Wednesday, November 30, 2011

You know you're in Africa when...

You wonder why your hair is so frizzy and you realize it's because it's been brushing agains mosquito netting all day.

Welcome to Africa!

Well, I think my last blog said I would keep people updated on all things baby and true to my word, I failed miserably.  Said "baby" is now almost 5 months old and I am just now getting around to blogging again.  I blame the 15 pound appendage that is attached to my hip 24/7.

Suffice to say, things have changed drastically for the Druckers.  We are no longer Druckulas living it up in the land of gypsies, but now two Mzungu's living in Kampala.  Mzungu is basically Lugandan for the "white folk."  Since we were put in a big white house I decided I had to name the house like we are living in Jane Austen's time and I thought that "Manor" was the most British term for "house" and since we are Mzungus....well, the alliteration wrote itself.

We have been here 2 weeks now and are settling in well.  We don't have any of our household effects yet, so we literally have the clothes we brought with us in our suitcases and 2 Amazon shipments of Puffins cereal, diapers and power strips.

Kampala is quite beautiful, and I hear the country is even more so.  It is ridiculously lush and is in the 70s or 80s during the day and in the 60s at night.  My biggest complaint thus far is the traffic--I think the traffic cops were imported from Bucharest, and the fact that I have ZERO water pressure and our internet sucks.  I have to wash my hair under the bath tap instead of the shower stream which is uncomfortable in a plethora of ways.  I have a crick in my neck, and I was hoping I didn't have to do an ab workout during my only 10 minutes of solitude I have all day.  I think I am going to have to order one of those stick-on shower handles that the elderly use along with Life Alert.  Also our bathroom looks like it belongs in "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest," complete with a door that does not shut in case of attempted suicide. This should come in handy when the obligatory parasitic infection hits....

The internet sucking is a huge problem because my Vonage line is not working as it should and I cannot use my AppleTV. Right now, this isn't a huge deal because I am still acclimating and spending so much time with Emme that I haven't noticed I haven't gotten my fill of Real Housewives in two weeks, but I feel this is going to be an issue in about 16 minutes.

We have hired a gardener and a housekeeper/nanny/cook thus far and are still in need of a driver to complete our Trio of Excess.  Our gardener's name is Jumah and he thinks Emme's name is Ema and that she is a boy...it's a bit awkward because it's beyond the acceptable timetable to correct him---my bad.  I guess I'll put her in a frilly dress and parade her Pottery Barn Christmas stocking around that says "EMERSON."  SPEAKING of Pottery Barn--this effing internet won't let me log onto PB OR my fav West Elm.  I mean really.

Emerson is just now starting to get over jet lag--she is still inexplicably waking up an hour after we put her down and only lets me deal with her after 8pm...suffice to say I look great.