Limbo Land

Until December 15th 2013, we fully expected that, by the end of February, we would be on our way to our new home in Juba, South Sudan. But December 15th marked the sad date when fighting broke out in the world's newest nation.

Since then, we have been strongly advised that now is not the time to take a young family into Juba! So we find ourselves living temporarily in Nairobi. Here, Andrew can work alongside MAF Kenya with the possibility of flying into South Sudan as a Kenya-based pilot, once his air-law exams are passed and his caravan flying hours are at the required level.

We are not sure how long "temporary" means. Looking at BBC news is disheartening. Conflict continues and the situation in South Sudan remains too volatile for us to move into, but judging when exactly will be the "right time" is going to be difficult.

In the meantime, we will remain in Kenya- living in a strange state of limbo, not sure how long we will be here, how settled we should get, how much effort we should put into joining in events in Nairobi.

Most of our belongings are still stored in Dodoma. Our temporary house in Nairobi is kitted out with borrowed MAF housing equipment, which is useful to have and many of the kitchen items are lovely and shiny and new. However, I miss those extra home comforts...such as lamp-shades on the glaring light bulbs suspended above our heads, a doormat to prevent muddy footprints, our rugs to take the chill off the cold floor and cushions to relax a little on the rather hard MAF sofa! I miss our own familiar bedding, our pictures and family photos which would brighten up the bare, white-bland walls of this rented house. The children miss their toys and books and Joel keeps asking for his sand-pit from the Dodoma garden! It is hard to know how many home-based items we should go out and buy and then sell on later, or should we rather just wait until our own goods get here? First, Andrew must get a Kenya work permit in order to import goods and secondly, we must decide whether our boxes should come here to Nairobi or be flown direct to Juba- if we are to move there anytime in the next few months?

So this is an unusual time, with many questions that cannot yet be answered. So for this period, my blog is named to reflect the life we are living right now as we wait, on hold, in Nairobi- a land of limbo for us!