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Published: April 9th 2015
School holidays! We spent our Easter weekend in Egypt on route to France, where we’ll spend the rest of the holidays. Murray has been spending more time at the head office in Geneva, so we thought we’d come and see a bit of Switzerland and France in our Easter holiday. We stopped over in Cairo as we have good friends there. It made me think a lot about the pros and cons of raising our kids overseas, having myself only got my first passport when I was in my late teens.
Cons – Friends leave Kenya all the time, good friends, friends you don’t know so well, acquaintances. One year I counted 30 families that moved away from us in a year, it’s a lot. My own childhood couldn’t have been more different. One child moved away during my primary schooling years, to a different suburb, I saw her once after she moved.
Pros – We get to visit these friends who have left Kenya in all their new countries, ie. Jo and Duv in Egypt 😊
Pros – Getting to take our kids to the Pyramids, one of the 7 wonders of the world.
Pros - Charlotte studied Egypt as a topic in school, a quick flight away and we are there.
Cons – Having to bribe our kids with oreos and tic tacs to pose for photos in front of the pyramids. They are too young to understand how cool it is to be here 😞
Cons - Not making it to the museum as everyone fell asleep in the car.
Pros - Yummy fresh arabic food.
Cons - The kids just want to eat at McDonalds in every single country we visit.
Pros – Getting to swim in the Red sea.
Pros – Getting to see our children re-connect with their friends from 5-6 years ago.
Cons – Having to say goodbye knowing we may not see them for another 5 years.
We really enjoyed Egypt and spending time with old friends. This trip seemed to highlight to me how different our kids upbringing is to my own. Here are some of the conversations that our kids had with their friends:
“Did you know you can drink water from the tap at my grandma’s house . . .” (cue lots of
little people laughing)
“Do you remember living in Kenya?” “Yes, but I also lived in Jordan and Sri Lanka” “Really? I lived in Sri Lanka too! Maybe we were baby friends there as well!” (shocked/excited faces)
“Did you know your daddy saved me from a crocodile in the Masai Mara?” “Wow, that’s so cool.”
“Where do you think we will see you next?” “Egypt, Kenya, Switzerland, France or the UK maybe”.
We had an amazing holiday and time with friends, and I am very happy that there are some children that understand my children’s upbringing, because at the moment I am struggling to.
While we were on holiday in Egypt, Kenya had one of its most gruesome terrorist attacks at a University in Garissa. I am speechless, I had so much to say about the Westgate massacre, but I have no words for this. I’m devastated and struggling to be away as the rest of Kenya mourns. Kenya is in our thoughts and prayers.
Miriam x
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Graham
non-member comment
Perceptive!
Hey Miriam, what a deeply perceptive blog! The difference is stark. But in another way there are strong similarities. Yes, there are geographic differences, but you were clearly raised with a wide open and inquisitive mind. (A complete gift by the way!) Then is doesn't amtter where you are or who you are with. But you knew all that anyway! Yes, there is no way to describe what is going in big chunks of the world. We've been thinking of you guys as this latest tragedy struck. We will continue to pray for you all. G & J