En Guarde!

Emma and I were sitting on the porch feeding the birds. We had five hornbills, three males and two females, two male weavers and one female, a host of sparrow weavers and a morning thrush. We also had Spiro. He ducked and wove his way down the branches and then snuck down the trunk and across the ground. As soon as his feet touched the porch I squirted him with my water gun. SPLAT!! *insert evil and even maniacal laughter* He ran back the way he came and kept on going! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Tasha 2 - 3 Spiro ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Baridi

Priscilla has a horror for all things cold. I have told you before of how she is always inspecting Emma and telling me how she needs socks and shoes and a jacket and hat, indoors. Well we got socks and she now wears either those or shoes and generally a jersey since it has been chilly in the mornings.

I have now introduced a whole new "crazy Americans" or possibly "bad parent" for her. Emma is getting new teeth, the next two on the bottom are coming through and we are in full combat pain mode. One of our most effective tools are the frozen chew toys. I took one out of the freezer and gave it to Emma. Priscilla watched me closely, then grabbed the toy and felt it. She gave exclamations of horror; "Baridi! Baridi!" Baridi is the Swahili word for cold. I pantomimed that it helped with the teeth but she just kept telling me, repeatedly, how cold it was. I decided to exit stage right and took Emma with me, chewing on her icy toy. Leaving Priscilla to shake her head in dismay.

All is peaceful. The birds are playing in the grass, the dikdik are grazing at the edges of the driveway and Emma and I are watching it all. Spiro stalks us down his tree, twitching from branch to branch 'til he is in our faces. Then he flicks his tail arrogantly as if you say ne, ne, you can't get me. I use my new found weapon - a baboon bark. Usually it stops Emma from sticking her fingers in plugs and it chases off the monkeys. This time it's an impressive bark, it holds all my aggression towards this rat with a fluffy tail. The dikdik flee in terrified bounds, the birds take to the skies and Emma's bottom lip first trembles and then parts to emit a wail which is followed by heart-rending cries. Spiro laughs at me and saunters back up the tree. Tasha 1 - 3 Spiro. Botheration!

and for this week's entertainment...

Our toilet has not been working. For three days now a chap has been trying to fix it. On the first day he came in with a plastic bag of things, set the bag down on the floor, put one hand on his hip and scratched his head while gazing dolefully into our cistern. He did this for about ten minutes. The he carefully laid out all the items in the bag on the floor. These were mostly tools and bits of plastic usually associated with the ball cock that makes the cistern refill. Then he put his one hand on his hip and gazed dolefully at his equipment. I was becoming concerned at this point that I might be more qualified to fix my cistern than he was. Eventually he went to work.

Within minutes he came back and asked me if we had a hammer. I gave it to him but was puzzled as to what he planned to do with it. Thankfully he just added it artfully to the items laid on the floor. Then he asked me for a spanner - a 24 or a 23. We did not have that and so he went to fetch it.

45 minutes later he returned with the spanner and after, yes, some hip, scratch and doleful gazing he returned to work. At the strike of 12 o'clock (lunchtime) he came and declared it fixed! I said great and flushed. Something plastic flew up into the air and water fountained out of the hole left behind. He scratched his head and said he would come back tomorrow.

Tomorrow held much the same hilarity except the water gushed out of the bottom of the cistern. And on day three the same. On day three he brought reinforcements. First one other person came and scratched their head and then a third. I am now truly impressed by my toilet. It must be so complex and cunning to still not be working. Tomorrow is Sunday but I look forward to what Monday brings for us and the plumber.

Thank goodness we have a second loo in the house or this would not be amusing in the least.

Ellies once more!

We have been back at Mpala for less than a week but have had many elephant sightings! The herd has been hanging around for the last couple of nights making trouble in the neighbourhood. They pulled the pipes off the walls of the house next over from us so we are even more appreciative of our shower than ever.

Two nights ago K and I were preparing for sleep when we heard the unmistakable crunch crunch of something with extremely large teeth eating trees. We hopped out of bed and there right outside our window were a couple of elephants. The moon is full and we could almost pick out flea bites, we were that close. One moved around the house and we followed to the spare room where we had not closed the curtains. We both felt very exposed standing in our pyjamas at the window with the elephant a body's length away but thankfully, with concrete between us. The last didn't prevent the thrill of terror that went down our backs when he froze, glared at us and waved his trunk threateningly. We stood as still as possible and tried not to breathe until he decided he had given us a proper scare and carried on with his munching. He wasn't a large elly but nonetheless filled the window and it was both a relief and a disappointment when he moved off into the underbrush.

Make Love Not War

Turns out that that is what the ghecko's were doing. Jack is maybe Jackie in fact, as we have come back to many wee jacks and Jasons prowling our walls for tasty treats. Also Jack(ie) and Jason are now inhabiting the same curtain without howls and crashes as before. Unless... and dare I suggest it? Jack and Jason are more forward thinking than many Kenyans and have simply adopted the bairns in the month we were gone?

Warmth from unexpected places

Making the bed together with someone is ritual like. Opposite each other with a pattern of mirrored movements somehow makes me feel bonded to the person across the sheets. The flick and smooth and pat and tuck while you talk of something else always warms me. It is something that spans across all bridges, recently for me; sex, age and language. Each person brings to the bed making their own life as it has been. Priscilla tucks the sheets in tight against spiders. For Keir it is all unnecessary since you are just going to mess it up again anyway but he does it because he loves me. For my Mom the pillows are decorative, above the duvet and handy for leaning against to read before the afternoon nap. As a parent there are so many things where perspective has changed, and now I look forward to standing across from Emma and seeing how much of each of us she will bring to this small daily piece of life.

Close encounters of the porcine kind

On Friday an old friend's mom picked us up and took us to our first petting zoo. There were Alpacas, goats, cows, rabbits, guinea pigs, geese and ponies. All came rushing to the fence to be fed and we could steal a touch. The scariest was edging past the male Ostrich who was fluffing his wings in our direction and giving us the (beady) eye in a very unfriendly manner. On the other side of the walkway from the Ostrich was an Emu. Emu's are well known for their aggression and he was doing his level best to rid us of our eyes as well. Between the Ostrich and the Emu someone is going to come a cropper.

The highlight of the trip for me were the warthogs. We walked up to their pen but they were hiding somewhere and we couldn't see them, so I called; "sooeeee, here pig, pig, pig" and they came running! It was amazing to be able to touch their rough little snouts as they pressed against the fence. It's like stroking fine gravel that is slightly wet and they made little "ungh! Ungh!" noises of content when scratched behind the ears. Emma couldn't get enough of them and with some trepidation I let her touch them too.

Another maybe first word?

It's possible that Emma is saying "Oh Look!" It's a lot like the "kitty cat" where she could have said the word but it could also just be that she is miming our sound. This afternoon she woke up from her nap, looked at the cat, pointed and said very clearly "oh look!" Then she looked at us to make sure we were paying attention and said it again, still pointing. Also - just a photo of her enjoying outside with her Uncle. Lulu is under the bush to the right of them.

The New Outdoorsman

Emma is going to be an outside kind of gal. Whenever she is fussy, all one has to do is go outside and she settles, even just a quick walk up to the gate of the complex will settle her. The wind in her hair and the sun on her face makes her so happy. While I was hanging washing the other day I put her down on the grass which is a bit sparse and dry. Which is perfect for a small person to play with dirt, stones and sticks. She gets such a kick out of wondering around the garden looking in hiding places for the tortoise. Her Uncle has declared that Emma has named the tortoise "Lulu". She also named the bushes, trees and birds Lulu but apparently most especially the tortoise is Lulu.

Where are the wild things?

Emma has taken to growling when she is playing with us, or when she wants you to play. This morning Granny was lying on the couch. Emma spied her from the other side of the couch and cruised along 'til she reached Granny's feet, growling all the while. Then she grabbed Granny's big toe and bit down... luckily just in play but the growling was too adorable. With all these teeth we are going to have to play close attention when Emma goes ggggrrrrrrr gggrrrrrr.

Emma Update

Emma is babbling away in her own language all the time. The other day at two in the morning when she lay between my Mother and I while we hoped she would go back to sleep her words were: "Lordy, lordy, Lordy." In her carseat she cries repeatedly; "Ehhhhhhhhhh" and when she sees the cat she says perfectly; "Ittickya At" Which we translate for her into kitty cat. She will sit on your lap and have long conversations where only she understands the story and she loves to sing along with "how much is that doggy" and "jingle bells".

She also stands on her own a fair amount, and of course cruises around holding onto furniture. Walking is not far away and she gets quite a thrill from holding your fingers and walking, especially if you are chasing the ittickya at.

Ugh!

My Mom's cat was playing with this behind the curtains: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scolopendra_gigantea

I went into a Mothering frenzy and beat it to death with my flip flop, much to the cat's dismay. (It was a good toy) Then I looked it up online and it turns out that I could have preserved it and sold it on ebay for 18 pounds! Then I read further and it turns out that the thing hunts and eats birds! Now I stalk around with my flip flop close at hand all the time. *shudder* We didn't have bird eating centipedes in C'ville!

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig

Well my radio silence this time has not been due to Mpala's terrible internet, or Emma's neediness but rather a much happier event. My Mom and I have been plotting and pulled off, a surprise visit to Namibia. My sisters had no idea I was coming until I walked up and said hi.

It is so wonderful to be home, although the first thing that happened was that I was sick enough to be hospitalized. Thankfully only for an afternoon but it was trial by fire for one sis and my Mom as they had to take care of Emma who was most displeased with no Momom. I was just grateful that it happened here and not at Mpala where I would have been an hour from the nearest doctor, let alone nurse and IV drip!

I have been getting Emma (and myself) back into a routine and just relaxing with my family which has been a kind of heaven. Nothing beats your mother's cooking does it? Strawberry pudding, pineapple pie and veggie lasagne... mmm. I haven't even thought about Spiro in a whole week!

Oh the torture!

We were home at Mpala for just 3 nights and we were determined to see Ellies. Each whisper, crunch and harrumph outside had us scanning the trees with our torches but to no avail. Naturally, we were told on the morning we were leaving that they had come through late in the night. So do we stay up late in hope? Or just presume that as we are there for a year eventually we will see them so regularly that we will be bored, as promised before we moved here?

Touche, my Dear.

It's 5am and not yet light. Spiro positions himself on the tin roof above the bedroom and scratches the back of his ear with his foot. Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap. Emma stirs but goes back to sleep. Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap. I get up, fetch the hard juggle balls and throw them at the ceiling. Spiro goes silent and waits. I get back under the mozzie net and snuggle down. Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap. Emma rolls over and says; "let's play!" Spiro 2 - 1 Tasha. Nuts!

a week in Nbo

In Nairobi one can do many things, one can risk one's life and limb daily on the insane roads, one can go to the movies, one can wheel and deal at the market or one can touch a giraffe's tongue.

We have done all of these this past week. The best strategy with being on the roads seems to be to grip some part of the car and shut your eyes tightly. This applies to the driver as well. Mutatus, people, bicycles, heavily laden and leaning to one side trucks all act as though they are the only vehicle on the road. The result is a calamitous mess. Bush gardens move aside... for bowel loosening, adrenal gland stimlating excitement, visit Nairobi.

Last week Keir bravely babysat and D and I went to the movies. So exciting for me! I got to sit in the front seat of the car! I haven't done that in months! Then the A-team was excellent! A fabulous shoot-em-up movie. When I got home Keir was at the door with Emma to greet me. She yelled in excitement and literally leapt out of his arms. Poor Daddy. Maybe I am a little more fun than I thought?

On Sunday we went to the market to buy a few gifts. The British side of me really struggled with the pulling, chatting, and pushiness that went into the sales. Each person on the market has the same goods to offer so it comes down to who can make you pay attention and stay at their stall. I am so used to quiet and impersonal shopping of the USA that it was too hard to make a decision and I ended up only buying one scarf, and that cos D was buying some!

Emma update

3 of the 6 teeth have broken through so we are halfway there! Her favourite toys are things that are not toys but are sharp and metal, like keys.

Emma's fun the past two weeks has been figuring out how to hold more than one thing in one hand. Once she got it right she was all about it and quickly worked on getting larger things in one hand.

She has also started saying Ugh! and sometimes throws her hands up over her head and says it. Maybe in imitation of our disgust over the stinkbug eating. She has also added other ggggh sounds to her vocubulary, so that she sounds permanently grossed out by something.

She has really got the hang of the high five and I am now teaching her to wave hello and goodbye. She had hello this morning but just can't figure out goodbye, she is usually too distraught that whoever is leaving.

You little stinker!

We had stinkbug invasions in Charlottesville. So much so, that we decided we could not beat them and should just accept them, and started calling them Sheildbugs instead. Well we thought we had left them behind. Doesn't it seem fair that if we have leg climbing squirrels, we should be safe from the smaller, stinkier pests? Well here we are in Nairobi, and there is a stinkbug. Just one, but let me tell you, where there is one, more will follow. Last night it was hanging around the sink waiting to commit Hari Kari in the dish water.

This morning Emma was motoring around the kitchen as she is wont to do while we make breakfast. We suddenly caught sight of her face, which was pulled into a contortion of disgust while drool was rolling down her chin onto her pyjamas. I immediately inserted my pinky finger into her mouth to see what disgusting thing she had found on the floor. Yep, you guessed it, the stinky, stinky and now masticated bug! UGH! UGH!

Emma update

I was zerbetting Emma's tummy the other day, making her laugh with a wide mouth and lo and behold! 6, yes 6! teeth are breaking through her top gum. Poor girl, no wonder sleep is a thing of the past.