Idiots Guide to Kenyan Food

Hi all! I have to apologise for my last post. I just read it and man, was I being negative...I promise it won't happen again. I've come to realise that every experience I have here is teaching me a lesson, so I should just accept it, move on and be happy! On that note, I did have an attempted mugging the other day. Well, second attempt (a few weeks ago a man grabbed my bag strap walking past but I was all tangled in it so he let go and ran off). So this time I was sitting in a hot smelly matatu and I opened the window a little to let the air in, only about a handspands width. I'm always cautious of people walking towards the window (even if they're just crossing the road) and if I see them in the corner of my eye i'll turn away from the window just in case. In this instance I was texting on my phone, foolishly now come to think of it, when I saw a man walking towards the window. I automatically turned inward and he went past the back of the bus. Suddenly I felt fingers scratching my neck and a hand from outside trying to grab my necklace (my 'lucky' seven-ring necklace!) It got caught in my hair, he pulled for a bit and I banged my head on the window, heard a snap, then the man ran off. I screamed like a crazy person and everyone turned around and looked at me. I was grabbing my throat and someone must've thought I was choking and rushed over to help the poor crazy white lady. I explained what happened and a man helped me find parts of my necklace still stuck in my hair. I found 6 of the lucky 7 rings. That's gonna be a hell of a pub story next time someone says 'oh, thats a nice necklace'. I have to see the bright side of this, and realise that it could've been a lot worse, I guess those lucky rings really did work. 
I've been hanging out with my friend Caroline some days after work. She is the headmaster of one of the schools I teach. Caroline and I were preparing for this awesome Swimming Gala for her school and I made up certificates and prizes and we did a few race rehearsals and the kids were all pumped, but on the day half the parents said they didn't want their kids in it because it was Ramadan (muslim holy month) and the kids were fasting and swimming would make them tired. So unfortunately they will be doing it next term after I'm gone. Oh well, i've been working a lot with the frightened swimmers, trying to get them confident enough to swim across the poolfor the Gala in a months time. That makes me happy.
My new favourite place on a hot day in 'Basa is a small ice-cream shop in town called Ooh! and omg their icecreams just ooze goodness. I sit in their airconditioning and close my eyes and savour the ancient flavours of cappuchino, cookies and cream, and mango sorbet. Then I open my eyes and get a fright due to the floor-to-ceiling mirrors and for a second I think I have found my twin in Mombasa but it's just me.

I thought I'd put a few pics of the main types of swahili food I eat here. Please note that I have procured a bit of african lady-lumps due to this food, so if you do try it, eat in moderation! 

Ugali and Sukuma Wiki
Ugali is a kind of sticky maize cake that you eat with most meals (lots of labourers eat it in the morning as it fills you up till lunchtime!) The sukuma is a shreaded boiled spinach combined with garlic, onions, oil and tomato. You grab a bit of ugali, push a bit of sukuma onto it and eat. We eat this most nights in the house along with a beef, chicken or beans dish.

Coconut Beans and Chappati
I love coconut beans! the milk from shreaded coconut is stirred into the beans and eaten with chappati, a baked (slightly oiled) flat bread, sometimes with rice. Delish!

Wild Rice Pilau
Quick and easy and fills you up (what am I saying, all kenyan food fills you up!), most people put different spices, oils, tomatos, onions and chopped up beef into it.

Beef Stew and Ugali
The lady of the house cooks a mean beef stew here! Takes an hour or two, but so much flavour and the meat keeps it juices. Eat with Ugali or rice.

Now not many people eat dessert over here, but they drink. After dinner you drink a soda, or local Tusker beer, or I tend to like like Redds cider on a night out! For breakfast most people like to eat mandazi with a cup of tea (mandazi is a hollow fried bread which you can eat plain or stuff sweet beans into it). I usually go into town early in the morning before swimming starts, grab one and sit down with some highland tea and read a book/newspaper. Great way to start the day.

I think i've become a bit of a new age hippy here. Read a book called The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and i'm not a great fan of the actual book, but a few things in there have really grabbed my attention. Simple stuff, like our mind has the potential to just cut feelings off quickly. For example, the necklace incident. I was shocked and scared and angry at first, but then I thought of my family and how my sister makes me laugh and all those bad things just stop. I have the option to keep feeling those bad things, or I can choose to learn from mistakes and think good things. I know, new age hippy stuff eah!

Anyway, this blog is getting off track. After weeks of buying tables that keep floating in the pool instead of sinking, I have finally created a table platform that works! It's taken a while, researching tables and finding one in Mombasa where everything is word of mouth, drilling holes and packing stones into the plastic table legs, we're there. It's to help the little kids learn to swim small distances in the pool. I will put photos of the table 'in action' this week.

Ok i'm heading off to go to a cultural village today and check out some authentic african drums, also help my friend Ashleigh take her orphanage children to the beach. Hope you have a great day!

From B-dizzle