Furniture Shopping

Buying our dining room table was a bit of an adventure. We drove out to Ngong Road, known for its furniture shops on the side of the road. They essentially line the street and represent the boundary of Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi. The "showrooms" are the side of the street in front of the workshops, tiny spaces made of tin siding. It's hard to tell one dealer from the next and there appeared to be pacts between some of them. Buying anything there requires alot of bargaining in order not to get ripped off completely. Luckily Gerard was quite good at this and just wouldn't let up until we got the price our taxi driver recommended. In the end, we got a nice table for a good price. Only later did we realize that the wood was a bit fishy, probably brought in from the Congo where things aren't regulated too rigorously. Feeling a little guilty we picked up the table today and had it transported home. It certainly looks great but in the future we'll have to be more vigilant.

We were wondering how they were going to make sure the chairs and table weren't wobbly, since there isn't a level floor anywhere. They used a table and the wobble was fixed right there with a saw. Amazingly the chairs and table are pretty much wobble-free. Expertise within complete chaos - If you can find the experts, you are in good hands.....we lucked out in this case.

Sascha's new school

The Kindergarten at the German School

Here are some pictures from Sascha's new school. She seems very happy there. The kids spend a lot of time outside on the expansive grounds and climbing trees is just one of the pastimes during the day. There are four resident pet rabbits and a tortoise, another big hit. Add to that a trampoline, a maze made of bushes, a swing carousel, horses made of rubber tires, and, and, and. 

Sascha's classroom is the third window in from the right.

Sascha with her new friend Lasse.

The bunnies are in the front. The table in the background is the outdoor kitchen where they do cooking and other projects. In the distance is a garden that the Kindergarten plants mainly with food for the rabbits and the tortoise.

This one shows the cafeteria on the left (which is as small as it looks and includes outside seating) and the kindergarten building on the right in the distance.

First week in Nairobi

We have arrived!!

Actually we've been in Nairobi now since last Saturday around 8pm. As some of you may know, the international terminal of the Nairobi airport burnt down a few weeks ago, so we were somewhat apprehensive about what would await us upon arrival. Yes, there were long lines, but the chaos of wedding size tents and hand written signs was actually quite well organized. And the African music playing in the background in the immigration tent helped to calm tired, raw nerves. The baggage claim was more of an Easter egg hunt with luggage was strewn throughout a huge tent and you had to wander around looking for your bags among hundreds of other doing the same. A bit chaotic, but we found our 7 pieces eventually. Then came the makeshift airport hall which was little tents set up all over the place replacing rental car desks, taxi services, flower shops, etc. We eventually found a taxi who took some interesting shortcuts between tents here and there to get us out of the crazy traffic and on our way to our hotel.

We moved into our house here last Monday, which was also Sascha's first day of school. That day was a whirlwind of buying the absolute essentials, getting Sascha settled in a completely new environment and exploring our new quarters for the next year. Everything went amazingly smoothly, including same day delivery of the mattresses and Sascha's first day of school. By Wednesday we had a stove and frig up and running  and ate our first home-cooked meal on the living room floor (the cardboard box for the frig came in handy here). By Thursday we had a sofa and two comfortable chairs to sit on. And tonight we celebrated our one week anniversary in Nairobi with a dinner seated at our new dining room table. Granted the food and drink was served on plastic ware but it felt like a real milestone to us.