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:-)

Gator Nation: Another SEC title!!!

It's really great to be a Florida Gator! The face-off held between Alabama (1) and Florida(4) was at the Georgia Dome and how I wished I would have been there as part of the record breaking 75, 892 crowd!! My friend Josiah was sending me regular updates via text message and when I got the one that read 31-20 a little after 1am my time, I fell asleep smiling!

My boy, Tim Tebow, with his fine self, delivered again! Tebow passed for 216 yards and three TDs - yeah baby! I'm nominating him for the Heisman trophy again - this dude is made of everything nice with sugar and spice! Here is a great article,published last year,that in my opinion truly captures why we love Tebow so much! He is more than just football.

FINAL SCORE: ALABAMA 20 FLORIDA 31

A Kenyan murdered in Baltimore Maryland

(Copied from Diaspora Messenger -11/29/08)

The late Alexander Waiganjo Njuguna

Alexander Waiganjo Njuguna, a Kenyan living in Baltimore Maryland was murdered by unknown assailant in his apartment between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Alexander was 29 years old and is the son of Rose Njeri Njuguna of Baltimore Maryland.

The circumstances of his death are still unknown and the police are still investigating.

Family and friends are currently meeting at Rose's home (Alexander’s mother) in Baltimore as they try to come to grips with this terrible tragedy. They are requesting all Kenyans and friends everywhere to join them in prayer and also in comforting and assisting Rose to take care of the expenses of the funeral and burial which will take place in Kenya sometime within the next 2 weeks.

Well wishers may send money through the following account:
BANK OF AMERICA
ACCT No: 446009463985
ROUTING: 052001633
NAME: ROSE NJERI.

My heart goes out to the family during this tough time. Also, my condolences go out to my friend, Peter Mugo aka Kaka, who introduced Alex to us just a year ago at Thanksgiving. Alex (in dreads) and Kaka have been long time friends since their childhood days in Buru Buru Estate. Death reminds us that our days are numbered and that we must make the best out of every day we are alive. R.I.P.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The original pilgrims celebrated their autumn harvest with a feast of thanks and gratitude. Thanksgiving is exactly that - a time to be thankful of what you have, a time to celebrate with friends and loved ones and for me and other shop-a-holics, "Black Friday" Sales!! I'm getting giddy just thinking of this:-)

This is my first Thanksgiving back in Kenya and I am definitely missing the buzz of activity that would be in my kitchen at this time. For a good number of years I was always the 'go-to' house and I loved trying out new recipes to wow my friends with. My menu always consisted of an 18Ib Turkey, Dressing, Sweet Potatoes, Mac 'n' Cheese, Creamed Spinach, Creamed Corn, Green Bean Casserole and Cranberry. In addition to that, I had other dishes that I had been trying to master throughout the year so that I could debut them at Thanksgiving. I loved the first smell indicating that the Turkey was really starting to roast, yelling at Jonathan to clean the house faster before the first guest arrived, hearing the first knock, spiking the hot cider and eating until we almost OD'd. Ahh the memories!

This year, I am there in spirit with all my friends and thankful for the years we all spent together. I have also passed on the baton to my friend, Kaka, and hopefully he will do me proud. Of course, I will be needing pictorial evidence that he actually did all the cooking. Happy Thanksgiving!

Savanna Coffee Lounge

 

Last week my brother and I we were driving past Nairobi Hospital, saw that the newest Savanna Coffee Lounge had opened up,on Ralph Bunche Rd, and made a mental note to check it out. This is Sasini Coffee House Limited's third installment of its kind in the city - the other locations are on Loita Street and Museum Hill. Sasini's vision is to put Africa on the map by opening a multitude of "African-themed coffee houses".

After a hard day of apartment hunting, Jonathan and I decided to make a pit stop at Savannah and find out what all the hoopla was about. As I walked through the black-stained wooden doors (Lamu style in my opinion) leading to the lounge, I was immediately greeted by the gentle "woosh" of water falling on rock and what do you know? There is a water feature on one side of the wall, which drowns the noise from the street and let's face it...the voices in my head. As I pull myself from the hypnotic lull of the water, I notice that the patio area is markedly bigger than the actual lounge. Airy - that is how I would describe the Savanna Coffee Lounge in one word. One of the waitstaff says hello as Jonathan makes for the lounge (he hates being in the elements) and I cannot imagine why anyone would want to sit inside when the patio is so open and inviting. The Parasols on each of the tables are burnt orange and nicely complement the earthy terracotta tiles on the patio floor. I did look inside the lounge and loved the chocolate brown leather loungers/sofas as well as the zebra patterned pendants that hung above the counter - not bad at all - kind of stuff I would want in my living room! I think that must be what they were going for - "inviting" - just like your own living room would be.

Even though we are here on a coffee break, I take the time to really look at the entire menu and can't help but wonder when I'll be back for a real meal. I ordered my regular poison of choice - black coffee, no sugar and a ginger cookie. Jonathan ordered the Masala Chai, which is a mix of Sasini Tea with selected spices brewed in hot milk (smelled heavenly and according to Jonathan it was really good). Savanna offers everything from Breakfast, Soups, Sandwiches, Salads, to Burgers, Grill and Main Courses from around the globe. For drink selections, think Icy Fruit Slushies in 8 different flavors, Milk Shakes, Frapes, Coffee Chillers, Iced Coffees/Tea, Mocktails (the lounge is non-alcoholic), Smoothies and Luscious Hot Chocolate (Dark/White). Let's face it, I'll have to come back quite often if I'm going to eat my way through this expansive menu! One menu offering I'm dying to sink my teeth into is listed under the "Quick Eats" part of the menu - Buffalo Croquette (Buffalo mozzarella mixed with potatoes seasoned with a dash of herbs, and crumb fried to a sunny gold. Served with a sweet tomato chilly dip). Mmhh, these little balls of melt-in-your-mouth goodness are just calling my name!!

While I was there, the board of directors was having a meeting and since I asked to take pictures, I got to meet some of the members as well as the Head of Operations, Mark Matthews, who struck me as a laid back kind of guy who lets the operation run without the power trip. He and his staff made me feel very welcome and this is a place I would be happy to recommend to anyone. There are three reasons (apart from the food) that will make me come back to this place - great customer service, use of local artisans for all labor/aesthetics and use of locally grown ingredients.

License to sound...

So yesterday Jonathan was picking me up in my mom's matatu (slang terms: mathree or jav if you are uptown) and he got pulled over in Kilimani. Evidently it wasn't the cops who wanted anything but rather the Music Copyright Society of Kenya. Jonathan asked the dude what the problem was and was informed that the radio in the matatu needed a license and unless he paid Ksh3150 he would not be able to drive the van. And get this, it is a yearly license so you have to pay this fee every year!!! The guy informed us that the information regarding this had already been gazetted and thus everyone was aware of these newly imposed charges. My mom's matatu is a private van for family use and the radio doesn't even work so when Jonathan asked whether he would still have to pay he was told yes. However, if you removed the radio from the van then you would not be subject to this crap. But, if you have a radio that doesn't work i.e produces NO sound, you still have to pay!

We decided to stop arguing and just paid the fee and got a sticker to add to the multitude of stickers already on the windshield. The guy who gave us the sticker and receipt couldn't even articulate why the "copyright" society was doing this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't copyright the legal right to own original works such as the written word, audio, video etc??? So I'm not sure why a "radio" should be under the jurisdiction of MCSK. The guy who took the license fee said that we were paying to hear the sound (this is a direct translation from Swahili). In my earnest effort to get the real reason, I decided to call one of the 6 numbers on the MCSK receipt and wouldn't you know it, none of them went through. One number was missing a digit and the other ones were a combination of "could not dial this number" or "mobile subscriber had turned off the phone" and one other that just displayed a message on my phone stating "Not allowed". Jeez!

Oh and by the way, just down the street was a guy selling a whole bunch of pirated CDs and DVDs - the MCSK couldn't be bothered in the least about this type of copyright!