't do that well sitting in a class that I think is being taught poorly because I just think of all the things I would be doing to engage my students instead of the topic at hand.
We are definitely farther along in our pregnancy than anyone else in the class; most people are around 28 weeks and I am in my 34th week. The facilitators were like, "You should be taking a weekend crash course! You might not make it through all 6 of these classes!" That is very true, but I had previously been told that there were no upcoming weekend classes. Last night they said that this coming weekend there is a class, but we have friends coming from Denmark and Kristoffer would not be able to attend the class with me if I chose to do it (which defeats part of the purpose: for partners to learn how to support mothers during labor and delivery!).
So class started 30 minutes late, after 45 minutes there was a 20 minute tea/snack break (it is nice that the hospital provided snacks and beverages) and then it was almost 7:45pm which is when we planned to make our exit. We hung on a few minutes longer as the mid-wife talked about some possible solutions to aches and pains we might be feeling (note: I pretty much had every pregnancy symptom she described so she got the impression that I was really suffering in my pregnancy, but that is not true. I have probably had very mild versions of every symptom and because I am farther along than everyone else in the class I have already experienced more third trimester symptoms than the rest of them). I suppose because we have done a lot of reading throughout the pregnancy we didn't feel there was much new information at all. We finally snuck out at about 7:55pm and we aren't sure what the last minutes of class entailed or how long class actually went!
But we did arrive at our friend Stephanie's in time to hear President Obama's inaugural speech live in its entirety. We had missed his taking of the oath by just two minutes...which is too bad because in the replay it seems that he was pretty giddy as Justice Roberts messed up his lines! While we were not as overcome with emotion as we had been on election night and when he gave his victory speech, we thought his speech was pretty amazing, we were totally jealous of everyone in Washington, DC (because we used to live SOOOO close to the Capitol!), and we were so happy for the change in American leadership. It was an incredible night (save for Ted Kennedy's seizure, that is). We did not stay up for coverage of the parade or any of the inaugural balls, but I am getting caught up on all of that on CNN this morning. We did stay up much later than we usually do and I even slept in one hour later this morning as a result (until 8:00 am - wow!).
Right now, we have high hopes for the future of America and the world, and we have mediocre hopes that our next childbirth classes will be a little bit more engaging and informative than last night's class.
LMW
Sunday, January 18, 2009
January 18, 2009 - Lion or Lioness?
To the left, we have set up a poll to see what people think Simba's sex is. Cast your vote for "a lion" if you think Simba is a boy or for a "lioness" if you think Simba is a girl! We'll give you until Valentine's Day (February 14th) to make up your mind, which is 3 weeks before Simba is due. Feel free to look through our blog pictures to see how I am carrying if you think you know the appropriate old wives tale for telling that way!
Happy voting!
LMW
Happy voting!
LMW
Saturday, January 17, 2009
January 17, 2009 - 33 weeks down, 7 weeks to go
Today I am 33 full weeks pregnant and feel that I have earned every single one of those weeks! Yesterday we saw my doctor and had a great visit. We told her all about our travels, my doctor's appointments in the US, and current pregnancy symptoms. We also went over this week's ultrasound - sorry, the pictures are really not that fun.
Sometime between Thursday night and Friday afternoon, Simba did turn to get him/herself in position for birth because at my appointment yesterday the doctor could clearly feel that the baby is no longer breech - and I was being kicked in my ribs instead of much further down, which of course is a tell-tale sign. She was not worried about the breech position at this stage to begin with anyway - which was a relief to me - and she did warn us that Simba could turn several times again in the next couple of weeks. 36 weeks is when they normally hope the baby settles in a head-down position, but some babies turn even later. Bottom line: my doctor knows that I really don't want a C-section unless it is absolutely, positively, last-resort necessary. We will see her again in two weeks now (we're down to bi-weekly appointments! crazy!) and will have another ultrasound in three weeks time.
I did the usual urine and blood tests and will get results next week; my blood pressure was lower than it has been in a long time (99/69) so that is something to watch a little bit, but my weight gain is undeniable and she was happy to see that the baby has grown so much. When I told her that I thought the baby was huge because I feel so huge she laughed and reminded me that the baby is surrounded by all kinds of good stuff in there that also add to my weight gain. On Wednesday, our baby was 1918 grams (almost 2 kilos or about 4 lbs) and will continue to gain up to half a pound a week for the next several weeks - s/he is right on schedule. We also learned that, like most doctors in the US I believe, if the baby happens to be very late then I will be induced at 40 weeks + 10 days. Let's hope we don't need that! I will be happy with a few days early or right on time :)
So what's next? Well, we start childbirth classes on Tuesday evening and are both looking forward to that. We know that lots of people don't take them, but we feel that more information is never a bad thing and we like to be as prepared as we could possibly be given that we will probably have no control over how/when the baby decides to enter the world. At my appointment in two weeks we will complete a "booking form" for the hospital, which basically gives all of our info, my doctor's info, our pediatrician's info, birth plan, etc. so they have an idea of how many women are due at what time and so they can be prepared for when we show up! Which brings me to the next big task in the next two weeks: finding a pediatrician. My doctor recommended three pediatricians who I will interview, and then whichever one I select (I say "I" and not "we" because Kristoffer has given me full license to make this decision) will be present at our baby's delivery and for all subsequent appointments, etc.
This weekend we will continue the hunt for baby furniture (does it stress anyone else out that we don't have a changing table yet? forget the crib, at least we have a cradle...but come on!) and hope to finish up the baby's room in the next few weeks. Right now it is just a dumping ground for all things baby (where previously it was a dumping ground for all things to be packed for our trip and before that it was just a dumping ground!).
Yesterday and today we have received/are receiving quite a bit of rain in Nairobi. This is VERY good news as the December rains failed and the country is in a serious drought. We hope and pray that they are getting some of this rain up-country where they need it the most. We could watch the local news to find that out, of course, but in typical Kenya-fashion our cable is not working (because of the rain) and, even as I write this, our internet access is intermittent at best. Welcome back to Kenya ☺
LMW
Sometime between Thursday night and Friday afternoon, Simba did turn to get him/herself in position for birth because at my appointment yesterday the doctor could clearly feel that the baby is no longer breech - and I was being kicked in my ribs instead of much further down, which of course is a tell-tale sign. She was not worried about the breech position at this stage to begin with anyway - which was a relief to me - and she did warn us that Simba could turn several times again in the next couple of weeks. 36 weeks is when they normally hope the baby settles in a head-down position, but some babies turn even later. Bottom line: my doctor knows that I really don't want a C-section unless it is absolutely, positively, last-resort necessary. We will see her again in two weeks now (we're down to bi-weekly appointments! crazy!) and will have another ultrasound in three weeks time.
I did the usual urine and blood tests and will get results next week; my blood pressure was lower than it has been in a long time (99/69) so that is something to watch a little bit, but my weight gain is undeniable and she was happy to see that the baby has grown so much. When I told her that I thought the baby was huge because I feel so huge she laughed and reminded me that the baby is surrounded by all kinds of good stuff in there that also add to my weight gain. On Wednesday, our baby was 1918 grams (almost 2 kilos or about 4 lbs) and will continue to gain up to half a pound a week for the next several weeks - s/he is right on schedule. We also learned that, like most doctors in the US I believe, if the baby happens to be very late then I will be induced at 40 weeks + 10 days. Let's hope we don't need that! I will be happy with a few days early or right on time :)
So what's next? Well, we start childbirth classes on Tuesday evening and are both looking forward to that. We know that lots of people don't take them, but we feel that more information is never a bad thing and we like to be as prepared as we could possibly be given that we will probably have no control over how/when the baby decides to enter the world. At my appointment in two weeks we will complete a "booking form" for the hospital, which basically gives all of our info, my doctor's info, our pediatrician's info, birth plan, etc. so they have an idea of how many women are due at what time and so they can be prepared for when we show up! Which brings me to the next big task in the next two weeks: finding a pediatrician. My doctor recommended three pediatricians who I will interview, and then whichever one I select (I say "I" and not "we" because Kristoffer has given me full license to make this decision) will be present at our baby's delivery and for all subsequent appointments, etc.
This weekend we will continue the hunt for baby furniture (does it stress anyone else out that we don't have a changing table yet? forget the crib, at least we have a cradle...but come on!) and hope to finish up the baby's room in the next few weeks. Right now it is just a dumping ground for all things baby (where previously it was a dumping ground for all things to be packed for our trip and before that it was just a dumping ground!).
Yesterday and today we have received/are receiving quite a bit of rain in Nairobi. This is VERY good news as the December rains failed and the country is in a serious drought. We hope and pray that they are getting some of this rain up-country where they need it the most. We could watch the local news to find that out, of course, but in typical Kenya-fashion our cable is not working (because of the rain) and, even as I write this, our internet access is intermittent at best. Welcome back to Kenya ☺
LMW
Friday, January 16, 2009
January 16, 2009 - We Wrote a Book!
Two of our very, very dear friends - Jean and Jennifer Wollan - gave us an incredible Christmas gift this year. They took all of our blogs from our first year of living in Nairobi and published them into a beautiful, hardcover book. The website/software they used to do this is at www.blurb.com and we know that it was a labor (of love)-intensive project. You cannot imagine our surprise to find that our blogs were turned into a 204 page coffee-table book! It is especially cool for our baby to have my pregnancy documented so beautifully.
It is an extremely high quality, although not inexpensive, book; should any of our family/friends/blog readers be interested in purchasing it, just go to this website:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/343771/d3ef72c2b657a3e92fd306fb3a75a903
Thank you, again, to Jean and Jen for such a special gift!
LMW
It is an extremely high quality, although not inexpensive, book; should any of our family/friends/blog readers be interested in purchasing it, just go to this website:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/343771/d3ef72c2b657a3e92fd306fb3a75a903
Thank you, again, to Jean and Jen for such a special gift!
LMW
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
January 14, 2009 - Not Ready Yet!
Today Kristoffer and I went for Simba's ultrasound. Our little one is measuring to be an average sized baby...which is a surprise to nobody but us probably because I feel SO big that we were thinking the baby might turn out to be huge. Guess that's just my body! I saw a lady at the store just before the ultrasound who is due the exact same day and she was MUCH smaller than I am. She was like, "Really? You aren't due in the next two weeks?" I like to think it is because she was much taller than me, but who knows...everyone body and baby are different!
Back to the ultrasound...Simba's internal organs are all working and in the proper location. S/he had a good heartbeat at 141 beats per minute and there were no more signs of the calcium deposits in the chambers of his/her heart as we had seen in our last ultrasound. We actually found that the images in this ultrasound are much less sharp and clear than in previous ultrasounds; the baby is big enough now that body parts take up more space and the camera can't actually "zoom out" to get a sharper view.
The only bummer is that Simba has not yet "turned" to have his/her head near the exit, if you know what I mean, which explains the constant kicking I still feel very low. S/he was in the fetal position with his/her head up near my ribs, knees bent, and hands totally blocking his/her face. Even though the doctor tried with the 4D camera to get a good look at the baby's face, Simba was totally hiding. The ultrasound doc (different than my actual obstetrician) said that we should have another ultrasound in 4 more weeks to determine if the baby is still in a "breech" position; if so, then at that time we could discuss delivery options with our doctor. Most doctors prefer to deliver breech babies via cesarean. However, I am not at all comfortable discussing the "c word" yet and from everything I have read our baby still has plenty of time to turn him/herself around before entering the world. We will discuss this more with my doctor at our regular appointment on Friday. I tend to think Simba's position is just his/her way of telling us that s/he is not ready to come out yet...and that is OK by us :)
If any of the ultrasound pictures come out clearly I will post them on Friday, but we thought they were much less cool than previous pictures we've seen. No waving this time! We start our childbirth class on Tuesday night - two hours, once a week, for six weeks - which means that we will finish the class about 10 days before Simba is due. Let's just hope that we don't give the final lesson by delivering our baby during that last class!
LMW
Back to the ultrasound...Simba's internal organs are all working and in the proper location. S/he had a good heartbeat at 141 beats per minute and there were no more signs of the calcium deposits in the chambers of his/her heart as we had seen in our last ultrasound. We actually found that the images in this ultrasound are much less sharp and clear than in previous ultrasounds; the baby is big enough now that body parts take up more space and the camera can't actually "zoom out" to get a sharper view.
The only bummer is that Simba has not yet "turned" to have his/her head near the exit, if you know what I mean, which explains the constant kicking I still feel very low. S/he was in the fetal position with his/her head up near my ribs, knees bent, and hands totally blocking his/her face. Even though the doctor tried with the 4D camera to get a good look at the baby's face, Simba was totally hiding. The ultrasound doc (different than my actual obstetrician) said that we should have another ultrasound in 4 more weeks to determine if the baby is still in a "breech" position; if so, then at that time we could discuss delivery options with our doctor. Most doctors prefer to deliver breech babies via cesarean. However, I am not at all comfortable discussing the "c word" yet and from everything I have read our baby still has plenty of time to turn him/herself around before entering the world. We will discuss this more with my doctor at our regular appointment on Friday. I tend to think Simba's position is just his/her way of telling us that s/he is not ready to come out yet...and that is OK by us :)
If any of the ultrasound pictures come out clearly I will post them on Friday, but we thought they were much less cool than previous pictures we've seen. No waving this time! We start our childbirth class on Tuesday night - two hours, once a week, for six weeks - which means that we will finish the class about 10 days before Simba is due. Let's just hope that we don't give the final lesson by delivering our baby during that last class!
LMW
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
January 13, 2009 - The Total Expat Life
Today is the first day that Kristoffer and I have full-time "staff" working for us.
Charles, our driver, is someone that we wanted to hire before but he was already employed and we couldn't compete with his salary at that job. He contacted Kristoffer on Sunday to say that he had been let go and would accept the position if the offer was still on the table. Indeed it was! So today he arrived at 7 am sharp to drive Kristoffer to work. When he came back home he washed the car - inside and out - and casually waited for me to be ready to go somewhere!
Ida, our housekeeper/cook/future baby helper, arrived at 9:30 with some of her belongings. She will be living in our staff quarters from now on - Monday through Saturday afternoon - and so we needed to go get her some furniture. Charles, Ida and I headed for Ngong Road...the road where many carpenters' shops are and where you can pull over to buy or order furniture. Some of the furniture we have came from Ngong Rd (dining room table, desk). It didn't take very long for us to find a suitable single bed and some shelves for Ida's room...I learned quickly that carpenters are much more likely to give a Mzungu lady a fair price when she has a Kenyan negotiator with her. Ida helped us get good prices for sure! Then we proceeded to go to Nakumatt - the super store - to buy a mattress for Ida's new bed and to get her some personal items that she would need, along with food and cleaning supplies for the house.
All went well, but it did feel a bit strange for me to be driving around in my own car with two people who work for me. I mean, never did I ever think I would be in this situation (prior to a few months ago, that is).
Now Charles has taken Ida back to her real home to finish picking up the rest of her things (linens and stuff) and I opted to stay home and eat lunch, write a blog, and take a nap. Her bed is being delivered in about an hour so I think I can squeeze some shut eye in.
I suppose it will take some getting used to, but I can already sense how expats get addicted to this lifestyle. Contrary to what pops into one's head when thinking about living in Africa...we are so not roughing it!
LMW
Charles, our driver, is someone that we wanted to hire before but he was already employed and we couldn't compete with his salary at that job. He contacted Kristoffer on Sunday to say that he had been let go and would accept the position if the offer was still on the table. Indeed it was! So today he arrived at 7 am sharp to drive Kristoffer to work. When he came back home he washed the car - inside and out - and casually waited for me to be ready to go somewhere!
Ida, our housekeeper/cook/future baby helper, arrived at 9:30 with some of her belongings. She will be living in our staff quarters from now on - Monday through Saturday afternoon - and so we needed to go get her some furniture. Charles, Ida and I headed for Ngong Road...the road where many carpenters' shops are and where you can pull over to buy or order furniture. Some of the furniture we have came from Ngong Rd (dining room table, desk). It didn't take very long for us to find a suitable single bed and some shelves for Ida's room...I learned quickly that carpenters are much more likely to give a Mzungu lady a fair price when she has a Kenyan negotiator with her. Ida helped us get good prices for sure! Then we proceeded to go to Nakumatt - the super store - to buy a mattress for Ida's new bed and to get her some personal items that she would need, along with food and cleaning supplies for the house.
All went well, but it did feel a bit strange for me to be driving around in my own car with two people who work for me. I mean, never did I ever think I would be in this situation (prior to a few months ago, that is).
Now Charles has taken Ida back to her real home to finish picking up the rest of her things (linens and stuff) and I opted to stay home and eat lunch, write a blog, and take a nap. Her bed is being delivered in about an hour so I think I can squeeze some shut eye in.
I suppose it will take some getting used to, but I can already sense how expats get addicted to this lifestyle. Contrary to what pops into one's head when thinking about living in Africa...we are so not roughing it!
LMW
Monday, January 12, 2009
January 12, 2009 - A Full Recap of our Holiday Trip
Today is my first day home alone in Nairobi as Kristoffer has gone back to work and I am left to nest and rest after five weeks of jam-packed holiday fun. At 32 weeks and 2 days pregnant, I look something like this (photo taken yesterday):
Here is a super long blog with more details on what we've been up to...feel free to skim it or skip it altogether. The bottom line is that we had a great trip and are happy to be back in Nairobi to wait for Simba's big entrance into the world.
Three Weeks in the United States
Kristoffer was very happy that shortly after we arrived in Boston, it was already snowing! And it snowed several times, which was really fun for him to play outside with Michael, Sean, Molly, Matthew and Nathan, but definitely threw a wrench in several of our plans to visit with family and friends. While in the US, we took the US's economic situation into our own hands and spent our well-saved dollars on a few big ticket items that we want to have for a long time, such as a new camera (perfect for photographing Simba) and a new laptop. We also stocked up on basic items, like clothes and shoes, that we find WAY too expensive to purchase in Nairobi. Lastly, we baby-shopped, baby-shopped, and then baby-shopped some more!
I was so lucky to have been given a lovely baby shower at my mother's house with almost all of my friends and local family attending. They showered me and Simba with so much love, and so many generous gifts, that we ended up being able to bring even more baby stuff back to Nairobi than anticipated (and when I say "we", I mean me and Kristoffer, of course, but also my parents who are coming the week I am due and bringing a big load of baby gear!).
At home in the US, we enjoyed driving on the right side of the road and were amused to be constantly walking into people in stores when we were staying to the left and they were, obviously, staying to the right. Kristoffer loved watching American football...and I was surprised how little American TV I watched! There was just no time!
Our trip to NYC, albeit brief, was really fun. We spent one night in New Jersey with our friends Omar, Domenica, and Luke and two nights with Jean in Manhattan. The visit with my cardiologist went well, although he was actually stuck in surgery and I had to see a different doctor than him. Basically, my pacemaker is working well and operating at 3% of the time, which is 2.5% more than when I wasn't pregnant. This means it is very good that I got a new, fully-working pacemaker, even if the process was slightly dramatic. In NY, we also visited the school I used to work at and had a really fun evening with most of my close friends from working there. It was a great trip! We were even able to have a wonderful breakfast with my roommate from freshman year at Syracuse, Nasheema. On our way back to my parents in Massachusetts, we stopped for a night in Connecticut and had a great visit with Brooke and Dave before Christmas.
As my previous blogged mentioned, Christmas was a great time with my family. In the days leading up to the holiday we were able to visit with some aunts and uncles and cousins in the area, although one large family party was cancelled because of really bad winter weather and we didn't quite get to see everyone we would have seen there. Kristoffer and I were thrilled to have so many great days with all of my siblings who were with us for the holiday.
It was a little bit hard to say goodbye, especially to my siblings, knowing that such a big life event will occur before we see most people again, but at least my parents will be here in just 7 more weeks!
Below is a slide show of some of our moments in the US...unfortunately, we didn't take pictures of everything we did or everyone we saw, but we do have a sampling here:
Two Weeks in Denmark
In Denmark a little bit of jet-lag, as well as the season's cold, grey weather and lack of sunlight, made me a bit more tired than I had been in the US. We spent several great days with each of Kristoffer's parents and had four different occasions to spend time with his brother's family as well. After seeing all of his family at his grandmother's birthday, we were able to also see many of Kristoffer's friends - including all of the guys who were in our wedding. I got to meet some of his friends from college who I had never met before. It was really fun! We spent two days in Copenhagen walking around and around in the freezing cold to see all these different people...not necessarily what I thought I would be doing at this stage of my pregnancy, but it worked out really well.
New Years Eve with Kirsten and Hans was very fun...we ate well, played cards, and watched an incredible fireworks display from the top of a hill behind their house at midnight. Danes are CRAZY about their new year's fireworks! In Denmark we didn't do that much shopping, although Kristoffer was able to find two suits for work (American suits don't fit him so well!), ordered some new glasses, and we even found a cradle to bring home for the baby (which Kristoffer promptly put together the minute we got home). We did do a lot of eating (a theme carried over from the US) and, while in the US we met two new baby boys (children of my friends Joanna and Sarah), we got to meet two new baby girls in Denmark (children of Kristoffer's cousin Klaus and our friends Lars and Barbara). Those experiences definitely made us eager for our own baby's arrival in less than 8 weeks.
In Denmark we also did things like walk on the beach and play in the forest - both very Danish things to do despite the cold weather. We ended our trip at Kirsten's and Hans drove us back to Hamburg this past Friday where we spent a night at the airport's Marriott hotel so that we could be at the airport bright and early for our day of travel.
Again, we don't have too many great pictures of all of the people we saw (we really have to get better at taking pictures now that we have a new great camera!), but here are a few pictures of our visit in Denmark:
Our overall assessment of our trip is that we didn't get to see very many people for a long period of time, but we did get to see a lot of people for a short period of time and that was really nice.
Back in Nairobi
We arrived in Kenya late Saturday night after a long day of travel. I thankfully did not go into labor on the plane (did you read that story recently about the woman flying from Europe to Boston?!) and despite some backaches and general discomfort, it was a good and easy trip. One of the first things we noticed is that some roads have really been improved since we have been gone. We also quickly learned that Kenya hasn't had ANY rain since we left, which means the harvest did not yield a sufficient crop, and the country has declared a state of emergency due to severe food shortages. Of course, it is not only due to the lack of rain. Because of last year's post-election violence (oh my goodness, remember what we were going through at this time last year?!?!) fewer crops were planted and alternately many planted crops were burned. In July, the country had an opportunity to buy a lot of maize from Tanzania to prepare for food shortages at this time, but the Minister of Agriculture insisted that there would not be a food crisis (note: we are not big fans of the Minister of Agriculture). And here we are now with over 10 million Kenyans in danger of starvation. We will be watching to see how the government handles this situation...Kristoffer does not work in emergency operations at WFP but we do know that WFP is being pressured to increase its food assistance.
The weather here is like paradise...very warm/hot and sunny during the day, cooler at night, no humidity. Of course, after the freezing cold of New England and Denmark, this has been a bit of a shock to our systems! Our jet-lag is not so bad right now because Denmark is only 2 hours behind Kenya, but our adjustment to the altitude can definitely be felt. Yesterday I generally felt pretty yucky and so I am taking it very easy. It was a surprise to me, I will admit, how nice it was to walk into my own house and sleep in my own bed the last two nights. We loved our five weeks of vacation and had a wonderful time, but there was certainly an element of exhaustion to all of our travel and now I am grateful not to have to go anywhere...except to the hospital to deliver this baby!
We have touched base with both of our neighbors who we are friends with here - one of them gave us a jump yesterday when our car wouldn't start and the other is extremely grateful that we let him use our house for his family reunion while we were away - and so it feels like we are in a strange way back where we belong. I never thought I would say that a year ago!
General Pregnancy Update
As for my pregnancy...I have increased third trimester symptoms for sure: more leg cramps at night (although I am doing exercises, thanks to Kristoffer's step-sister Marianne, to prevent these and it seems to be working in the last week), increased swelling in my feet, ankles and hands, some braxton hicks (early practice) contractions, lower back discomfort, constantly going to the bathroom, some more nausea similar to my first trimester, and general lethargy as a result of my enormous and ever-growing belly. I am having an ultrasound on Wednesday and will see my doctor on Friday afternoon; we are also waiting to get a schedule of childbirth classes we can take sometime in the next month. I have gained about 25 lbs to date, so my worries from earlier in the pregnancy when I wasn't gaining weight have been allayed.
Finally, our new staff begin working tomorrow (live-in housekeeper/cook and non-live-in driver) which I anticipate being an interesting experience for all of us. I will definitely report back on that in the coming days too. For now, I am ready to get up and stretch and finish unpacking!
LMW
Here is a super long blog with more details on what we've been up to...feel free to skim it or skip it altogether. The bottom line is that we had a great trip and are happy to be back in Nairobi to wait for Simba's big entrance into the world.
Three Weeks in the United States
Kristoffer was very happy that shortly after we arrived in Boston, it was already snowing! And it snowed several times, which was really fun for him to play outside with Michael, Sean, Molly, Matthew and Nathan, but definitely threw a wrench in several of our plans to visit with family and friends. While in the US, we took the US's economic situation into our own hands and spent our well-saved dollars on a few big ticket items that we want to have for a long time, such as a new camera (perfect for photographing Simba) and a new laptop. We also stocked up on basic items, like clothes and shoes, that we find WAY too expensive to purchase in Nairobi. Lastly, we baby-shopped, baby-shopped, and then baby-shopped some more!
I was so lucky to have been given a lovely baby shower at my mother's house with almost all of my friends and local family attending. They showered me and Simba with so much love, and so many generous gifts, that we ended up being able to bring even more baby stuff back to Nairobi than anticipated (and when I say "we", I mean me and Kristoffer, of course, but also my parents who are coming the week I am due and bringing a big load of baby gear!).
At home in the US, we enjoyed driving on the right side of the road and were amused to be constantly walking into people in stores when we were staying to the left and they were, obviously, staying to the right. Kristoffer loved watching American football...and I was surprised how little American TV I watched! There was just no time!
Our trip to NYC, albeit brief, was really fun. We spent one night in New Jersey with our friends Omar, Domenica, and Luke and two nights with Jean in Manhattan. The visit with my cardiologist went well, although he was actually stuck in surgery and I had to see a different doctor than him. Basically, my pacemaker is working well and operating at 3% of the time, which is 2.5% more than when I wasn't pregnant. This means it is very good that I got a new, fully-working pacemaker, even if the process was slightly dramatic. In NY, we also visited the school I used to work at and had a really fun evening with most of my close friends from working there. It was a great trip! We were even able to have a wonderful breakfast with my roommate from freshman year at Syracuse, Nasheema. On our way back to my parents in Massachusetts, we stopped for a night in Connecticut and had a great visit with Brooke and Dave before Christmas.
As my previous blogged mentioned, Christmas was a great time with my family. In the days leading up to the holiday we were able to visit with some aunts and uncles and cousins in the area, although one large family party was cancelled because of really bad winter weather and we didn't quite get to see everyone we would have seen there. Kristoffer and I were thrilled to have so many great days with all of my siblings who were with us for the holiday.
It was a little bit hard to say goodbye, especially to my siblings, knowing that such a big life event will occur before we see most people again, but at least my parents will be here in just 7 more weeks!
Below is a slide show of some of our moments in the US...unfortunately, we didn't take pictures of everything we did or everyone we saw, but we do have a sampling here:
Two Weeks in Denmark
In Denmark a little bit of jet-lag, as well as the season's cold, grey weather and lack of sunlight, made me a bit more tired than I had been in the US. We spent several great days with each of Kristoffer's parents and had four different occasions to spend time with his brother's family as well. After seeing all of his family at his grandmother's birthday, we were able to also see many of Kristoffer's friends - including all of the guys who were in our wedding. I got to meet some of his friends from college who I had never met before. It was really fun! We spent two days in Copenhagen walking around and around in the freezing cold to see all these different people...not necessarily what I thought I would be doing at this stage of my pregnancy, but it worked out really well.
New Years Eve with Kirsten and Hans was very fun...we ate well, played cards, and watched an incredible fireworks display from the top of a hill behind their house at midnight. Danes are CRAZY about their new year's fireworks! In Denmark we didn't do that much shopping, although Kristoffer was able to find two suits for work (American suits don't fit him so well!), ordered some new glasses, and we even found a cradle to bring home for the baby (which Kristoffer promptly put together the minute we got home). We did do a lot of eating (a theme carried over from the US) and, while in the US we met two new baby boys (children of my friends Joanna and Sarah), we got to meet two new baby girls in Denmark (children of Kristoffer's cousin Klaus and our friends Lars and Barbara). Those experiences definitely made us eager for our own baby's arrival in less than 8 weeks.
In Denmark we also did things like walk on the beach and play in the forest - both very Danish things to do despite the cold weather. We ended our trip at Kirsten's and Hans drove us back to Hamburg this past Friday where we spent a night at the airport's Marriott hotel so that we could be at the airport bright and early for our day of travel.
Again, we don't have too many great pictures of all of the people we saw (we really have to get better at taking pictures now that we have a new great camera!), but here are a few pictures of our visit in Denmark:
Our overall assessment of our trip is that we didn't get to see very many people for a long period of time, but we did get to see a lot of people for a short period of time and that was really nice.
Back in Nairobi
We arrived in Kenya late Saturday night after a long day of travel. I thankfully did not go into labor on the plane (did you read that story recently about the woman flying from Europe to Boston?!) and despite some backaches and general discomfort, it was a good and easy trip. One of the first things we noticed is that some roads have really been improved since we have been gone. We also quickly learned that Kenya hasn't had ANY rain since we left, which means the harvest did not yield a sufficient crop, and the country has declared a state of emergency due to severe food shortages. Of course, it is not only due to the lack of rain. Because of last year's post-election violence (oh my goodness, remember what we were going through at this time last year?!?!) fewer crops were planted and alternately many planted crops were burned. In July, the country had an opportunity to buy a lot of maize from Tanzania to prepare for food shortages at this time, but the Minister of Agriculture insisted that there would not be a food crisis (note: we are not big fans of the Minister of Agriculture). And here we are now with over 10 million Kenyans in danger of starvation. We will be watching to see how the government handles this situation...Kristoffer does not work in emergency operations at WFP but we do know that WFP is being pressured to increase its food assistance.
The weather here is like paradise...very warm/hot and sunny during the day, cooler at night, no humidity. Of course, after the freezing cold of New England and Denmark, this has been a bit of a shock to our systems! Our jet-lag is not so bad right now because Denmark is only 2 hours behind Kenya, but our adjustment to the altitude can definitely be felt. Yesterday I generally felt pretty yucky and so I am taking it very easy. It was a surprise to me, I will admit, how nice it was to walk into my own house and sleep in my own bed the last two nights. We loved our five weeks of vacation and had a wonderful time, but there was certainly an element of exhaustion to all of our travel and now I am grateful not to have to go anywhere...except to the hospital to deliver this baby!
We have touched base with both of our neighbors who we are friends with here - one of them gave us a jump yesterday when our car wouldn't start and the other is extremely grateful that we let him use our house for his family reunion while we were away - and so it feels like we are in a strange way back where we belong. I never thought I would say that a year ago!
General Pregnancy Update
As for my pregnancy...I have increased third trimester symptoms for sure: more leg cramps at night (although I am doing exercises, thanks to Kristoffer's step-sister Marianne, to prevent these and it seems to be working in the last week), increased swelling in my feet, ankles and hands, some braxton hicks (early practice) contractions, lower back discomfort, constantly going to the bathroom, some more nausea similar to my first trimester, and general lethargy as a result of my enormous and ever-growing belly. I am having an ultrasound on Wednesday and will see my doctor on Friday afternoon; we are also waiting to get a schedule of childbirth classes we can take sometime in the next month. I have gained about 25 lbs to date, so my worries from earlier in the pregnancy when I wasn't gaining weight have been allayed.
Finally, our new staff begin working tomorrow (live-in housekeeper/cook and non-live-in driver) which I anticipate being an interesting experience for all of us. I will definitely report back on that in the coming days too. For now, I am ready to get up and stretch and finish unpacking!
LMW
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
December 31, 2008 - Ringing in the New Year
Kristoffer and I successfully traveled to Denmark the evening after Christmas, and spent our first two days celebrating Christmas with Kristoffer's family on his father's side. I hadn't seen his father, step-mother, or brother's family since our wedding, and I hadn't seen his step-brothers in at least two years so it was really fun. Everyone liked the African goodies we brought with us and Simba was given many lovely gifts from them as well.
On the 29th we left his father's and went to another celebration - his grandmother's 85th birthday!
Even though her birthday isn't actually for a few months, she wanted to have her party while we were all home for the holidays so that everyone would be together. My big belly and Simba's 2-month old cousin, Claudia, were big hits at the party. It was a really fun day and allowed us to spend good time with Kristoffer's extended family. We were received so warmly after coming home to Denmark for the first time from Kenya and we hope that Mormor Karen enjoyed her early birthday celebration. Below are all of us together, except for Kristoffer's aunt, Kitte, who is taking the picture.
Kristoffer's cousin Klaus and his girlfriend Mette, who are Baby Claudia's parents, also gave me a little bit of practice with their little one which I loved. It is hard to imagine that in 9 more weeks Baby Simba will be the one in my arms!
After the birthday party, we went home to Varde with Kirsten and Hans and have been enjoying a few days of relaxation with them. Tonight the four (and a half) of us will celebrate the end of 2008 together, certainly an exciting year that we will never forget, and will welcome 2009 with all of the joy it will bring us.
On Friday we head back to the little island where Kristoffer was born, Als, to spend a little more time with his father and brother's family, and then we will visit our friends in Copenhagen for a few days before ending our trip back here in Varde on January 10th.
What a wonderful way to end this year and start the next...five weeks of fun, family, and friends in our home countries! We hope 2009 brings you many blessings and look forward to sharing ours with you through this blog!
As we say in Denmark: Godt Nytar! Happy New Year!
LMW
On the 29th we left his father's and went to another celebration - his grandmother's 85th birthday!
Even though her birthday isn't actually for a few months, she wanted to have her party while we were all home for the holidays so that everyone would be together. My big belly and Simba's 2-month old cousin, Claudia, were big hits at the party. It was a really fun day and allowed us to spend good time with Kristoffer's extended family. We were received so warmly after coming home to Denmark for the first time from Kenya and we hope that Mormor Karen enjoyed her early birthday celebration. Below are all of us together, except for Kristoffer's aunt, Kitte, who is taking the picture.
Kristoffer's cousin Klaus and his girlfriend Mette, who are Baby Claudia's parents, also gave me a little bit of practice with their little one which I loved. It is hard to imagine that in 9 more weeks Baby Simba will be the one in my arms!
After the birthday party, we went home to Varde with Kirsten and Hans and have been enjoying a few days of relaxation with them. Tonight the four (and a half) of us will celebrate the end of 2008 together, certainly an exciting year that we will never forget, and will welcome 2009 with all of the joy it will bring us.
On Friday we head back to the little island where Kristoffer was born, Als, to spend a little more time with his father and brother's family, and then we will visit our friends in Copenhagen for a few days before ending our trip back here in Varde on January 10th.
What a wonderful way to end this year and start the next...five weeks of fun, family, and friends in our home countries! We hope 2009 brings you many blessings and look forward to sharing ours with you through this blog!
As we say in Denmark: Godt Nytar! Happy New Year!
LMW
Thursday, December 25, 2008
December 25, 2008 - A Merry Mueller Christmas!
Kristoffer and I have had a wonderful time these last three weeks visiting our family and friends in the northeast.
We spent Christmas Eve Day at my parents house...
before heading to my sister Meghan's in the hopes that Santa Claus would visit all 14 of the Mueller clan...
The kids had a wonderful time together and all seem eager to welcome Simba into their "cousin club" as soon as s/he arrives...
Kristoffer also enjoyed a pick up game of basketball with his brothers-in-law today...
Mostly, it was such a treat to be so relaxed and surrounded by our American loved ones. We leave tomorrow night for two weeks in Denmark and can't wait to see all of our favorite Danes!
Merry Christmas from our suitcase to yours!
LMW
We spent Christmas Eve Day at my parents house...
before heading to my sister Meghan's in the hopes that Santa Claus would visit all 14 of the Mueller clan...
The kids had a wonderful time together and all seem eager to welcome Simba into their "cousin club" as soon as s/he arrives...
Kristoffer also enjoyed a pick up game of basketball with his brothers-in-law today...
Mostly, it was such a treat to be so relaxed and surrounded by our American loved ones. We leave tomorrow night for two weeks in Denmark and can't wait to see all of our favorite Danes!
Merry Christmas from our suitcase to yours!
LMW
Sunday, December 14, 2008
December 13, 2008 - 28 Weeks Pregnant for Simba's Shower
Today it felt like Christmas came a little early! At 28 full weeks pregnant, my family and friends gathered for a surprise baby shower. My mom's camera broke so I have to wait for other people to send me pictures to post them, but it was a wonderful day! Everyone brought a book to help Simba begin an early love for reading. We also received a lot of adorable baby clothes and other gear - many of them animal themed! My family and friends were extremely generous, and several people traveled by road or air to get here to celebrate with us. It was especially exciting to meet my friend Sarah's 3-month old son, Luke, to receive a beautiful hand-knit sweater, hat and blanket made by my Mom (Simba's NeNe), and to get two of Kristoffer's favorite children's books from Simba's Farmor (Kristoffer's mom) in Denmark. We are so grateful to have such amazing friends and relatives, and our baby is very lucky to already be so loved!
Our trip in the US has thus far been great. Other than being a bit jet-lagged and waking up every morning at 4:30am ready to eat (that is lunch time in Kenya!), I am feeling really well. Our trip here, while long, went very smoothly and we have enjoyed relaxing with my parents, playing with Meghan's kids, meeting Christine's boyfriend and meeting my friend Joanna's 10-week-old son, William. We have also made great strides towards helping the American economy by shopping, but today's party was definitely the highlight for me! Tomorrow we are driving to New York City for a few days to see my doctor and visit my NYC friends, and after that my brother's family arrives from Chicago for the week of Christmas. It is so much fun to be home!
It is hard to believe that Christmas is still two weeks away, though, because we feel like we already have absolutely everything we could ever want!
LMW
Friday, December 5, 2008
December 5, 2008 - Happy Kenyan Anniversary!
December 6th, 2007 was the day that Kristoffer and I arrived in Nairobi after leaving the US on December 1st and traveling to WFP Headquarters in Rome for a few days. If you'll recall, we also spent a random night in Doha, Qatar! The irony of this anniversary is that December 6th, 2008 (tomorrow!) is also the day we arrive back in the US to begin our 5-week vacation and surround ourselves with family, friends, and home style food ( = Dunkin Donuts at the international arrivals terminal at Logan Airport the minute after we find and hug my father).
On any big holiday or anniversary, I am prone to stop and reflect on what has changed about my situation or how I have changed since the last holiday or anniversary...but in regards to Kenya, I feel like I have actually spent the entire year - largely through this blog and emails with my friends and family - reflecting on what has changed and the person I am now. So I won't bore you with a list because there are over 100 blogs you could go back and read if you really wanted to do that!
What I can say is that I think the very best part of this year has been the relationship Kristoffer and I have developed. Of course we were already in love and best friends and married and all that when we got here, but at the time we moved here we had only been married and living together for 5 months so there were still some kinks to be worked out! Without any family or friends besides each other at first, we came to rely on each other in a totally new way. We have learned that not only do we love each other, but we really, really like each other too! We communicate even better than we did before, we make each other laugh (in my case, often when I am trying really hard not to), we can anticipate each other's fears and needs, and we are always looking out for each other over here. We literally went from being a couple who mostly only saw each other on weekends or holidays for four years, to a couple who spends almost all of our time together. We have really made the shift, and I think it is a special and spectacular part of this year's experience for us.
At our goodbye party at my parents home last year my Uncle Tom said to Kristoffer that maybe it was a blessing to be taking our marriage so far away so that we could really develop a healthy foundation for the rest of our marriage. We thought that was a thoughtful and interesting thing to say, but it hasn't been until now that we really agree with and appreciate what he meant! We especially feel that what we have learned about ourselves and each other in this last year will be very useful as we tackle the new challenge of being parents. I can only imagine that in a year from now I will be reflecting on how much our baby has changed our lives!
Now of course having said all that, it would be the understatement of the year to say that we are only excited to get out of Kenya for awhile and see our loved ones. We are nearly desperate for a change of pace! Our plane departs in 11 hours and we are ready to go!
I may not be blogging as often as usual in the next five weeks but I promise to throw you a bone every now and again :)
Happy Kenyan Anniversary!
LMW
On any big holiday or anniversary, I am prone to stop and reflect on what has changed about my situation or how I have changed since the last holiday or anniversary...but in regards to Kenya, I feel like I have actually spent the entire year - largely through this blog and emails with my friends and family - reflecting on what has changed and the person I am now. So I won't bore you with a list because there are over 100 blogs you could go back and read if you really wanted to do that!
What I can say is that I think the very best part of this year has been the relationship Kristoffer and I have developed. Of course we were already in love and best friends and married and all that when we got here, but at the time we moved here we had only been married and living together for 5 months so there were still some kinks to be worked out! Without any family or friends besides each other at first, we came to rely on each other in a totally new way. We have learned that not only do we love each other, but we really, really like each other too! We communicate even better than we did before, we make each other laugh (in my case, often when I am trying really hard not to), we can anticipate each other's fears and needs, and we are always looking out for each other over here. We literally went from being a couple who mostly only saw each other on weekends or holidays for four years, to a couple who spends almost all of our time together. We have really made the shift, and I think it is a special and spectacular part of this year's experience for us.
At our goodbye party at my parents home last year my Uncle Tom said to Kristoffer that maybe it was a blessing to be taking our marriage so far away so that we could really develop a healthy foundation for the rest of our marriage. We thought that was a thoughtful and interesting thing to say, but it hasn't been until now that we really agree with and appreciate what he meant! We especially feel that what we have learned about ourselves and each other in this last year will be very useful as we tackle the new challenge of being parents. I can only imagine that in a year from now I will be reflecting on how much our baby has changed our lives!
Now of course having said all that, it would be the understatement of the year to say that we are only excited to get out of Kenya for awhile and see our loved ones. We are nearly desperate for a change of pace! Our plane departs in 11 hours and we are ready to go!
I may not be blogging as often as usual in the next five weeks but I promise to throw you a bone every now and again :)
Happy Kenyan Anniversary!
LMW
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
December 2, 2008 - The Dislocated American
There is a very interesting article in the NY Times this week, "The Dislocated American" about Americans who become expats, and how the happiness of the spouse of the person with the overseas job can pretty much make or break such a big move. We were warned of this and have actively tried to make sure that both of us were happy with our decisions and activities. Kristoffer has been my biggest advocate over here since the beginning (to get work, meet other spouses, etc.) because he realized that he would be unhappy with his great new job if I didn't find a life here. The article points out that sometimes it is other expats who provide the most amount of comfort because they know what you are going through! Check it out if you care for a quick, interesting read that tells you a little bit about some of the things we have gone through in the last year...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/business/worldbusiness/02expat.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
And while I'm on the topic, I feel a bit like a "Dislocated American" myself right now! As desperately as we want to and are ready to come home (3 more days!), my work deadlines appear to be flying at me in hyper-speed this week. My work is very dependent on other people giving me information at certain times, and when they don't it makes it very hard for me to get my job done, which is the situation I am in right now. Last night I had what Kristoffer is calling my "first real pregnancy night" because I was overtired, stressed about work, unable to eat, unable and unwilling to be consoled, and a general emotional wreck. He survived the night pretty well but it was definitely a little touch and go for a few hours! After going to sleep at 8:30pm, I woke up at 4:38 am this morning with my mind completely wired with a million things to do. I think I'll be happy when we are on the plane!
So I shouldn't even be writing a blog right now but since I have been staring at spreadsheets for the last 5 hours straight I decided that a few minutes of "me time" while I try to eat a sandwich would be a good idea. In my 27th week of pregnancy I have decided that there are quite a few things about being pregnant that I am good at...
• Sleeping
• Talking to the baby
• Getting food on my belly
• Lying down when I’m at home
• Dealing with pregnancy symptoms well and not panicking or over-reacting
• Tripping (only actually fell once, used my knees and hands to protect my belly)
• Taking my vitamins
• Thinking of myself as and visualizing being a mother
• NOT using the pregnancy against Kristoffer to get what I want
There are also some things that I am not so good at regarding this whole pregnancy thing...
• Eating regularly or healthily...alright, let’s just say eating altogether
• Exercising more than regular walking
• Taking breaks from sitting at my desk at work to stretch
• Finding safe, high-quality, nice-looking, affordable baby furniture in Nairobi
The good news is that the first list is longer than the second :) We will soon see which list "travelling very long distances" falls under!
LMW
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/business/worldbusiness/02expat.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
And while I'm on the topic, I feel a bit like a "Dislocated American" myself right now! As desperately as we want to and are ready to come home (3 more days!), my work deadlines appear to be flying at me in hyper-speed this week. My work is very dependent on other people giving me information at certain times, and when they don't it makes it very hard for me to get my job done, which is the situation I am in right now. Last night I had what Kristoffer is calling my "first real pregnancy night" because I was overtired, stressed about work, unable to eat, unable and unwilling to be consoled, and a general emotional wreck. He survived the night pretty well but it was definitely a little touch and go for a few hours! After going to sleep at 8:30pm, I woke up at 4:38 am this morning with my mind completely wired with a million things to do. I think I'll be happy when we are on the plane!
So I shouldn't even be writing a blog right now but since I have been staring at spreadsheets for the last 5 hours straight I decided that a few minutes of "me time" while I try to eat a sandwich would be a good idea. In my 27th week of pregnancy I have decided that there are quite a few things about being pregnant that I am good at...
• Sleeping
• Talking to the baby
• Getting food on my belly
• Lying down when I’m at home
• Dealing with pregnancy symptoms well and not panicking or over-reacting
• Tripping (only actually fell once, used my knees and hands to protect my belly)
• Taking my vitamins
• Thinking of myself as and visualizing being a mother
• NOT using the pregnancy against Kristoffer to get what I want
There are also some things that I am not so good at regarding this whole pregnancy thing...
• Eating regularly or healthily...alright, let’s just say eating altogether
• Exercising more than regular walking
• Taking breaks from sitting at my desk at work to stretch
• Finding safe, high-quality, nice-looking, affordable baby furniture in Nairobi
The good news is that the first list is longer than the second :) We will soon see which list "travelling very long distances" falls under!
LMW
Saturday, November 29, 2008
November 29, 2008 - Turkey Hangover
I intended to write this yesterday, but a very busy day at work left no time for blogging.
Our Thanksgiving turned into a much more festive affair than we anticipated! First we worked the whole day and both found ourselves extremely busy as we get closer to taking our leave. Then we went to our friend/neighbor's house (Mike and Caroline) to join them and their friends for Thanksgiving dinner. They have a great friend who often travels through Nairobi for his work and also happens to be an incredible chef. He made a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, the works! The rest of us brought salads and desserts and it was a fantastic dinner party! It might be the most food I have eaten at once in my whole pregnancy - it was so good I couldn't stop! And when I woke up yesterday morning, the baby was not moving around nearly as much as usual in the morning and we decided that s/he probably had a bit of a turkey hangover. Too much tryptophan for Simba!
Even nicer than the incredible food was the wonderful company! We met another pregnant American woman who works for the NY Times, along with her husband here (but he was covering a story in Rwanda at the time), and we agreed to be mommy buddies next year! I met an American acupuncturist who was so friendly and knowledgeable(and for those who know my history with acupuncture - I would actually trust her as much as Ted!) and who we hope to see more of along with her husband. Everyone else was great too! It was a fun night of getting to know new people, laughing a lot, and, even though it had been a hot, sunny day and didn't quite feel like Thanksgiving without any family nearby, we had a really great holiday!
We are close to having all of our bills paid and other such business sorted out before we leave for 5 weeks, and we will both even do a little work this weekend to ensure that everything gets wrapped up at our jobs before we go. I am 26 full weeks pregnant today - only 14 more weeks to go! Simba is definitely growing, my balance is a little off these days so I actually have to waddle a bit to make sure that I don't fall over (I do have freakishly small feet), and with the hot "summer" season getting started my feet and hands are more swollen than they used to be (although thankfully the itchiness has gotten better!).
One more week and we'll be on our way home!
LMW
Our Thanksgiving turned into a much more festive affair than we anticipated! First we worked the whole day and both found ourselves extremely busy as we get closer to taking our leave. Then we went to our friend/neighbor's house (Mike and Caroline) to join them and their friends for Thanksgiving dinner. They have a great friend who often travels through Nairobi for his work and also happens to be an incredible chef. He made a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, the works! The rest of us brought salads and desserts and it was a fantastic dinner party! It might be the most food I have eaten at once in my whole pregnancy - it was so good I couldn't stop! And when I woke up yesterday morning, the baby was not moving around nearly as much as usual in the morning and we decided that s/he probably had a bit of a turkey hangover. Too much tryptophan for Simba!
Even nicer than the incredible food was the wonderful company! We met another pregnant American woman who works for the NY Times, along with her husband here (but he was covering a story in Rwanda at the time), and we agreed to be mommy buddies next year! I met an American acupuncturist who was so friendly and knowledgeable(and for those who know my history with acupuncture - I would actually trust her as much as Ted!) and who we hope to see more of along with her husband. Everyone else was great too! It was a fun night of getting to know new people, laughing a lot, and, even though it had been a hot, sunny day and didn't quite feel like Thanksgiving without any family nearby, we had a really great holiday!
We are close to having all of our bills paid and other such business sorted out before we leave for 5 weeks, and we will both even do a little work this weekend to ensure that everything gets wrapped up at our jobs before we go. I am 26 full weeks pregnant today - only 14 more weeks to go! Simba is definitely growing, my balance is a little off these days so I actually have to waddle a bit to make sure that I don't fall over (I do have freakishly small feet), and with the hot "summer" season getting started my feet and hands are more swollen than they used to be (although thankfully the itchiness has gotten better!).
One more week and we'll be on our way home!
LMW
Thursday, November 27, 2008
November 27, 2008 - Giving Thanks, Asante Sana
As I sit here eating my breakfast and watching CNN's covereage of these horrible terrorist attacks in Mumbai (6:45 am our time), I am overwhelmed by all of the things Kristoffer and I have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We are safe, we are healthy, we have a stable income from work we like doing, we are bringing new life into the world, we are able to travel to two other continents to spend time with our loved ones very soon, and the list goes on. Even though our Thanksgiving holiday might be spent somewhat differently this year than in the past - working all day, but having some kind of Thanksgiving dinner with friends tonight - it has certainly not escaped us how fortunate we are.
This past Sunday morning, we had the pleasure of joining some visiting Americans for breakfast at their hotel in Nairobi. A few of these visitors are from my home town of Andover, MA and with a group of west-coasters came to Kenya to spend this week building a much-needed well for an orphanage in the western Kenya city of Kisii. It was inspirational to meet the Kenyan woman who started this orphanage, and to hear the excitement in her visitors' voices about how they would be spending their Thanksgiving week. We were impressed by their act of selfless charity, as well as their plans to remain involved in the orphanage in the future when they return home to their regular lives. In a world where the news reports bomb blasts, terrorist attacks, financial crises, and health scares around the world all day everyday, it is important to also remember that really good people are doing really good things for other people everyday too!
It makes me less likely to complain about our TV and internet being broken (although both were finally fixed yesterday) and about crazy restaurants when I stop to reflect on all of the amazing blessings in my life. Kristoffer and I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Make sure to tell someone else: Asante Sana (thank you very much, in Swahili)!
LMW
This past Sunday morning, we had the pleasure of joining some visiting Americans for breakfast at their hotel in Nairobi. A few of these visitors are from my home town of Andover, MA and with a group of west-coasters came to Kenya to spend this week building a much-needed well for an orphanage in the western Kenya city of Kisii. It was inspirational to meet the Kenyan woman who started this orphanage, and to hear the excitement in her visitors' voices about how they would be spending their Thanksgiving week. We were impressed by their act of selfless charity, as well as their plans to remain involved in the orphanage in the future when they return home to their regular lives. In a world where the news reports bomb blasts, terrorist attacks, financial crises, and health scares around the world all day everyday, it is important to also remember that really good people are doing really good things for other people everyday too!
It makes me less likely to complain about our TV and internet being broken (although both were finally fixed yesterday) and about crazy restaurants when I stop to reflect on all of the amazing blessings in my life. Kristoffer and I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Make sure to tell someone else: Asante Sana (thank you very much, in Swahili)!
LMW
Saturday, November 22, 2008
November 22, 2008 - Kitchen's Closed
Kristoffer and I had a nice day out in the sun today, shopping at an outdoor bazarre and laying by the pool. It was a really hot day here - Africa hot even! Around 5:45 pm we went to a new restaurant in Nairobi that we discovered last weekend for an early dinner. They have EXCELLENT chocolate milkshakes, which I really craved after all the sun. So we arrived, were given food and drink menus, and ordered our drinks. When the waitress brought our drinks, she put them down and started to walk away. Kristoffer said, "Can we order our food now?" She replied, "Food?" We replied, "Yes." She then said, "Oh, the kitchen is closed since 5:30 pm." So Kristoffer said, "Then why did you give us the food menu?" to which she simply said, "Oh, sorry," and we asked for our check.
We have had plenty of experiences at restaurants here where they didn't have some of the food on the menu, but to actually not even be open and still be giving people the menu was a little crazy! As Kristoffer said when the waitress walked away, "That was a new one."
Am I allowed to start an official countdown until we leave for our holiday? If so, we're at 13 days. Oh yeah...and only 15 weeks left until Simba roars for the first time!
LMW
We have had plenty of experiences at restaurants here where they didn't have some of the food on the menu, but to actually not even be open and still be giving people the menu was a little crazy! As Kristoffer said when the waitress walked away, "That was a new one."
Am I allowed to start an official countdown until we leave for our holiday? If so, we're at 13 days. Oh yeah...and only 15 weeks left until Simba roars for the first time!
LMW
Friday, November 21, 2008
November 21, 2008 - TGIF!
Kristoffer and I leave for the US two weeks from tonight...and even though we are SO happy it is Friday today because we've had sort of long week, we wish it was the Friday we were leaving.
You know when something small annoys you about someone, and then all of the sudden EVERYTHING about that person drives you crazy and they can absolutely do nothing right by you? Well...that is sort of how we feel about Kenya these days. This week our cable broke, our telephone line at home broke, our housekeeper shrunk some stuff in the wash, someone at work screwed up my paycheck, etc. On the scale of "no a big deal" to "life's serious problems" these are definitely no big deal...but they are all just making it that much more difficult for us to wait for our holiday. We know that when we come back in January we will feel refreshed and will be able to appreciate, once again, all the things we like about Kenya and Kenyans...but in the mean time, enough already!
As we wind down in these last two weeks we are both very busy at work: I am finishing up my current contract so I have a lot of work "due" to my boss and Kristoffer has to take care of a lot in preparation for being gone from his job for five weeks (we still can't believe they allowed him to take so much time off - we are VERY lucky!). At 25 weeks in utero, the baby is also growing and moving constantly - which is a fun distraction except when I want to sleep. It is hard to fall asleep when someone is constantly nudging at your insides!
Last night we watched the Abba movie musical Mamma Mia on DVD, which we "locally" purchased after it never ended up coming to the movie theaters here. I loved it, of course, and the baby was moving around a lot so I assume s/he loves Abba too. I think Kristoffer thought it was cheesy and predictable (although he didn't say so in those words) but seemed happy that I was not complaining about anything for two hours while watching the movie.
This weekend we start shopping for our trip home and hope, hope, hope to place an order for baby furniture to be made while we are away.
Thank Goodness It's Friday!
LMW
You know when something small annoys you about someone, and then all of the sudden EVERYTHING about that person drives you crazy and they can absolutely do nothing right by you? Well...that is sort of how we feel about Kenya these days. This week our cable broke, our telephone line at home broke, our housekeeper shrunk some stuff in the wash, someone at work screwed up my paycheck, etc. On the scale of "no a big deal" to "life's serious problems" these are definitely no big deal...but they are all just making it that much more difficult for us to wait for our holiday. We know that when we come back in January we will feel refreshed and will be able to appreciate, once again, all the things we like about Kenya and Kenyans...but in the mean time, enough already!
As we wind down in these last two weeks we are both very busy at work: I am finishing up my current contract so I have a lot of work "due" to my boss and Kristoffer has to take care of a lot in preparation for being gone from his job for five weeks (we still can't believe they allowed him to take so much time off - we are VERY lucky!). At 25 weeks in utero, the baby is also growing and moving constantly - which is a fun distraction except when I want to sleep. It is hard to fall asleep when someone is constantly nudging at your insides!
Last night we watched the Abba movie musical Mamma Mia on DVD, which we "locally" purchased after it never ended up coming to the movie theaters here. I loved it, of course, and the baby was moving around a lot so I assume s/he loves Abba too. I think Kristoffer thought it was cheesy and predictable (although he didn't say so in those words) but seemed happy that I was not complaining about anything for two hours while watching the movie.
This weekend we start shopping for our trip home and hope, hope, hope to place an order for baby furniture to be made while we are away.
Thank Goodness It's Friday!
LMW
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
November 19, 2008 - World Toilet Day
When you work at UNICEF, you sometimes get emails like this....
Dear Colleagues,
You may not be aware, but today is World Toilet Day. November 19 was declared as "World Toilet Day" in 2001 and this is now being celebrated all over the world. The purpose is to increase awareness and generate local action for better sanitation practices.
In Kenya, with 38 Million population, we need to increase available toilet facilities by over 50% to meet the demands of our growing population. Lets applaud the WASH section who are working with GoK and partners to achieve this goal.
Remember, always wash your hands with soap, after every critical moment, please be an advocate and remind others! Why? Imagine, Over 70% of care-givers do not wash their hands at critical moments , Hand washing with soap alone, will reduce child death caused by diarrhoea by 20%!! AMAZING.......We can do this together, Yes we can......
So, Happy World Toilet Day to you...I hope you make it a good one!
LMW
Dear Colleagues,
You may not be aware, but today is World Toilet Day. November 19 was declared as "World Toilet Day" in 2001 and this is now being celebrated all over the world. The purpose is to increase awareness and generate local action for better sanitation practices.
In Kenya, with 38 Million population, we need to increase available toilet facilities by over 50% to meet the demands of our growing population. Lets applaud the WASH section who are working with GoK and partners to achieve this goal.
Remember, always wash your hands with soap, after every critical moment, please be an advocate and remind others! Why? Imagine, Over 70% of care-givers do not wash their hands at critical moments , Hand washing with soap alone, will reduce child death caused by diarrhoea by 20%!! AMAZING.......We can do this together, Yes we can......
So, Happy World Toilet Day to you...I hope you make it a good one!
LMW
Monday, November 17, 2008
November 17, 2008 - Bizarro World
Today both Kristoffer and I felt like we were living in a strange, strange world - not necessarily for bad reasons, but we both thought that strange things were happening!
For Kristoffer, he had a very important, serious meeting this morning with officials from the Ministry of Education (a meeting which he was responsible for facilitating). It all went well and a few hours later, he found himself at a production plant for CSB (corn soy blend: a nutrient-fortified product WFP provides to schools for pre-primary school children to have morning porridge) walking around wearing a hair net as he learned about their manufacturing processes. He thought that was really strange!
For me, I was really busy at work but was distracted by strange noises coming from under and near some shelves in my office (which I share with 3 other people). After being convinced there was some kind of animal in our office, we notified the appropriate people and waited, waited, waited for them to come do something about it! Finally, it was so distracting that my colleague decided to hunt the animal herself. I was convinced it was a group of mice or a snake so I went out into the hallway, and when she started poking around a big black cat darted out towards her and jumped out the window! Phew - mystery solved - there was a cat in our office! We get back to work and within a few minutes hear more of the same noise...like scratching. So she decides to keep poking around and, sure enough, she finds an empty box with 3 very new kittens (their eyes were just opened so about 2 weeks old). Either the cat had the kittens in our office and we didn't know it this whole time, or she somehow dragged them in through the window when we weren't there at night or over the weekend. Now we have 3 kittens and no mama cat...we hope she comes back in through the window tonight to get them so that they don't die. We didn't want to put them outside or they would most likely be eaten by the family of 12 monkeys that hang around in the trees outside our window. Bizarro!
Finally, when we were driving home from work today we noticed that a lot of cars/drivers were behaving so strangely. They were all driving according to their own rules - cutting people off, driving on the wrong side of the road, etc. - and we saw several near-accidents. We couldn't quite get over it - even for Nairobi people were driving crazy! But then we got stuck in a horrible traffic jam shortly after noticing this and had to pull a bizarro u-turn of our own to go home a different way. You know what they say...when in Rome!
Nothing new on the pregnancy front...my pregnancy was the most normal part of the day!
LMW
p.s. To add to the bizarro-ness of the day, Kristoffer and I have been sitting next to each other on our couch for the last two hours, on two different laptops, each working on a project for our respective jobs, without TV, music, or talking to each other. Believe me when I say this is VERY bizarre for us!
For Kristoffer, he had a very important, serious meeting this morning with officials from the Ministry of Education (a meeting which he was responsible for facilitating). It all went well and a few hours later, he found himself at a production plant for CSB (corn soy blend: a nutrient-fortified product WFP provides to schools for pre-primary school children to have morning porridge) walking around wearing a hair net as he learned about their manufacturing processes. He thought that was really strange!
For me, I was really busy at work but was distracted by strange noises coming from under and near some shelves in my office (which I share with 3 other people). After being convinced there was some kind of animal in our office, we notified the appropriate people and waited, waited, waited for them to come do something about it! Finally, it was so distracting that my colleague decided to hunt the animal herself. I was convinced it was a group of mice or a snake so I went out into the hallway, and when she started poking around a big black cat darted out towards her and jumped out the window! Phew - mystery solved - there was a cat in our office! We get back to work and within a few minutes hear more of the same noise...like scratching. So she decides to keep poking around and, sure enough, she finds an empty box with 3 very new kittens (their eyes were just opened so about 2 weeks old). Either the cat had the kittens in our office and we didn't know it this whole time, or she somehow dragged them in through the window when we weren't there at night or over the weekend. Now we have 3 kittens and no mama cat...we hope she comes back in through the window tonight to get them so that they don't die. We didn't want to put them outside or they would most likely be eaten by the family of 12 monkeys that hang around in the trees outside our window. Bizarro!
Finally, when we were driving home from work today we noticed that a lot of cars/drivers were behaving so strangely. They were all driving according to their own rules - cutting people off, driving on the wrong side of the road, etc. - and we saw several near-accidents. We couldn't quite get over it - even for Nairobi people were driving crazy! But then we got stuck in a horrible traffic jam shortly after noticing this and had to pull a bizarro u-turn of our own to go home a different way. You know what they say...when in Rome!
Nothing new on the pregnancy front...my pregnancy was the most normal part of the day!
LMW
p.s. To add to the bizarro-ness of the day, Kristoffer and I have been sitting next to each other on our couch for the last two hours, on two different laptops, each working on a project for our respective jobs, without TV, music, or talking to each other. Believe me when I say this is VERY bizarre for us!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
November 15, 2008 - 24 Weeks Pregnant
Today I am 24 full weeks pregnant. Yesterday we had our usual check up with the doctor (no ultrasound) and everything went very well.
Actually before we met with the doctor, we went to check out the "Pavilion" maternity wing at the hospital where I will be giving birth to our baby. The nurse who gave us the "tour" was so nice. We saw a "standard room" - your basic private hospital room with a bathroom, TV, mini-fridge, very similar to those I've experienced in America, not bad at all; then we saw an "executive suite" - which has a more spacious hospital room, an upgraded bathroom with both a shower and a separate bath tub, and a private living room (with couch, chairs, and TV) connected by a sound-proof wall for visitors to be in there with the baby and/or Kristoffer while I could be sleeping! Both types of room have a bed for Kristoffer to stay over night with us which is great, but we will definitely be going with the suite. We also saw the nursery and asked the appropriate security questions, and we saw the labor-delivery-recovery room where we will be until after the baby is born and we are both all cleaned up and moved to our suite. Overall, we feel really good about the hospital. It was clean, the staff was very friendly, and it made us feel really good to visualize where the big show will take place.
Then we went to see my doctor. We like her so much! We think that she likes us too because we probably show more emotion than most Kenyans do(sometimes we are practically giddy!) and because we probably ask more questions than most of her patients. Kenyans are typically more diminutive in the face of doctors, lawyers, and other people of authority. Anyway, everything went well at the appointment. I gained 3 kilos in the last 4 weeks which is really good news because up until now I haven't gained too much - probably 8 or 9 lbs in total. My heart rate (a little higher than usual) and blood pressure (low but normal for me) were both fine and consistent with previous appointments. The baby's heart was also normal at 164 bpms, especially because s/he was moving around a lot yesterday. The baby is located in the right place and measuring perfectly for 24 weeks. All good news! We talked to the doctor about interviewing pediatricians, which we will do when we get back to Kenya in January, as well as scheduling our child birth class, again something we can't do until we get back in January. She confirmed that my swollen, itchy feet and my late-night calf cramps are totally normal in pregnancy. The one thing I need to continue working on is trying to eat more. Kristoffer ratted me out and told her that I eat less now than when I wasn't pregnant - but it is not for lack of wanting to eat! I honestly can't eat more than I do - it is very bizarre!
Finally, we talked a lot about our upcoming travel plans. We have 6 flights total and 4 of them are pretty long; I have to make sure to sit on the aisle and in a row with as much leg room as possible, I have to drink a lot of fluids, take small walks and stretch my legs often, and try to get a lot of rest in between flights. Nothing surprising really and most things that all people should do on long flights anyway; I just have to be more careful as a pregnant woman so that I don't get blood clots. She predicted that coming back east will be harder than going west (which is usually the case for me!) and she thought it was probably a good idea that I will not be working between our trip and my due date so that I can just get a lot of rest and be as ready for delivery as possible!
We always leave these doctor's appointments so happy and excited; unfortunately it was temporary because the food I ate for lunch yesterday made me really, really sick last night. I had horrible stomach pains for a few hours - if I didn't know better I would have thought I was having contractions! Finally I was violently ill and felt much better once my system was clean and empty. Kristoffer was so wonderful, holding my hair back and rubbing my back as needed. When I was sick early on in the prgenancy it was much quicker, not painful, less dramatic. This is the second time that I have been sick in this way in the last month and I hope it is the last time! Today I am feeling better, although a little weak and sore in the stomach, so we will take it easy this weekend.
This is what we look like these days, Simba and I. We arrive in Boston 3 weeks from today and I am sure I will look even bigger by then! (photo taken in our backyard)
LMW
Actually before we met with the doctor, we went to check out the "Pavilion" maternity wing at the hospital where I will be giving birth to our baby. The nurse who gave us the "tour" was so nice. We saw a "standard room" - your basic private hospital room with a bathroom, TV, mini-fridge, very similar to those I've experienced in America, not bad at all; then we saw an "executive suite" - which has a more spacious hospital room, an upgraded bathroom with both a shower and a separate bath tub, and a private living room (with couch, chairs, and TV) connected by a sound-proof wall for visitors to be in there with the baby and/or Kristoffer while I could be sleeping! Both types of room have a bed for Kristoffer to stay over night with us which is great, but we will definitely be going with the suite. We also saw the nursery and asked the appropriate security questions, and we saw the labor-delivery-recovery room where we will be until after the baby is born and we are both all cleaned up and moved to our suite. Overall, we feel really good about the hospital. It was clean, the staff was very friendly, and it made us feel really good to visualize where the big show will take place.
Then we went to see my doctor. We like her so much! We think that she likes us too because we probably show more emotion than most Kenyans do(sometimes we are practically giddy!) and because we probably ask more questions than most of her patients. Kenyans are typically more diminutive in the face of doctors, lawyers, and other people of authority. Anyway, everything went well at the appointment. I gained 3 kilos in the last 4 weeks which is really good news because up until now I haven't gained too much - probably 8 or 9 lbs in total. My heart rate (a little higher than usual) and blood pressure (low but normal for me) were both fine and consistent with previous appointments. The baby's heart was also normal at 164 bpms, especially because s/he was moving around a lot yesterday. The baby is located in the right place and measuring perfectly for 24 weeks. All good news! We talked to the doctor about interviewing pediatricians, which we will do when we get back to Kenya in January, as well as scheduling our child birth class, again something we can't do until we get back in January. She confirmed that my swollen, itchy feet and my late-night calf cramps are totally normal in pregnancy. The one thing I need to continue working on is trying to eat more. Kristoffer ratted me out and told her that I eat less now than when I wasn't pregnant - but it is not for lack of wanting to eat! I honestly can't eat more than I do - it is very bizarre!
Finally, we talked a lot about our upcoming travel plans. We have 6 flights total and 4 of them are pretty long; I have to make sure to sit on the aisle and in a row with as much leg room as possible, I have to drink a lot of fluids, take small walks and stretch my legs often, and try to get a lot of rest in between flights. Nothing surprising really and most things that all people should do on long flights anyway; I just have to be more careful as a pregnant woman so that I don't get blood clots. She predicted that coming back east will be harder than going west (which is usually the case for me!) and she thought it was probably a good idea that I will not be working between our trip and my due date so that I can just get a lot of rest and be as ready for delivery as possible!
We always leave these doctor's appointments so happy and excited; unfortunately it was temporary because the food I ate for lunch yesterday made me really, really sick last night. I had horrible stomach pains for a few hours - if I didn't know better I would have thought I was having contractions! Finally I was violently ill and felt much better once my system was clean and empty. Kristoffer was so wonderful, holding my hair back and rubbing my back as needed. When I was sick early on in the prgenancy it was much quicker, not painful, less dramatic. This is the second time that I have been sick in this way in the last month and I hope it is the last time! Today I am feeling better, although a little weak and sore in the stomach, so we will take it easy this weekend.
This is what we look like these days, Simba and I. We arrive in Boston 3 weeks from today and I am sure I will look even bigger by then! (photo taken in our backyard)
LMW
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
November 11, 2008 - Simba's First "Game"
Last night Kristoffer went to watch a squash tournament (squash the sport, not squash the vegetable - K is all about squash these days) with our friend Mike and the chocolate chip cookies I made him, and I stayed home to lay on the couch and watch my favorite Australian soap opera. Shortly after lying down, the baby kicked and these days his/her kicks can be also seen by watching my belly. I decided to poke the little one back in the same spot, and within 2 or 3 seconds s/he kicked (or maybe punched!) again. I poked back, then the baby kicked, I poked back, then the baby kicked. We went back and forth at least 10 times before we both got tired of this game. I was so bummed to be alone because I wondered if anyone would actually believe that Simba and I played our first mother-child game! It was so fun! Perhaps some might say this was just a coincidence and that Simba was not responding to me directly, but I say BOO to that! It sure felt like s/he was responding to me! And it was totally awesome. It made me really excited to play real games like "peek a boo" with our baby in the future.
My latest pregnancy symptoms include strong cravings for milk and very, very, very itchy feet (like around my arches and toes...so weird!). I am also pretty tired these days - almost in a first trimester sort of way - which I think is attributed to that fact that the baby is growing so fast. We have a 24 week doctor's appointment on Friday and will bombard her with questions about our upcoming travel, dealing with jet-lag, and scheduling our child-birth classes. We will also take a tour of the hospital pavillion where the baby will be born.
March 7th definitely seems closer everyday!
LMW
My latest pregnancy symptoms include strong cravings for milk and very, very, very itchy feet (like around my arches and toes...so weird!). I am also pretty tired these days - almost in a first trimester sort of way - which I think is attributed to that fact that the baby is growing so fast. We have a 24 week doctor's appointment on Friday and will bombard her with questions about our upcoming travel, dealing with jet-lag, and scheduling our child-birth classes. We will also take a tour of the hospital pavillion where the baby will be born.
March 7th definitely seems closer everyday!
LMW
Monday, November 10, 2008
November 10, 2008 - Keeping the Pace
There was a news story released yesterday saying that many headphones for iPods and other MP3 players can cause cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators to go a little crazy.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0940463220081109
Because I have already received a few emails from people asking me about this, I thought I would post that I never talk on my cell phone on the left side of my body (pacemaker side) for the same reason, and I don't ever have my iPod headphones close to my heart. I should be OK in terms of this new concern. People who are more pacemaker-dependent than I am (like really old people or people with stronger arrhythmias than mine) are at greater risk of such a thing causing a problem than I am.
I use my pacemaker a small percentage of the time, although it will be very interesting when I see my cardiac surgeon in NYC next month for a 6-month post-op check-up to find out if I have been using my pacemaker more during my pregnancy than I used to. It is likely for women to become more susceptible to heart rate drops, low blood pressure or blood sugar, and fainting spells when they are pregnant; this is why I am very grateful that I had my surgery and got a brand new pacemaker before I became pregnant. It is an added insurance policy for sure!
LMW
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0940463220081109
Because I have already received a few emails from people asking me about this, I thought I would post that I never talk on my cell phone on the left side of my body (pacemaker side) for the same reason, and I don't ever have my iPod headphones close to my heart. I should be OK in terms of this new concern. People who are more pacemaker-dependent than I am (like really old people or people with stronger arrhythmias than mine) are at greater risk of such a thing causing a problem than I am.
I use my pacemaker a small percentage of the time, although it will be very interesting when I see my cardiac surgeon in NYC next month for a 6-month post-op check-up to find out if I have been using my pacemaker more during my pregnancy than I used to. It is likely for women to become more susceptible to heart rate drops, low blood pressure or blood sugar, and fainting spells when they are pregnant; this is why I am very grateful that I had my surgery and got a brand new pacemaker before I became pregnant. It is an added insurance policy for sure!
LMW
November 10, 2008 - Kenya's Contradiction
The front page of today's newspaper tells us a lot about Kenya I think. At the top of the paper is a big headline which reads: Free Obama Calendar Only in the Nation. And sure enough, when you flip to the middle of the paper, there is a large one-page calendar from November 4th, 2008 to November 4th, 2009 and an enormous picture of Barack Obama. There are still quite a few articles and op-eds about Obama's big win and what it means for the US, the world, and Kenya specifically (as my father asked, "Has the boat arrived to bring all of the Kenyans to America yet?").
And then, on the same front page of today's paper, the bottom article is titled: Villagers lynch 11 robbery suspects. The article proceeds to describe, in detail, how a village near the coast was being tormented by gangsters and didn't feel the police were doing enough about it so a group of villagers captured the gangsters themselves and publicly lynched them to death...and then had a party to celebrate.
This dichotomy on the front page of the paper in which you have an extreme symbol of freedom and justice alongside images of extreme cruelty and lawlessness is the ultimate problem in Kenya. Kenya is a country that so desperately wants to uphold democratic values and ideals and wants to be a shining example for other developing nations, in Africa especially. And yet, throughout the country, Kenyans are still overwhelmed by acts of corruption, violence, and tribalism. The Kenyans celebrating Obama and wanting to claim rights to all that he has become are the same Kenyans celebrating the practice of lynching which goes against the very core of everything Obama is and represents today.
It makes me happy that Kenya is so happy these days about Obama's win and the possibilities of hope they have for the future because of him, but it makes me sad that Kenyans can't see that they are not on the same path as him and that they have a long way to go to get there.
LMW
And then, on the same front page of today's paper, the bottom article is titled: Villagers lynch 11 robbery suspects. The article proceeds to describe, in detail, how a village near the coast was being tormented by gangsters and didn't feel the police were doing enough about it so a group of villagers captured the gangsters themselves and publicly lynched them to death...and then had a party to celebrate.
This dichotomy on the front page of the paper in which you have an extreme symbol of freedom and justice alongside images of extreme cruelty and lawlessness is the ultimate problem in Kenya. Kenya is a country that so desperately wants to uphold democratic values and ideals and wants to be a shining example for other developing nations, in Africa especially. And yet, throughout the country, Kenyans are still overwhelmed by acts of corruption, violence, and tribalism. The Kenyans celebrating Obama and wanting to claim rights to all that he has become are the same Kenyans celebrating the practice of lynching which goes against the very core of everything Obama is and represents today.
It makes me happy that Kenya is so happy these days about Obama's win and the possibilities of hope they have for the future because of him, but it makes me sad that Kenyans can't see that they are not on the same path as him and that they have a long way to go to get there.
LMW
Saturday, November 8, 2008
November 8, 2008 - Pregnant at the Post Office
It has been an interesting week here for us. A few big nights of staying up late, coupled with some busy days at work and one new adventure to the post office! We even tried to go to a late show of the new James Bond movie which premiered here yesterday, but 10:30 was a bit TOO late for me (by 9pm I was very grateful that we weren't going to the movies...although we did stay up to watch Obama's press conference) so we'll be going to the 6:45 show tonight.
Today I am 23 full weeks pregnant. I have to say that other than my fatigue and the occasional waddling from lower back pain, I am feeling great. I am definitely growing bigger, and apparently people around me are noticing! At the election party we went to there were two different people who asked me if (a) I am having twins and (b) if I am due in December! I am not THAT big, but maybe because I am normally so petite I look further along than I am? I hope I was not too snippy in my reply: "Just one baby, first week of March!" There was also a funny scene at the party in which a complete stranger started to rub my belly. I have heard of this happening to pregnant women, who are entitled to react in a variety of ways. It didn't bother me that much and mostly I just thought it was funny that it was actually happening, but soon she realized that maybe she crossed a boundary and completely freaked out! "I'm so sorry! I can't believe I just did that, that is so gross! I didn't even ask! I hated when people did that to me when I was pregnant! I'm so sorry!" Her realization made it a much bigger incident than it would have been; I assured her that it was no problem and Kristoffer and I had a good laugh.
But about that trip to the post office...if you read some of our blogs last year you'll know that going to the Central Post Office to pick up a package (when it is bigger than an envelope it has to go through "customs" which means you have to open it in front of a postal worker) has the potential to ruin even the best of days. It is something we have to plan very carefully: we can only go on Fridays because it closes at 5pm and we would never make it there in time from the UN on a regular work-day. Fridays we are off from work early and still we need to brave weekend traffic through the city's center.
The reason we went to the post office yesterday is because my friend Joanna sent me a birthday present back in July to arrive in August. We received a "yellow slip" notification of the package the first week of August...and then we accidentally lost that slip of paper. When at the post-office to pick up some other packages in August, we asked them what we should do about this and they said we could just give them the tracking number...but we didn't tell Joanna to save the tracking number for us so we didn't have that information. Then they said they would send us another "yellow slip" within 2 weeks time. OK...so we decided to wait for that.
Well it is now November and we still never got another "yellow slip" and I have been getting increasingly frustrated and sad that the post office is holding my birthday present hostage! Yesterday I begged Kristoffer to take me to the post office so I could further investigate and hopefully get them to help us find the package without the magical "yellow slip" or a tracking number. I was prepared to tell them that there was an autographed picture of Barack Obama in the box if I had to!
The first funny part of our trip was that the two guys who are generally responsible for retrieving packages remembered us from August. They didn't even really need to see our identification! The only package that they could come up with was one from Denmark that we had gotten from Kristoffer's mom already. To my credit, I did not freak out. I have learned that raising my voice to a Kenyan is not helpful - they just do not respond to that at all. So I spoke slowly, clearly, and with the patience of Job. We were told to go to a back room of the post office and were handed off to another lady who tried to make the situation seem hopeless, especially because I didn't know the size of the package we were picking up. After she kept saying that there was nothing we could do without that damned "yellow slip" or the tracking number, and I kept saying that there had to be something we could do to find the package because we know they have it...she said, "Well...if you have the patience, you can go through all of our books of "yellow slip" receipts from July and August to find the one you are looking for." She was definitely expecting us to say "No way!", but clearly she didn't know me. I was like, "Yes! Please let us!" She brought us a stack of about 15 books of "yellow slip" receipts and we started reading through them. I had a general idea of when the package arrived (end of July) so I started with that book and sure enough within 3 minutes I had found the yellow slip addressed to me for a package from the USA!
It took a few more minutes for this lady to get her act together, but she did issue us another "yellow slip", which we took back to our two friends at the package window and who very quickly found my package from Joanna! We had to open the box in front of the customs ladies...who were talking to Kristoffer about Barack Obama of course, were happy that I was American, and were VERY surprised that we persisted enough to find the package! When we opened it we found my birthday gift - an ORANGE maternity t-shirt - and a baby gift - the book "Goodnight Boston" and a Patriots football blanket! One customs lady said, "Are those for the baby?" and the other one said, "What baby?" and we said together pointing at my belly, "The baby in there!" It was our first baby gift and it was very exciting...especially because I'd been waiting since August just knowing that the box was there. I wonder how many people never get their "yellow slips" and just leave their packages in the large, non-digital abyss of the Kenyan post office.
We were so happy that we didn't even mind all of the traffic we had to sit through to get home. And we realized that once our driver starts working for us next year, we can send him to the post office to pick up our packages for us! So cool! And the lesson we have all learned is this: we appreciate gifts and love getting them, but please make sure you send us the tracking number if you ever send us a package so that we can ensure the post office doesn't keep the package from us for months!
LMW
p.s. Thank you to Joanna and Dave for actually sending my birthday/baby package...I am so glad it was not in vain!
Today I am 23 full weeks pregnant. I have to say that other than my fatigue and the occasional waddling from lower back pain, I am feeling great. I am definitely growing bigger, and apparently people around me are noticing! At the election party we went to there were two different people who asked me if (a) I am having twins and (b) if I am due in December! I am not THAT big, but maybe because I am normally so petite I look further along than I am? I hope I was not too snippy in my reply: "Just one baby, first week of March!" There was also a funny scene at the party in which a complete stranger started to rub my belly. I have heard of this happening to pregnant women, who are entitled to react in a variety of ways. It didn't bother me that much and mostly I just thought it was funny that it was actually happening, but soon she realized that maybe she crossed a boundary and completely freaked out! "I'm so sorry! I can't believe I just did that, that is so gross! I didn't even ask! I hated when people did that to me when I was pregnant! I'm so sorry!" Her realization made it a much bigger incident than it would have been; I assured her that it was no problem and Kristoffer and I had a good laugh.
But about that trip to the post office...if you read some of our blogs last year you'll know that going to the Central Post Office to pick up a package (when it is bigger than an envelope it has to go through "customs" which means you have to open it in front of a postal worker) has the potential to ruin even the best of days. It is something we have to plan very carefully: we can only go on Fridays because it closes at 5pm and we would never make it there in time from the UN on a regular work-day. Fridays we are off from work early and still we need to brave weekend traffic through the city's center.
The reason we went to the post office yesterday is because my friend Joanna sent me a birthday present back in July to arrive in August. We received a "yellow slip" notification of the package the first week of August...and then we accidentally lost that slip of paper. When at the post-office to pick up some other packages in August, we asked them what we should do about this and they said we could just give them the tracking number...but we didn't tell Joanna to save the tracking number for us so we didn't have that information. Then they said they would send us another "yellow slip" within 2 weeks time. OK...so we decided to wait for that.
Well it is now November and we still never got another "yellow slip" and I have been getting increasingly frustrated and sad that the post office is holding my birthday present hostage! Yesterday I begged Kristoffer to take me to the post office so I could further investigate and hopefully get them to help us find the package without the magical "yellow slip" or a tracking number. I was prepared to tell them that there was an autographed picture of Barack Obama in the box if I had to!
The first funny part of our trip was that the two guys who are generally responsible for retrieving packages remembered us from August. They didn't even really need to see our identification! The only package that they could come up with was one from Denmark that we had gotten from Kristoffer's mom already. To my credit, I did not freak out. I have learned that raising my voice to a Kenyan is not helpful - they just do not respond to that at all. So I spoke slowly, clearly, and with the patience of Job. We were told to go to a back room of the post office and were handed off to another lady who tried to make the situation seem hopeless, especially because I didn't know the size of the package we were picking up. After she kept saying that there was nothing we could do without that damned "yellow slip" or the tracking number, and I kept saying that there had to be something we could do to find the package because we know they have it...she said, "Well...if you have the patience, you can go through all of our books of "yellow slip" receipts from July and August to find the one you are looking for." She was definitely expecting us to say "No way!", but clearly she didn't know me. I was like, "Yes! Please let us!" She brought us a stack of about 15 books of "yellow slip" receipts and we started reading through them. I had a general idea of when the package arrived (end of July) so I started with that book and sure enough within 3 minutes I had found the yellow slip addressed to me for a package from the USA!
It took a few more minutes for this lady to get her act together, but she did issue us another "yellow slip", which we took back to our two friends at the package window and who very quickly found my package from Joanna! We had to open the box in front of the customs ladies...who were talking to Kristoffer about Barack Obama of course, were happy that I was American, and were VERY surprised that we persisted enough to find the package! When we opened it we found my birthday gift - an ORANGE maternity t-shirt - and a baby gift - the book "Goodnight Boston" and a Patriots football blanket! One customs lady said, "Are those for the baby?" and the other one said, "What baby?" and we said together pointing at my belly, "The baby in there!" It was our first baby gift and it was very exciting...especially because I'd been waiting since August just knowing that the box was there. I wonder how many people never get their "yellow slips" and just leave their packages in the large, non-digital abyss of the Kenyan post office.
We were so happy that we didn't even mind all of the traffic we had to sit through to get home. And we realized that once our driver starts working for us next year, we can send him to the post office to pick up our packages for us! So cool! And the lesson we have all learned is this: we appreciate gifts and love getting them, but please make sure you send us the tracking number if you ever send us a package so that we can ensure the post office doesn't keep the package from us for months!
LMW
p.s. Thank you to Joanna and Dave for actually sending my birthday/baby package...I am so glad it was not in vain!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
November 5, 2008 - One of those Key Moments in Life
"Oh God, this is one of those key moments in life, when it's possible you can be genuinely cool -- and I'm just going to fail a hundred percent.” (from the movie Notting Hill)
I would really like to write something brilliant and momentous about Barack Obama's big win last night, but I also fear that whatever I write will be inadequate.
I could write about how all of Kenya is celebrating today, and will officially celebrate again tomorrow as November 6th has been declared a national holiday in honor of Obama. Kenya's President said in today's news, "This is a momentous day not only in the history of the United States of America, but also for us in Kenya. The victory of Senator Obama is our own victory because of his roots here in Kenya. As a country, we are full of pride for his success."
I could write about how Kristoffer and I stayed up most of the night (we snuck in about 4 ½ hours of sleep) and watched the election results as well as Obama's acceptance speech with our American neighbors across the street, who threw a "Kwaheri Bush!" party (Kwaheri = Goodbye, in Swahili).
I could write about the tears Kristoffer and I both shed when it was announced that Barack Obama won the election and when he addressed the country.
I could write about my memories of learning about the Civil War and watching "the Blue and the Gray" (an epic mini-series on the Civil War) in Mr. Heidenrich's 8th grade history class, thinking to my naive self that there would probably never be a non-white President in America.
Fast forward eleven years and I could write about being an American History teacher in NYC, teaching my diverse population of students about the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, reading Huck Finn with them, trying desperately to convince them to stop using the "n word", and hearing their frustrations at feeling like political doors would never honestly be open to them.
I could write about how much I wish I was in my NYC classroom today.
I could write about the fact that regardless of for whom you voted, with what political party you are aligned, or what you think of Barack Obama as a person or politician, you must be made of stone if you are not incredibly moved by the fact that America elected a person of color to the highest office in the country for the first time.
Finally, I could write about being an expectant American mother, knowing that my American-Danish child will be born in the country of his/her President's father and will never quite understand that color was once an extreme barrier in achieving both the greatest and smallest successes imaginable.
But again…all of that seems so small compared to the magnitude of this moment in America and around the world. I am neither a die-hard liberal nor an extreme conservative, and I am not naive about the promises of political campaigns. Of all the things that I could write today, this is what I will write:
Barack Obama is not a perfect man or a perfect politician, and he will not be a perfect President. But…he has inspired and motivated more Americans to engage in our political process than ever before; he has redefined the vision and hope that many Americans have for our future; and he almost instantly regained the respect and support that nations around the world have for America. So regardless of how perfect he isn’t, he is our new President and it is only in the best interests of our country and the entire world to unite behind him.
I am very proud to be an American and I am hopeful that Obama will actually help bring the change for which my country voted yesterday.
LMW
I would really like to write something brilliant and momentous about Barack Obama's big win last night, but I also fear that whatever I write will be inadequate.
I could write about how all of Kenya is celebrating today, and will officially celebrate again tomorrow as November 6th has been declared a national holiday in honor of Obama. Kenya's President said in today's news, "This is a momentous day not only in the history of the United States of America, but also for us in Kenya. The victory of Senator Obama is our own victory because of his roots here in Kenya. As a country, we are full of pride for his success."
I could write about how Kristoffer and I stayed up most of the night (we snuck in about 4 ½ hours of sleep) and watched the election results as well as Obama's acceptance speech with our American neighbors across the street, who threw a "Kwaheri Bush!" party (Kwaheri = Goodbye, in Swahili).
I could write about the tears Kristoffer and I both shed when it was announced that Barack Obama won the election and when he addressed the country.
I could write about my memories of learning about the Civil War and watching "the Blue and the Gray" (an epic mini-series on the Civil War) in Mr. Heidenrich's 8th grade history class, thinking to my naive self that there would probably never be a non-white President in America.
Fast forward eleven years and I could write about being an American History teacher in NYC, teaching my diverse population of students about the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, reading Huck Finn with them, trying desperately to convince them to stop using the "n word", and hearing their frustrations at feeling like political doors would never honestly be open to them.
I could write about how much I wish I was in my NYC classroom today.
I could write about the fact that regardless of for whom you voted, with what political party you are aligned, or what you think of Barack Obama as a person or politician, you must be made of stone if you are not incredibly moved by the fact that America elected a person of color to the highest office in the country for the first time.
Finally, I could write about being an expectant American mother, knowing that my American-Danish child will be born in the country of his/her President's father and will never quite understand that color was once an extreme barrier in achieving both the greatest and smallest successes imaginable.
But again…all of that seems so small compared to the magnitude of this moment in America and around the world. I am neither a die-hard liberal nor an extreme conservative, and I am not naive about the promises of political campaigns. Of all the things that I could write today, this is what I will write:
Barack Obama is not a perfect man or a perfect politician, and he will not be a perfect President. But…he has inspired and motivated more Americans to engage in our political process than ever before; he has redefined the vision and hope that many Americans have for our future; and he almost instantly regained the respect and support that nations around the world have for America. So regardless of how perfect he isn’t, he is our new President and it is only in the best interests of our country and the entire world to unite behind him.
I am very proud to be an American and I am hopeful that Obama will actually help bring the change for which my country voted yesterday.
LMW
Monday, November 3, 2008
November 3, 2008 - Kenya's OBAMAmania
The election is not until tomorrow and Barack Obama has not yet won the presidency, but Kenyans don't seem to care! The whole country is getting ready for the election, in a way that makes it seem like Kenyans can actually vote in it. For example, since last week there have been so many "Barack Obama" ads in the newspaper...including a full-page spread of his picture! We read in the newspaper yesterday that the village that Obama's father comes from has already chosen which bull they will slaughter if Obama wins, and the village is planning to be shut down for a full day's celebration on Wednesday. The biggest paper in Kenya, "the Daily Nation", has a policy of not endorsing any political candidate as they reminded readers in yesterday's Sunday paper, and yet the editor wrote an entire column on why he really, really, really think Obama should and is going to win. He is definitely Kenya's favorite half-son.
The icing on the cake, so to speak, is that a small, young theater company here in Nairobi has written and began performing "Obama the Musical", a theatrical production showcasing the life and times of Barack Obama through song and dance. I am not kidding you! It was first performed at the national theater yesterday and will be showing all week. Obama the Musical! And in case you think I am making this stuff up, here is a link to a BBC story about it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7702840.stm
So yes, the whole country is on edge! The cartoon in the paper yesterday even joked that there would be more post-election violence in the country if Obama loses. Let's seriously hope not!
In other news, I am in my 23rd week of pregnancy and still amazed at how often and quickly my body is changing. My acid reflux has been better for the last few days and possibly my acne (although the last time I wrote that my acne was better it came back with a vengeance). I have become so used to waking up in the night with painful cramps in my calves (each time it is like the worst "charlie horse" ever!), that I don't even remember them happening anymore. Unfortunately, Kristoffer does! On Friday and Saturday nights I woke up screaming with a cramp, he woke up terrified that something awful was happening with the baby, proceeded to massage my cramp until I fell back to sleep, and then lay there totally awake with his heart beating out of his chest. Both mornings I had no memory of these incidents happening! Sorry Kristoffer!
We had a very relaxing weekend other than the cramps. A particular highlight was intervewing a woman (the third we have interviewed) to be our live-in housekeeper/cook/ayah (ayah means nanny or babysitter in Swahili). Ida came highly recommended from an American friend of a friend who used to live here and employed her for several years before leaving the country. She was friendly, professional, provided proper documentation of all her skills and training, and we thought she was very easy to talk to and get along with. She was a better fit for us than the others we interviewed. We plan to offer her the job this week and hope that she will accept; if so, when we return from our vacation in January she will move in to our "staff quarters" (we have 2 rooms and bathroom facilities in our house for staff) and begin making us the laziest people on earth. She used to work for vegetarians so Kristoffer is very excited about that, she is first-aid trained so I am very excited about that, and she seems to understand that because I will not be working full-time when the baby comes (if at all) her duties will be more housekeeper/cook centered than nanny. But, it will be really nice for us to have regular help that we trust for when we do want to go out without the baby or if I am working at home. We have also arranged to hire a driver starting in the new year so that Kristoffer can be driven to work and I can still have a way to get around (since I still refuse to drive here). I would say that by April, we will be so spoiled and used to the expat way of life that it will be hard for us to ever return to the real lives of people in America or Denmark! AH!
Anyway, off to start another Monday. I mailed in my vote for president over a month ago so I don't get to go to a voting booth tomorrow...but like the rest of Kenya I do remain on the edge of my seat!
LMW
The icing on the cake, so to speak, is that a small, young theater company here in Nairobi has written and began performing "Obama the Musical", a theatrical production showcasing the life and times of Barack Obama through song and dance. I am not kidding you! It was first performed at the national theater yesterday and will be showing all week. Obama the Musical! And in case you think I am making this stuff up, here is a link to a BBC story about it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7702840.stm
So yes, the whole country is on edge! The cartoon in the paper yesterday even joked that there would be more post-election violence in the country if Obama loses. Let's seriously hope not!
In other news, I am in my 23rd week of pregnancy and still amazed at how often and quickly my body is changing. My acid reflux has been better for the last few days and possibly my acne (although the last time I wrote that my acne was better it came back with a vengeance). I have become so used to waking up in the night with painful cramps in my calves (each time it is like the worst "charlie horse" ever!), that I don't even remember them happening anymore. Unfortunately, Kristoffer does! On Friday and Saturday nights I woke up screaming with a cramp, he woke up terrified that something awful was happening with the baby, proceeded to massage my cramp until I fell back to sleep, and then lay there totally awake with his heart beating out of his chest. Both mornings I had no memory of these incidents happening! Sorry Kristoffer!
We had a very relaxing weekend other than the cramps. A particular highlight was intervewing a woman (the third we have interviewed) to be our live-in housekeeper/cook/ayah (ayah means nanny or babysitter in Swahili). Ida came highly recommended from an American friend of a friend who used to live here and employed her for several years before leaving the country. She was friendly, professional, provided proper documentation of all her skills and training, and we thought she was very easy to talk to and get along with. She was a better fit for us than the others we interviewed. We plan to offer her the job this week and hope that she will accept; if so, when we return from our vacation in January she will move in to our "staff quarters" (we have 2 rooms and bathroom facilities in our house for staff) and begin making us the laziest people on earth. She used to work for vegetarians so Kristoffer is very excited about that, she is first-aid trained so I am very excited about that, and she seems to understand that because I will not be working full-time when the baby comes (if at all) her duties will be more housekeeper/cook centered than nanny. But, it will be really nice for us to have regular help that we trust for when we do want to go out without the baby or if I am working at home. We have also arranged to hire a driver starting in the new year so that Kristoffer can be driven to work and I can still have a way to get around (since I still refuse to drive here). I would say that by April, we will be so spoiled and used to the expat way of life that it will be hard for us to ever return to the real lives of people in America or Denmark! AH!
Anyway, off to start another Monday. I mailed in my vote for president over a month ago so I don't get to go to a voting booth tomorrow...but like the rest of Kenya I do remain on the edge of my seat!
LMW
Sunday, November 2, 2008
November 2, 2008 - Carbon Credits in Kampala
If you read all of our blogs and have a good memory you may recall that earlier this year I took some consultants from a company called EcoSecurities around Kenya to do what they call a feasibility study. We had a great trip, were stopped by elephants in the middle of the road and met with some local rural woman to whom I still owe a water borehole.
Anyway, last week was the follow up workshop/training in Kampala, Uganda. As the carbon focal point for the Kenya Country Office of WFP, I went to Kampala assisted by my Kenyan colleague Bernhard from our emergency operation.
The flight itself was great. I had a window seat and the sun was setting during the 1 hour flight. I could see Mount Kenya most of the way there, quite interesting how you normally look down at things from an airplane but Mount Kenya stood stall and was almost at the same altitude as the plane. Lake Victoria is beautiful with many small islands and when I walked down the stairs from the plane I was greeted with hot humid air and a view if the sun setting over the lake.
We stayed at a nice hotel in the city and the workshop was prepared and executed by a professional team from EcoSecurities; the company has officers around the world but these guys were from Oxford, England. I was very active in the workshop which was quite dense in content: this carbon credit business is fairly complicated. I presented for my group and it was the first time in my life that I wasn’t nervous before giving a presentation. My exposure to things like this is just so common to me now that I haven gotten used to it: Great!
So what is it all about? In 1995, developed countries agree to reduce their emissions (pollution) and sign an agreement in the city of Kyoto in Japan: hence the name The Kyoto Protocol. The countries that ratified the protocol have to lower their emissions a bit below their 1990 levels. If the country finds it more cost-effective, it can choose to lower emissions in another country. Say Denmark can’t meet its target, we can then buy credit from, say, Germany which has lower emissions or we can install solar panels or plant trees in Germany to meet our targets. The Green house effect doesn’t discriminate so it doesn’t matter where you off set the emissions. But there is another mechanism, the so-called Clean Development Mechanism, which allows a country which has ratified the Kyoto Protocol to buy the credits from a less-developed country. That is where the World Food Programme comes in. If we can prove that we will off-set emissions we would then be eligible for Carbon Credits (Money). So if we plant trees or install energy-saving stoves through our programmes, we can apply for these credits. But the process is expensive, very technical and long term. In most cases the credits would only amount to 10-20% of the investment (for us) and you have to off-set the carbon before you are reimbursed, so there are many challenges. However, there is no doubt that this will be big in the future and I’m sure we will do it eventually, and since I am the focal point it is my responsibility that it is carried out, or at least in initiated, in Kenya. I’ll present to the heads of all of our units this coming week.
Hopefully the USA will ratify Kyoto soon, as it would be a huge boost for the market and the fight against global warming. At the last global meeting in Bali, the USA was told to either cooperate or GET OUT OF THE WAY! Which is now a famous quote from that meeting. Europe is now the world leader on the carbon front, and even the farmers in Kenya have noticed that the climate is changing. The rain patterns have changed and are not as reliable as they used to be. So come on America, this is affecting us all! I sometimes wonder if Baby Simba will ever forgive us for the mess we are creating on our planet right now.
And to the no-climate change believers: go to school, because you must clearly be illiterate. Yet another massive study was released this week, confirming that climate change is man-made. However, having read both the Danish and American news for quite some time now, I must say that those studies rarely make it to the US media.
What can you do? To quote Nicolas Stern, when he was asked this question at a presentation I attended at the World Bank two years ago: “The most effective thing an individual can do is to become a vegetarian!” Nicolas Stern is a former vice president of the World Bank who released a massive study for the UK government under Tony Blair a few years ago.
Ok…I’ll get off my soap-box now!
KW
Anyway, last week was the follow up workshop/training in Kampala, Uganda. As the carbon focal point for the Kenya Country Office of WFP, I went to Kampala assisted by my Kenyan colleague Bernhard from our emergency operation.
The flight itself was great. I had a window seat and the sun was setting during the 1 hour flight. I could see Mount Kenya most of the way there, quite interesting how you normally look down at things from an airplane but Mount Kenya stood stall and was almost at the same altitude as the plane. Lake Victoria is beautiful with many small islands and when I walked down the stairs from the plane I was greeted with hot humid air and a view if the sun setting over the lake.
We stayed at a nice hotel in the city and the workshop was prepared and executed by a professional team from EcoSecurities; the company has officers around the world but these guys were from Oxford, England. I was very active in the workshop which was quite dense in content: this carbon credit business is fairly complicated. I presented for my group and it was the first time in my life that I wasn’t nervous before giving a presentation. My exposure to things like this is just so common to me now that I haven gotten used to it: Great!
So what is it all about? In 1995, developed countries agree to reduce their emissions (pollution) and sign an agreement in the city of Kyoto in Japan: hence the name The Kyoto Protocol. The countries that ratified the protocol have to lower their emissions a bit below their 1990 levels. If the country finds it more cost-effective, it can choose to lower emissions in another country. Say Denmark can’t meet its target, we can then buy credit from, say, Germany which has lower emissions or we can install solar panels or plant trees in Germany to meet our targets. The Green house effect doesn’t discriminate so it doesn’t matter where you off set the emissions. But there is another mechanism, the so-called Clean Development Mechanism, which allows a country which has ratified the Kyoto Protocol to buy the credits from a less-developed country. That is where the World Food Programme comes in. If we can prove that we will off-set emissions we would then be eligible for Carbon Credits (Money). So if we plant trees or install energy-saving stoves through our programmes, we can apply for these credits. But the process is expensive, very technical and long term. In most cases the credits would only amount to 10-20% of the investment (for us) and you have to off-set the carbon before you are reimbursed, so there are many challenges. However, there is no doubt that this will be big in the future and I’m sure we will do it eventually, and since I am the focal point it is my responsibility that it is carried out, or at least in initiated, in Kenya. I’ll present to the heads of all of our units this coming week.
Hopefully the USA will ratify Kyoto soon, as it would be a huge boost for the market and the fight against global warming. At the last global meeting in Bali, the USA was told to either cooperate or GET OUT OF THE WAY! Which is now a famous quote from that meeting. Europe is now the world leader on the carbon front, and even the farmers in Kenya have noticed that the climate is changing. The rain patterns have changed and are not as reliable as they used to be. So come on America, this is affecting us all! I sometimes wonder if Baby Simba will ever forgive us for the mess we are creating on our planet right now.
And to the no-climate change believers: go to school, because you must clearly be illiterate. Yet another massive study was released this week, confirming that climate change is man-made. However, having read both the Danish and American news for quite some time now, I must say that those studies rarely make it to the US media.
What can you do? To quote Nicolas Stern, when he was asked this question at a presentation I attended at the World Bank two years ago: “The most effective thing an individual can do is to become a vegetarian!” Nicolas Stern is a former vice president of the World Bank who released a massive study for the UK government under Tony Blair a few years ago.
Ok…I’ll get off my soap-box now!
KW
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