Mother-Daughter Duo vs. Evil Horizon Empire and the Shady Ladies

"I am moving to Nairobi!" I squealed excitedly to my mom. "And I get money for a shipment so I can finally get my stuff out of storage. Yahoo!"

"Mandy Rae, you might not remember this but the last time we lived in Africa our shipment never came. It was lost for a whole year, and was returned to our home in Tucson when we came back from Abidjan. The shippers claimed it was stuck in Amsterdam."

"Maybe it stopped at a coffee shop and couldn't get out." My mom's ability to spread anxiety is parallel to none. But I was excited to finally have my stuff with me so I could set up a real home. I was going to ship. This is the 21st century, not the early unpredictable 1990's. Shipping has to be more reliable.

Little did I know what was in store for my mother and I when we contacted Horizon Movers for what became a shipping nightmare. Beware...

I was planning a wedding, getting married in Mexico, unpacking my storage unit, and moving from Shanghai to Kenya all in one summer so I called a "professional" company to come give me a quote for my shipment. My new school gave us $5000 to spend on moving so I gave away a lot of furniture but kept my favorite couch, clothing, knickknacks, etc which were piled nicely in the middle of my mom's living room when Kristine, or should I say, Shady Lady #1, arrived. She quickly glanced at my items and pressed a few buttons on some fancy machine, asked me where I was moving and said they would get back to me soon with a quote. We had already packed it but Kristine said they needed to unpack it, do inventory, and repack it. Ok fine.

A few days later, the quote arrives. $4200 which was fortunately under our $5000 allowance so we say yes, of course, foolishly believing we have alleviated one of our responsibilities for the summer. Enter Shady Lady #2, Olivia, most well known for never being at her desk, always at lunch, and for taking several days to reply to an email, if she does at all. We had to fill out all sort of forms, insurance, and a power of attorney so my mom could sign off on the move since the packers were coming a day after we got on the plane. Red Flag!

I think waiting until the client has left the country is a great way to pull a fast one because you know they can't do anything about it. Most people just say yes, I know the price went up, but ship anyway, we need our stuff.

Well, not this mother-daughter duo! The packers came with two small crates and managed to fit everything inside both of them and take them away. I received an email stating the actual price. Now, I know the quote was a quote and that the real price would be a little different. I assumed that being a professional moving company, Horizon might have hit the nail a little closer to the head, but no. The original quote was $4200 and the actual cost was NOW going to be $7200. WTF?! That's almost double! Going ballistic does not even begin to describe my emotions as I sit in a five-bedroom house without any furnishings....in Nairobi.

The face-off had begun. I immediately email Shady Lady #2 stating that they need to cancel the shipment. The price is way too high. No response....for two days. She writes back saying ok where would we like it sent? I ask her what will happen if we take out the couch and she says that might help. We find out from Shady Lady #1 that the quote was for only one container. Then why did you bring two?

My mom was on and off the phone with Horizon representatives for weeks. She went down to their warehouse to try to repack and get as much as possible into one crate but the person who was supposed to meet her forgot about it. Then that same person tried to offer her $100 for gas and wasted time. My mom adamantly refused this "bribe" all the while politely filing a report with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB starts investigating our little shipment fiasco and at the same time my mom somehow reaches marvelous Michael who works for another moving company contracted with Horizon who takes the shipment through the next step from Arizona. He is also appalled at the way we have been treated by the swarthy Horizon associates. The Shady Ladies also tried to accuse us of adding extra items like chairs and extra boxes. The chairs were folding beach chairs and we didn't add them, they were in the pile. The extra boxes came from the packers when they packed up some of the items in the pile that weren't already in boxes. It was one thing after another.

After all of this back and forth, almost a month has gone by. We wait in an empty house and our shipment hasn't left Tucson. At this rate, we will open our shipment at Christmas. With the pressure from Michael and the BBB, Horizon finally reveals itself as the money-grubbing scum that they are. They drop the price to $5600 but that is still over the $5000 i wanted to spend. Finally they came down. The actual cost to us will now be $5000. Obviously Horizon and the shady ladies were making a huge cut somewhere. I didn't realize I had to bargain in the USA.

Lessons learned:
1. Make sure your shipment leaves the country before you do.
2. Always have someone on your side back at home like a fierce Mother!
3. Just because it's America doesn't mean "professional" companies won't try to rip you off. But because we live in the good ol' USA, we can complain to a higher power like the BBB and then be treated fairly.
4. Everything is negotiable. (I learned that from my mom who will bargain anytime and everywhere, and who always gets a better deal.)

We have been charged $5000 and our shipment leaves LA on September 9 to travel the big blue sea hopefully bypassing any Somali pirates, arriving in Nairobi around November 9. Just in time for Thanksgiving!

I would like to take a moment to thank my Mom. Without her forcefulness and resourcefulness, the evil Horizon Empire and the Shady Ladies would have won, resulting in their taking advantage of countless others.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Tucson

Hundreds of Shots, Thousands of Shots, Millions and Billions and Trillions of Shots

Yellow fever, Hepatitis A and B, Meningococcal, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Polio, Tetanus, and Typhoid, oh my!

No, I am not trying to get a job with the Center for Disease Control or trying to list every communicable disease known to man. These were the immunizations I had to get before moving to Nairobi. There is nothing I hate more in the world than being stuck by a needle. And lucky me, I was going to get all these lovely shots in one day.

I vaguely remember having to do this before we moved to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire when I was in fifth grade. Obviously I had repressed the memory in order to move on with my life. We also had to take malaria pills once a week. Not so easy for me either. The generic cheaper pills my mom bought were the size of a gobstopper and had the consistency of chalk so they stuck to your throat. I hacked up several of these before my mom gave me the more expensive candy coated version. I barely survived. Fortunately Nairobi is above the elevation for malaria carrying mosquitos and my ability to swallow pills has increased somewhat over the years.

In order to save some money, I made an appointment for Djorf and me at the county health department in the ghetto of South Tucson. We arrived on time and took our seats in the waiting room. There were several other people waiting so it wasn't too bad. An old tv blared local commercials in the background as I anxiously waited to be called.

After a very long time we were called back into the room to be "counseled" about traveling to Africa and the dangers involved with getting certain immunizations. Two ladies who looked like they had never even ventured out of the state of Arizona were assigned to us. We handed them the forms we had filled out which stated that we would be traveling to Nairobi, Kenya. I knew we were in trouble when one lady asked us if we would be going to any other countries besides Nairobi and Kenya. I can't believe this lady was counseling us when she didn't know that Nairobi was a city in Kenya. I almost told her "Yes, we will also be visiting the country of Africa."

I wish I had said something that might have spared us from the grueling hour that followed where we were handed a printout describing each and every vaccination, the dangers, the side effects, which we had to read and initial. Then they proceeded to regale us with tales of rabies, cases or bubonic plague, and countless other gifts we could receive from journeying to the Third World.

I don't know who hired these people but they were obviously not professionals. They kept looking in this huge book to tell us about all the diseases. I like to call it the Lonely Planet's guide to a painful death abroad. They pointed out Kenya on a map (I am surprised they could find Kenya on a map) which was color coded to match the different diseases. One snippet of advice they gave for the prevention of contraction of rabies was to leave the area if you were being bit by fleas. Wow, how many years of research and hours of training went into coming to that conclusion?

Just when we thought it couldn't get worse, they gave us the bill. $1000 for both of us to get all the shots we needed. That's not cheap! You'd think that preventing these diseases from spreading would be more important and the costs should be affordable. I am sure the shot costs less than hospitalizing someone with yellow fever. Proactive medical treatment is for some reason deemed unimportant. Let's just wait until someone is dying from a disease because the government would prefer to spend thousands in hospitalization pills.

Finally we were ready to get the actual shots. My thoughts and fears screamed inside my head and I felt myself melt down the wall as I slowly slid into the torture chair. The nurse started unwrapping syringes. Lots of them. Were those all for me? The nurse was the most adept adult at the clinic. Bam bam bam...three shots in one arm. Bam bam bam...three shots in the other arm. I was done in 45 seconds or less. Some of them were quite painful and stung. The worst part is the mental image of the long pointy hollow needle entering my arm. I feel nauseous just thinking about it piercing my innocent skin and introducing toxins into my poor healthy body. Djorf was next and he didn't even blink. I don't don't why I get so upset about it. I even cry when my dog has to get a shot because I can't explain to him that it's for his own good and that his mommy really isn't trying to hurt him. His little cry of pain tears my heart to pieces.

Finally we were able to leave the clinic. We would have had one more shot but there was an oral version for typhoid which kept you safe longer than the shot anyway. This noxious disease was dispensed in pill form that had to be refrigerated at all times, even on the way home from the pharmacy in order to keep the nasty cultures of semi-vital typhoid fever alive inside.

Frightening to think of willingly ingesting a disease that killed children and adults with abandon on the Oregon Trail computer game. We have not really eradicated any of these diseases. Some Dr. Jekyll type is now lurking in a secret underground lab manufacturing tons of these diseases and planning his takeover of the world after releasing them into the atmosphere. Oh, wait, is that the CDC emblem I see patched on his lab-coat? I always feel safer knowing my country is at the forefront of chemical warfare. Now I can sleep soundly at night.

I am now a host of viruses and diseases: tuberculosis, hepatitis A and B, yellow fever, typhoid fever, meningitis, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and tetanus, and I've had chicken pox. Watch out world, I have escaped and can kill on contact. I might even glow with nuclear waste. I was finally ready to go to Africa.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Tucson and Nairobi

Zumba Across Continents

The jingle of a belly dancing skirt, pounding base from an array of Latin, hip hop, and dance/electronica music fill the studio, laughter from multiple women and a few gay men, you have just joined a Zumba class. This upbeat dance inspired aerobics class has swept the entire world. You can party your way into great shape. Watch out! It's an addictive, easy to follow, calorie burning "fitness party" offered in over 110,000 locations across more that 150 countries.

One fortuitous day in the mid-90's the creator, Alberto "Beto" Perez, accidentally forgot his music one day for an aerobics class and had to use his own collection of salsa and merengue tapes. The class loved his moves. In 2001, Beto brought his dance moves to Miami, Florida and began Zumba Fitness: The Company where he has been training and licensing Zumba instructors ever since. Seven types of classes are offered worldwide to meet the needs of different age groups, body types, and workout regimens.

My first experience and ultimate addiction to Zumba began in Shanghai. One of the teachers at Shanghai Community International School where I was working, organized a class for us on Monday and Wednesday afternoons after school. This is where I first fell in love with my instructor. James was an adorable Chinese guy who just radiated energy. No matter how tired I was or how awful my day had been, I looked forward to Zumba. He made everyone feel good about themselves and their ability to pull off some of the difficult dance combinations.

James flitted around the room, getting freaky with the walls, and always telling us to be sexy. He sang along with all the songs and wore fluorescent clothing accented with one glove or one sock pulled up. No way could anyone ever be bored.

For a promotional video, we even did Zumba on the Bund! People were walking by taking photos and joining in. On older gentleman practiced tai chi while balancing a fishbowl and several other items atop his head while we boogied in the background.

We had other teachers but no one could inspire me like James. He was just so much fun! When I found out I was moving to Kenya I immediately went to Zumba.com to see which classes were available. Of course there were tons but I would have to wait until I got there to know where the locations were and if I would like the instructor.

Upon arriving in Kenya, I was so busy getting settled in that I didn't start Zumba for several weeks. Then while wandering through a mall I saw a poster advertising Zumba classes with Magic Mike. (My jaw hit the floor. Yes, Magic Mike, like the movie with Channing Tatum.) Except this Magic Mike is black and not quite as sexy but still has a great body and tons of energy. I was hooked after one class. Now I go two to three times per week.

Another great thing is that it only costs 500 ksh which is the equivalent to $6 compared to Shanghai where I was paying 100 yuan which is $15 per class. One not so great thing about the classes in Kenya is the lack of air conditioning and use of deodorant. The most recent class I attended smelled so badly of BO, I thought I might pass out. Every time this lady lifted her arms in front of me, I stumbled and had to stop breathing until the tidal wave of stench had passed. This of course is a small price to pay for the best, most exhilarating workout I have ever done. I highly recommend Zumba to anyone anywhere. Maybe some day I can be an instructor. Until then....

Z-U-M-B-A What's that spell. ZUMBA!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Shanghai and Nairobi