Since we're about to embark on our newest adventure, I started thinking about the best ways to get all thoughts, pictures and other stuff down for posterity. So here goes... blogging attempt number .... eh... too many to count.
A few thoughts on our planned relocation temporarily to Nairobi.
So far, we've only heard a few good things about the city.
1. It is a great base to travel from.
2. Hired help is cheap enough to have it in abundance.
3. It has "everything you need."
I'll address each in turn.
1. This is a weird reason to like a place. As DW said this morning, "It's sort of like appreciating a restaurant for its atmosphere." Sure, that's a nice bonus - to have a good atmosphere in a restaurant. But it isn't the raison d'etre of the restaurant. You wouldn't overlook crappy food for good atmosphere, just like wouldn't like a city just because it is easy to get away from.
2. This is also strange to me. Look, I am not one to snub my nose at inexpensive house help. I need help more than your average mom/grad student/wife/person. Saying that I'm not a good housekeeper is an understatement. And childcare is pricey. BUT, and this is a big but, people who clean homes and take care of children deserve significant remuneration because they do hard tasks. And I feel yucky about liking a place because some people in that place are willing to work for low (and I mean super low) wages, while other people have lots of extra to go around, then that's weird, right?
OK.
That feels good to say. But I guess I should probably get a bit more real and admit to myself, that lots of places on the planet are like I described above. Dare I say, most places are. And since I've been able to afford (with the help of parents) the occasional house cleaner and regular daycare, I have to get serious about how much I really agree with what I said. Is there more exploitation involved when you are dealing in a postcolonial atmosphere, where there is a racial divide? Certainly. Is there any way to live in Nairobi and not be part of that exploitation? I don't know. The one thing I do know, is that just because this pay gap exists does not seem to be an exciting endorsement of a city. But I'm trying to keep an open mind, OK?
3. Having everything you need is also a big deal. I remember when I arrived in Amman I thought I would certainly do my grocery shopping at the crowded but deal-filled markets downtown. But realistically, I was pregnant and tired a lot of the time and not able to schlep down to the market even if the deals were super. So I shopped at the very western grocery nearby my house. And it had basically everything I needed and that did make my life quite a bit nicer. So yes, I am excited that we are going somewhere that will have modern medical facilities, baby gear, and all the fixins of our usual life. This attribute certainly makes a city tolerable, but does that make that city desirable?
As I said, I'm trying to keep an open mind. And I hope to report that Nairobi has it's own intrinsic qualities that makes it worth the trip for all of you who are planning on coming. At the very least, we have a cute one-year-old to play with. And giraffes. I heard there's gonna be giraffes.
A few thoughts on our planned relocation temporarily to Nairobi.
So far, we've only heard a few good things about the city.
1. It is a great base to travel from.
2. Hired help is cheap enough to have it in abundance.
3. It has "everything you need."
I'll address each in turn.
1. This is a weird reason to like a place. As DW said this morning, "It's sort of like appreciating a restaurant for its atmosphere." Sure, that's a nice bonus - to have a good atmosphere in a restaurant. But it isn't the raison d'etre of the restaurant. You wouldn't overlook crappy food for good atmosphere, just like wouldn't like a city just because it is easy to get away from.
2. This is also strange to me. Look, I am not one to snub my nose at inexpensive house help. I need help more than your average mom/grad student/wife/person. Saying that I'm not a good housekeeper is an understatement. And childcare is pricey. BUT, and this is a big but, people who clean homes and take care of children deserve significant remuneration because they do hard tasks. And I feel yucky about liking a place because some people in that place are willing to work for low (and I mean super low) wages, while other people have lots of extra to go around, then that's weird, right?
OK.
That feels good to say. But I guess I should probably get a bit more real and admit to myself, that lots of places on the planet are like I described above. Dare I say, most places are. And since I've been able to afford (with the help of parents) the occasional house cleaner and regular daycare, I have to get serious about how much I really agree with what I said. Is there more exploitation involved when you are dealing in a postcolonial atmosphere, where there is a racial divide? Certainly. Is there any way to live in Nairobi and not be part of that exploitation? I don't know. The one thing I do know, is that just because this pay gap exists does not seem to be an exciting endorsement of a city. But I'm trying to keep an open mind, OK?
3. Having everything you need is also a big deal. I remember when I arrived in Amman I thought I would certainly do my grocery shopping at the crowded but deal-filled markets downtown. But realistically, I was pregnant and tired a lot of the time and not able to schlep down to the market even if the deals were super. So I shopped at the very western grocery nearby my house. And it had basically everything I needed and that did make my life quite a bit nicer. So yes, I am excited that we are going somewhere that will have modern medical facilities, baby gear, and all the fixins of our usual life. This attribute certainly makes a city tolerable, but does that make that city desirable?
As I said, I'm trying to keep an open mind. And I hope to report that Nairobi has it's own intrinsic qualities that makes it worth the trip for all of you who are planning on coming. At the very least, we have a cute one-year-old to play with. And giraffes. I heard there's gonna be giraffes.
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