Since I moved into my new house last week I’ve been exploring cooking again. It’s been a few months since I cooked last, instead I’ve been opting to eat out or make simple things like toast with peanut butter. It was fine with me because I eat something healthy like yogurt with granola before work, then a good, hearty meal at ILRI’s cafeteria every day — meals at home were more of a casual “tide myself over until lunch tomorrow” thing. All other reasons aside, I guess it really boils down to not feeling “at home” in my old apartment. The stove was only 1/4 functional, the pots and pans were funny, the sink was dinky, and there were always people coming and going.
Nairobi
Merry Moving Christmas
A few Nairobi VSO volunteers got together to have a small Christmas thingy. Randi and I are, of course, a very entertaining duo so we were invited. We decorated a small tree, told stories, and had a nice meal. Sandy is a professional when it comes to brownies and I do spin a mean salad (salad spinner!). There are no pictures of me, which is good because I just got a haircut and it looks a bit dorky (so count on me wearing a hat for any pictures in the next few weeks).
Randi’s been here almost two weeks now, and I’ve taken her to all the local joints that I know. She is even starting to crack people up with funny Swahili jokes, recognizing streets, matatus, etc. We didn’t plan so well, but tomorrow we’re definitely on the move to Tanzania. It’s been a hectic week but we’ve booked two tickets for Arusha for Christmas morning. Who knows if we’ll be able to find matatus to town at 5:30 in the morning, but we’ll go a bit early just in case. The tickets are only 1,000 shillings each (about 12 US dollars), so I guess we could just try again on Saturday if we are unlucky. If all goes well we’ll be in Arusha by lunch time. Arusha ain’t no thing cuz I’ve been there a few times.
Kuwa Mjuaji
Randi has taken to the streets of Nairobi with vigor. From the moment she arrived she showed prowess at navigating Nairobi’s busy streets, jumping out of moving matatus, and eating ugali (very thick corn flour porridge, a staple in Kenya) and vegetables with her hands. After we picked her up at the airport we stopped in town to get some pizzas. As we watched Randi weave in and out of traffic in front of us, one of my friends asked me if Randi had ever been to Africa before — she was surprised when I told her, “No!” In due time Randi will surely kuwa mjuaji (to be someone who knows… like to know the streets)!