Hujambo!

I think Matuu means “footsteps” in Kikamba. I made some footsteps there the other day. Matuu is about two or three hours from Tala depending on the car and the route. I passed straight from Tala through Kilamabogo instead of passing all the way through Nairobi and Thika. There are a few big dams in that area but the water was really low, and you’re not even allowed to swim or take pictures. We ended up going to the staff club at Kamburu Dam for some swimming (in a pool).

The chronology was something like this: arrive in Matuu, play with puppies, cook dinner, talk about Swahili, talk about politics, sleep, go to the dams, go swimming, eat grilled meat, sleep, come back to Tala.

Enjoy the pictures: http://thefro.org/gallery2/v/2009/matuu

The rains have started to fall in Tala. As far as I can tell, this has two major ramifications:

1. Farmers will grow food this season (rains were sporadic last season)
2. Lots of animals will crawl into my house

Let it be known: I come in peace, but if you scare the shit out of me I might kill you. Especially at night. Visitors I’ve had in the past year and a half:

• Scorpions: 5
• Snakes: 2.5 (one was technically in the pit latrine in my backyard, so that’s half ;)
• Spiders: 6

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I posted a few days ago about making a “salad” for dinner in Tala. I found some new ingredients in the market and I’ve improved on my past attempt. I don’t know what I was thinking before, but I’ve got it down now. I decided that hot peppers and cilantro are not necessary, but I’ve added zucchini, bell pepper, and avocado! Tonight I used the following:

• Two small cucumbers, cubed
• One small zucchini, cubed
• Half a small onion, diced
• One medium-sized tomato, cubed
• One medium-sized avocado, cubed
• Two small carrots, diced
• One small green bell pepper, sliced

I just throw it all in a bowl and add a pinch of salt, mix, and let it sit for a few minutes… and voila! I only wish I hadn’t lent my ground black pepper to a buddy because I think that would be the ultimate addition. It’s delicious AND nutritious!

Sara has a book which has a funny caption on the front, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” It’s Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. I never read it, but I think the the caption is catchy and probably true (duh?). Anyways, I’ve been enjoying eating a lot of vegetables lately. No cooking, no cleaning of dishes. I think it’s a no brainer…

I ate a bunch of crappy food today so I wasn’t looking forward to deciding what to eat for dinner. I got to thinking and figured I’d really like to have a nice salad. Well there’s no lettuce anywhere around Tala so I had to improvise a bit. I ended up just mixing cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, onions (kidogo tu!… “just a little”), cilantro, and some hot pepper (raw). The pepper was a little on the hot side, oops, but the cucumber was refreshing, and I’m sure the carrots are helping somehow too. Maybe vision? Other than that, I cooked a lot of fried rice a few weeks ago, and this week I was experimenting with beef stew since I had a really sweet one in Nairobi at Tash’s house over Easter weekend. I learned that beef gets very tender in a pressure cooker!

I went to Thompson Falls in Nyahururu the other day with a friend from Tala. It’s about three hours drive from Nairobi, which itself is an hour and a half from Tala. We left a bit early in the morning and were there around lunch time. Other than some dudes dressed up for the tourists and some sweet monkeys, we had the whole place to ourselves, so we sat and chatted about nature, religion, and Kenyan politics for a few hours. By the time we got back to Tala it was late and we were tiiiiired! Enjoy the pictures…