So, we do not have our car yet. And if you know us well, you know that we are not the type to just sit around. Although I am tempted to relive my hitchhiking/matatu-ET-combi-riding days of yore, Andy frowns on that kind of risk taking at this stage of our lives so we are relying on taxis to get around. I think I take a taxi about four times a day. We take them to the Embassy, to the gym, to the shops, etc. We have befriended one of the drivers named Peter and he has become our go-to person for all of our transportation needs. Whenever I give Peter a ring and tell him I need a ride, either he shows up immediately, or his brother, or his cousin, or some friend of his and he is quick to call me and make sure said person picked me up on time. Currently, Peter is also in the process of procuring me a dry-erase board and a lemon tree, he is a man of many talents. Although we will be happy when our car arrives, we will miss his shortcuts through the city and old timey gospel hymns on the radio.
We have also hired a gardener. We were not expecting to hire a gardener and frankly, we made fun of folks who did, because like most people in our neighborhood, we live in a townhouse, and our yard is the size of a postage stamp and we felt confident that we could handle whatever "gardening" was necessary. Then Eric-the-gardener (ETG) randomly showed up at my door. I was not in the mood to talk to him but I took his name and number and listened to his schpeel about how great a worker he was. Several days passed and Andy and I developed grand plans for our little yard that involved replanting the grass, pulling up several large bushes and plants, building a stone wall and planting a vegetable garden and with all that work, the idea of a gardener became more appealing. So I called ETG and he literally came running to our door for an interview. The whole thing was quite endearing to us as we have never actually employed anyone in our home before. ETG was amazed that we asked him to enter the front door of our house and had him sit at our table for an interview--which, to us, is a relatively normal way to conduct an interview. Anyway, he promised us up and down that he could meet all of our gardening needs and more and so we hired him for two days a week to fix our yard and help with the dog (when we get one). As we were talking about how much we would pay him I threw out that we would like to pay for medical insurance for him, you would have thought that the kid just won the lottery; he could barely contain his huge grin and the thought of real, official, medical insurance. So we shook on it and bid him farewell and we will fill out the paperwork this week. Regardless of his actual gardening skills we are both happy to have ETG on board as part of our Kenya experience, he seems like a good fit with us.
(Our yard, before)
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