Week 1 Jet Lag: Eastern standard time is currently seven hours behind time here in Kenya. We had to deal with massive jet lag upon arrival. It took me an entire week and a few days to acclimate. This was longer than usual. Perhaps since my stay is not as finite as usual, I felt no need to rush, so the jet lag lingered.
Week 2 Surprise trip to Malindi: This second week came with many pleasant surprises. Our house rented after just two weeks on the market! We were so pleased and relieved to hear this. We also were treated to an all inclusive week stay in a villa in Malindi. A coastal town on the coast of Kenya. We only needed to pay for our flight. The besides the mosquito repellent resistant mosquitoes, the trip was lovely.
Week 3 House Hunting 101: Actually we viewed our first houses for rent in the first week of our arrival and have been viewing ever since. The housing market here in Nairobi is interesting to say the least. When it comes to pricing there is such a broad range of what you will get for your $$. In the nicer areas of Nairobi, there can be a range of $1, 250 +, for very similar homes. Also, homes have been on the market for months, yet their asking costs don't change. All logic is defied here and nothing is ever straight forward. By week three we had seen at least 20 houses, some that we really liked, but no definite housing.
We viewed a house in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi, that we both really loved. The home had an open floor plan, very similar to many homes in the US. It had four bedrooms, plus two family rooms which would allow for a separate home-school room. We contacted the landlord by way of the gate watchman to see if we could negotiate rental terms directly with him. The landlord directed us to the realtor. This particular realtor happened to be one that we'd already been working with.We offered a quarterly discounted payment or a monthly payment at asking price. The realtor had to call the landlord several times to confirm which terms were acceptable (something that could have been avoided if the landlord had been willing to negotiate directly). There was a lot of back and forth. Finally the landlord agreed on 250,000 KeS per month ($2,500). We were very happy we had finally nailed down a home. Later to only find out that the realtor had fees that were passed down to the renter. We refused these fees stating that these costs are usually included in the fees payed by the landlord, not the renter. We were assured that in Kenya, the renter pays these fees. Because we refused to agree to these fees, the deal fell through. This occurred on a Friday. The following Monday morning we were called by the realtor. They stated they had agreed to waive the fees and wondered if we would still want to rent the home. We agreed. Ten minutes later they called us back apologizing. There was a miscommunication. They stated the house we were interested in had actually been rented that morning and so was no longer available. They asked if there was another home that we would be interested in. We declined. Wait for it.......here's the kicker....A few days later they call us again stating that the house was indeed available and if we were interested we could have it without the fees. Although we loved the house, with it's two family rooms and double shower in the master bath, we declined. We were tired of the back and forth and by then we had other viable prospects.
Week 4 Birthdays: This week we had two birthdays in the family. First my own, then two days later my oldest turned 11. We didn't have anything big for either of us. We did a day at an indoor amusement park and Karaoke with family for my 11 year old, and went out to dinner for myself.
Week 5 School Days: We officially started homeschooling the day after Labor Day in keeping with the increasingly less popular tradition of starting after Labor Day. The kids have been very grateful for the long summer. We homeschooled at my mother-in-laws dining room table. With only a few bumps in the road (gosh I forgot to pack highlighters and colored pencils in my luggage), things went well. This was also our first week of co-op. Which, I must say, I absolutely loved! It was wonderful chatting with parents in similar situations with similar values and ideals. Even with these similarities the crowd was diverse. There were mostly Americans, but also Kenyans, Germans, English, and a family from Australia. It was great to hear all the stories and experiences from the parents, especially from those who have been homeschooling for years!
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