Happy belated Thanksgiving from Nairobi! I had a really nice holiday, even though it was a little different this year. A bunch of folks (American and non) got together for a dinner at Fogo Gaucho - it’s basically the Kenyan version of Texas de Brazil, with a few surprises (like crocodile!) mixed in with the “usual suspects” (meaning lots of beef). It’s much cheaper than home too - about 1600 bob ($18ish) dollars - cheap by US standards, but a pretty pricey meal here! I definitely fulfilled the ‘gluttony’ part of the holiday - it’s hard to stop eating when they just keep bringing food!
The best parts of the meal were the touches of home - one of the girls brought a can of cranberries she had been saving since summer - those were well appreciated. Also, one of the guys made pumpkin pies - they went to the US Embassy to get the canned pumpkin - it was a 8 pound can! They made 5 pies, and there was still half the can left over - if anyone has any pumpkin recipes, let us know! I know it sounds simple, but the fact that the pies tasted EXACTLY how I expected them to was huge - one of the lessons I’ve learned here is that you should not order food that you would eat at home - it always comes out different and you’ll be disappointed. So, I’m not eating many burgers :) These pies, however, were amazing.
I’ve gotten a few questions about where I live - no, I don’t live in the jungle or anything like that. I live in Westlands, which is one of the ‘suburbs’ of Nairobi. We live in an apartment complex called Pinnacle - they are really nice apartments that are very “corporate living”. There are lots of shops and restaurants around. Below are some pictures of the inside of my apartment...I’ll try to take some of the outside this week. I have a second bedroom if anyone wants to visit!
Our balcony - that's the washer! (No dryer, we hang dry our clothes)
Bathroom - all the comforts of home!
The living room - which often doubles as our office. We only get basic cable - they only play old reruns of shows - second season of Monk, anyone???
I love your apartment! I bet you are loving hang drying your clothes, and how is the water pressure in that shower? ;)
ReplyDeleteYou can make pumpkin bread with pumpkin!! But you will need some more ingredients, such as sugar, flour, vegetable oil (or applesauce for a healthier route), and spices. If you have all those things, I can send you a recipe!
Glad you got a bit of traditional Thanksgiving fare. I bet no one thought to make perogi though!
Water pressure - that is definitely one of the things I miss about home :) The hang drying of clothes really isn't as bad as I thought it might be - but it does require a little bit of preplanning (meaning stuff I wash today won't be ready until mid-tomorrow). Every day is a learning experience!
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