January 12
The biggest thing we’ve learned in the last three days is that everything here is pole pole. We needed to get the electricity connected Tuesday but there was no meter. A man also installed “the cooker.” But when the third man came to turn on the electricity, he said, “Madam, there has been a mistake in the installation of the house. We got it fixed today.” Jim [Wilson] help us get curtains ordered yesterday. It meant taking the measurements and then drawing pictures of the window. It took us forty five minutes to explain to a terribly young looking boy what it was that we wanted done- but today they were done, and done well…([Shillings]148/40). We have no living room furniture yet. If when we get it, it is as dirty as Jim’s, it will have to be covered immediately. That could be fun to do if we can find the material.

Several men came to us. “Sir, I want to work.” One boy, John Seruada, won our hearts. He was a shamba boy however, and we don’t really have a yard yet. Today we hired Stanley Makoba on a week’s trial basis. He is supposed to be of an industrious tribe, And, I must say that he did well today.

The altitude is 5,500 feet here and I really feel it. I am so tired after some kinds of minor exertions that I can barely stand. I wake up feeling well however. School starts tomorrow and I scarcely know what that will bring (FMP).

January 13
We moved in!

January 14
We made it into our house in record time. At least that’s what everyone has told us. We received our trunks yesterday. We were certainly happy to see them. A great treat to open them and discover what we had packed.

So many things to see right at our door step. Still people come looking for work. None available. No shamba work for at least a month. Put up curtains today. Makes the place look 100% better. Must finish putting them up. The two mosques, the Ismaili and the Muslim (sic) and the Hindu Temple both in site of the houses (FMP)

Shastri’s death [Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minister of India] hit Asian people hard here. It is hard to believe how much the Asians are still committed to the Indian sub-continent. I think most feel that they are birds of passage here. Their days are probably numbered. Most still have British citizenship. Still, though traders, they are well meaning people. (LAP).