Nairobi News (Dec 4/02)

Jambo!!

Is everyone getting ready for Christmas?? It seems unreal to me that Christmas is actually going to happen this year... after all, it's about 25 degrees every day, sun is shining, no Christmas trees, and definitely no turkey! But hopefully I'll get presents :) (hint - anyone can deposit into my Cdn bank account, it's real easy!! heheh :)

Went to a Kenyan wedding last Saturday - thought it would be a good cultural experience - but little did I know I was supposed to be there at 7am to help decorate the vehicles! I got out of that part and made it to the church around 9am (just a little late). The Presbyterian service was "short" apparently - at only 1 hr 45 min. They spent a lot of time giving advice - such as buy each other presents, don't get mad if the supper's burned, and laugh as much as possible. They even mentioned regular sex. A bit different from the traditional Christian service in Canada - it included the requisite "love is not jealous" Corinthians passage in both English and Swahili! Plus we had a bunch of Meru women (a tribe from upcountry) singing traditional songs - a bit screechy, but nice nonetheless. Then of course it was pictures.. and the reception was in Karen, near Karen Blixen's house. A bunch of tents, a 300-person lineup for food, no beer, hours of hot sun.. bit different from a Cape Breton wedding! The Meru traditions were the best part - the bride must pay her ladies with "something small" to be able to join the reception... these ladies swarm the car (Adil's Mercedes), singing and laughing and dancing, and then lead the bride into the reception area. Then still more pictures, while Adil faded fast (due to his Ramadan fast!). We finally got to dinner and had the best steak and first baked potato I've had since I've been here! (funny what things you wouldn't miss until they're gone!) All in all I spent about 14 hours at a wedding for people I don't even know (but I do now! and yes, it was worth it :)

The best event so far this week was the phone call from Canada - yay, sonJa called me! Mind you, she woke me up at 7am... and it was just as she was getting ready to go to bed the night before! Hmm, come to think of it, maybe it was all a dream :) No, the giggles were real :)

As for work, I'm entertaining our financial controller from Brussels who's my neighbour at Ratna for the next couple of weeks. I'm showing him the ropes since I'm an old hand in Nairobi. I'm also preparing a 2-day IT workshop for Jan 7-8 - right after I get back from holidays! (more on that later). Last but not least, I'm trying to find a suitable email program to automate the dial-up and external mail accounts - thanks to all those who gave me advice (jorn!) and btw, it looks like Mercury is the winner. Good thing - it's free!

Ramadan's almost over - thank god, I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again. Friday's an official public holiday - presumably due to the fact that the many Muslims will overindulge in all kinds of substances tonight! Went to see Gabriela from Loki (orig. from Switzerland) last night at Carnivore - poor thing, on her first trip into Sudan she got malaria and has been recovering for the past couple of weeks...

As for my plans, I'm going to the Rift Valley Lodge on Saturday night with Adil and a few friends. Then on Dec 11th I'm travelling to Mombasa with Anthony to return on the 16th. My phone will still work, but I probably won't have email - parents, no panicking! Finally - the big trip - all confirmed, South Africa for the holidays! I'm flying into Joburg on the 23rd, taking a bus to East London to meet up with my Canadian friends and have a camping Christmas on the beach, and then we're driving to Capetown to arrive on the 28th or 29th. I have a few days there - specifically New Year's! Hope the celebrations will rival Nova Scotia parties - I'm looking forward to the utter lack of snow :) Also looking forward to skydiving, and I'd love to rent a motorbike.. hope there's a few GSXRs or R6s around :) There's a park that's apparently a couple hours away from Capetown and has 'Death' in the name (sounds promising! hehe) people told me about where you hike through a river in a gorge and have to jump about 7-8 sets of waterfalls - sounds amazing!

OK, gotta run, office is closing for the holidays. I'll try to send a couple pictures before I take off, and everyone have a great weekend!!!

xox,
j.

 

 

 

Copyright Johanna Voerman Khisa, 2002-03. Reprinting or reposting without permission is prohibited.