Day to Day Life

It's hard to believe that we have been living here in Kenya for over two weeks. We feel that we have adjusted pretty well to the transition thanks to the supportive community here. A lot of people back home have been asking what our day to day life is like. So here goes...

First of all, our schedule. Toanh home schools Anna on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday from 8:30 am to 1 pm. Bryan has the privilege of being substitute teacher on Wednesdays. Anna seems to be enjoying homeschooling especially since she gets the rest of the afternoons and Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays off! It's amazing what you can cover in a one-on-one setting. My hat goes off to all the teachers out there - it's not an easy job! Leo goes to preschool Monday through Friday from 10:30am-11:30am with 3 other missionary kids. Anna and Leo also get one hour each of art, gym, and bible study every week - taught by the missionary moms.

Toanh works at Tenwek on Wednesdays (gynecology clinic) and Thursdays (OB wards and surgeries - cesareans, D&Cs, and/or gyn surgery). Bryan works on Tuesdays (surgery), Thursdays, and Fridays (OB clinic, OB wards, surgery). We then have eight calls during the month between the two of us.

What we love about Kenya...everyone stops for chai tea at 10 am, except maybe for the surgeons and their OR team. Even then, we've seen cases moved around chai tea time. The tea is delicious. It's always mixed with milk and sugar. Yum! We still have our coffee first thing in the morning too. Let's just say our caffeine habit is still going strong.

There are definitely pros and cons about eating in Kenya. We have to boil and filter all of the water we drink. Also, all the produce needs to be washed in a solution of bleach and water. Tenwek hospital is located in a temperate climate. Thus there is an abundance of local produce that is quite cheap. The conversion is 80 shillings (ksh) = 1 dollar. Locally, we can buy gigantic avocados (7 ksh), bananas, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower, corn, green beans, green onions, green peppers, lemons, lettuce, pineapple, onions, oranges (quite tart), passion fruit, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, sukuma wiki (kale), sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and zucchini. All of these are approx. 50 cents or less.

We have a garden in our back yard which has sweet potatoes, green onions, pineapple, parsley, rosemary, ginger, and a banana tree. We just planted cilantro, spinach, and lettuce. Let's hope they grow. Local Kenyans will also come to our door to sell produce. This is how we buy our milk and eggs. Milk comes straight from the cow, thus it is whole milk. Other families here have said they have tried to skim the milk but it doesn't work too well. We have to boil the milk then refrigerate it. None of us have gotten sick yet- knock on wood.

Most of the staples we have to buy in Nairobi which is a four hour car drive away. When we first arrived, we landed in Nairobi. We bought flour, sugar, spices, oatmeal, pastas, rice, peanut butter, olive oil, butter, yogurt, cheese, and meat. Holy meat! We filled half a deep freezer with beef, chicken, pork, and fish. After seeing all the meat, it was almost enough to make us vegetarians. Nairobi grocery shopping is much more expensive than buying locally. We spent $6 on Heinz ketchup, $8 on dijon mustard , $6 for Raisin Bran cereal, $10 on a small bag of dried apricots, $12 for a 1 pound bag of almonds, and $6 for pancake syrup (forget real maple syrup). I was pleasantly surprised that they had many different Asian condiments.

Given the cost and inconvenience of buying groceries in Nairobi, we have learned to make some things at home. Thanks to Rachel McLaughlin and Heather Fader for their recipes, we have made our own bread, granola, whole wheat tortillas, chipatis, yogurt, peanut butter, pizza dough and pie crusts. Name a bread...we've made it (wheat, oatmeal, zucchini, banana, and pumpkin). Can you tell, we're not losing any weight here.

Although we are lacking some of the modern conveniences here (TV, bread machine, crock pot), we really haven't missed them at all. We especially don't miss the TV. We fill our free time with beautiful hikes and playing outside with Anna and Leo and the other children. At night, we play board games, cards, puzzles, and read together by the fireplace. Yes, so far, life in Kenya has been good for us.

Daddy and Leo baking. Messy!

Our Home in Kenya