Terror warnings, Adoption news & some facts

Let me start with recent news.  There was a recent US Embassy warning that stated there is an imminent threat of terror expected in Mombasa, Kenya.  On Sunday there was an explosion at an outdoor bar near Mombasa and 3 people were killed and around 50 injured.  Please keep these people and their families in your thoughts. 
Mombasa is on the coast,  the Indian Ocean coast.  Nairobi is inland, in south central Kenya and about a 6-8 hour drive from Mombasa. 
We are about 30-40 minutes outside of Nairobi, in a very safe area. We are registered with the US Embassy. We get any warnings, we have a neighborhood person that will make sure we get the warnings as well. I have friends at the Embassy here that let me know of any warnings. 
We feel very blessed and very safe,  but we are careful and watchful all the same. 


I have not posted any adoption news because there is no news right now. We are waiting for the July NAC (National Adoption Committee) meeting, our documents need to be submitted by July 5th by our agency here, we are in touch with them and are hoping everything they need to include with our documents is complete prior to July 5th.  Then we will need lots of prayers that we are approved once again by the NAC in July,  but I will let you know that date when I know when it is ..... which I should find out soon :) 


Lets see ....  a few things you may not know or expect about (Nairobi) Kenya.


we are at 1°18'S 36°45'E .... but it's still cool here. 
Nairobi, Kenya - altitude 1,661 metres (5,449 ft), which is higher than Denver, Colorado,  the "Mile High City" which is elevation 5,280 feet.  


July is the coldest month and February is the hottest month.


Being a former British Colony the cars are right-hand drive and we drive on the left side of the road ..... I'm still getting used to driving here. 


(Ki)Swahili and English are widely spoken here.


Nairobi has about 3.5 million people, it's East Africa's largest city.


the currency is the Kenyan Shilling, it's about 80-85 KSH (or KES) to $1 US


We have a store that is walking distance to us ... about a 20 minute walk depending on how fast my walking partners (my 2 boys) walk. The shop is called Nakumatt, it's a fairly large chain, it is like Wal-Mart in the USA ... with groceries and other household and necessary items,  but not as much selection and NOT cheap.  A big box of Kellogg's cereal costs over $10 US! 


Kenyans do NOT like cheese,  now this may seem like a large generalization,  but every Kenyan I have asked If they like cheese and they make a face like I said rat poison.  My friend even told me snakes, chameleons and cheese she dislikes most! 
Now I tried cheese here, because I LOVE cheese ..... now I know why Kenyans do not like cheese ..... ACK!  It's not so good here ..... 


There are speed bumps everywhere.  Even on the highways, if you are lucky they are marked with lines or a sign to let you know they are there.  If you aren't so lucky ..... BAM! there's a speed bump.  On our mile trip to the Nakumatt there are 3 speed bumps. 


So the cost of living is more expensive than in the US.  Food, cars and housing ... all the more necessary things are more expensive then at home for the most part or at least similar cost.  
As we are looking for activities for the children we have found that these special things can be inexpensive. 
Waterpark, not as fancy as Great America,  but still looks to be great fun for the boys with at least 6 water slides and swimming pools and a lazy river .... open every day 10 am - 6 pm. Weekdays it's about $3 US and weekends about $5 US.  We haven't been yet as the weather is cool this time of year. 
IMAX 3D movie, boys want to see Madagascar 3, if we see one of the first 2 daily shows it's about $5 US. 
Horseriding, Gymnastics, Soccer, Music lessons ... a lot of  the things we would do at home are available to do here as well. 


Please comment .. I love to hear from all of you as well please :) 


Blessings from our family to yours. 


Tracy

Contact information and photos

Life in Kenya is not SOOOOOO exciting that I have not been posting .... it's busy that's for sure, so by the time evening comes I'm TIRED!    Things take a lot longer here ...... even making boiled eggs in the morning takes longer ..... the altitude in Nairobi is pretty high .... close to a mile up if I remember correctly.

Ah,  but I had promised contact information .... let's begin with that:
If you would like my phone number in Kenya please send me an email at TracyHerring at mac dot com.
No one receives mail at their home here,  so if you want to receive mail you need to have a PO Box, so the people we are renting from are allowing us to use their PO Box.
Letters are appreciated, please contact me prior to sending large packages or envelopes as we will have to pay for them when we pick the up at the Post Office.
Paul & Tracy Herring & family
PO Box 65018-00618
Ruaraka, Kenya

the postal code is after the box number (00618) but it should be written as it is above as not to confuse US/Kenyan postal workers.

We also have Skype (HerringPJ) and Facetime on the Iphone, Mac or Ipad,  so if you have an Iphone, Version 2 or 3 Ipad, or a Mac we could do Facetime with you,  just let me know your phone number or email address asscociated with Facetime.

We are 8 hours ahead of US Central Daylight Time, we don't change our clocks here so when you do in the Autumn we will be 9 hours ahead. If you are not in the US or on central time you can go HERE to check to time difference.


You asked for some photos:
Welcome to our Kenyan Home. We live on a compound of 4 homes. This is the entrance to our house.

 

The photo below is looking out to the main gate, our house is to the right in the photo. 

coming into the drive you will likely see the boys and our dogs will greet you. The blond colored dog is Grizwald, he barks a lot but in the end he's quite friendly.  "Shorts" is the dachshund, he belongs to our neighbors, we have not met them yet as they are out of town for the summer. My boys LOVE their dog :) 

Front of the house with Mocha and Grizwald, they remain outside and watch out for us. 

The boys on the front porch hangin with the dogs

view from the other side of the porch, carport is to the right. A very kind friend (in Kenya) loaned us 2 bikes for the boys,  they have been PERFECT :) 

Mocha in the backyard near the stream. There is a garden to the right, behind the house and another on the other side of the stream. We have bananas, kale, onions, beans, corn, nuts and a few other things. 

Our little stream, that's deeper than it looks and our bridge that needs repair :) 

 This is the boys new pet, Fred, He's a baby Chameleon and he's about the length of my thumb if his tail is stretched out,  the boys found him Sunday,  but since he's a baby they are going to return him to where they found him tomorrow.  Bye Fred!  They hope to find a larger one that they can care for easier sometime soon. :)

I will try and share more photos soon.  

I hope you enjoyed them :) 

We have arrived in Kenya

Sorry for the delay,  as many of you know we arrived in Kenya on Tuesday evening.  All 16 of our checked bags/boxes arrived.  we are having some wireless internet issues,  as in our wifi is not working,  but we do have a wireless modem so I am able to get on the internet .... Whew!  That's a relief.  But my photos I wish to share are on my phone and I can't share them until we have wifi in the house.

SO I had GRAND intentions of posting as soon as we arrived on Tuesday night .... but I was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as the boys were down to sleep.

The boys are SO happy .... mind you it's still new and a great adventure for them,  but the weather here is great .... like home for now .... this morning was beautiful and sunny and the boys were up bright and early ... running outside and playing!  We have 2 dogs,  they are watch dogs,  but pretty friendly and the boys LOVE them,  they have also fallen in love with the dachshund that was standing at the front gate yesterday .... they let him in and now they have fallen for him.  ALL day they run around the yard with the dogs .... we have a nice stream in the back yard and the boys were making dams, racing leaves, branches,  their new ball ..... which slipped through the metal grating so off it went.  the were asleep not long after their heads hit the pillow tonight ... Life is good!

Adoption news,  we went yesterday afternoon to our adoption agency here.  The director was out but we are hoping to have an appointment with her by next week.  We wanted to meet with them to let them know we are HERE, we ARE committed about adopting our 2 children .... so let's get on with it :)
We did meet with someone in the office and she even said .... I thought you would wait  a few days to get rested and settled .... UGH!!  No need for that ... we had arrived less than 24 hours before!
With the many delays we are hoping things will start progressing now. :)

I'm sure I left LOADS out so ask me questions .... Paul needs to get on to try and fix the wireless ....

Blessings :) x