Sunday, March 2^nd.

 

Tonight Kurt and I are up later than normal.  Actually much later.  It is 11:00 pm and we are each going strong on laptops, communicating with the outside world that is somewhere out there.  Usually I’m half asleep by 9:00 and drag myself to brush my teeth and stretch out in bed while Kurt unfurls our mosquito net and tucks it in.  So, this is late.  There usually isn’t much to do around here after dark.  Although, some aspects of Mugumu come to life at night.  We have some good friends, Eli and Linda Knapp, who have spent time in Serengeti and Mugumu, now living in the States (woohoooo, you guys are BLOGWORTHY!!!  Eli loves to tease about that – little do they know the plans I have for them).  Anyways, before we arrived in Mugumu, we had asked them to describe it.  One of the things they mentioned was that they would often ponder as they laid in bed at night, “Why do all the dogs in Mugumu choose to bark at the same time?”  And now, I join them in their ponderings.  It’s the Mugumu nightlife…stray dogs barking and howling together.  I also hear frogs, crickets, and doves.  You know how things seem quiet until you listen and realize that there are noises everywhere?  It’s the same when I sit on the grass outside…if I look closely, the grass is moving.  Teeming with ants, termites, little harmless insects busy with their day’s work. 

 

So, confessions.  Blogs are overwhelming.  There are so many details to choose from to spill forth onto your computer screens!  We are glad you’re taking some time to read up on our lives.  There is much to share…about life, work, raising a child here, pregnancy.  Yes, our late but big and getting bigger news…I’m five months pregnant.  Here’s the proof:

 

 

 

This was just less than a month ago, but the only “pregnant” picture on our computer thus far.  And behind me you’ll see a bit of our kitchen.  I made bagels for the first time, they turned out nicely, especially when I used yogurt to make cream cheese, I felt like I was back in Seattle eating a Noah’s bagel. 

 

 

So, for some lucky people, pregnancy is blissful, romantic, full of wonder and excitement.  For me, I feel like I turn into a wretch.  I could barely get food down, for it only to come up again.  All the time.  And all this while we were settling into a new country, a new town, working new jobs, with new people.  Believe me, we gave our head a shake at the timing as well.  But anyways, the worst is over, I’m healthy again, and coming out of the “dark hole” of the first trimester and seeing some sunshine again.  We’re happy for this gift, happy that Ben will have a sibling soon (we’re due in June).  I’ll be going up to Nairobi for the delivery, since my parents are there, and it’s not too far of a drive.  So…that’s our big news.

 

Someday I will post about my work, driving over goat paths to reach villages where our clients live.  And about living here, of snakes and malaria, of friendships, of culture shock.  We’ve figured out a way we can email our posts, which hopefully will save a lot of time and work in “blogging,” so maybe we can be a bit better about it. 

 

But for now, here is what I cooked for dinner a couple of weeks ago.

 

It started with this:

 

 

And ended like this:

 

 

Here’s something I couldn’t have eaten a couple months ago!  Fish with Mango, from Extending the Table for all you Mennos.  Fish caught from Lake Victoria, shuttled 4 hours here by bus, sold in an open market.  Mangoes and tomatoes and onions and salt.  And that’s it!  100 mile diet!