The One Where Mosby Gets A New Bone

Mosby loves bones more than life itself; however, he hates the nubs left over after he chews the center out and he leaves them littered all over the house.  Luckily, Santa was good to him this Christmas and he has a restocked bone supply.


Here are a couple of shots of him enjoying a new one:

The One Where We Celebrate Christmas (Andy)

Merry Christmas from Africa! 

This holiday season found us reflecting on the fact that we are in our early thirties, married, living in Africa, pet owners, and expecting our first baby. Most of the aforementioned has occurred within the past year (six months actually). Added to this was the fact that this was really one of the first Christmases we have spent away from home, away from our immediate families and our cherished traditions (even if we don't always cherish them at the time). Long story short: we had a lot of reflecting to do. I was extremely busy with work the first half of the month so, like my gift buying, I managed to push my reflecting off to the end of the month:).

Kerry and I brought all of our Christmas decorations with us from the States, banking on the fact the we would have space in the house to hang all of our decorations and that we would be able to find a Christmas tree in Kenya. We instead found that, while we had space for our decorations, our walls and mantle are made of concrete, making it very difficult for hang stockings and wreaths on a whim (luckily, we forgot to bring a wreath with us). There also is no place in Kenya to buy a live Christmas tree. We resorted to a (tasteful) fake purchased at the Noukumatt grocery store. 

We didn't have stockings, either, but luckily my parents came through and sent us and Mosby new stockings to hang above our fireplace. Only, as I mentioned a second ago, we couldn't hang them because the mantle is concrete and offers no natural place to hang them, so we put in another rush order to parents for some hangers. Worked out perfectly. The mantle was, however, able to accommodate our African creche set where--and I can't be certain on this--all the members, oddly enough, might be Muslims. Well played Balthazar.

We attended church on Christmas eve and a friends party down the street from us. Lacking access to TBS, we were forced to rent Christmas Story from iTunes, but it was a welcome taste of home. We breached Cook tradition slightly by waiting to open the majority of our gifts Christmas day. We both received great presents from our parents and each other; I was particularly happy with a book Kerry had made of photos that I had taken since we have been in Africa.  

A couple of months ago we decided that we wanted to host a party at our house for a few friends and include some colleagues here on temporary duty who didn't have a home to go to for the holidays. It also was an excuse to use Kerry's family china that she inherited and has been sitting in a box in our storage space for years. She planned an excellent meal and in partnership with another couple that cooked a turkey and a ham, we had the makes of a great Christmas dinner. Even Mosby got to have his best friend Emmie over for the weekend. 

But, that meant that we spent the majority of Christmas Day cleaning and cooking and setting up.

Kerry cooked some truly amazing dishes. She also gave me a recipe for bacon infused bourbon, which I infused with my stomach shortly after this photo was taken in what I call "Mosby's Cocktail." (2 parts bacon-infused bourbon, 1/4 part maple syrup, splash of bitters, orange slice for flavor). Delicious.

The party was a success and Christmas day ended like so many Christmases past: to much food, to many dishes, not enough time. 

We wish everyone back home and posted abroad a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

The one where the Varanos come to visit (Kerry)

My parents have just returned to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania after a two week visit here to see us and their granddog Mosby of course.  They were our first visitors here and therefore our guinea pigs to see how much activity, altitude, and general African idiosyncrasies a couple of spry baby boomers can take.  They did very well and we feel confident we can handle anyone, so come and visit us!


After a few barks and some excited peeing on the floor, Mosby took right to them and loved all of the extra walks and attention and dog biscuits he received during their stay.

(note the permanent dirt stain on his nose from constantly burying his bones in our muddy backyard:)

We took my parents on two different safaris so we could compare experiences.  This was my first real safari in Kenya and Andy's first safari anywhere so we were very excited.  

We started up in Samburu, Kenya which is a desert and while it is not the primary location for safaris in Kenya, we chose to go there because it is less crowded and you have to work to see the animals.  We stayed in a wonderful tented camp with excellent hosts and we managed to see all five of the animals that are only located in Samburu--the gerenuk, the reticulated giraffe, the grevy zebra, the somali ostrich, and the beisa oryx--so we felt very fortunate.  Here are some photos:

Next we went to the Masai Mara where, as someone told us, it is like God took a suitcase of all the animals and dumped them there.  We saw everything (except a rhino) there and had a wonderful time. We stayed in another great tented camp and had delicious food too.  Here are some of our photos:

After the safaris we spent some time seeing the sights of Nairobi including the elephant orphanage, the giraffe center, a tea farm, and a flower farm.  Hopefully it wasn't too exhausting!

I should probably end here since this has become quite a long post.  We had a fantastic time with my parents and we miss them already.  Lord-willing we will see them in PA this spring for the birth of our baby!  

  

The One Where We Celebrate the Birth of the United States Marine Corps (Andy)

Saturday, 12 November, Kerry and I helped celebrate the 236th birthday of the United State Marine Corps at the US Marine Corps ball in downtown Nairobi.

While some people out there have only recently become familiar with this event because of attendance of Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake at other Balls back in the States, the Marine Ball is a big deal for the Marine Corp and it also is a big deal for the overseas diplomatic community because it's usually one of the best parties of the year anywhere you are posted. While some diplomatic veterans don't approach the Ball with the same vigor that the once did, this was the first time Kerry and I had ever been to one and we definitely were excited about going.

After a settling a few wardrobe issues--buying a dress while estimating how pregnant you will be when you put it on and a cumber bun that disappeared at the cleaners only to reappear the day of the Ball--we headed downtown and checked into our room at the Nairobi Intercontinental Hotel, an excellent hotel if you are ever in need of one in Nairobi and also the site of the party. We changed into our party clothes and headed to the cocktail hour to meet friends before the evening officially kicked off.

 Some of you may have noticed that I'm wearing the same tux I wore at our wedding last year; however, out of respect for the Corp, I  did not make as triumphant an entrance as i did back then:

The Marine Ball has been described, callously by some, as "work prom." And while there certainly are elements of that, it was great opportunity to honor all the vets for their service and to learn more about the history of the Corps. There also was an open bar, great food, and we had probably one of the best pictures...well, ever...taken of the two of us. Unfortunately, we only have a print of it, which is currently in our living room, but it looked similar to this.

After the official presentations had been made, it was down to business with the rest of the party. We managed to not take any pictures of that portion, but there was dancing to songs from the 80s and 90s and numerous side bar conversations discussing what people were wearing, who they came with, and how people we knew during the day acted after hours. Actually, it was exactly like prom....only this one had booze, guns, and swords.

Happy Birthday, Marines; Semper Fi. Can't wait for next year.

The one with the hiking (Kerry)

If you are an avid reader of this blog you'll note that I am not quite as thorough as my wonderful husband when it comes to posting our adventures on here.  This one shall be no exception.  I am really just killing time as I wait for thunderstorm #5000 to pass so I can take Mosby to his scheduled playdate with our neighbor dog Emmy at the dog park:)


Yesterday we took a wonderful hike to Mt. Longonot--a dormant stratovolcano according to wikipedia--with our friends Cassie and Devin.  The actual hiking pretty much consisted of marching straight up the mountain, but we were rewarded with great views at the top.  We happened to arrive between two buses full of Kenyans so it was not quite as peaceful as we were anticipating, but it sure was entertaining.  Andy and I went very slow because we didn't want to hurt the baby and consequently some fat Kenyans kept cheering us on, telling us we could do it, which was a little embarrassing:)  All in all it was a wonderful day, we loved getting out of the city, we enjoyed the countryside, and we both have the sunburns to prove it.  


Here are some photos:

This is the crater a the top