The early morning 4:30am call to prayer had been and gone and we were still all sleeping. There had been a buzz on the door bell at some point which we later discovered was a man from the Electricity company threatening to disconnect our house as we hadn't been able to pay the bill yet this month! Thankfully our friends upstairs sorted it out. Eventually Kira and Isaiah woke up around 10am – what a blissful lie in! We were still catching up from traveling back to Yemen which took 19 hours door-to-door.
Joyful reunion
Kira was overjoyed to see her playmate Isaac again and they spent a happy morning playing together whilst we went to get the food shopping. Most things were in stock, including Weetabix for breakfasts, but there was no unprocessed cheese and alas no Ribena for Kira.
No water
Paul then went to fill up the water containers with drinking water but was only able to fill one up as the water supply at the corner shop had run out. We then filled jugs up with this drinking water and put them in the fridge to go cool.
Cultural adaptation
I soon discovered that some little beetles had taken up residence in my spices – they seemed to have a preference for chilli! Previously when the beetles had overtaken my spices I threw them all out and bought new ones, but this time I just sieved the beetles out!
Showered with gifts
Whilst we'd been at the shops a box tied with string had arrived from the neighbours. On opening it we found lots of oranges, 2 necklaces, 5 pairs of earrings, a ring, and a dress for Kira! What a welcome back present!
Draining trip
When we tried to use our car, curiously the keys wouldn't open our car door. Unfortunately whilst we'd been away for our two month trip, the battery on the car had run flat so Paul managed to start it with jump leads and then head out to find a new battery. The solar panel trickle charger, Paul had plugged in, doesn't seem to work.
Powercuts
Meanwhile I went to visit our neighbours opposite. There were lots of hugs, kisses and “how are you? how is you family? how are your children? how was your trip?”. People are very relational here and it was interesting to hear them asking first about people (my family, Mum, Dad, Granny, Kids) before asking what I actually did whilst being away! We had great fun chatting and just as tea was being served, the lights and fan went off with a power cut. Thankfully it's not so hot and humid here as when we left in August so we can cope comfortably without the fans. Although it was a challenge keeping Isaiah away from the candle, as filled with curiousity, he wanted to crawl to it and grab it.
So we're very glad to be back and we're looking forward to this next phase of our lives here.
