Loving the Uniforms, this is the regular one....pic of the sports uniform to come. Eli asked if he could wear it to nap time after school today...he loves it.
Lucy making friends...Teacher Sarah said she was very active and outgoing for the first day.
Putting our bags away and settling in.
Eli found the cars before mommy and daddy left.
Heading home after a super first day. Teacher said they did great...they said they loved it...mommy and daddy loved their first time w/o kids....a win for everyone!!!
So as you can see Eli and Lucy had their first day at school and it was a big success. Teacher Sarah and Teacher Judy loved them, they had a great time, and we got some time to try and figure some stuff out in Thika without having to worry about the kids, which was SOOOOOO good. We hadn’t had coffee yet so after picking up the kids sports uniforms we headed to the market for the first time. It has been simply too overwhelming to go there with the kids in tow so we took advantage of our free morning. We finally got to walk and look and explore a little to try and make some sense of where things are and where we can get what we need. We stopped at this tiny place for a coffee…The Three Shade Hotel. Very misleading name, not sure what the hotel part or the shade part was it was just a small, very dirty, dark cafe. We ordered coffee and were unexpectedly served a hot glass of milk with a packet of nestles instant coffee. Pretty tasty really. We specifically ordered only coffee and were quite content with what we got. This place is in the heart of thika, not many Caucasians have probably every been in there, everyone was staring and laughing…in what we choose to see as a friendly way. After about 5 minutes a guy in a Beckham (the soccer player) button up walks over to the table and gives me an omelet. I look over and there are about 5 guys poking their heads out of the kitchen pass though grinning and giving me the thumbs up. OK, so I didn’t order or want any food but I’ll humor them. I start eating. Anne takes a few bites just to try it. Then here he comes again and Anne gets an omelet too. OK, Now what…she eats on it a bit and we decide we better not finish or they’ll probably keep it coming. We thank them and make our escape, the bill came to a whopping 90 shillings (that’s just over a dollar). I can live with that, I suppose. Like I’ve said before, some things are shockingly cheap here, others are not. I bet the lodging is cheap there…I could check into it for anyone who’s planning a visit (it did say hotel).
Pretty tasty for a very cheap meal.
After picking the kids up at school we decided to try another place out for lunch with the kids. They got a hamburger and daddy ordered the Tilapia. The waiter described it as deep fried fish and chips. Now that sounds good. If I could just get some clam chowder to go with it I would feel right at home. That feeling didn’t last long….i ate it, and it was actually pretty tasty, but not exactly something you’d order up at Moe’s. Here it is beforeI ate it. Not sure what they did to the sides of the fish, but my swahili’s not good enough to really ask many questions yet. Order up!!!
I ate it all with a greatful heart, when I was done Eli told me to "Eat the face off daddy"
After lunch we came home for the kids nap time and since the internet seemd to be working a little I updated this post before going to the office for the afternoon.
Nothing like a good nap after a good play.
Anne stopped by and snapped a picture on the office.
Home just in time for the daily Mzungu watching at our front fence. As kids come home from school they gather in groups to try and spot us.
These kids love to greet us and really love the kids. They want to take Lucy home. The other day one little girl asked and I said jokingly, “Sure take her.” Eli jumped between then and said, “NO you can’t take Lucy.” Way to go big brother. They love to touch us, they would rub my arm all day long if I’d let them, the arm hair is a real novelty (Craig Prins you would be a super hero here.), they don’t seem to have any. Anne’s spends too much time trying to figure out why they don’t. They love Lucy’s hair. To my knowledge Eli and Lucy are the only caucasian children in Thika and the surrounding area. I would bet that most of these kids here have never seen let alone touched or played with one. It’s a very strange thing to see… and I don’t think I could write it up, so I won’t even try. That’s all for now, someone eat a Big and Tasty value meal for me. Ian