Everyday around 4ish, there’s afternoon tea. Why anyone thought it was a great idea to serve hot hot tea in crazy hot humid weather is beyond me, and yet I still go and get myself a cup. Of course as soon as you start drinking it, you start sweating (that actually happens to all of us at meal time too). Another habit we’ve gotten in, a bad one, is having an afternoon coca cola…this one makes a little more sense…having an ice cold sugary beverage is the epitome of refreshing. But I think we’ve all drank more soda since we’ve been here, than in the last 6 months. That, combined with the breakfast that consists of triangular donuts (Mandazi) and white bread rolls with red plum jam, we all feel like we’re working on acquiring diabetes.
One other thing that’s really popular here is SUPER cheesy movies and tv shows. Think of the most cheesy predictable over-acted movies of the week on the Hallmark Channel, and you’ll get the idea. I think the winner so far in terms of silliness is the Spanish tele-novelas dubbed into English, because the incredibly dramatic dialogue is carried out in this robotic, properly enunciated English.
Last night was the going away party for one of the CARE staff, over at “The Grease Pit” (the nightspot in the section of the compound where CARE operates out of. In addition to the local beers (Tusker and Pilsner), ginger soda (Tangawizi), and Kenyan music blaring across the entire compound, there was a special meal prepared…roasted goat. So, I’ve had goat quite a few times since getting here, but this goat was different. In terms of texture it was by far and away the best I’ve had. I was handed a giant bone with chunks of tender juicy meat and fat dangling by threads, dripping a peppery broth in which it had been bathed, so I was excited to finally experience such a succulent piece of meat. The flavor however, well I think Marika described it interestingly: “it tasts like what male goats smell like” – this coming from someone who grew up on a ranch with goats. I took a few bites to make sure that I hadn’t gotten a foul piece, but it just wasn’t pleasant in any way. So I told Josh he really needed to try it and passed my bone off to him unsuspectingly…but he actually ended up really liking it!
I was able to get my dance fix for several hours, having been away from salsa dancing for over a week now! One friend (Rueben, who has been working in the pediatric malnutrition wing of the Ifo hospital for 3 years and plans to stay for 2 more) asked how I knew how to dance to their music…I told him my family has crazy dance parties from time to time, usually with Latin or African music, and that my dad passed on his dance genes to me. Rueben would tell us where each of the songs originated from – east/west/north/south Kenya, and some from Tanzania and Uganda – and that each region has its own special dance moves (and yes, he demonstrated them all, it made me wish i had the video camera!).
So we danced to the wee hours (about midnight, i know, we're lame) while the locals stayed up all night and put us to shame, and we got to sleep in today since it’s our day off. I tried to make it to breakfast about 5 minutes before they normally start to put things away, to try to at least get a cup of tea, and thinking I’d be the last person there…once again I was very wrong…most people didn’t show up for at least another hour! Apparently lazy Sundays are widely recognized here.
No comments:
Post a Comment