Hujambo! | Page 33 | Living and Working in Nairobi, Kenya

Miscellaneous, Travel

Surrounded by Idiots

My mom’s husband was telling me the other day how, sometimes, he feels like he’s surrounded by idiots. I felt the same way today when, as I was merging onto the freeway, some guy cut in front of me. After he swerved over from the “going straight” lane, he slowed down to yield to an obviously empty on ramp which joined ours. I found myself yelling, “WHY ARE YOU BRAKING?!” out of nowhere. I haven’t driven in two and a half years, but hellooo? So I’m visiting California for a few weeks… welcome to CA!

Last week, when I was still in Kenya, my mom asked what I would want in the fridge when I got home, something I missed; the only thing I could think of was strawberries. Not that we can’t get strawberries in Kenya, I guess they’re just expensive or something, so I never eat them. Anyways, I’ve been eating strawberries and blueberries every morning in my Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with almond milk and I’m officially addicted to breakfast again.

Don’t get me wrong, I love mandazi and chapati, but this tastes good and is actually good FOR you! The almond milk isn’t a must, and could be substituted with soy milk or even the kawaida (usual) “moo” juice. Try it out, you won’t be disappointed!

Kenya

Celebrating the East African Community

I saw this Swahili kanga on Google the other day, a celebration of the East African Community:

Google search with a kanga showing "Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu" — Google search with a kanga showing “Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu”

The phrase is some deep Tanzanian Swahili, but I cracked the code with a little dictionary magic: unity is strength, separation is weakness.

Kenya, Rants

Avatar is Way Cool

I’m watching Avatar. I know, I’m probably the only one in the world who hasn’t seen it yet. It’s a pretty sweet movie, but it’s really hard to miss the socio-political commentary. Right off the bat, the main character is extremely daft — is that how the rest of the world sees Americans? You’d have to be pretty daft yourself to miss the allusions to American conquest of the “New World” (and, uh… the Middle East). The Americans are at it again in the movie, but this time we’re after “unobtainium,” which is selling for 20 million dollars per kilo!

The Navi people of Pandora obviously remind us of the Native Americans, but they also bear semblance to the Maasai people in East Africa. I think it’s the red colors they wear, I wonder if it played any role in the design of the Navi people. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Kenyan culture was used in a blockbuster movie!