Life isn't always glamorous as an expat, but it's not all being stuck in the field wishing for home either. Here's some pics from June - early October (the longest amount of time I've been in the country since I took my current job) when I was working in the office or seconded to UNHCR Nairobi. I traveled with friends, I blogged a few times, I cooked some, but mostly I watched trashy reality shows on E! while writing refugees' persecution histories, explaining why they should be recommended for resettlement. The fact I only have so few to share also tells me I need to be taking more photographic evidence of my life in Nairobi. Here's some I did manage to snap along the way:
Showing posts with label This could be Dallas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label This could be Dallas. Show all posts
Africa Is Not A Country
As I am sure most of you are aware, Africa is not a country. So I don't understand why people insist on referring to it like all the countries here are one and the same. Each country here has its own political system and individual history. You cannot judge one country's stability, safety, whatever by what is going on in a completely different area. It's like deciding to not travel to Texas because there's a protest in D.C.
St. Patty's Day 2011: Nairobi Edition
I was a bit sad to think that I was going to miss one of my favorite events this year: Dallas' St. Patrick's parade down Greenville Ave. filled with floats, beads, live music, and green beer. So I went on a quest to find something St. Patty's-esque to participate in over here that evening. You wouldn't think that Nairobi would be a hot spot for Irish celebrations but happily some of my favorite restaurants embraced the western holiday and even indulged our happy American/British tradition of green beers. Of course no Kenyans I work with knew of this holiday nor did I see any non-Americans purposefully wearing green in honor of the day, but no matter, what do expats love more than celebrating and explaining holidays that are meaningless to other cultures? (Case and point: conversation at St. Patty's Day ball pre-party explaining to non-Americans why we celebrate Thanksgiving when we in turn wiped out the native population we were supposedly appreciating.) Sadly, even I have no idea what the significance is behind this boozy holiday, other than purportedly someone named Patrick was at some point sainted by the Catholic church. Would any Irish readers out there care to clarify for us the meaning of this green day?
The Best of 2010
"So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good." Helen Keller
2010 was a rough year for many, myself included, but with the hardships and stress came great memories made with good friends. So forget all the negative things that stressed you out over the last year and remember all of the fun times spent with old and new friends. Here's just a few of my memories of the past year and some of my favorite images:
Golf 101: TIA
Captain Awesome learns to golf! I always knew I'd be a natural thanks to my superhero skills. I didn't want to outshine my fellow golfers on the driving range so I kept my awesomeness under wraps and played as any first timer would be expected. With a few pointers from the caddies on stance and form my awesomeness quickly took over. I made a few balls in the air but would regularly swing and miss, hit a wild ball, or knock one only a few feet so as to not intimidate my friends practicing alongside me. I love that I move to Africa before learning how to golf, despite being surrounded by countless golf courses in Dallas. Here are some pictures of Jon, Jana and me at Railway Golf Club in Nairobi.
Most awesome caddy ever!
My golfing buds
Fun at the driving range
Expat living
Being an expat in a large city affords one many luxuries that you would not necessarily experience staying in a small village that many assume is typical African living. This includes the opportunity to meet lots of people in social settings and not have to sit at home watching bad Kenyan tellie every evening. Fortunately early in my African adventure I discovered a fabulous facebook group, Nairobi Expat Social, that I joined and met many of my new friends while doing fun things around Nairobi. However, the downside to expat living is that many people come for volunteer opportunities and short term assignments so there is a constant turnover in your friend base. Sadly, the process has already begun; a couple of my new friends have already headed home, but before they left we had one last fabulous weekend hanging out in true NES style. Here are some pics from our send off weekend for Mia and Richard.
Friday at Gipsy's, cheers to Mia! (Guess what's in the Nakumatt bag)
Saturday at Brew Bistro, Katie loves hanging with us!
Richard: You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when I met Jon, I knew he was one of my own. And my wolf pack... it grew by one. So there... there were two of us in the wolf pack... I was alone first in the pack, and then Jon joined in later.
And we're the three best friends that anyone could ever have!
Who wouldn't love this face? Katie sang, shadow danced, and provided much entertainment after our escapades at Brew Bistro and Casablanca.
Sunday dinner at Fusion. Kudos to Richard for finding the best samosas in town.
Exploring Nairobi: Coffee, Nightlife, Brunch, and Fun
I finally ventured out of my guest house cocoon this past weekend (3/13-3/14) into the unknown districts across Nairobi. Soon after arriving in Kenya I discovered a facebook group of expats living in Nairobi. This past weekend was the first opportunity I had to join in some of their social events.
Jack, ALARM's logistician and driver, dropped me off at Westgate mall in the Westlands to meet the NES group for coffee at Artcaffè, it was a bit like being dropped off at the mall by my dad. I intended to call a taxi to pick me up, but my Kenyan colleagues despair what might happen to them if something happens to me. They fear what my dad would do to them if I were to wander aimlessly in Nairobi lost. Clearly, they have not met my father, who is not an intimidating force (except of course on the witness stand I'm sure or to opposing attorneys who have called him "the biggest baddest boy in Texas," which does not crack my mother and I up in the least...). Conversation and coffee was good, dinner and drinks after were even better. I went with a few of the guys from the event to dinner at the Black Diamond followed by people watching and fun at Havana and Casablanca. "Mosquitoes," the nickname for maurading women at these clubs, were out in force and I had quite a bit of fun playing Pro or No throughout the evening.
Despite a relatively late night I made it to brunch the next morning, got to know some more NES people, and then a friend and I drove around the different neighborhoods of Nairobi. We started at the National Museum (knocking #4 off The List) and walked through the gardens and admired the art.
The museum itself was rather expensive to go in and from a previous boring experience at the National Museum in Butare, Rwanda, we decided to pass on the tour. From there we drove through most of Nairobi and up to the Karen Estates neighborhood. It's named for Karen Blixen, Danish author of Out of Africa. We stopped for an iced tea at the Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens, site of the original hunting lodge/farm house on the Karen Blixen estate and near the restored house turned national museum where she lived from 1914 to 1931. Sitting on the patio of a large, turn-of-the-century house felt like a country club atmosphere and could have easily been somewhere in Dallas, yet as we left we drove past the Nairobi National Park filled with rhinos, giraffes, and more. I kind of knocked #15 off the list on the way out as well, as you can see by my picture below.
Jack, ALARM's logistician and driver, dropped me off at Westgate mall in the Westlands to meet the NES group for coffee at Artcaffè, it was a bit like being dropped off at the mall by my dad. I intended to call a taxi to pick me up, but my Kenyan colleagues despair what might happen to them if something happens to me. They fear what my dad would do to them if I were to wander aimlessly in Nairobi lost. Clearly, they have not met my father, who is not an intimidating force (except of course on the witness stand I'm sure or to opposing attorneys who have called him "the biggest baddest boy in Texas," which does not crack my mother and I up in the least...). Conversation and coffee was good, dinner and drinks after were even better. I went with a few of the guys from the event to dinner at the Black Diamond followed by people watching and fun at Havana and Casablanca. "Mosquitoes," the nickname for maurading women at these clubs, were out in force and I had quite a bit of fun playing Pro or No throughout the evening.
Despite a relatively late night I made it to brunch the next morning, got to know some more NES people, and then a friend and I drove around the different neighborhoods of Nairobi. We started at the National Museum (knocking #4 off The List) and walked through the gardens and admired the art.
Where are all the giraffes?
As previously stated, I have visited Africa twice, however, as airports do not count (despite a very memorable layover at the Nairobi airport with my travel buddy, Harvey) I have not been to Kenya. I have been told it is a very different experience than Lusaka, Zambia or Kigali, Rwanda. In my quest for more information on Kenya, my friend sent me this website full of pictures of Nairobi. As you can see, this view of Nairobi could very well be any metropolitan American city. So soothe your nerves and pack your bags, you too can visit Africa!
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| Photo credit: http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-51356.0.html |
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