I was warned during my preparation for this trip that things are just... well... different in Africa. So when things don't go as planned, or something gets messed up, you just attribute it accordingly - TIA, This is Africa. For example, you try to take a shower in the morning in the hotel where you are staying, but there's no hot water..... TIA. Or the airport catches fire just 11 hours after you've arrived through their international arrivals hall.... TIA. A handy acronym.
Prior to arriving in Nairobi, I had subscribed to a Nairobi mums (that's moms for all you Americans) facebook group. But the people in the group seemed to be using TIA in a totally different way. One mum wrote: "My LO (little one) is sick with a weird rash. Which pediatrician do you all recommend? TIA." That certainly didn't make any sense to me. Or another posting: "I am due for my second baby in a few weeks. Does anyone have experience with VBAC that they would be willing to share. TIA." Um, something was not right. These TIAs were not the ones that I explained earlier. And then DW let me in on the little secret. TIA also means Thanks In Advance. Ooops. I got a good laugh out of that one.
But the truth is that so far (knock on wood), we haven't had too many TIA experiences. In fact, things have gone so very smoothly that I hesitate to even talk about it. For example, we arranged with the apartment broker to hand over the keys at noon yesterday. We arrived at noon and voila, he was there. And he proceeded to make sure all the electricity worked, that our gas was pumping well into our stove, that hot water was working. All the beds had fresh sheets on them (that had been freshly ironed, something I certainly do not understand.) Basically everything was as we would want them. TIA? I'll take it.
Prior to arriving in Nairobi, I had subscribed to a Nairobi mums (that's moms for all you Americans) facebook group. But the people in the group seemed to be using TIA in a totally different way. One mum wrote: "My LO (little one) is sick with a weird rash. Which pediatrician do you all recommend? TIA." That certainly didn't make any sense to me. Or another posting: "I am due for my second baby in a few weeks. Does anyone have experience with VBAC that they would be willing to share. TIA." Um, something was not right. These TIAs were not the ones that I explained earlier. And then DW let me in on the little secret. TIA also means Thanks In Advance. Ooops. I got a good laugh out of that one.
But the truth is that so far (knock on wood), we haven't had too many TIA experiences. In fact, things have gone so very smoothly that I hesitate to even talk about it. For example, we arranged with the apartment broker to hand over the keys at noon yesterday. We arrived at noon and voila, he was there. And he proceeded to make sure all the electricity worked, that our gas was pumping well into our stove, that hot water was working. All the beds had fresh sheets on them (that had been freshly ironed, something I certainly do not understand.) Basically everything was as we would want them. TIA? I'll take it.
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