2 Years

We arrived in Africa two years ago today, and all that was going through my mind was “I've made a huge mistake”. After landing from our 16-hour flight from Atlanta, we decided then and there that we would not be making a trip home while we were here because we were not going to go through that again until we had to. So it has now been two years since we set foot on American soil. The taxi ride from the airport to our apartment was the scariest ride I've ever been in since getting stuck in Colorado on I-70 during white-out conditions. Our lovely driver decided to tell us all the horrible things you never wanted to know about Africa and what to watch out for. Not exactly the “welcome to Africa' speech I wanted to hear. After a month in our apartment we moved into what we believed to be a great house, which honestly it is very homey and very cool and we have immensely enjoyed, but 7 sinus infections later and watching rats run around on the beams above me makes me wish I knew then what I know now. I will miss this kitchen, but I'm excited to go back to my little house which is half the size (and ¼ the mortgage!).

If I could turn back time and make the decision all over again whether or not to move here, would I say yes? Absolutely, without a doubt. But I would have packed more stuff. Would I stay two more years if I could? Nope. It's time to go home and be with my family. I have a niece and nephew who were born and have celebrated their first birthdays since I moved here. Miranda is very excited to get back to her pink room and all her toys and friends. She has forgotten a lot, but she had just turned 4 when we moved. She had her first slumber party on Friday with all the girls in her class, but she only made it until about 7pm and she asked to come home. Of course by the time Rusty got there she was fine. Poor Jackson is going to be one confused little boy since this is the only home he has known. He was 7 months old when we left and was barely crawling, he took his first steps in our living room here at 9 months, and now at 2 ½ he can ride his bike almost as fast as Miranda. We will miss Anna, our maid/nanny, whom Jackson lovingly refers to as 'Noni'. Her actual name is Innistasia, but a lot of the domestics change them to ones that are easier to pronounce. I have been giving her a lot of our things that we cannot take home. We'll have 16 pieces of luggage/boxes to bring back and right now I'm wondering how I'm going to accomplish that.

Two more weeks and I will be sitting in my living room with my family and my dogs. I miss my little Shih-tzu 'Maeby' so much and I hope that she will remember me and not want to stay with my mom who has been taking care of her all this time. She has been with her sister (a litter mate) and brother (from a previous litter). Jozi, our Standard Poodle we got here just over a year ago, is flying home today. They have picked her up and are en route to the airport for her 8pm direct flight via Delta to Atlanta. After an 8-hour layover she will continue on to KC and picked up on Wednesday morning by local family. We decided to book her flight a couple weeks early in case of any delays or complications. I hope she doesn't try to eat Maeby.

Since the end of our time here is so near, it makes me think about all the things I love about Africa and what I will miss. It almost makes me want to stay! Almost. I think I will miss the restaurants the most. There are so many affordable, quality restaurants that cater to kids. No one cares if your child is running around screaming because theirs probably is too! Most places have nice play areas and some even have 'child minders' who will keep an eye on your kid while you eat. We don't have to trade quality food for kid's entertainment. And of course the weather here just can't be beat. I'm afraid I have severely acclimatized, 60F is cold and 90F is hot, with little to no humidity. Uh-oh. Thank goodness for central air/heating! There are so many more things that I wish I would have had the opportunity to do here, but two years just isn't enough to accomplish it all, especially when you have 2 small children. I keep getting asked if I'm going to come back for holiday, but as of right now, a return visit isn't on the agenda. Unless someone else wants to pay for the flight. I have met so many wonderful people here and am very grateful for social networking so I can keep in touch. It hasn't quite hit me yet that there are some I may never see again, but I'm just happy for time that I've had with them. If it weren't for all the Black & Veatch families here, I don't think I would have made it these two years without demanding an early move back home. You couldn't have asked for a better field assignment or a greater group of people to have as a temporary family. Luckily most everyone will end up back in KC eventually so we will get to see each other again.

Operation 'clean out the pantry' is in full swing and I must say I'm doing a pretty good job! I just used up the last bag of my cherished Nestle Toll House chocolate chips on a batch of cookies and I'll see what else I can whip up this week with the remainder of my over-priced US goods. Hopefully somebody will make me something with Cool Whip in it as a 'welcome home' treat! Or just the tub with a spoon will suffice. ;-)

Warthog -- It's What's for Dinner

Now that's it's about time to leave, the Fox network has arrived! Although the television programming is a little behind here, we actually get some cinema movies early. 'Iron Man 3' was here a few days before the states, and we rented 'Dino Time' this weekend which is now Jackson's favorite movie, but I found out it's not available back home. We had a friend bring us some new Nexus 4 phones since they don't exist here yet. Blackberry is pretty popular. I'm excited to get back and have unlimited phone calls, texts, and internet without needing to stop in somewhere and buy airtime.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous! It is now the dry season which means it's sunny every day. It's cool at night, maybe between 45-50F, with the highs getting up to 70F or so most days. We did have a little cold spell so I had to turn on my floor heaters for a bit. Unfortunately dry weather means it's time for everyone to start burning the land, so there's an awful brown haze over the city which is irritating, and we've been dealing with runny noses and coughing.

Our geyser (water heater) in the garage decided to break one night so we had a lovely waterfall over the freezer and a thick frozen one inside of it. Could have been worse, one of them is also located upstairs above Miranda's closet (we have 3 total). One day it will break, I just hope it waits until we're gone. We also had water issues in the house where there were 2 days where it just didn't work for several hours. I can live without electricity for a day, but no water is very challenging. They had the same challenge at Miranda's school last week when they didn't have water for almost 3 days. They brought in bottled water and fancy portable toilets that flushed and had working sinks. School was canceled on Wednesday so they could resolve the issue, and it just happened to be a holiday (Worker's Day) so it all worked out. Rusty and I spent the morning at the China Mall which is full of fun & cheap junk. I spent most of my money on new 'pashmina' scarves and some costume jewelry. My 'new experience' of the day was when I went to use the restroom, the toilet paper dispenser was on the outside of the stall. I had to take what I predicted would be enough before I went in. Maybe this is practiced all over the world, but it was new to me! This weekend we took Miranda to see 'The Croods' at Montecasino. As we were waiting in line to pay to park in the parking garage, there was a security truck with a guy standing next to it with his machine gun, and another guy on the other side of the entrance/exit with a gun as well. Then they both rand into the truck and sped off up the ramp into the garage. We asked the lady taking our money if we should be here, and she said it was OK. Hmm, didn't appear to be OK to me! Then after we parked and we were walking to the entrance, two security trucks raced down one of the lanes. We chose to go inside anyways. Interesting.

Miranda has been going to a lot of birthday parties and play dates lately, it's sad that we most likely will never see any of her kindergarten classmates ever again. But what a great experience she's had, and she is old enough to remember it. Unlike Jackson, who will probably only have memories from the pictures we've taken and the scars he's acquired. My lovely daughter decided to disobey me once again and turn on the treadmill in the upstairs loft. Just as I was calling them down for dinner, I hear crying and “it's OK, it's OK!” It wasn't. Jackson got his finger stuck under the tread and the band ripped off a thick layer of skin on his arm and hand. Yes, it was very gross. It's been over a week and he is healing nicely, but it's going to leave a mark.

For the 'Worker's Day' holiday, several of Rusty's co-workers & family members got together for a braii. We enjoyed the warthog that had been hunted by one of the guys. Tasted like ham, and I like ham. Cinco de Mayo was celebrated a day early on Saturday with our '2^nd Annual' event with most of the B&V families in the office here. Most people have really missed Mexican food, and there have only been a couple of restaurants found that are acceptable. But since I don't like Mexican food, I haven't had a problem. That's right, I said it, I don't like Mexican food! And considering there's one on every corner in KC, it's a problem. But there's an Italian restaurant on every corner here, so apparently this is where I belong!