Our apartment

Many people have asked what our apartment in Nairobi is like, so I'm posting a few photos. We really enjoy living here. We live on the top floor of a small apartment building and getting up to our floor requires a special elevator key. I know it sounds elitist, but it's all about the extra security.

The best part about the apartment is the windows. Almost all of the walls are covered in huge sliding glass doors. I keep the windows open all day long, letting in the sunlight and constant, cool breeze.

Our favorite hangout is the 800 square foot stone patio off the front of the apartment. We share with one neighbor who is never home, so we usually have it to ourselves. We have a fire pit out there, along with two big lounge chairs, a roomy sun umbrella, and a couple of tables. I work on the patio most mornings, and it's a great place to invite people over for dinner.

Importantly, I have a great home office. My desk looks out one of the wall-to-wall windows. Big hawks fly by all day, and I look down into my neighbor's gardens and watch their little kids run around. Last month we had a three-day butterfly migration during which millions of tiny white butterflies flew right up to the window and around the apartment for about six hours a day. It was hard to concentrate on work with all the magic happening outside.

When we leave Kenya, one of the biggest adjustments will be returning to life without cleaning and laundry service six days a week. Oh, the time it saves. And the "discussions" about who's doing which chores. There are many perks to living in Kenya but house help tops the list.

It came furnished. Not spectacular stuff, but comfy. 

La cocina.

Three things never in short supply at our house: fresh fruit, fresh veggies, fresh flowers.

A small patio off our bedroom.

The master.

Shot from the living room during rainy season.

My office on a rainy day

The view from my office window on a sunny day

Bountiful breeze

An oasis in the city

Who says you can't go home?

Last month, Steve and I made a whirlwind trip back to the States to visit our families. First we hit DC (me for less than 48 hours), then on to Texas, and finally Chicago. Neither one of us are ever homesick until we actually go home and see all that we are missing. We are missing new Starbucks menu items, new top 40 hits (honestly, I couldn't sing along to ANYthing on the radio), and new fashion trends (I was happy to see that spandex-leggings-as-as-if-they-are-real-pants seem to be on the way out), but mostly we are missing people. Starbucks is easier to give up than you might think, seldom seeing family and friends is as hard as you might imagine.

In DC, we had every breakfast, lunch, and dinner scheduled with friends and colleagues. In Texas, we celebrated our birthdays with three other February birthdays- my sisters' boys and my mom. In Chicago, we met up with a dozen or so friends and caught up with Steve's family. A highlight was making a trip to Shedd Aquarium with four of our nine nieces and nephews.

Catching up with friends in DC 

To everyone we got to spend time with, thank you for making our trip so special. We can't wait to get back soon.

Luke, just before his 2nd birthday

Isaac, about to turn 1, with my mom

Isaac warming up to Steve

Lunch at Mimi and Grandad's house

Story time at Dave and Debbie's

Jet lagged but having fun

5 birthdays in 1

Check out those fish! JD's face says it all.

We missed seeing Autumn, Aspen and Brooke, but they sent sweet cards

The Paper Anniversary

On January 29th Steve and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. In honor of the occasion, I thought I'd post a few of our favorite photos and memories from our wedding day.

We got married on a truly gorgeous Austin winter day after a whirlwind three-month engagement. True to style, Steve reportedly slept about 11 hours the night before the big day, but I was up at around 5am, about the same time as my little nephew Luke. I took Luke for a sunrise walk in his stroller and he listened to me worry about whether it would rain that afternoon or not. He was very understanding.

The rest of the morning was a blast, because my mom, sisters, and the rest of my bridesmaids all got ready together. Meanwhile, Steve and his boys played a series of lawn games, and as he recently told me "had to hurry to get dressed when we realized it was almost time for photos."

Just before the ceremony, Steve and I had a moment alone (well, just us and the photographers) to see each other before all the guests arrived. It was really nice to have a few quiet minutes together, to take some deep breaths, and to talk about my dress, of course!

There was nothing to prepare me for the sensation I felt when 120 people stood up with grins on their faces and tears in their eyes during the walk down the isle with my dad. Everyone looked so genuinely happy for us and it was overwhelming. I will never, ever forget that feeling.

The best advice that we got before the wedding was to really enjoy it, to look around and take it all in. We  tried to do that, and we both agreed afterward that we remembered so much of the day- it didn't "go by in a flash." Instead, we remember so much about the beautiful ceremony, performed by Steve's dad, and the fun that we had with our friends and family at the reception. It was so touching how people came in from all over the country to share in our special day. I can't think of anything better.

Our "Save the Date" video that got everything started: http://vimeo.com/16156996

The flower girls and a ring bearer playing with/eating rose petals. They all did so great!

Seeing each other for the first time. Just us and the photographers.

Mimi and Grands were the patriarch and matriarch of the ceremony.

Steve and his boys.

The sisters chill out just before the ceremony.

Me, checking out the crowd. Dad, trying not to...faint? cry? :)

Our dear friend Jeff walks my beautiful mama down the aisle.

Here comes the bride.

Steve waits patiently, dad, brothers, and best friends by his side.

God was there with us.

We did it!

The reception was a blast. We'd seen almost everyone the night before at Rudy's BBQ for the rehearsal dinner, so Steve and I actually got to sit and eat our food for a few minutes, without running around too much. After dinner, I don't think we left the dance floor for 2 hours straight.

I think they were applauding the food.

Dinner was during sunset. Out the window behind us, the Austin sun went down over the lake.

Let the dancing begin.

Two days later as we left for our honeymoon in Argentina, I felt sad that it was over. Not because I'd miss the planning, but because it was so lovely to have so many of the people we loved, in a place we loved, at the same time.

Go Irish volleyball!

Designed by brother in law Mike.

Chocolate party favors homemade with love by Debbie.

At the end of the night, we jumped into the bed of my brother-in-law Mike's pick up truck and headed down the road to the after party at Steiner Ranch. Yee haw!

We can't express enough gratitude to the family and friends that got us to that day, were there to celebrate (in body or in spirit), and continue to support our marriage now. We are truly blessed to have one another and to have you.

Rwanda

I have a few great places to blog about, and I'll start with Rwanda (with Egypt and Jordan coming soon).

Steve and I went to Rwanda for a few days leading up to Christmas. As you can see from my previous post, the reason for the trip was to see the very rare mountain gorillas that live only in Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC.

As you may know, Rwanda is a tiny country- about the size of Massechusets I'm told- and is home to about nine million people. You certainly know about the genocide that happened there in 1994, but what you may not know is that Rwanda is the most beautiful country on Earth. It's true. I challenge any country to a beauty contest with Rwanda.

There's no flat land in Rwanda. You are either on a hill looking out at the blue sky and down at a sparkling stream, or you are in a lush valley looking up at sienna and emerald hills. Most people's small stone or mud-brick homes are ringed by banana trees and lined with red and pink flowers. Their fields are full of any number of towering plants that grow easily from the black soil. Around every bend in the road, at the top of each hill, are vistas that are almost difficult to take in for their beauty. For eyes that are accustomed to concrete and skyscrapers, it takes an extra moment to believe what you are seeing. And it is so, so good.

Our first stop in the country was Kigali. We spent an afternoon at the Genocide Memorial Centre, which we wanted to see but dreaded seeing at the same time. I'm of the mind that it's almost disrespectful to visit the country and not go to the memorial, but if I had to do it over again, I probably would have saved it for the last day of the trip. The images from the memorial had a very strange effect. Human skulls lined up in rows, video clips of machete slayings, taped interviews with survivors, photos of little children labeled with the monstrous way they were murdered- these things don't easily leave you. For the next three days, anytime I saw a farmer out in his field cutting plants with a machete, I half expected he was slaying a neighbor. When I saw a group of young men walking together, I imagined they were part of a roving youth gang of killers. I physically braced myself to see a corpse when I saw people leaning over something on the ground. I know it sounds crazy, and it caught me very unaware, but the whole time I was in Rwanda, I felt like I at any moment I might witness some of the things that I saw in the museum.

High tech traffic lights in Kigali. 

Of course, the country is now fully at peace and ethic violence is not taking place. From what I've heard and read, the country is seeing incredible acts of forgiveness between victims and perpetrators (check out "As We Forgive" by the amazing Laura Waters Hinson). At the same time, Rwanda lost about a million people in about 3 months time, and there was hardly a single person that wasn't either a killer, a rapist, a victim, or a witness to gruesome and inhuman acts. Virtually no one was spared from playing a part. We didn't talk to anyone about it, that just wasn't our right as in-and-out visitors, but we couldn't help but notice that the genocide was mentioned each day in the newspaper in some form. We got the sense that it's "over" but it's still very much a part of the nation's daily consciousness.

From Kigali, we drove a few hours out to Virunga Park. Gorilla trekking starts at 7:00am. Only about 150 passes to the park are sold (for a handsome price) each day. You reserve your spot well in advance and pay upfront. On the day of the trek, a driver with a big safari truck picked us up from the hotel at 6:00am. We immediately learned that he spoke not a word of English, but undaunted, we used my rusty Haitian Creole and our collective understanding of French (um, about 50 words) to muddle through. 

He dropped us at the trekking spot where tea and coffee was being served in a pavilion and a local performance troupe was singing and dancing for the largely European and American crowd. It was a lovely way to start the day. I've posted a video here: http://vimeo.com/36239907

We were happy to find that our trekking group was just the two of us and a family of three from Denmark. Our guide gave us a briefing on the day- we would visit a family of 14 gorillas, aged between one-year and 25. So they don't get stressed, we can only visit them for 1 hour, and we should stay 7 meters away from them at all times, and no flash photography allowed. Of course, through no fault of my own, I would eventually violate the 7-meter rule, and by accident (ahem, 3 times) Steve would flash the camera directly in the eyes of the 600-pound alpha male.

The hike was breathtaking. The Denmark crowd probably thought we were terribly out of shape because of how often we stopped, but the scenery was screaming- "slow down and LOOK AT ME!" After about an hour uphill, our guide stopped, listened, and said "they are here." And sure enough, a few steps later, we were standing in the middle of a family of gorillas. After a few minutes of "oh, look at the momma carrying the baby" and "that one just looked at me!" (all in whispers, as instructed), we heard a crunching  sound and a massive beast of a primate stepped out of the underbrush and into my personal space. "Ooooh, OK. Ooooooh my," I breathed as Steve started snapping photos. Next thing I know, his silver back is brushing up against my leg and I am grinning like a fool. Scared, yes. But the dominate thought was "This moment, Leah. Take this one in." It was over in a flash but it still makes me happy when I think about it.

Walking up to me to say good morning.

You can understand why I got nervous.

Our fearless leaders.

This is the fellow hanging out above me in the photo below.

For the rest of the hour, we got to walk around and watch the family eating, resting, and playing. The most entertaining member of the family was the baby. He spent the better part of the hour making a nest of leaves and twigs on the back of the poppa gorilla, who didn't seem to even notice the baby was there. I posted a video here: http://vimeo.com/36237343

We didn't shoot this video (someone called National Geographic did) but it's a good representation of what we did: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/mammals-animals/apes/gorilla_mountain_hanging.html

The hour flew by and all too soon it was time to trek back, with big smiles on our faces. Rwanda- the beauty, the gorillas, the history, is unforgettable.