Saying Goodbye To Home

So good people, I hope you’re happy wherever you are.        

One:

My plants and fish are alive and well. Mister Thabiso got a high-five for taking care of them in my absence. He even bought some new plants for the fish tank while I was away and brought back shells from Puerto Rico per my request.

Two:

There is no food in this house and I need to do some shopping pronto.

Three:

I have to go to work tomorrow and hope I’ll make it through the day… I tried to stay awake all day today but had to take a nap at 3pm just for two hours. These to and fro voyages are going to mess me up if I’m not careful.

Four:

I got my legs waxed today, thank God. I was beginning to look like a man hehehe. Emerance and Thabiso came by (he took the day off and she’s no longer working) and I gave them their gifts, we went to eat something, I got my legs done and came on home to nap. They both like my hair short though both say I look too young now.

I’m happy to be in my little house and ready to get between my nice comfy sheets after sleeping on all sorts of beds last month.

Five:

While I was away, web conmen must have been on overdrive. I have like 2000 emails informing me I’ve won all kinds of money from people like ‘Miss Noel Rita’ and ‘Mike Shabangu’.

Six:

And last but not least, though I missed Thabiso tremendously it’s always good to get away. There’s nothing like family, old friends, happy travels and sunshine. It does a body good. I’m happy I got away and can’t wait for the next round in December when we’ll all be off to Mireille’s wedding, Thabiso in tow.

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I don’t have too much to report on the Nairobi leg of my vacation as I was there for exactly four nights and five days, most of it at home tidying things up and getting the last of my parents’ stuff sorted out.

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My trip began like so:

I left here and flew to my sister’s in the U.S.

She – ever Mrs. Organized – was already packed and ready, and after she emptied out my luggage and filled it with the ‘proper attire’ she’d been buying me since my trip to New York, the next day, my bro-in-law drove her, the twins and I to the airport and we were off. One stopover in London for a little over two hours, and then home to Nairobi.

The twins behaved very well as usual (which made me wonder how my brother’s jack-in-box son must have driven them crazy on their journey), and though my sis and I were initially seated in different areas of the plane for the first leg, the guy next to her up front was cool and exchanged seats with me on the London-Nbi journey. Praise God, everything went well during our trip. Did you know there was a Gambian on the Air France flight that crashed into the ocean?

We arrived in Nairobi early in the morning and were picked up by my brother who had been there for some time with his family. My brother’s first words to me – even before he hugged me – were “you’ve lost weight”.

My luggage was intact on this leg of the trip and we weren’t hassled by customs though an immigration official held up the line while he argued with a man who was trying to enter the country on an (apparently) fake passport.

I am always amazed at how much the Mombasa Road stretch changes.

All kinds of buildings that weren’t there when I was last home. I did get to see some very hideous apartments (orange? saffron?) close to JKIA and I guess these are what a couple of us were talking about in this post here sometime ago.

Anyway, Nairobi never ceases to amaze me. So very many people all over the place, and so early in the morning… But of course, nothing like Oshodi in Nigeria where there’s like millions and billions very busily going about…

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My parents live(d) in deep suburbia so it took us a while to get there and the whole time during the ride, my brother was telling us how strange it felt for him knowing that he probably will never live in Kenya ever again. This move has been hard on him, because he feels like he’s let my dad down. As the second man of the house, my bro has always felt that he should ‘carry on the legacy’, whatever that legacy is.

My sister and I are quite the opposite. We want to live wherever it is we feel happy. For me, it’s not that I’m ‘unhappy’ in Kenya, I jut want to live somewhere else for now.

Anyway, there are very many cars…, too many, on Nairobi roads. Way too many.

We finally got to the house and who’s the first person out the door?

My mom, and she’s crying and shrieking like she’s at a funeral.

My mother is very emotional and we of course, burst out laughing when we saw her run down the front steps in bedroom slippers calling us by our pet names. By the way, mine is ‘Bubi’ because when I was a kid, that’s what my brother used to call me.

Anyway, she’s kissing and hugging us all and the new watchman (Moses is another story altogether) was looking at us like we were Martians.

Then out comes dad, in the shorts he insists on wearing now that he’s retired. More kisses and hugs and joy and I realized my sis-in-law was nowhere to be seen.

When we asked where she was, my mom (in her very homestyle way) said “she’s throwing up”. My sis-in-law is pregnant with her second child and her morning sickness is atrocious. She can’t stand the smell of onions, can’t stand being inside the house or in confined places, can’t stand bananas, milk, eggs, being in a lift etc., and now she’s super-triplex emotional and crying all the time. I reaaally love her, but man, it was rough being around her this time around.

My poor brother looked so perplexed the whole time and we were feeling very sorry for him.

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What was very sad though, was walking into our family home and finding it empty.

All there was to see was a couple of boxes in the living room because everything that needed to be freighted out had been sent away. Our old beds were still there, since my parents were giving those away. So, we showered, ate something, put the twins to bed and all went and sat outside in the garden and talked.

And that’s when my dad threw all our plans out the window and redrew the maps.

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My first three days, I was basically at the house packing up my mom and dad’s clothes etc. and sorting stuff out. I didn’t even get to go down to the shopping center which has also changed somewhat. I walked a little though, on the roads around the house and even waved to a distant neighbour who’s lived down the road since we were kids. What’s odd is that he waved first, stopped and said he’d heard we were leaving. I had no idea he’d remember me but he even knew my name. He wished me well, and told me to tell my parents he’d come by later to say goodbye.

My bro-in-law arrived on our third day there and he and my brother K. took the last of the boxes into town and sent them off to my auntie (mom’s sis) who was already in Addis (from Ghana where she lives and works).

My brother-in-law is from another part of Africa and always likes going to Nairobi because he says it’s a safe city where things work. We always laugh when he says this and call him a fake African since he barely ever spent time on the continent other than school holidays. In fact, he really started going to Africa and spending time there because of us.

Anyway, day four, my mom, sis the three kids and I left sis-in-law in bed and went off to Westlands to my cousin’s place for lunch. My dad and the guys were going off somewhere and would meet us later after picking up my sister-in-law.

It was nice to see my cousin and his family, though he really has issues. My other cousins were there and the lunch was nice and easy. They are all older than we are since my brother’s siblings (Uncle Joe and Auntie K) had them when they were quite young. My dad went to lots of school before he married mom and they finally settled down and had us.

Anyway, I didn’t get angry at this lunch because we all were on our best behaviour. Nobody tried preaching to me, nobody broke out the Bible… no “when are you getting married” questions etc. It was respect, lots of chapattis, the usual politics conversations and me playing with the children.

After lunch, my mom, sis, brother in law, kids and I went off to Sarit because mom wanted to get a gift for my auntie, and I wanted to get something for my pals Emerance and Nne. My brother-in-law came along to ‘sightsee’.

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Okay.

One of the most annoying things for me is to walk into a shop in Africa and be shabbily treated by a non-African.

The bookshop was fine, I got books for the twins (which they begged me for when we were in the store but promptly forgot about the minute we got into the car), postcards etc. and walked around. Then I went to a place on the lower level that sold jewelry, where some silly man behind the counter acted like I didn’t belong in the store.

Normally, I would have said something rude, but I was too tired and walked out and took my money elsewhere. I was on holiday and no one was gonna mess it up for me.

I caught up with my brother-in-law at the food court where he was sitting having some juice, left the kids with him and went to find my mom and sis who were somewhere upstairs in a clothing store.

I bought two outfits for friends and by this time, we were just tired and wanted to get out of the noise.

We went back to my cousin’s place and then the whole gang (family) went off to Serena (our usual spot) to eat.

Day four morning we spent at the airport sending the last of the stuff off and that last night, we ate out again, came back home and slept and very early the last morning in Nairobi, some people from a organization close-by picked up the last of the stuff my folks were donating and then we zoomed off to the airport to catch our flight and left the two cars with my cousins who met us there and were buying them from my parents.

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A local property company is taking over management of the house and my parents’ other properties in Kenya. There’s some muzungus who will be renting the house once it’s painted and a few minor repairs done.

So goodbye Masai Lane, goodbye Bogani Road and kwaheri ya kuonana Karen Road and Marula Lane.

But no goodbye Kenya, because I’ll be back again soonest. You’re still my home.

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Seeing my parents again:

My parents are aging, and for me, it’s somewhat scary; mostly because I love them so much and it’s odd knowing that sooner rather than later, they’ll be relying on me and us. I want them to live forever and can’t imagine what life would be like without my father’s strength and wit, and my mom’s no-nonsense and very original mind and kind heart. I just don’t know what I would do without them…

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My mom’s keep-fit classes appear to have been a blessing. The tyre around her waist is diminished. She looks vibrant, says she’s been trying to use less ghee in her cooking, and the walks they’ve been taking since my dad retired have helped.

My dad, incapable of calling it quits and fully retiring, is still immersed in the many schemes and think-tank activities that have occupied him since he bid farewell to his illustrious career, despite telling us numerously, that he was done. He said he wants to write a book, not necessary to publish, but to keep his mind occupied. Now that they’re in a new home, he has no intention of sitting under a tree to watch the sun go down. As I write this, they are getting ready to travel to North Africa.

My parents are still in love (bless their hearts). Still in love after so many years of marriage. And what a pair. Who would have thought that they’d get together in those days so long ago? Maybe one day, when I’m married to Chris Tucker, I’ll convince him to give me the money to make a movie about their lives.

What I love most about them is that they’ve never let each other go, and never let each other down. Granted, my dad was a bit round the bend when they first met, and my mom had been through hell for years before she met him, but they got together, fell in love, said to hell with the world and made it work.

And here we are so many years later, three kids who owe them everything.

These days, and for some years now, I haven’t quarreled with my parents like I used to, back when I had a super hot head and always had to have my way. I just spend lots of time telling them how much I love them, and how proud I am of them both. I love them, love them, love them. And I spent every spare minute kissing and hugging them and letting them know it.

My mom and dad did something wonderful, and that was to raise three relaxed, happy and relatively normal kids. And that’s the best thing ever.

Okay, this sounds sappy but whatever…  

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That, in a nutshell folks, was my trip to Nairobi.

More on Leg Two tomorrow!

Happy Friday!