rollercoasting

Not sure what to call this one. Life here on the surface is easy, we have lots of help around the house, the doc’s work is good, we’ve made some great friends and the weather is warm and sunny but I find some aspects harder. I spent the weekend ill and found that everything became more difficult and it’s at times like this that I wonder how we will manage 3 years out here. And sometimes the contrasts make life too hard. Hearing of people who die far too young or horrific road accidents or our staff who don’t have enough money to get transport home to a funeral or when my friend drove a lady to hospital because there had been complications with a birth. And then we spend more than one of our guards earns in a year on a holiday ….

 

Our eldest and I have been admiring the beautiful displays of lush and colourful plants on the roundabouts but how can we justify money spent on these, just metres from the appalling conditions in the hospital? Life here is so up and down and we live an easy life alongside lives of hardship.

buying a car

It sounds so easy … trust me it’s not. We started a few weeks ago when we set off to meet a man about a car, we had to stop on the way to drop the kids with friends, get a puncture mended and then waited for an hour but the car didn’t show up. Our contact was very apologetic and we left it for a few days. Another lead was followed up last week and we arranged for a viewing I picked up the Doc from work and we set off. No car and no man, he turned up eventually and took us to see the car, which didn’t start! A mechanic friend knew all about this particular car and warned us not to buy it so we went to see another car today, it needs some work but the price allowed for that so we agreed to buy it. But we’ve found another car which is newer and needs less work so we’re going for that one. But hey we may still find another one!

gin

And on the subject of gin … our youngest is explaining here that the 2 G&Ts in front of her are not in fact her drinks!

hols

Bit behind with the blog as we’ve been loafing about by the lake. We went with two other couples (who don’t have kids) to a beautiful lodge where the meals are provided and they lay on  a boat cruise in the morning (to see the fish eagles & do some snorkelling) and an evening trip to swim and drink gin while the sun sets. And yes some proved that it’s possible to sip gin and swim at the same time!

sprained

Having managed life so far with no major injuries (unlike my siblings) I have sprained my ankle this week. There’s no exciting tale to go with it (despite the doc putting out rumours to the contrary) I missed a very large step in the dark after a lovely evening swim and my foot proceeded to swell up in an alarming way. A surgeon friend had a poke and prescribed a hand-me down (from UK hospitals) air cast which looks like a giant ski boot with no toes. It feels excessive for a sprain except that it allows me to walk although the advice is to rest with it raised – easy with 2 small kids! Thankfully it’s my left foot and our car is an automatic so I can still drive, otherwise I would be feeling even worse. I am surprised by how painful it is and do not like sitting with my feet up.

 

Do keep commenting dear readers, it’s good to hear from you! I am still trying to identify the anonymous “member” who leaves messages, although I suspect it might be a relative!

big girls

Here are my two girls who are looking so grown up.

 

We’re all getting very excited about a visit from Granny and Grandad. Our eldest was telling her friend that mummy was very excited about Granny coming to stay. They are coming for 6 weeks, and it’s there first visit to Africa so we feel a bit of pressure to make sure that they enjoy their time here. I’m also wondering what they will make of our life here, there are some things that we are much more relaxed about and things that we would never do in the UK that we find acceptable here. I am sure that they will enjoy being outdoors most of the time and we have found some beautiful spots to take them.

calm

If I was a grumpy hippo yesterday, today I feel calm and at peace, like these hippos. It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do.