Although I enjoy reading books over the weekend, so far every weekend there has been some entertainment. I finished reading 2 and a half books already and I can tell you, it beats studying books :-). I only took two with me, but my roommate Joy has a bookshelf full of books, from chicklits “He’s not that into you”, to adventure “Journey to the centre of the earth” and to politically correct ones “It is our time to eat” or “ Alice Lakwena” (Joy is half Ugandan). GREAT!
But I was going to talk about the entertaining part of the weekends.
The first one was that birthday party at Buru Buru. Scroll down and you can read all about that one in a previous message.
The second weekend I somehow found myself in the middle of an international company enjoying a BBQ. There was the somewhat older American Mike (from Colorado, but residing in Eastern Africa for the last 14 years). A true republican and quite witty. Then there was Erik from the Netherlands, who speaks English, French and a bit of Spanish. That alone is quite an achievement, and he does this without that Dutch-like accent. Diana’s, half Spanish and half British, mother, Catalan, and auntie were visiting. A Kenyan couple, my roommate Joy and the land lords of the compound completed the list. It was an intriguing evening. The curtain of prejudice fell down once again.
In the third week VVOB said goodbye to Rachel. On Friday night we went with some colleagues and the interns from UGent (faculty of pedagogical science) to Upperhill Springs Restaurant. What a sweet evening!
Some observations: men pay everything, drinks are given in pairs (when one of the two is finished, they open up the second bottle and replace the empty one with a new drink), it seems that once you have ordered one drink in the beginning this will be your drink for the rest of the evening (they looked odd when we wanted to mix drinks, like wine and beer). This place was called a restaurant, but it is actually a pub divided into a calm area and a dance zone with live music.
Since the Referendum Day was in the middle of the week and declared a holiday, this Wednesday kind of felt like Saturday. Moreover because Joy and I had a guest, Henrik from Sweden, who kept us busy all night. But it was fun (he even cooked for us, with the little things present in the cupboards since all supermarkets were closed).
And then this past weekend I went to opera of conservatory students with Louisa. Just before I left to Kenya I watched a documentary on opera amongst South African youngsters. It was their message that even black people can learn and sing the classical highlights with verve. And on listening to these singers last Saturday I fully agree. Close your eyes and you won’t even know the color of their skin. I did not close my eyes, I was already convinced of the voices and the guy was too good-loo-king. My my my. I must tell you, Nairobi is FULL with handsome men and I am not talking one in a blue moon. LOL! After that we went for a drink in a Karaoke Bar. To be in balance I guess. Worst singing contest. I do not understand how some people can genuinely believe that taking up the MIC is a good idea…
As you can see on the pictures below I played a bit of the tourist on yesterday. Apart from the sight most of them do I also visited the Kazury pottery and beads factory (and shop). It is a working place for single women. The second visit tourists mainly and mostly discard is the bird walk. I think I had a BIG smile on my face all the way through that nature trail. No noise of cars, of chatting people, no bad air, no honking, …just the serenity of singing birds and wind going through the tree leaves. At only 8 km of town. Lovely!
maandag 9 augustus 2010
Karen Blixen museum
We all know Karen Blixen, although some of us might say 'no, never heard of her'. Does the Hollywood movie Out of Africa ring a bell?
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