Ode to the Waweru family

Who would have thought back in May that behind this gate, painted in Kenya's favourite Bermuda Blue colour, I would find a home away from home? And to think that I wasn't even supposed to stay with this host family, but was allocated to a house up the road... Maybe the unfortunate events surrounding my volunteer placement happened for a reason, so I got to meet Cucu (= grandmother in Kikuyu), her daughters Mary and Lucy, and their adult sons David, Kevin, Philip & Sammy :-). Cucu (photo above), Mary and Lucy's warmth & sense of humour were wonderful to come home to after a long day at the IDP camp, not to mention Mary's exquisite cooking! Our evening ritual consisted of discussing everyone's day, watching & commenting on the news, sharing a lovely dinner and then getting prepared for the one-hour guilty pleasure of 'In the Name of Love', a daily Mexican telenovela that the ladies were addicted to. V. called this show "diabetes-inducing" but I really loved the bonding time when us women shouted at evil Aunt Carlotta's wicked deeds or felt sorry for the long-suffering heroine Paloma. My departure from the house in August felt weird, and when I returned for a few days earlier this month I easily slipped back into the old routine of mandazi for breakfast, bucket showers, outdoor toilets and trying to get an internet connection under the 'magic' tree (see bench above)! Unfortunately saying goodbye could not be avoided so we took Mary and Lucy into town for a last drink and a chance to farewell David and Kevin. Tears had already flowed when I said 'Kwaheri' to Cucu so no surprises that the waterworks started again when they all left. I promised we'll return with a baby in tow so I'd better stick to that ;-).