More Family Days

Today Arnold and David came over and we went to see our Grandfather.  He is a very nice man.  I learned that he actually is Laban Lekamoi.  His Father (my Great Grandfather) was named Paulo K. Lekamoi.  He died in 2003 at the age of 105!  Wow!  His Mother (my Great Grandmother) is Salome Zakaria Sirikwa....so SHE is the connection to the Sirikwa family. She is still alive and living in Ilboru andshe is 96 years old!  WOW AGAIN! 

Laban (my grandfather) was not married to my grandmother Rose.  He has been married twice though.  Once to a woman who he loved very much and had 3 children with.  She had a stroke and was paralyzed and only after she passed away did he marry again to his current wife.  He has one child with her, a little boy named Geopherey Laban, who is 5 years old.  I have photos of him below.  It's weird to think that he is my uncle, as he is only 5!  ;-)

I also have two other uncles, Tumaini Laban Lekamoi and Luka Laban Lekamoi.  Luka has just finished up university and Tumaini has a wife and a son.  Neseriani Laban is my aunt and she is married and has 2 children.

My Grandfather has a fascinating history.  He was in the TPDF (Tanzanian military service) for many many years and he actually fought for years in Mozambique and Zimbabwe before independence came to Africa!  What a fascinating and scary part of African history to be a part of.  The wars waged in those places during those times are sooo scary to read about....yikes!  Upon retirement from the military (after 10 years of service) my grandfather became a teacher at the primary school and has only recently retired (in June 2009).  His English is excellent and he is obviously a well educated and interesting man.  He is Christian and showed us all photos of his wife and he on church trips in Nairobi.  He even showed us photos of our Great Grandma.  Mommy got the negative for the photo and will have copies made and then return the negative to him this week. 

He was so nice and had snacks and sodas for us all (Mommy wouldn't let me or Shei Shei have any sodas though....geesh, she's sooo mean).  He told Arnold and David to work hard in school and to study because they had a great opportunity to get a good education and they shouldn't waste it.  And, he said that we are all welcome anytime and we are all family and he even said that he thinks of my Mommy now as his daughter.  He is so kind and you can tell that he cares for us boys.  I think we are lucky to have found him. 

I could see that David got a bit emotional while we were there a few times....I hope he was ok.  I know that all this family stuff can be confusing and hard.  Still, I'm really glad to have found such great family in my brothers, Arnold and David and now in my Grandfather. 

After our visit we came home and watched Sleeping Beauty on the TV.  Of course, as always when Arnold and David are over there were lots of fun snacks.  David loves peanut butter sandwiches so we always have that on hand for him.  And, lots of bananas and popcorn.  ;-)  Yummmmm

My biological Grandfather

Introducing Mr. Laban Lekamoi Sirikwa:  My Grandfather.  He is a nice man, living in Olosiva, Ngaramatoni, Arusha, Tanzania. 

We will go back later in the week to take more photos (Mommy actually wanted to strangle herself after all the work to find him, and getting to his home today....she pulled out her camera to snap some photos and found that she forgot to put the memory card back in it!  We had to use the phone to take a photo).  He is happy to have a relationship with his 3 grandsons....and seems happy to know that all of us boys are doing ok. I'm excited to see him again, and hope that I'll get to keep in touch with him in the future!  I'm looking forward to learning all I can about the Sirikwa family!

Happy Valentines Day!

Today was the kind of day I love.  We stayed at home and had Mommy and Uncle Gogo's full attention.  We played with Twiga and read books with Mommy and built trucks with the bristle blocks and Uncle Gogo's expertise....all around a fun day!

And, it made sense, because today is Valentines Day.  I don't totally get what that is.  Mommy doesn't either.  And, since she has been living abroad for so long, and most places don't celebrate it in the same intense way that the US does, Mommy has basically forgotten all about the holiday.  But, Bada wouldn't let her forget it.  So, we did do a bit of celebrating!  We made a Valentines Day card and tonight, we went out to a family dinner, courtesy of Bada and Grandad.  It was a Vama....yummy!  My favorite!! 

Happy Valentines Day to everyone! 

Ngiramatoni adventure!

Today we spent another day with David and Arnold.  Much of the day was spent out in Ngiramatoni (a village a bit outside of Arusha) trying to find my grandfather.  (Uncle Gogo was such a trooper.....he's caught my cold which I caught fom David last week, and he's sick and sneezing and coughing, but still coming with and helping out and I think I ended up with the BEST uncle in the whole world!)

We thought we found my great uncle and he was trying to find other family, but they were, unfortunately not at the village yesterday.  Also, he had a bit of a strange idea as to who my Mom was.  He kept saying Lilian Emmanuel Sirikwa, our biological mom, is a teacher who got her college degree and moved away from the village to teach.  That is not our Mom though....so either he has gotten the wrong information about her, or we hae the wrong Lilian Sirikwa.  Mommy is rather perplexed.  He was a lovely man though....and his last name is Sirikwa, so we are probably related to him somehow.  Below are photos of us all together.  He really spent lots of time this afternoon trying to help us out.  Also, he owns a coffee plantation and used to be a government leader for the area.  David (our gardener and rafiki who came with us to help) was very impressed.  He wants to help Mommy look into property in the West Kili area as his close friend is the MP for the area.  hmmmm....we'll have to see about that.

In any case, tomorrow David (our rafiki or friend) has kindly offered to go back out to the village with our birth Mom's photo and some better information on the family.  It will be easier to just have a few grown ups along than the entire family.....it was too hard to search with everyone.  Once we have found our family, then Mommy will find a time that works with David and Arnold's school schedule and we will all go back and visit our family.  We haven't given up yet!  We have just been delayed, not defeated!

Karatu

Today was so fun.  We took a road trip with Amy and Pray out to Karatu to see Ashley at her art gallery/farm again.  It's a beautiful 2 hour drive.  Along the way we saw some animals (baboon!) and stopped to get a good view of the great rift valley.  There, we had a hearty lunch and played in the grass with Ashley's dogs.  It was so fun to have so much room to run!

I was a little over stimulated today and had a hard time following directions.  It's just so hard when there is an audience and its so much fun to make mischief.  How can I possibly behave? 

Biker dude!

I am obssessed with bikes.  I want one soooo badly I don't know what to do with myself.  Everytime I see one, before Mommy can even blink I've crawled up on to it and am riding!  Seriously....Mommy is amazed.  At Ella's house we were walking down the steps to the car and by the time she reached the bottom of the stairs I had climbed onto the bike.  Then, at Aiden's house I ran ahead in the yard and when Mommy and Linda reached me I had climbed onto the bike and was riding.

I am a biking maniac!!!

Goodbye Aiden

Tomorrow a plane will take Linda, Kyle and Aiden home to Canada.  We were supposed to be on that same plane out of Africa and on to Europe.  We were excited to all be flying together.  BUT.....

The US Embassy in Nairobi is SSLLLOOOWWW!  So, we are still stuck here and our friends who we love are leaving Africa without us.  I will miss Aiden so much.  The only person I might miss more is Linda!  (she is my first crush). 

Today Mommy took me to Aiden's house for our last playdate together for a while.  It was so sad to leave and have to say goodbye.  But, it's not goodbye forever....just see you later! 

See you later Aiden, Linda and Kyle.  I love you all very very much!