Home is where your cake tins are

Day Zero at the New House

I pick up the boys from school and tell them the good news: we now have a new home, to which I have been given the keys only hours before. “Can we explore it right now?” asks Kieran hopefully. I think he’s picturing a composite of all the houses we have viewed over the past few weeks and having visions of Harry Potter cupboards (the family term for the under-the-stairs cupboard), basements, and even attics that might possibly still contain the detritus of a long-departed family. So we head up the stairs, Kieran armed with his trusty sword (a broom handle); I, with a kindly-donated shield (dustbin lid) and Rohan with his mighty mace (plunger).

There is, alas, no basement or attic. Sadder still, we are missing our curtains (they were taken off to be cleaned a week ago and have yet to be returned), gas regulator, telephone line and several other key items that were promised by the landlord. And our shipment is still at the docks somewhere. Even so, we have to start somewhere, so with only a dining table set and one sofa for furniture (thank you Morgane!) we decide that we’re going to move in over the weekend.

Day One

It’s Saturday morning and one emergency shop later we have several essentials: a water dispenser, four plates, four cereal bowls, two sets of cutlery (the boys have their own already), 5 water glasses, two pots, a frying pan and a bucket (this last a request from the maid – I have no idea why).  Oh yes, and enough cleaning implements to sort out a small mansion. Unimportant stuff like food can wait a while. And I think we’re going to be doing a LOT of dishwashing in between meals.

We’ve also managed to get a few other key items delivered, such as (in order of priority) a mattress for Rich and me (the kids are taking their chances on the floor with cushions), Richard’s swanky new gym equipment, and a gong. Oh yes, and there is a beautifully carved Javanese bar on its way. I’m not sure we are doing this in exactly the right order.... However, we are ready for our first night in the New House.

Day Two

We have definitely started to settle in: the pool has been christened, the house inspected thoroughly (still no curtains) and we’ve even found time to visit the neighbours. There is another child on the compound, which is lucky for the boys as they are used to having playmates around.  And I’ve discovered that we have a mango tree! With mangoes! Only green ones so far, but I’m sure that, given time, they will ripen to the delicious orangey-yellow colour of the local mangoes ( And if not, there’s always mango pickle to be made).

Day Five

We now have lots more furniture. Kieran has a bed. Rohan has a mattress all to himself. And most importantly, Richard and I have a bed – a beautifully carved Javanese bed. It’s lovely, but since we also have a beautifully carved Javanese dining table, beautifully carved Javanese chairs, a beautifully carved Javanese bar and a beautifully carved gong (origin unknown), I’m beginning to long for the joys of pressboard IKEA furniture. On the plus side, the curtains have finally turned up...

Day Eight

Our shipment is here! This is the shortest time we have ever had to wait to be reunited our things (it took two months in Cairo and three in Dar) but we’re all still hugely excited. Men arrive early in the morning and unload the trucks, assemble the flat-packed furniture, laugh at Mr and Mrs Maasai (our two little statues who are immediately set to guard the hallway) and somehow manage to do it all in under three hours. This including Coke breaks. Very impressive.

Unpacking is a bittersweet experience. Standing at the door, ticking off items as they come in, I’m reminded of how I did the exact opposite in Dar – waved goodbye to all 97 boxes as the moving men put them in a truck. It’s the first pang of homesickness I’ve felt since moving here and for the first time, it feels like I have really said goodbye to Dar es salaam. That house isn’t home any more, this one is.

There are other emotions: there’s the joy of having all my clothes again (I can stop rotating the three outfits I’ve worn since getting here) and confusion at some of our choices (why, for instance, did we remember to pack our iron, but leave behind the ironing board?). There is amazement at how many towels we own (about 30 at last count) and how few wine glasses: two incomplete sets of champagne flutes, a couple of half-bottle glasses and some assorted white wine ones including one from the 2009 wine tasting festival, one from the ex-neighbours who have now moved to Sydney and one that a friend turned up with at the end of a particularly drunken Ball Night which stayed on in our house. The only complete set is of sherry glasses – which we hardly ever use, for obvious reasons.

There is also the sense of enormity at how much more storage space we need – how on earth did we fit it all into the previous house? And a sense of doom at having to go out and buy yet more heavy teakwood furniture. Oh for a good old-fashioned BILLY bookshelf.

But most of all there is contentment. For the first time since we moved in, I have all my books around me. And my kitchen implements. The boys have their toys. And Richard has his favourite coffee mug.

We’re home.