More pictures of the house

I wanted to share a few more pictures of our house and compound since it has been the focus of our experience so far in Nairobi. We're meeting more of the neighbors, all of whom are quite interesting. It's a very international mix in our area mostly due to the proximity of the UN and many of the embassies. In our street (Muthaiga Road) practically every second house is an ambassador residence or embassy.

Last night a branch fell on a transformer causing a huge flash of light and a number of very loud bangs. Gerard and I went into overdrive, having no idea what it could have been. To me it sounded like gun shots very close by. The living room and dining room have essentially a wall of glass looking out to the garden and suddenly we felt very exposed. Shortly afterwards the electricity went out and the compound generator went on. AT that point we actually felt relieved even though we were in for 24 hours power outage.
I can tell you, I'm so glad we are living in a compound with a generator! The electricity goes out regularly, a few times a week for sure for hours at a time.During this time the generator allows us to turn on all the lights and use a few sockets as well. The hot water heater doesn't work, but the tanks seem to be very well insulated and 2 hours of heating in the morning gives us hot water for the rest of the day. Seems quite economical. Anyway, as a result of the blown transformer we met our neighbors to the other side, who kindly lent us an extension chord so we could plug our frig into the working wall socket at the other end of the house. The tricks of people experienced at living in Kenya.

We have also decided to get help for the house and garden. We could do it ourselves but we might as well go with the flow and hire a housekeeper/cook and a part-time gardener. The costs are very minimal. My neighbor tells me the minimum pay is $70 a month for a full-time housekeeper. Unbelievable and almost embarrassing. I guess that's why literally everyone with some money has someone working for them. In fact, it's almost expected of you as it creates employment and there is so much unemployment in Nairobi. The grounds manager was visibly disappointed when I declared we wouldn't be hiring anyone upon his inquiry on the first day. Now I've asked him to send along his contact (surely a family member of some kind) on Monday for an interview. It will be weird to have someone puttering around the house all day, but it could be a good opportunity to learn some Kiswahili. Stay tuned..... Usiku mwema! (good night)

Looking into our dining room from the terrace.

Looking back at our house from the garden. I'm standing under our avocado tree.

The garden had a homemade swing and tree house left from previous renters.

I'm trying to figure out how to harvest the hundred or so avocados on our tree. They apparently don't ripen on the tree, but you still have to pick them at the right time otherwise they won't soften but will just shrivel up. We're testing some right now but after a week they are still quite hard. When they're finally ready to go, we'll be eating only avocados for a few weeks to keep up with the harvest.

Another door to the garden from the living room.

Around the other side of the garden, the laundry drying area - leads to the wash room just off the kitchen.

View from the dining room looking into the living room and the kitchen on the far right. That's our new table which looks better than it is. We discovered why it was so cheap: the workmanship is lacking big time. Already a week after purchasing the glued seams are coming apart and we can see through the openings to the floor. We could take it back, but figure it's no use as the problem would most likely not get fixed. It is what it is.....