New Beginnings

This blog is really all about new beginnings and the reason I started it in the first place.  I know I've been terrible at posting and keeping people up to date with the day in and day out goings on in my life but those things get mundane and it's hard to be creative and want to write after 8-12 hours of recording refugee torture testimonies.  But I'll attempt to be better this year now that I have a bit more free time on my hands since I left my role at RSC. "WHAT?!," you say?  Here's a brief overview of what you've missed:

World Refugee Day 2013

Today is World Refugee Day. 

According to a new UNHCR report, the average number of forcibly displaced people is at an 18 year high and, as of the end of 2012, 45.2 million people are displaced.   "This includes 15.4 million refugees, 937,000 asylum seekers, and 28.8 million people forced to flee within the borders of their own countries." 

Please take a moment to appreciate the freedoms we typically take for granted: the freedom of speech, the right to vote for your chosen political representative without fear of retaliation, the ability to move freely, the right to practice your religion as you understand it, and the privilege to live without fear that you may be targeted and harmed solely because of an inherent trait (your gender, sexual preference, or ethnicity).

 

Overdue: Pics from Nairobi

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:

I survived Tchad

So I'm aware that I've been very lame about posting for the last month since I went off secondment and began traveling again.  (For the record I did blog a restaurant review on my other blog African Nights so I wasn't a complete slacker.)  My first trip post-Nairobi secondment was to Tchad.  Yes, that is a real country.  It's landlocked between Sudan, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Central African Republic.  They host refugees from both Sudan and CAR. 

Now for something a little more...creamy

Chicken satay!  The first of the appetizers I am creating for a small get-together I'm hostessing tomorrow.

2 tbsp peanut butter (in the comments section it suggests a couple of extra tbsp in order to get a more "authentic" taste)
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c lemon or lime juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves- cubed

Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, curry powder, garlic, and hot pepper sauce in a mixing bowl.

"There's a little too much hate going on in my feed right now"

And this is why I don't live in Texas anymore:

Facebook feed 1: representing the hillbilly section of the population.  Keep in mind this man is a police detective.  He is college educated and technically not an idiot.

Former FB Friend's status update henceforth dubbed "Jethro": "Simple way to end these rock throwing sheep herders from attacking our Embassy's. You breach the walls? You die! You throw a rock? You get a bullet! You kill 4 US citizens? We kill 1,000 of you!"

Burned into our memory: 9/11

While I'm not in the US being inundated with 9/11 coverage my facebook feed has not escaped.  It's not that I don't recall this day eleven years with sorrow for those who lost loved ones in the senseless attacks as well as those families who lost sons and daughters in its aftermath with the ensuing wars, it's just that I wish that people would recognize that this tragic assault on unsuspecting America changed the lives of many not only living in the US but around the world.

Healthy pasta? Sure, why not?

I eat a LOT of pasta.  I love Mediterraneo and frequently walk around the corner to Osteria for some pasta, but is there such thing as healthy pasta?  Probably, but I don't know it.  Since I'm on this health kick, I thought I'd try to whip up something with a lot less calories than my cream based love, Alfredo sauce.  I found a marinara sauce recipe online and figured I'd give it a shot and will hopefully have something fabulous and healthy to take for lunch tomorrow. I actually found multiple recipes online but this looked the simplest and took the least amount of time.  Again, I'm eyeballing the figures; it worked the last time....

And the adventure continues...in cooking that is

It's really less so an adventure and a need to not eat ugali and stew once again.  It's not the healthiest of options and while I love some Kenyan foods ugali is definitely not their claim to fame; it's a mixture of flour and water and bland. 

Today I scavenged through the pantry and decided to make a tuna salad.  There were some chopped peppers and a few slices of cucumbers left over and so I tossed those in with some chopped tomato, onion, garlic, and coriander.  Hopefully it will suffice for lunch tomorrow.  Save me from myself and give me some suggestions for more exciting *healthy* meal options!

And if you have some ideas for easy to make appetizers, do tell.  I am hosting a small home party for one of my favorite non-profits here in Nairobi in a few weeks and would like to serve some homemade bitings with drinks.

How to find a job in "Africa"

So I recently received an email from a friend of a friend asking what they could do to become an attractive prospective employee for potential NGO employers in Africa.  While I am by no means an expert on the topic as I have only had 3 positions here and have been here a little less than 3 years, I offered this advice: