Shelled peas - upholstered stools

It’s fairly late for me and I have been on the verge of alarm as I have been unable to connect to the internet all evening. I think, without TV or radio… just the roosters (which crow day or night) and voices below… the internet is really my link to home and all things familiar. I’m not sure how I would handle losing this convenient tie to you all!

Today has been my third 12+ hour day in a row… I left at 8 this morning and got home just before 9pm tonight… church and visiting with the Ondatto’s. So tonight will just be bullet points:

* Picnic after church today – with everyone sharing food… I had anything I was offered - mashed bananas & sweet potatoes with red beans, hot porridge, a new Kenyan bread – almost like a non-sweet donut…. It is so tiresome to worry about “safe” food all the time (thought of Megan, Susan). I have decided I will just eat what I am offered and hope any consequences will be minor.

* Spent 4 hours in Mary’s kitchen this afternoon/evening watching & helping her cook dinner – how about a salad of coarsely chopped carrots & zucchini (coget) with lemon juice & hand-pureed avocado… so refreshing!

* I have cremora & some crystal light that I brought with me from home – can’t imagine using either while I am here. There is a simplicity and purity about the food preparation… they both seem so un-food-like in comparison.

* Continue to be amazed at the juxtapositions of culture and class I see daily… like the men in fancy cars & clean, tailored suits driving up to my little slum market below to buy fruit

* Nairobi is recycling to the max…but on a different level than what we know at home. The ladies that shell peas outside, next to the market below, are sitting on upholstered swivel stools – that have remained outside even in the rain… are they from the dump? were they once in an office building in Nairobi? in Boston? And the trash-runner who wears the orange/pink jumpsuit has become a regular – but is now also wearing an oversized decorative brown v-neck sweater. How did he come to own this piece of clothing? Was this once some woman’s in Atlanta? (used clothing is shipped in containerfuls to Africa). I think every item of clothing, every vehicle, every piece of wood, every plastic bottle has multiple lives before it finally ends up in Dandora (where it is scavenged one final time!)

* Mr. Clean up-date… I thought he was a taxi driver, but the day I saw a black Mercedes in his yard (another astonishing juxtaposition of worlds)… I decided he just cleaned cars! His name is even more appropriate than I first thought!

Tomorrow is a state holiday – but I am working to keep my hours on track… and will see Steve & Carol after work. My first installment for school is due tomorrow, but I’ve had so little time to do the “scientific” writing... the blog is much more fun!