strange acronyms

A conference centre spearheading mice?

Turns out M.I.C.E stands for Meetings, Incentive, Conferences and Events. I love how they announce they are a mice venue here. I imagine thousands of small rodents, pens in paws, with promotional conference satchels, sucking on the complimentary mints.

swahili word of the day

panya mdogo - 'mouse'

fresh flowers

Kenya is a major export of fresh cut flowers and we can pick up a couple of bunches for the equivalent of $7 from our local greengrocer. There is so much variety, so many beautiful colors and they are just so cheap! I confess, I've bought a bunch or two every week. Flowers just make me so delightfully happy (I feel like Will would want me to point that out that this is Laura writing right now).

I'm no pro, unlike my talented friend Tegan at Blossom and Twine (go on, go delight in her pretty pictures!), but I'm having fun making up little bouquets. The only downside is vases are so expensive here, so I only have one to fill each week!

 

eating our greens

The five senses in Kenya...

taste

Sukuma wiki is a staple food in Kenya. It literally means 'push the week', the kind of food that makes the budget go further. You may know it as kale, the trendy, healthy, all-over-pinterest food that is becoming more and more popular in Australia. We sometimes eat it Kenyan style, cooked up with onions and tomatoes. Or we make a variation of this kale, apple and pancetta salad, it's delicious!

touch

Everyone in my office shakes hands with everyone else, every morning.

hear

It's not uncommon to hear the wailing siren of an ambulance two or three times a day. We assume they're mostly responding to traffic accidents, which must be a nightmare on Nairobi's congested roads. There was a huge traffic jam on our road at 10pm one night and an ambulance got stuck amongst the vehicles. We listened to the siren wail for at least 15 minutes.

see

Decorated matatus, the public transport vans. From fairy lights to scripture verses, playboy stickers to multicoloured vinyl padding on the roof, I even rode in a van boasting 'NO CHOLESTEROL' across its bumper.

smell

The delicious scent of a leg of pork roasting in the over. Smurf Haus was ovenless, and we got by, but how nice it is to grill, bake and roast to our hearts delight!

this is a bed

 

... a bed with a diamonte-studded, gold faux leather, couch-style bed head and built-in speakers. 

In the shape of a circle. 

Available at our local supermarket, along with just about anything else you could ever think of...

...except circle-shaped bed linen.

on the streets

We've been snapping sneaky iPhone photos as we drive through Nairobi. I hope it gives you a better idea of what we see each day. Ten points to those who can spot the goat!

bento box date

Featuring two Australians, eating bento at a Japanese / Lebanese restaurant, in the capital city of Kenya. We are so global right now.

We didn't realise just how big the bento box really is, we'll be sharing next time!