After two months in Istanbul with my children, I am back here in Nairobi. Last year, in July, was our first summer here in Nairobi. So for the first round, we decided to stay three weeks in Istanbul and then went back to Nairobi by August. I told myself after that summer I would never spend another summer there. The weather is quite chilly, (surely it was not extremely cold based on my version of cold) dark, cloudy, and very boring for the kids. Because most of the activities are outside here and they happen mostly during the school year, there was not too much for the kids to do. After this experience, I did decide we would never spend a summer here again. That is why we chose Istanbul! I ended up renting a nice three-bedroom apartment and the kids had the best time. They never had time to even think about being bored. If you have kids, you can relate to how active kids are!
So by Aug 31st, we were back in Nairobi. I am not sure if you heard in the news (well maybe the new is not an interest of yours), but there was a fire at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The whole international arrivals were burned down! While I cannot say if this s every going to be fixed, I can tell you the burned down building was in horrible condition anyway!
We landed in Jomo Kenyatta at 2:30 am early in the morning and the flight was fully packed. Once we got off the plane, we were stuffed into buses that only take you 200 meters away!!! From there, you walk outside with a large group of people toward the big USAID tents to go through the customs and visa check. People started to get impatient at this point because the system was down, it was chilly and drizzling, and there were no proper lanes for the customs check. Once we were done with the visa check point, we ended up going to the next tent, which connects to luggage collection area. This can be very confusing, so if you plan to come to Nairobi, be prepared!
Besides all of this, I am happy to be back in Nairobi because wherever your personal items are is your home. Therefore, no matter what conditions you are in, you will always be anxious to get back home.
Since we came back to Nairobi, it took some time to settle back into daily routine. While the kids have been preoccupied with school since September 2nd, I have been busy with starting my own business, my article writing for expat websites, and my blog.
Oh and today a remarkable thing happened! I was simply watering my garden and I heard something. I looked around and there were five monkeys watching me! What an incredibly unique and extraordinary experience, right? Finding myself up close and personal with the monkeys was so much better than seeing them on TV or at the zoo!
Keep reading my blogs and I will be back with exciting subjects soon)
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