Our Family story: I am a city girl brought up in urban New Jersey. I've been fortunate in that I've had tremendous exposure, going to high school in Ridgefield, CT. , college in Atlanta, Georgia, and professional school in Washington, D.C.. I think my time in all of these really different places has shaped me and made me the person I am . My husband has a similar story, he was born in Nairobi, Kenya. He came to the U.S. for undergrad where he first went to a small school in Augusta, Georgia from there he went to Tennessee State University where he got his B.S., then he went on to MIT for grad. school.
My husband and I met about twelve years ago in our nations capital. He was freshly graduated from MIT and working, I was still a student at Howard University. We met at what I thought was the most unlikely place to meet your spouse.....a party. Recently, however, I've been told that a party is not so unusual a place. To make an extremely long story short, we met in the spring, were married that winter, and started our family. I finished dental school and we remained in the Washington, DC/Northern Virginia area to work and raise our family. We have three children, two girls and a boy aged 11, 8, and 5 respectively.
Over the years we've pondered the idea of relocating to my husbands hometown of Nairobi. We though of how great it would be for the children to have a global worldview, to learn a second, and perhaps third language, to get to know their large extended family. To be able to see how fortunate they are not only to have been born in the US, but also to be Kenyan as well. We wondered what we could bring to Kenya. My husband, now an experienced software engineer, myself a dentist with several years experience under my belt. We felt we would be assets to an explosively developing society.
In 2008, we'd just had our second, and what we though was our last child. We though the time was perfect! Well, we know what happened to the economy in 2008! We couldn't go. Without a company sponsoring your move, moving across seas is an expensive endeavor. We decided it was not our time.
We continued to visit Kenya once a year or every other year at minimum. On our last visit in 2014 (by then we had had our last born) we decided we needed to set a deadline. We thought if we kept saying we will do it, but never commit, it would never happen. We decided, whether we have gainful employment waiting on the other side or not, the summer of 2016 would be it.
Nov 2014: James Goes to Nairobi
My husband found a great deal on airfare and decided to go scouting for positions. He had been given the contacts of a recruiter. Besides that, he wanted to look at land, in hopes that we could purchase land, and build a home prior to our arrival in 2016. You know, pay for it while we were still gainfully employed. We learned a few things from that visit. 1. Things don't work very efficiently in Nairobi. The recruiter, who had been contacted prior to his visit was not responsive at all during his time in Nairobi. 2. Things are not very straight forward. Land prices would go up by 1/4 in a day for no apparent reason. Hubby returned to the states with no leads on either front.
Sept 2015: School Applications
With our summer 2016 deadline quickly approaching, we decided to apply for schools for our three children. We'd heard the American school that we were interested in filled up quickly and that waiting lists were long. They had all previously gone to a Montessori school, our oldest daughter was in her first year at a fantastic Christian school while the younger two remained in the Montessori school. We filled in the applications, sent in essays and recommendations and waited.
2015: Changes
Actually it was my husband who first suggested homeschooling during the spring/summer of 2015. Our oldest daughter was having difficulties in the 4th grade at the Montessori school she'd attended since she was four. In Montessori classrooms typically there are several grade levels in one classrooms. So they'd have pre-school through kindergarten. Then first grade through third and finally 4th-6th grades. In this particular school, in fourth grade they move toward a more traditional teaching approach. The teacher expected alot from the students and did not accept that students may learn at different paces (this is putting things lightly by the way). We decided to move her from the Montessori school, but during that time we also considered homeschooling her. Instead, we got an Au Pair, and she attended a Christian School. This worked out for all three children. The youngest two were able to continue at the Montessori school which was a great school for them, they could now be picked up from school at a reasonable time (no more before and after care). The oldest was able to attend a great school that was not very close to our home, but because of the Au Pair, logistically, now it was possible. It was a win win. Homeschooling was put to the back of our minds.
Jan. 2016: That Homeschool Thing Again
My daughter performed a duet with another young girl for the church Christmas Concert. I remember the interactions with this other child. She was very well mannered not unlike my own children. She was very intelligent and outgoing, she interacted well with our daughter and adults. I remember during one conversation, my husband asking her what school she attended and she replied "I'm homeschooled". I remember thinking There goes that homeschool thing again. Seriously that's what I thought. I was impressed by her and I did want to know where she was learning. I left church feeling more curious than ever about this homeschool thing. Later James and I would discuss homeschooling as a possibility for our children.
March 2016: Waiting List, and Clarity
So, after months of waiting, we received news via email that there was no space for either of our children at the school for which we applied. We were put on a waiting list and have yet to be contacted. We had put our eggs in this one basket because we'd visited the school and loved it. We thought it was a great school that taught with the Christian values we want instilled in our children. We felt the children would transition easily because the school taught to American standards. Also, of the three American Schools, it was the most reasonable financially. With dreams dashed, we began to consider our other options. We could consider one of the two other American International schools, which was more costly, but still had a good reputation and was also a Christian school. We could consider other systems such as the numerous British International Schools. Again, my husband chimed in, in a moment of complete clarity....We could always homeschool! Wow, why didn't I think of that? It made so much sense. Who better to teach them, than the parents who will always have their best interest at heart, who know them best, who can cater to their strengths and weaknesses. We could give them more customized education instilling in them our values. We could take more advantage of this time in this beautiful country called Kenya. We could road school at times! Wow, so many options. Our minds were racing with the thought of so many possibilities.
March 2016-June 2016: Let the Games Began
The thing to know about me is that I never half step.... What I mean by that is, when I am in, I am all in. Once we had decided on homeschooling in late March, by April I had signed us up for our region's annual homeschooling conference to take place in June. I was on the Internet all the time researching and pouring over homeschooling hot topics like curriculum, learning styles, and how to homeschool multiple children at various grade levels. We decided that since we were both gainfully employed, and that once in Kenya, we were unsure of when income would again commence, that we'd pre-purchase resources for at least two years. I was constantly on eBay, amazon, and Craigslist. I got some really nice deals on used curriculum. I also got jump ropes, soft balls, and a basketball hoop.
It was also early March that we began looking for a right hand drive vehicle. We considered changing our minivan to right hand drive and then shipping it in the container with our things. But not only would that be super expensive, we didn't think the Honda Odyssey would handle the abuse of the Kenyan roads. Next we considered a Jeep. We knew they could easily be made right hand drive because it is what the post office uses. in the end, the easiest and most cost effective way of getting a car to Kenya is buy buying a used car direct from Japan and having it shipped to Kenya. This is what we did. The car, equivalent to a 4 Runner in the US, arrived a few months before we did. By the time we arrived it had cleared customs, been insured, and was waiting at my mother in law's house.
Lastly, in the month of March, I gave my three month notice. Even with the purchase of the car, I somehow felt that somehow plans to leave were somehow not concrete. This single act of sending in my resignation letter made everything real and inevitable. And I had three months to get my stuff together.
July 2016-
The days began to roll so quickly. Before I knew it, we were approaching August. July 20 th was my last day at work. The ladies from work had taken me out to dinner and then they gave a farewell party at the office. These times were bitter sweet. I was so ready for a change, but I knew I'd miss my colleagues and the children I treated daily. What I would not miss was the daily minimum commute of 3 hours!
Finally moving day came. We decided to hire professional movers with a door to door service. It was not a cost friendly option, especially since there was no company paying for our relocation, but I think for our sanity, it was the best choice for us. We'd been told that the packing would take two days. The first day they would pack up the house, and the second day they would load the container. On July 26th the movers came to pack our home. They spent 12 hours that first day, they packed the first floor, most of the second floor (they forgot a linen closet), and none of the basement. The second day they came in and it seemed to be more of a rush job. I was really disappointed in the entire situation, especially because some of our things were left behind. They did not fit in the container. I couldn't help but to think that if things were broken down more, there would have been more space on the container. So if there are any other major moves in our future where space may be an issue, a note to self would be really to go through and break things down, for example; desks, beds, and bookcases can be disassembled ( just have a system of storing screws and small parts). Clothes should be left in drawers, instead of taken out and put in boxes which just takes up more precious space. During our initial walk-through, the sales guy from the moving company stated that things can be kept in the drawers, but this is not what the movers ended up doing. All in all, I'm glad we went with the moving company as opposed to DIY for my sanity alone.
We had a five days of sleeping on the floor of our empty house. We'd already sold our minivan back to the dealership, but we had two smaller cars to deal with. I gave mine to my brother, and my husband sold his to a family friend. That way we had access to the car until the day we left. We just left the car in the driveway for the friend to pick up. We transferred titles before we left. On the last day of July 2016, we took a shuttle to the airport headed for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, then to Nairobi, Kenya. We were exhausted, but looking forward to this next phase in life.
My hopes are that this blog will chronicle our time in Kenya. Not only our adventures with homeschooling, but our adventures as expats, our journey as a family in a new country, where even though it is here that my husband has roots, realizing that it has been over twenty years since he's called this place home.
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