Culinary Adventures

I can’t believe that there are less than three weeks left until I return home! I feel like there is so much for me to do here still as there are many things still left on my “Kenya Bucket List”. Regardless, I have had the opportunity to check some things off in the last week.

View from the hostel. Not too shabby.

On Thursday I returned back to Nairobi from Mombasa. I was so happy to visit Mombasa despite it being like living in a sauna.  The culture, people and food there are amazing, I think it is my favorite place in Kenya so far. The reason to visit was research for my independent study project (the last month of the program we are left to do field research), but the goal was fun. The first couple days were dedicated to research and interviews. On Monday we interviewed the two teachers involved in the study, which will be great evidence for the final paper that I need to write.  Tuesday was a visit to a private school that had an amazing dual language program. We ended up staying for the better part of the day (9am-2: 30 pm), interviewed several teachers, ate lunch, and learned about the program. We actually made some friends and the teachers told us we should do a teaching fellowship there after graduation. Somehow, I don’t think I would mind that gig and am definitely keeping it for consideration. We also interviewed the Municipal Education Officer and the Provincial District Education Officer.

Another view from the hostel

To make sure it wasn’t all work and no adventure, I made a list of things we needed to do in Mombasa (this was aided by two SIT alum who we met in the hostel the first day). Most of them were food related. The first thing we crossed off the list was a Faluda. This is a milkshake with chopped up spaghetti, Jell-o and malt in it. It sounds really weird, and that‘s probably because it was really weird. The taste wasn’t really the problem; it was more of a texture thing. I can say though I’m glad I tried it but I don’t think it will be replacing a normal milkshake anytime soon.

The next morning we got up early to go find coconut beans from a mama (you have to get there early so you can get the top of the pot…. That is where most of the coconut milk is the thickest and the tastiest.)  A mama is a lady who cooks big pots of home made food on the side of the road, which is usually dirt-cheap, and coconut beans is one of my favorite dishes so this adventure was a must. We had no idea where to find this mama, except for some vague directions. We were eventually able to find it, unfortunately not in time for the top helping of beans, but they were good nonetheless. We sat down on the benches with all of the other people eating coconut beans and ate them using the Mandazi (puffy, bread-like pastry) and our hands because that’s how they do it on the coast-no silverware allowed.  (I think I’m going to bring the ban on silverware back with me to the states and start eating with my hands- sorry mom and dad.) The entire meal cost somewhere around 65 ksh…. which is less than a dollar, talk about quality.

Camel View

That night we also hit up the Shawarma place. Basically this is amazing roasted meat in spicy sauce and wrapped in a pita- so good. Tailor made pants got knocked off the list. They are pretty sweet- green with giraffes on them. I'm coming home in style. 

The last official thing to be crossed off the list was getting avocado smoothies. This sounded really weird to me too, but stay with me. It was a glass half full of avocado and milk blended together and then filled the rest of the way with fruit. They were amazing! With that, we had crossed everything off the list, but there was still one more thing to be done in Mombasa…. ride a camel.

We took a matatu a half hour away to the beach, which would have been incredible by itself. The water was so blue and the view was incredible, which was made even more magnificent on top of a camel. Riding a camel is like riding a horse…. except way cooler and more ridiculous, sort of like my life here in Kenya. After this excursion it was back to Nairobi.

Me and my friend the camel 

Although everything on my Mombasa list had been checked off there are still a lot of things to do on my Kenya bucket list. One of them was eat at Carnivore-the restaurant is named appropriately as it mostly just serves meat. A group of friends and I decided it was time. We walked into the restaurant and it was like entering another world. We had officially exited Nairobi and entered tourist-ville. We sat down and the waitress explained the menu to us: we would not be choosing anything tonight, but it was a set menu. This was kind of great because if I was going to Carnivore, I was going to do it right.  The first course was strawberry soup with bread and butter (something I have not seen in Africa since I got here…. it’s all “fat spread” which like it sounds, is pretty sub- par.). They then brought out salad and a whole bunch of sauces that are supposed to go with the meat. There was mint for lamb, maasala for beef, wild berry for ostrich, fruit salsa, garlic for chicken, and probably some other ones that I can’t remember.  Then came the meat. They brought it around on skewers Brazilian bbq style. There was honey-glazed ribs, lamb, beef, sausage, turkey, ostrich, crocodile, ox balls, ostrich meatballs, lamb meatballs, chicken-literally everything and it was all so good. The best part was trying all the sauces with the meat and getting so full I swear I should have been rolled out of there. When we finally put our flag down to signal we did not want any more meat (what we called surrendering) the waiter came and took our dessert orders. I literally thought I could not handle any more food…. good thing I held out for dessert. I got cheesecake with passion fruit and strawberry sauce on it. It was probably the best cheesecake I had in my life. Too bad I could only eat a few bites before I surrendered to that too. Needless to say we all went home fat and happy.

Enjoying the waves

The next day I took a trip to Ngong town in Maasailand with my friend Alex. We went to visit some people he had stayed with there. They showed us around, got us chai and then we went to another village 20 mins away to just pick out a few kangas, beads ect. I got more than I bargained for because when I got there a boy, about my age, asked Alex how much he would sell me for…this sounds bad but it is actually more of a marriage proposal. My friend said I was not for sale, but I actually kind of wanted to know how many cows I was worth, you know, just for future reference. It was actually pretty funny. After narrowly escaping becoming sold and married, we went back to Ngong town where we ate some delicious Nyama Choma- this literally translates into roasted meat. It is traditionally prepared meat in Kenya and was so good, maybe even a rival to Carnivore.

Take me back here! 

I can’t believe I have less than three weeks left here; it has gone by so fast! Good thing there is still time for adventures! p.s. sorry I don't have pictures of all the crazy food, I'm already touristy enough, taking pictures of food definitely wouldn't help that image. 

Ostrich Burgers, Goat Hooves, Baboon Heads-Oh My!

Trying to not fall off the ostrich 

As per usual, my life here in Kenya has been less than boring. In fact, this blog post may get a little hefty, so stay with me.

During the last few weeks I have gotten a hold on public transportation and can successfully get myself downtown on busses and matatus without getting too ripped off because I am a mzungu. I have finally figured out the system chaos employed in the public transportation system, which is a major accomplishment seeing as how I am directionally challenged even in the US. 

My friend Joseph the Shepherd in Kitengela

With my new found confidence in public transportation and my ability to navigate, some friends and I traveled an hour and a half to a town called Kitengela where the Maasai Ostrich Farm was located. This required taking a bus to downtown, walking to the railway, getting a matatu to Kitengela, and bartering for another matatu to take us to the ostrich farm. It was a complicated process, but definitely worthwhile. After the hour and a half of bartering, smog, and bumpy roads, we found ourselves enjoying an ostrich burger  (that weirdly enough does not taste like chicken) in a quiet field, and later took a spin on the ostrich (which I nicknamed Fancy). Riding an ostrich was probably one of the most ridiculous feelings I have experienced. As the bird is sprinting around the fenced in area, two men are attempting to hold you on. They said it was impossible to fall off. I can guarantee that it is not impossible to fall off. Secondly, you are on an ostrich. As you are trying not to fall off, the mere thought of being on an ostrich makes you laugh really hard, which probably the caused me to almost fall off the ostrich in the first place. The situation does not become any less funny when watching your friends ride an ostrich. It was a day full of laughter and chaos, of course. It turns out there is no better vacation from the chaos of Nairobi than the chaos of visiting an ostrich farm.

That brings me to Tanzania, which provided plenty of adventure, bizarre experiences, and interesting foods to try for my blog and then some.

Charlotte playing the Ubokana

We headed out for our eight-day excursion in Tanzania early in the morning on Saturday. Our six hour drive through dusty terrain sprinkled with mountains in the distance and eventually lead us to Arusha, Tanzania to the UAACC- United African Alliance Community Center where we stayed for the first couple of days. There we met Pete and Charlotte O’Neal- two exiled members of the Black Panther Party. It was interesting to hear their stories and listen to their views on why they joined the Black Panther Party and how it changed their lives. I had never really learned that much about the matter, but it was definitely a new side of the issue that maybe I had not considered. They were the ultimate hippies. Charlotte read us some of her poetry and played the Ubokana (a Tanzanian percussive instrument made from a stump and strung with animal tendons.) I’m not quite sure it was my instrument but I’m sure she played it beautifully.

We spent the next day visiting the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda where we learned about the trials and how the UN runs them and then the Shanga House- a bead making company that employs deaf, blind, or physically impaired people to work in the shop. This was amazing because they recycled everything. Walls, beads, decorations, almost everything was made out of bottles. It was incredible.

Maasai Warrior helping us
get ready for the bonfire

The next day we traveled another five hours to the Maasai village where we camped- or we liked to call it glamping (glam camping) because we had a personal chef and better food than most of us had had in months aka there were eggs, chicken and cheese involved and minimal rice and bread-for the next two days. I don’t even know if I can accurately describe this experience. The Maasai are a unique tribe that adorns themselves in symbolic beadwork and have a completely different language. To greet anyone over 40, we had to bow our heads so they could touch our heads and greet us in Maa (Maasai Language). It was hard to communicate because few people spoke Swahili so our interactions involved multiple translators (one to translate English into Swahili then another to translate Swahili to Maa) This was an interesting but lengthy process, especially during our talk around the bonfire with the elders that night. One question could take somewhere around a half hour to

Casual Goat Milking

translate, explain, and translate back. Nonetheless it was an interesting experience to see how little was known about science and development. One of the questions was “ We have heard someone went to the moon. Is that true? And how does this happen?” This took me aback because it seems so routine and common knowledge that people have been going to the moon for decades. After this we went to bed, some decided to stay in tents the first night, but we had the option of staying in the Boma- a traditional Maasai house made of sticks, mud, and rocks. It consists of two sleeping areas constructed of sticks and a cooking area inside. So naturally I stayed the night in the boma. It was definitely like no hotel I had stayed in before. All night you could hear the bugs chewing away at the roof and animals outside. Luckily, I survived to tell the tale

Just playing with some goat eyeballs 

We started the next day with a sunrise hike, followed by a goat milking….and goat slaughter/roast.  We had to first prepare everything ceremonially by collecting a bed of herbs for the goat to be laid on and wood for the fire. I thought I was not going to be that affected by the goat slaughter. I was wrong. It actually shook me a little bit because it took so long and was slightly graphic. The actual slaughter was a little better though because the Maasai were so efficient, and also because they made it into sort of a game by giving us new things to eat and playing with the eyeballs. We tried the liver (with gal bladder seasoning), pancreas, ribs and heart of the goat. We also drank a “stew” of the organs and blood. It didn’t taste too bad- just a little organic that’s all.

Sunrise over Mt. Kili

That night they shared more of their culture.  We attended a traditional ceremony where the men and women divide in a circle. The men chant and make a low guttural sounds and jump towards the women. Two men sing a chorus and after the men jump bob their heads and walk towards the men. This would have been scary if it weren’t so amazing. They even forced the students to participate. We must have looked really ridiculous, I can only imagine.

Child in the Hunter-gather group

We rose early the next day and headed out to find one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes in Africa. As we drove past Mt. Kilimanjaro, the sun was rising over the top of it. It was incredible. There are literally no other words, just my memories and a few pictures. We then drove another five hours to go on what I like to call a people safari because they migrate we had to try and find them. We met with the men who were completely dressed in baboon skin and they treated us to some roasted baboon head, which I reluctantly tried- not my favorite, I would prefer some goat ribs to baboon head any day. I feel like my list of weird foods keeps expanding by the day. After we met the women who showed us how to gather roots, the men taught us how to shoot a bow and arrow.

Ndovu-Elephant
in Ngoro Ngoro

That night we got to another hotel/ campground area that had showers. At this point we had not showered for three days and had been brushing our teeth with toothbrushes made of sticks. Personal hygiene, definitely not functioning at peak. I swear I have never been dirtier in my life. Before I hopped into the shower I wiped my face with a wet wipe and it was completely black. Needless to say I think that was probably the best shower I have taken in my life.

Hippos 

The next day was safari day in Ngoro Ngoro Crater. It was so incredible. To get down into the crater you have to drive down the side of the mountain, and the view is unreal. The top popped off of the land rover and so we just stood on the seats the whole time and marveled at the view and all the animals. We saw 4 of the big 5: Elephants, Rhinos, Lions, and Water Buffalo-We did not see the Leopard. Among the animals we saw were also zebras- of course, giraffes, hyenas, warthogs, the “horny bastard”, and hippos. It was crazy to look out over the plains and see all of these animals co existing in the same space. And there were so many of them! Literally the entire crater was filled with animals.

Warthog in the mud

We stopped for lunch later and our administrative director told us to get out lunch and move quickly back into the land rover. We didn’t understand why and thought he may just be over reacting, but we were definitely wrong. While my friend Ali was taking her lunch into the land rover, an eagle swooped out of nowhere and grabbed her chicken, making the rest of her food fly everywhere. I swear it was like a scene from The Birds. They were circling our land rover by what seemed like the thousands. As the other land rover drove up with the rest of the students in it, we watched as two more of them got dive-bombed. It was definitely funnier watching it from inside the land rover, safe and sound with your lunch already in hand.

Another one of my favorites! 

To add to my already incredible experience in Tanzania, the next day we climbed the first stage of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We had a couple of guides who had climbed to the summit 94 times. They were crazy- and moved at a really fast pace. The climb was hard, and definitely was more than I should have been doing, considering I was sick that morning too. But regardless of my health, I was definitely not going to go to Tanzania and miss out on hiking

Mandara Camp, Mt. Kilimanjaro! 

Kilimanjaro!  We hiked to the Mandara camp at 2,600 m. It took Three hours to get to the top and was about ten miles round trip! It was crazy to stand there and see Tanzania on one side and Kenya on the other. I was just really glad I made it. At the camp there was another crater with the softest and grass I have ever seen. I literally could have slept there forever because it was so comfortable. Maybe it was comfortable because I was so tired from the climb, but either way I didn’t want to move! The way down was much more enjoyable and it was cool to sign my name out of the book in the front. I am now officially in the books! Kilimanjaro ended our trip with a bang and the next morning we were  crossing the border and on our way home to Nairobi.

 Since coming back I have moved into an apartment with some of the other students. Some exciting features include: a shower, a running toilet and a kitchen where I can eat all the cheese I want!