.. well life certainly seems to have got in the way recently, dominated by preparations for the ISK International Food Fair – the big fund raiser for this semester (see how American school I am now – semester and even quarters – I even understand twenty-five hundred …and similar numbers – at first I saw 25000 for twenty five hundred !! I think that is a hangover from the Zim hyper inflationary time when there was nothing less than 5 digits! I still fool the Americans with ‘half one’ i.e. 01.30hrs and I love saying fortnight – so many subtle differences and I thought we all spoke English – how wrong was I?!) Anyway our big event was on 27/2 and involved a lot of strategy and hours of planning meetings. It was well attended and hopefully we raised lots of money. Steve enjoyed assisting with the bar and doing the braai for the boerewors rolls. He flew off to Zurich the same night a little worse for wear – fortunately I was sober so managed to get him ready for the journey including making him put his wallet in his pocket – imagine no wallet and on a different continent!!

Our weather has been quite mixed recently but still warm and the pool has maintained a pleasant 25 degrees. It is lovely swimming early in the day when the air temperature is marginally cooler than the water – feels so silky. We have continued with our exercise class in my front yard which I so look forward too. I have enquired about starting a step class too. We are also looking at Belly Dancing classes one evening – a mum at school offers this. Steve has continued to cycle to work and has realized that it is much quicker; however the traffic in this area has been behaving the last couple of weeks.

Anna has had a busy time. She spent 4 nights in Zambia last week for the Global Issues Summit and came back having had a totally brilliant time. She brought back a bottle of Mazoe Orange (bottled in Zambia but presumably produced in Harare) and the taste has certainly evoked many memories. She was billeted by a family in Lusaka – Dad from Columbia and Mum from Lesotho – Steve and I both being the same nationality really are not the norm in this international community!

Yesterday we had a meeting with the IB co-coordinator at the school to discuss Grade 11 choices. She has done a complete about turn on her selections due to Higher Level (HL) Geography being offered for the first time. It was suggested that she take Standard Level Economics as a 7^th subject but this did not work within the timetable. She has opted for the following;

Geo, History, Biology and English at Higher Level French and Math’s at Standard Level

English is an extra HL in which she can always drop back to SL if it gets too much. Essentially they follow the same course for the Grade 11 year anyway.

She is looking at applying for a BSC Geography but that is still way in the future.

She is already thinking about her extended essay and hopes to build in some aspect of Zim be it the economy or land issue. It certainly fits with her doing 2 social sciences. I think she is sad not to be taking drama but she hopes to continue to be involved in the drama productions. It was a shame that she missed the latest play while she was in Zambia. She has been cast a good speaking part. I went to see it while she was away and thought it was excellent with a wide variety of students taking part.

We went to see Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief the weekend before last. Kids enjoyed it and the special effects were good but I feel they are trying to find the next Harry Potter and trying too hard! Afterwards we went to lunch at the Meditteraneo – much talked about in Nairobi – and understandably so – thoroughly enjoyed the food and found it difficult to choose from the extensive menu.

We are reaching the end of the school quarter and Spring Break actually coincides with Easter this year. Anna is going skiing and we are going to the coast AGAIN – not convinced I will ever tire of it!! Dad will be visiting again. We will then be on the countdown to the end of the school year. I cannot believe that we are in our 15^th month here in Kenya. It really feels like home now but I do forget where I am sometimes…. As an example – Anna’s mobile phone battery has been on its last legs for ages and
I meant to order a new one from UK and did not…. How silly was I? Down the road just 2.7km away at our local mall, Village Market, there is a Nokia shop. I walked in today and bought the right genuine Nokia battery off the shelf – that is the sort of convenience I cannot get accustomed to…. Life in Nairobi … not so tough.