In Nairobi so far
It is only the end of the second week, and we feel like we have been here for months. I want to restart the clock to the date we landed in Nairobi. The nightmare of flying with an infant cannot be overdramatized. After a lot of drama about getting into the BA flight due to an expired passport, we were the last passengers to board out of Boston. The kind lady seated next to us offered to move to a distant seat as we settled into our seat with a thousand pieces of items. For a brief moment, Amani sat in the other seat, but decided that he wanted to see everything! So, I attached his belt to mine since he was a lap passenger. Needless to say, he wanted to look out of both windows and screamed to be freed from the belt. The saving child seat provided by the airline put him to sleep for much of the first leg of the flight. In LHR, the change of flights requires getting out of the plane to the ground and boarding the bus shuttle. Amani tried to help by walking to the flight of steps while I dragged the hand luggage, the carriage and his entertainment package. We boarded the bus, barely! And then we had to go through to check in the terminal for our Nairobi-bound flight. I will not go into the details of changing a baby’s diaper and using the ladies’ room accompanied by our small mobile unit ( so named due to the hardship of moving them in unison).Instead of freshening up, I opted to buy a cover-up perfume and then ran ( and ran and ran and…) for the next flight. Amani must have been exhausted at this point, because he was very cranky for this flight. He cried and tried to get out of the seat to a point of driving me to a near-breaking grrrrr-point. He refused all kinds of foods, just drank the BA skim milk and at some point fell asleep. I am NOT travelling alone with him; well, I have to get back to the US though. I guess that is one of the reasons I want to restart the clock.
In the first week, Amani was amazed by the crowing of the cock each morning. He would get up early and find his way to the chicken house making the ‘kukukukku’ sounds. He was initially very friendly with everyone, but the new faces increased, he would be ‘shy’ of strangers. In the second day, we went to a local hotel that is supposed to be a ‘hotspot’ for wireless connection. My laptop power dimmed as soon as we settled down for a Tusker (at Kshs260), and the visit turned out to be another of ‘chase Amani around the facility’ between sips (or gulps) of the infamous local brew. He bounded with his cousins literally, scratching Max’s face and Natasha too amid lots of hugs and kisses. Very cute!!! On the 4/2, we met with Nancy at the famous Yaya centre for lunch, Amani even had some soup. It has been an uphill battle to feed him, with some little breaks of good behavior (eats some noodle soup). He drinks a lot of milk and fruit blends but little solid food. I am amazed by his energy! On Saturday, we had the birthday party for Tracy (turned 8 yrs) and Rose (said she was 50). My good friends Irene, Judy, Doris, Agnes and Karol graced the occasion, along with cousins and friends. Mosey made the Nyama choma. On Sunday morning, mum made food on the traditional 3-stone ‘cooker’ while Amani watched the hens and tried frog-leaping with Tracy and Keisha. In the afternoon, we went to the pool and he clung to me so tight, which was strange for a boy who loves to play in the water. I guess it was the cold water and the strange kids in the pool (as strange as the kids at the Y).Tracy and Keisha swam like little fishes, while Ryan and Sean were in the baby pool half of the time. The weather was pool-perfect.
This week was spent on drives to the city and a visit to Karol’s lux-flat…more details later.
