Everybody Loves a List (or Three)

Our friend Joseph Muyela at the co-op office in Majengo

Today’s Swahili Vocab List

dodo – Amaranth. Leaves are eaten and (I think) the seeds are also ground for flour, as well.

kunde – Cowpeas. Both the leaves and young legumes are eaten. Yum. 

Kisumu – The nearest large city.

matatu – Small shuttle taxis intended for 11-14 passengers but usually carrying ~25. Usually decorated with decals or paintings and sometimes rainbow flashing LEDs. Always driving erratically and sometimes in dangerously off-road situations. 

mito – I don’t think this traditional vegetable really has an English name. It’s called Crotalaria in Latin. There are bitter and non-bitter varieties. Both are appreciated for different reasons.

mzungu – A foreigner. Usually someone of an obviously different appearance but can also refer to somebody who has moved to another country or gone to the big city for extended periods of time.

nyama ya mbuzi – Meat of the goat. 

piki piki – Also referred to as boda boda. Small motorbike taxis, usually missing at least one mirror, a working speedometer, and who knows what other important parts.

ugali – Kenyan staple food made of cooked cornmeal and water. Served in the lake region as a very firm cake. Eaten with the hands and molded into a spoon shape to eat liquid-y soups and stews.

Decorating a tree in front of the school 

Julia’s Twelve Unexpectedly Wonderful Things About Living in Western Kenya List

12. Greetings. You can’t walk down the street and not stop and greet somebody you know. Or even most of the people you don’t know. And that involves at least two handshakes and a jambo or habari yako or murembe or shikamoo or sasa or ovendi…did I mention there’s a lot of ways to greet people? I sometimes feel like people are just testing us to see if we know the proper response in the appropriate language. But you can pretty much say always say “fine” or mzuri to any of those and be all right, anyway.

11. Kenyan time. Stop stressing. You’ll get where you’re going eventually. Or possibly you won’t. But either way, whoever you’re meeting is going to be there late, too. So, go ahead and take your time.

10. Piki piki rides. I never thought I would enjoy riding on the back of dinky little motorbikes so much. If we move to Kenya someday, I am going to learn to drive my own piki piki. But, unlike the vast majority of drivers and passengers, I’ll wear a helmet. Because speed limits here aren’t really enforced. Nor are directions of traffic. And if there were traffic lights or signs, those probably wouldn’t be followed either. And, more often than not, you are driving down a muddy, rocky dirt path that is perilous enough to walk on, let alone drive, with chickens and children and goats underfoot. Maybe that’s what makes it so fun…

9. Afternoon rain. If you were thinking of going somewhere on any given afternoon, you can just sit back and relax. Have a cup of cocoa and a donut. You are not going anywhere. It’s afternoon rain time and you might as well just chill out and listen to the rain.

8. Topiaries. Who thought rural Kenyan villages would be the place to spot impeccably groomed topiary shrubs? I did not. A lot of people here use cypress bushes as fences and they are often trimmed into imposing styles, somewhat reminiscent of show poodles’ haircuts. I have even seen one high school with its name written out in enormous topiary-ed letters.

7. Bird watching. There are so many beautiful and cute birds here-from the domesticated guinea fowl and indigenous chickens to the tiny, colorful weaverbirds to the exotic-looking birds with extra long tails and bright crests.  I was never much of a bird watcher but I wish I had a guide to Western Kenyan birds and a really nice camera sometimes. Also somebody to take pictures with it since I’m not very good.

You knew that bananas grow upside-down right? Or right side-up, I guess..

6. African music. It’s fun to listen to at home but much better here. Sometimes I have to keep myself from dancing as I walk down the street. Was anybody reading this blog post at the Kanda Bongo Man concert with me at UVA way back when? I can't remember who else was there. It was supposed to be the First Annual Afropop Festival but I don't think they ever had a second one. Anyway, I love the radio stations here.

5. Fresh fruits! Ripe and delicious mangoes, bananas, avocadoes, Kenyan oranges (not actually orange in color, you can figure that out), pineapple, and passion fruits: need I say more?

4. Traditional vegetables. I love their names: kunde, mito, dodo. I love the way they taste. Mmm, seveve (pumpkin leaves) boiled down with a little fresh cow’s milk and salt. So sweet, so sweet. And they happen to be a great way of improving your daily nutritional intake and household income, Kenyan friends. See item #2 for more details.

3. Stoney’s Tangawizi and Ginger Nut biscuits. These are pretty much heaven on Earth for ginger lovers. Stoney’s Tangawizi is the African ginger beer with a bite strong enough to make you cry. Or at least sneeze. And every bottle tastes a little bit different. Coca-cola Company, why are you depriving North Americans of your most delicious beverage? Also, how did you manage to make such a killing on this entire continent? People drink a ridiculous amount of Coke products here…and then there are Ginger Nuts. Oh Ginger Nuts. Keep in mind biscuit (pronounced bee-sku-eet or bee-sku-eet-ee) means cookie, not cracker a la the Queen’s English. Three of these delectable morsels can be had for the modest price of KSH 5 (about 6 cents). We will miss you, Ginger Nuts.

No, this photo is not underdeveloped.
The kitchen hut at Gisambai is just really smokey. 

2. ROP (Rural Outreach Project). One of Kenya (and surely the world’s) finest organizations for small farmers. By pure luck, I happened to come upon their office in Mbale shortly after our arrival in Western Kenya. And ever since, I have really enjoyed volunteering with the ROP Mbale staff, learning from them, and generally having a great time together. This trip would not have been the same without ROP. And I should say something about their founder, the inimitable Dr. Ruth Oniang’o who remains an example to me of an intelligent, brave, and pioneering scientist. I hope to follow in her footsteps some day!

1. Kenyan hospitality. As I sit here typing in our little hostel room, there isn’t much space left on the floor. Just today we have been given more than a dozen ears of maize, almost as many fresh chicken eggs, a 10kg sack of bananas straight from the tree, and four or five avocados the size of small melons. Not to mention the copious amounts of food I’ve already been served and eaten throughout the day.  I have heard people say you have to try to get fat when visiting Africa. But clearly they weren’t talking about Western Kenya. No matter how humble the home we visit or how many children they have to feed, there is always something put on the table or into our hands when we leave. I hope we can remember this spirit of generous hospitality when we return home and share it with our fellow Americans. For every person who has asked us for some money or a favor here in Kenya, there have been many more that have welcomed us into their homes or schools or businesses and shared of their own. Thank you, Kenyans, for your unfailing kindness to visitors despite a history of colonial subjugation and mistreatment. We will try to welcome you (and others) like Kenyans when you come to visit our home. 

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The first of many Obama sightings, on the bus from Nairobi to Kisumu. 

Julia’s Six Less-Good Things About Living in Western Kenya

6. Mosquitoes. Besides the whole carrying malaria bit, these darned Kenyan mosquitoes are so incredibly agile. I never feel them biting me with their long, skinny legs but I definitely feel the after-effects.

5. Kenyan hospitality. Sometimes you just can’t eat one more plate of ugali and nyama ya mbuzi (see item #1 below) or another huge cup of maziwa mala (soured milk) or even another 500ml soda. * Especially if your GI system is already a bit on the mend. It is best to plan your visits between the hours of 2:30 – 3:00pm, directly after lunch, if you don’t want to get fed. And even this is no guarantee.

The Ehajis' eldest son Nixxon taking a cellphone picture

4. Afternoon rain. Pretty much everything and everyone in the village and town halts when the rain starts. And it rains virtually every day. Except sometimes there’s also hail. And if you’ve ever heard a hailstorm on an iron sheet roof, you know there’s pretty much nothing you can do but sit and wait out the storm. For hours. Literally. Every day. Try to just relax and enjoy it. (#9 on the above list)

3. Kenyan time. I think it is difficult for us foreigners, or maybe just me, to figure out the exchange rate between Kenyan time and American standard. Sometimes meeting at 9:00 means meeting at 9:45, sometimes 1:30, sometimes not for another week or two. And occasionally meeting at 9:00 means meeting right around 9:00, depending on who you are meeting. But that might be 9:00 Swahili time, which actually means 9:00 hours after the sun rises or sets…

2.Matatu wranglers and mzungu calls. We like to call them matatu wranglers. The guys whose job it is to stand at the matatu stage and heckle customers into choosing their matatu. Despite the charming names of most matatu like “Bumpy Ride”, “The Anointed”, “Beyonce Knowles” and “Facebook”, their methods for luring in passengers are somewhat less charming. I have actually seen matatu wranglers forcibly insert passengers into their respective vans. And for us, it usually involves the standard call “Hey, mzungu, Kisumu?” (Or other destination). I don’t really mind when little kids shout mzungu at us from the windows of their school or in little herds walking down the street. But it gets a little tiresome coming from adults.  Of course it’s the matatu wrangler’s job to heckle passersby so you can’t let it get to you too much…

1. Nyama ya mbuzi I am so sorry, dear Kenya friends who are reading this but I cannot lie, I have little love for goat meat. As much as I enjoy many aspects of the Western Kenyan culinary tradition, I will never relish a heaping plate of goat meat and fat and gristle. And, ever so secretly, I am hoping never to be served the local delicacy of fried intestines. But I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. Good old Kenyan hospitality.

*Assuming it’s not a Stoney’s Tangawizi. I am always down for a Stoney.

One of the ECD (preschool) girls recites a poem about lions. Pretty much too cute for words.