Our first full day in Africa (Tuesday) started with a doorbell. We have several rotating guards that patrol the property 24 hours a day. We had forgotten to tell the one on duty that the gardener was starting that day, so at 8:30 AM he rang to tell me there was someone at the door claiming to be our gardener. I was sleeping when he rang, so I was all confused by the bell and scrambled out of bed to figure out if it was a phone or the door. Once again I opened the door in my pajamas and my groggy self attempted to figure out the situation. Two things that I found interesting. The guards do a lot of saluting, which makes me want to giggle (don’t worry, I held it in) and they also tend to not make eye contact, which apparently is common, but I find it quite disconcerting. Once I figured out what was going on, I verified that the gardener was supposed to be there, threw on some clothes and went to meet our new employee.
Davie, our gardener, is about my age and has a long track record of gardening for Embassy families. We took a walk of the property and he informed me that we had many, many fruit trees including guava, papaya, mango, avocado and lemons. I was so delighted to hear this, as one of the things I’m most excited about is growing our own fruit and veggies. The yard, on the other hand, had seen better days. The grass was brown and the bushes/plants were either dead or on their last leg. We were later informed that there is a huge drought going on and water is scarce, so we’re not supposed to water our lawns or wash our cars and only the garden and a few flower beds can be watered. It’s a very serious situation and while the embassy ensures we have water, most people here don’t.
The yard has HUGE potential though and is filled with dozens of different varieties of exotic plants and bushes. It’s gigantic too, I would guess it’s close to an acre. So when the rains do eventually come in November, I just know it’s going to be a lush paradise. If only we can keep things alive until then…
Nia was instant buddies with Davie and followed him around for hours. She is loving being in nature and I am loving that she can roam the entire yard safely, because there’s no way she’s getting out the one entrance past the guard. Such a different experience than what we had in our prior post and I think it gives her a nice level of freedom. Davie climbed up a tree and got Nia a papaya (at which point she deemed him “an expert climber, even better than daddy”). They also walked around the property cutting flowers to give me and I know she fully intends to garden with him. I’m super excited for her and glad Davie was willing to have her tag along.
In the afternoon we were picked up by our sponsor. When I say we, I mean, Nia and I, as Nick reported for work bright and early Tuesday morning. Our sponsor drove us to her house and we dropped Nia off to play with her two boys, who were roughly her age. Nia was overjoyed to see their swingset and trampoline and had no trouble making herself at home (her extroverted nature is definitely a bonus here). Once she was settled, our sponsor and I went to the grocery store. It was quite an experience and vastly different than other grocery stores we’ve frequented overseas. I forgot to get a picture, but will try to next time. The store had all the basics, but the selection was very limited (2 options of balsamic vinegar, for example). Inventory is also fleeting, so it’s best to stock up on items when you find them on the shelves. That being said, I did find all the basics I needed. Meat, fish and vegetables are at or below US prices, so that’s promising too.
After checking out it was off to the Embassy for our security briefing. It was exciting getting my very first look at the Embassy (where I’ll be working!) and seeing Nick’s office. We also had the chance to meet quite a few people. Everyone was ridiculously kind and welcoming, it’s obvious that’s going to be the norm. The Minnesota girl in me loves all the smiles, kindness and thoughtful gestures. :)
I wrapped up the day by interviewing and hiring a nanny for a trial period. Her name is Harriet and she’ll be starting next Monday. Let’s hope she and Nia hit it off!
Dinner that night was our second sponsor-provided meal and just as we were getting into bed around 8, the doorbell rang. It turned out to be our neighbor, who came over to introduce himself and spent an hour chatting with Nick. I bowed out, as I was already in my pajamas. Have you noticed that the doorbell only seems to ring when I’m not appropriately attired?!
We woke again at night, this time at 1 AM, but we managed to get down by 3 AM, so that felt like progress. Nia thinks it’s this big game to get up in the middle of the night and have a snack and play. Mommy, not so much.
I’ll end with two funny Nia moments that you’ll enjoy.
1. Nia is leery of the food, so anytime I present something familiar that she hasn’t eaten in Africa yet, she’ll say, “Is this banana going to taste like a banana?†She usually deems that it doesn’t and after initial annoyance will tell me some bizarre other thing that it tastes like. The banana apparently tasted like mint. It’s pretty amusing.
2. All our beds have mosquito netting on them and Nia wasn’t to keen sleeping with it down until we reframed it as a “princess bedâ€. Let’s hope she keeps thinking it’s cool!
So there you have it. Hope you’ve enjoyed this 3 AM posting. If I’m not going to sleep, I might as well blog, right? More to come!
