I wasn’t sure if I should try and get this blog going again so I’m giving it one more year. Liz and I have just finished our first week back in Nairobi. It’s the first time I have been here without Pete, but only two more weeks and he’s on home soil.

So what did the first week entail:

• Getting Liz into a routine in a new country
• Sorting out her phone, making sure she has Mpesa for funds
• Going through all the work laptops to make sure they’re updated and protected
• Lots of shopping for stock at Carrefour
• Going to church at ICC
• Team meetings
• Going to the gym
• Lots of washing clothes by hand
• Bucket showers

What’s the gym like?

We go to Smart Gyms at the Junction Mall. It’s a 15 minute walk from our apartment and depending on traffic, it could take that long to drive. It’s certainly not cheap, and at 13,750Kshs ($176) for 3 months you want to make it worth it. It’s modern, has music going, water available and the best showers.

Why do you hand wash your clothes?

Our apartment is so small that there’s no place for a washing machine. I’ll do a blog on it one day to show you what it’s like. The weather here is good so things only take a day to dry.

Why bucket showers?

When our 1,00litre tank runs out, the pipes get air bubbles in them. That means very little comes out of the taps, including the shower. I didn’t know how to get the air bubbles out so our friend Ayub came to the rescue. Once I sussed it out, it was no problem. Our landlord gets water in when Nairobi Water fails to supply, which is basically all the time. We had water for a couple of days and that was it. We have spare water containers around so that’s used for the toilet. Before I figured out how to bleed the pipes, it was a bucket shower for us. You can also have a bucket shower with just one litre of water.

While it’s been good to settle back in, we’re both looking forward to Pete returning home.