Hujambo!

I was in Nairobi this weekend and some friends and I happened to stop by Carnivore for “Rock Night.” I had never been to Carnivore before, and all I had heard about it was that they serve crazy meat like giraffe, alligator, rhino, and who knows what else. I guess “game meat” is the proper term, maybe someone can enlighten me. I’m still not sure about the meat part because we were their for the dancing. Who knew it was a restaurant by day and a club by night!

Because it was “Rock Night” I put on the only “rock” shirt I have, a Ramones shirt I had just randomly found earlier that day for 150 shillings ($2). Most of you know that my taste in music is a bit extreme, so what may seem like “rock” to the average Kenyan sounds like a lullaby to me. The music on the dance floor was about 50% rock and then some crunk rap and even some trance house music. The place was packed and the crowd was lively so dancing was a lot of fun. I was surprised when I found that a local coffee chain has a little kiosk near the bar because, of course, my drink of choice is not alcohol or soda!
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I was in Nairobi for a few errands this weekend, one of which was to go shopping for some clothes. I realized recently that my wardrobe was in pretty bad shape. A few months ago my Che Guevara shirt was stolen from the laundry line and last week my bike accident destroyed my only pair of jeans and one of my nicer shirts. I decided it was time to invest in some clothes.

After spending about $30 on a pair of new jeans I walked over to Nairobi’s Ngara district, where a friend of mine had said there were lots of street vendors selling second-hand clothing. As I approached the line of hawkers they all panicked, picked up, and ran (in like ten seconds flat). I wasn’t sure what made them flee, but it didn’t matter because they were back after a few minutes. In the meantime I had stumbled into an Indian bulk retail store and picked up 100 grams of garam masala for real cheap. In walking back towards the hawkers my eyes started to water and I thought I had rubbed some spices in my eyes until…

Boom! And all the hawkers were running again. Down the street I saw some smoke but couldn’t make anything of it. As I kept walking a police officer ran past me with some canister and then boom! Tear gas! I briskly walked away from the action and saw a big truck full of police officers. I thought, “this is crazy” and, as I had already bought one shirt for about two dollars, headed back towards Nairobi’s town center.

Crazy Kenya.

I’ve often felt all eyes in Tala were focused on me. Yesterday I was riding my bike pretty fast and I hit some loose dirt and ate $#@% pretty hard. So everyone was laughing and pointing at me, but then they ran to see if I was ok.  I am totally fine (a few scratches) but I ripped a really nice shirt and destroyed my only pair of jeans.

I don’t think it takes much to make people in Tala laugh. For instance, when I wear shorts they all laugh because my legs are so hairy.  I went to greet a woman one time and she shrieked when she saw the hair on my arm.  I’m a MONSTER!

I will be more careful from now on, mom! Anyways, maisha iendelee (life goes on)!

I have enjoyed cooking before so this should come as no surprise, but lately I have been breaking new ground in the kitchen! Yesterday, for the first time ever, I walked into a butchery in Tala market and ordered one quarter of a kilogram of beef. I wanted to cook pilau (a spiced rice dish, usually with beef) but I didn’t know where to start. The mamas in the market were happy to share their recipes, so I collected several opinions and went home to give it a try. Result: success! I had some problems cutting the meat, I never noticed how dull my knife is because all I ever chop is veggies!

I’ve also been cooking some pretty awesome fried rice. Lots of vegetables and spices; it’s pretty tasty. I only learned how to make non-mushy rice in the last few months, so that’s helped my fried rice dish immensely. So you can see savory dishes are covered, but I’ve also made a foray into sweet.
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I’ve been thinking about this for a while: my Spanish is gradually being replaced by Swahili. That’s pretty sad when you consider that I studied Spanish for five years in school, not to mention living in San Diego and traveling all over Mexico every year for most of my childhood. Not that I need or use Spanish here in Kenya, but I like to test myself every once in awhile. On a semi-related note, I did eat some beef tacos last week at a funny restaurant in Nairobi called “Taco Club.” My buddy ordered chicken fajitas. The salsa was fresca and the guacamole was delicious, but the rice was more like turmeric rice (Indian…?).

I think I know more Swahili than Spanish now. Maybe I’ll go walk around Mexico for a few weeks when I get back from Kenya in 2009 to refresh my skills. Any takers?

Kwaheri! Or, uh… Adios!