An American's Kenyan Kitchen

Today I'm going to take you on an educational tour of an American's kitchen in Kenya. It's taken a few days to settle in, but now that we've secured a healthy supply of ramen noodles and discovered that our gas oven is, in fact, electric, this kitchen's looking pretty darn homey.

Well, some things are the same no matter what continent you're on. Dishes on dishes on dishes!

An assortment of high-end drinks and the cheapest liquor that shillings can buy. College alcoholism is like a box of chocolates; you never know if you're going to get the shitty whiskey or the classy vodka. A good mixer is your best investment. 

Leftovers from last night's milkshakes. Oh, don't touch the metal part of the blender. It'll electrocute you. Wondering how I learned that? Ask my tingling fingertips. 

Right now, you may be wondering, "Why do you have TWO huge jars of peanut butter? And why are they both crunchy?" If you even have to ask that question, you are obviously too old to remember college. 

The girls' side of the cabinet: Popcorn, crackers, ramen, oatmeal, nutella

The boys' side of the cabinet: Ramen, oatmeal, boxed milk (yes, boxed milk that apparently you don't have to refrigerate -- or do you?), cereal, rice

The deli drawer of the fridge. Right now, you may be also be wondering, "Why do you have FOUR different packages of cheese? Who needs that much cheese?" To that, I would answer, "Because we used up two of the other kinds for dinner last night, and we're heading to the store to restock because four cheeses is never quite enough."

I wonder whose corner of the kitchen counter this is? Whoever it is, I think we'd be great friends.

This goes against every go-green eco-friendly save-the-whales campaign I've ever heard... but us poor mzungus in Kenya just can't handle the tap water! And the fancy water pump is pretty fun to use, too. 

A Stroll Through My Nairobi Neighborhood

I thought I'd take you all on a nice leisurely journey through Jamhuri, my neighborhood in Nairobi. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Won't you be mine?

Oh, looks like a pretty usual day in Jamhuri. Rocky, unpaved roads, tons of tiny kiosks, clothes hanging off balconies... 

And don't forget about the chickens. They make excellent neighbors, really. 

Nairobians have this THING about washing their cars. My homestay mother washes her car every single morning. Unfortunately, because of the dirt roads, it comes home covered in dust every day. Futile or fastidious? I'll let you decide. This doesn't look much like your Highlands Ranch Waterworks, does it?

There are about three salons per half-mile of road here in Nairobi. To guesstimate, I think there's probably one salon per 79 residents. Women visit the salon once a week to get a new weave or style their hair. Men visit the barber- kinyozi - which often doubles as a phone-charging station because the building needs electrical outlets to power the razors. 

In Nairobi, there are no addresses. My school, for example, is "off Ole Odoume Road near the hill." The only way I could direct taxis to my house was to tell them, "Turn at the green kiosk!" After some confusion, I did figure out that green is surprising hard to see in the dark, and found that the Alvaro kiosk down the street was more directionally useful.

See? Spankin-clean cars. I could eat my breakfast off these cars. 

And a lovely rose outside my house : )