Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Wow, it's already March?

I can't believe it's already March...pray tell, where did the time go? Well, I'm back from my self-imposed blogger hiatus and a lot has happened so let me do a recap of events thus far:

Nuptials: My friends Chambree & Mike, Sherry & Dannie, Steve & Jackie and cousin Fidi & Bonnie got hitched. Congratulations to the newly weds! May happiness reign over your marriages.

Overpriced Goods: Seriously thought about buying a sewing machine so I could make my own clothes! Is it just me or is Kenya really expensive? I cannot understand how Kenyans are paying these exorbitant prices for clothes (and shoes for that matter). I had to buy a simple outfit and went into a store to get some black pants and a kimono top - paid Ksh 8,800 (about $112 for some no-name stuff I could probably have bought at Macy's for $40...on clearance). I sure miss the "clearance racks!" The shoes here are outrageous as well...saw a pair of no-name shoes for 13,800 at this shop in Sarit Center. But get this, there are some PAID people in this country...when I was in the said shoe shop, some chick bought about 6 pairs of shoes and there was some fanfair about bursting some holiday balloons that were filled with free giveaways if you spent over a certain amount of money. At the first pop, I was outta there with my broke behind:-)

Honestly, I am SO glad I shipped my stuff because I'd be one of those people who would never buy anything here...especially since I know how much stuff really costs! Even at the supermarkets like Nakumatt, I am always in awe of how much some products cost..for instance, my soy milk costs Ksh395, which is a little over $5 for 1 litre (that's 0.26 gallons). Regular milk, same volume costs about $0.95! In the States, Soy Milk is also a little pricier than regular milk but you get a half-gallon carton for about $3! (at least for Silk Soymilk)!


Trips: Went on some fun trips to Ngong, Meru, Nakuru and Naivasha. Let me just say how pleasantly surprised I was at the road integrity going to Naivasha...there's lane demarcations and everything:-) We were visiting someone in Nakuru and decided that it would be cool to see the Flamingos at Lake Nakuru. We were 5 adults and a child and managed to get to the gate about an hour before sunset. The guard says that our total park entry fee is Ksh 1700 and we take pause when he says that there are no flamingos. What? Lake Nakuru with no flamingos is like being at White Water with no water!! Needless to say we declined to go into the park. Evidently, since there has been a drought of sorts for the past couple of years, two-thirds of the lake has dried up and since Flamingos are "water birds" they have migrated elsewhere. Another explanation is that some experts believe that the birds are moving away because local factories release contaminated or untreated waste into the lake There are reports that the birds have been dying in large numbers after consuming toxic waste from the town's sewage ponds. Such a pity...

The container finally arrived:...yes, after 4+ months! I was LIVID...especially after the shipper telling me that it would only take 30-45 days tops. On top of that, my boxes were damaged as well as the contents - broken, cracked glasses and serving platters; broken glass candle holders; broken CDs (that were in their protective cases); broken vacuum cleaner; missing pieces to 2 of my beds as well as a bathroom cabinet; deep dents/scratches on all my wooden stuff (beds, coffee tables, dining tables, subwoofer and bookcase). The shipper had informed me that he has shipped tons of times before and no-one ever had...get this..."even a toothpick broken!" Ok, realistically I knew that I would find something broken, it's inevitable after all, but I just didn't expect the extent of mishandling some of this stuff that was shrink wrapped by the shipper himself. At any rate, he could not tell me what process there was for recovering damages nor did he seem interested in the fact that I had paid for an apartment that I couldn't live in because my stuff did not get here until December 24th!! In addition, he informed he that he had to get an extension letter from KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority) - something about going over the length of time a shipment is supposed to arrive duty free into the country. Well, guess what? The letter that he had the audacity to show me, contained my signature...but I never signed any extension letter so guess where it came from? My passport - since he had to clear my stuff using my passport, the signature was forged from there. I guess he did what he had to do to clear the container but enough is enough. If you promise someone that their stuff will arrive in a certain amount of time and without damages, then deliver on that. I had only packed just a few clothes on the plane with me because I knew the container would arrive shortly after I did (the shipper picked my stuff up late July and the rest in the first week of August). Never did I imagine that it would take over 4 months to see any of my stuff. He did not want to hear that I was wasting money buying things while I waited for my shipment to arrive, nor that I had an empty apartment...so, I decided to short him Ksh 20K from his final payment. Think what you will...

Jonathan, Joi and I moved into our new digs: We all were separated for so long that we did not have an issue moving in Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!! Joi was beside himself, probably glad to be rid of his nemesis, Scooby! Even though the house was dusty from the boxes (after all, they had traveled for 4 months and probably stopped at all god-forsaken dusty ports) we were happy to start unpacking and try to make this place a home. We moved to a spacious 3-bedroom, 3-bath apartment and at that point we were happy that it was on the ground floor. Everything else we had seen was on the 4th or 5th floors and I'd be wheezing before we got to the actual apartment. At any rate, I'm still thankful that I don't have to walk up the stairs but I'd like to off my neighbors who lives right above me. They pound on the floor with such zeal that any day now, they will land into my living room once the floor finally caves in. We tried to do the whole "WOOSA" thing and just be thankful that we had a place to call home but...I suffer from migraines and the pounding was getting the best of me. I was literally going nutters! So sweet, soft-spoken Jonathan walks up the stairs to have a friendly chat and find out what it gods name they were doing up there. The guy was nice, but who might I add can't speak English very well, (they are from another African country and we constantly hear them practicing their English on their patio) tells Jonathan that his mother has to "pound" their food and that is what the noise is. He promises to make her do it in the kitchen (yeah, we were hopeful that she would just buy a mill and grind her spices that way). I love all things culture so I'm glad they are able to eat their cultural dishes in Kenya but the madness needed to stop. Since that hopeful day, we hear pounding at 11am, 3pm and about 7pm every single day! So, sweet ol' Jonathan has to trudge back up there and find out whether they understood what they discussed the last time (English is hard but I think "STOP" is usually understood by most people). Anyway, Jonathan talks to the nice guy again and insists that he told his mom to stop with the pounding in the living room. Jonathan requests that they pick one time to do the pounding. The guy asks "when would that be" and Jonathan says "anytime we are not home!" (In an apartment it is pretty easy to know whether your neighbors are home because all the doors come with burglar proofing (a sort of wrought iron door that protects the main entry door. When people leave their homes, they padlock the burglar proofing and so everyone knows you are not home. As Jonathan is speaking to the guy, he manages to look into their living room and sees the mom sitting in the living room with the the evil contraption between her legs. Imagine a tabletop pestle and mortar...no, that's not what they are using. Imagine a wooden pestle the size of a 2x4 and a wooden mortar the size of at least a 10qt stockpot. This massive grinding apparatus is what our beloved neighbors use and due to the sheer size, they have to put it on the floor and pound the living daylights out of whatever it is that they eat. This is the soundtrack of my life. And please don't get me started on the Chinese guys that live in the block across from ours...I'm sure they are just conversing normally...but normal for them sounds like shouting and fighting words to us. The first time I heard the shouting, I went to my patio to find out what the hullabaloo was about (secretly thinking that I was going to witness some Jackie Chan moves - whatever, I'll take my kicks wherever I can get them!) Both men were involved in a rapid fire shouting match (at least that's what it sounded like to me) and I went into the house to get my trusty camera (Jonathan wasn't home but you know how he loves those old Kung Fu so I was going to get him some footage) but to my dismay...I found those fools laughing instead of doing some deadly "tiger claw" or "invisible palm fist" moves! Damn.

Aggie the champ: My niece is so competitive that she is the best swimmer in her school so we definitely were there to cheer her on at the swimming gala at Aga Khan High. At her school's talent day, she got 3 trophies and get this, the boys all wanna be her - she is the best in soccer and swiped the soccer MVP award as well. I cannot count how many nights she slept with her trophies and how many pictures I took of her doing her gangsta pose with her trophies. Kids, gotta love 'em!

Sweat Shop: For New Year's some of the family decided to help Dad out in his newly opened club called "Cocobase" that's located in the basement of his restaurant, Coconut Grill, located in Thika Town, right by the Tusky's shopping complex. It was a crazy night and we were crazy busy and everyone had to do whatever they could to chip in as we were expecting a large crowd. That night, I worked as the Maitre'd, waitress, busboy, bartender and dough boy for this one dude who thought I was his personal waitress. We had fireworks at midnight and I didn't even hear them or see them...I was up to my neck with people and alcohol. I actually decided that I'd had enough of the restaurant and smiling and decided to go to the basement and get a stiff drink, some music and some dancing on. NO SUCH LUCK. Didn't know Moms was bartending and as soon as I try to order a drink she's like, "get in here and help me out!" All I have to say at this point is that I respect bartenders!! It's exciting and grueling at the same time and for me, I was sweating buckets...there are all these Kenyan beer names that I'm not used to, Tequila's with funny names I've never heard of (and I know Tequila)...crazy crazy. On top of that, Kenya has currency that looks similar (like the 20 and 40 shilling coin look exactly the same) so I had some arithmetic issues. As if that wasn't enough, the lingo is somewhat different - they have "tots" here as opposed to "shots" and slang for the beer that I knew nothing about! Eerrr, imagine there are like 30 people all surrounding the bar shouting their orders because they think you are ignoring them...I tune them out and make eye contact with a guy who orders, "GK baridi, White Cap lite moto, Tusker Milli moto, tot ya Zappa na cordial." Bloody Hell, can you repeat your order? Moms is working like a pro and smiling at me and I'm thinking it would be so much easier if someone could just order a Bud so I could say, "we don't have that!" and move on to the next victim. Anyway, a couple who was sitting right at the bar look at me like I just stepped off the short bus and proceed to help me. Translation: GK = Guinness Kubwa (Guinness Stout in Kenya comes in two sizes - one that comes in a Bud-type of bottle with the long neck and another big one "kubwa". White Cap also comes in two sizes and the long-neck one is the "lite" version and "moto" means "warm". Most Kenyans drink their beer warm...so they will usually denote warm/cold for any drink they order. Tusker Milli is the most famous Kenyan beer so I knew that...but I think the Milli is a promo that had a grand prize of a million Kenya shillings (If I'm wrong someone correct me!) and the Zappa thing was a shot of a South African "Sambucca" with a shot of lime cordial. Christ...now all I had to do was figure out how much to charge? Dude, it was the worst and best couple of hours that I've had since I came out here. There's also a difference between the Tusker Malts as one chick calmly told me, "give me the one with the emblem" not the other one. Mmmhhh, not sure what this is about but sure enough, some Tusker Malt bottles have a crest (or emblem) and some don't (can someone explain that as well?). Needless to say, I crept up to my room at about 3:30am completely exhausted...and the club was still kickin'! I left my Moms bartending...ain't no shame in my game:-) When I got up, about 8am, my father was still at the bar with my uncles...what the hell are these guys made of???

President Barack Obama’s Inauguration: Need I say more? To say that I am happy that I got to see the first Black President elected leader of the free world does not even begin to describe how I felt on that day. This is a guy who stands for CHANGE and I totally support President Obama and have faith that he will bring America out of this recession and be the change that we prayed for during the Bush years. Not everyone may not agree with me but that's okay, his good work will speak for him. One thing is for sure any change is better than no change...and that is where America was headed the last 8 years.

Dad hospitalized: Yeah, our strong patriarch had to give in to the demands of his body and found out that he was a mere mortal. Dizzy spells, double vision and pressure in his head were some of the symptoms and after a whole bunch of tests and a whole bunch of money, the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong but one thing was for sure - he was suffering from exhaustion. Dad is a workaholic, smokes and drinks and I'm sure all these factors added up to produce the symptoms. We're just glad that he is doing great, only going to work every other day and he even tried to quit smoking. OK, so it was during his stint at the hospital and the week after but he tried:-)