Anyone not seen me in my pjs tonight?!

One of the first things pointed out to me when I arrived in Kenya was the security buttons. Each house has them, usually in every room and once pressed they summon armed guards within minutes. Tonight was the first time I pressed it….. this is probably my most promptly written blog post-not sure sleep will come very easily to me tonight…..

Just to give you some background on my house here: the windows all have metal bars on them, the doors all individually lock, and I have a metal barred door that separates the bedrooms from the living space that is padlocked each night. The house is very secure!! Can I just add that it is also a lovely house, I have made it sound like a prison, it isn’t, it is the sweetest thing, just very secure!

Well, lying in bed tonight (on Halloween I might just add) I heard noises….kept saying to myself, “If I hear it again I will press the button….” But I didn’t, I waited, listening intently getting more and more freaked and coming up with more elaborate scenarios of what was causing the strange noises. Eventually I convinced myself that someone had amazingly managed to open the windows and squeeze through the bars and was wandering round my living room (probably gutted that there is so little of any value to steal, trunk excluded!). I pressed the alarm then rang the askaris (the guards on campus) for them to be alerted too, but they very conveniently hadn’t charged their phones (this recurring issue will be addressed first thing tomorrow so I hear). I then rang Simon, my current favourite neighbour. Poor Simon, 11.30pm on a Sunday night….he thought it was a prank call as I was whispering and crying, trying not to alert my intruders that I was awake and had raised the alarm. Once I had convinced him that I wasn’t joking (seriously, just because I like to be silly and often do joke, where is the faith?!) he came round. I was so frightened, and the 30 seconds it took for him to get to me felt like a lot longer…it is amazing how imagination runs away with you! Having to unlock so much doesn’t aid speediness! I had so many scenarios of poor Simon being slain! He kindly and calmly took me for a lil walk to put my mind at ease….I was feeling very foolish as we wandered round the back of the house and all was silent…until we got to my veranda and there was an askari sitting happily in my chair! He had knocked the bars a few times accidentally and coupled with general animal noises as well as having a tin roof-anything falling on it can make quite a sound-had played havoc with my imagination! Simon and I were then met by armed security guards running over to check out the area in response to me pressing the alarm, a bit embarrassing really, but then at least there had been someone outside my house making the noises! We are strongly encouraged to always press the alarm if we are scared, but it is hard to do, as you don’t want to cause a fuss or cry wolf. Def got more confidence to press it again now, and more faith in the security as they were so fast tonight. Also got massive respect for Simon’s bravery and patience! Bet he loves the arrival of 3 girls on campus-we have replaced 3 guys-he hasn’t been called out before!

Simon offered me whiskey as a calming night cap….we wandered back to his house, and to my delight he had run out of tonic….but he did have chocolate! What a good friend!

I am now sitting in my house with: all the lights on, a slight sugar rush from the chocolate, freshly manicured nails and blaring boy band tunes (the least scary music!), waiting for the adrenaline to subside and tiredness to return! Gotta love the African adventures!