Well, we are starting to pack our bags, get used to our surroundings, and still having some unique, truly “Kenyan” experiences! As said before, our departure is bittersweet at best. I cannot help but feel angry, at times, for the reason we have to leave. Supposedly, from many angles, people have told us that there must be a higher/bigger plan for us. I am prone to believe that as I follow those lines. Still doesn’t take the bad taste out of my mouth. Regardless, there have been a ton of “experiences” that will not only make us better, more rounded people but also more tolerant too.
This weekend, we got up and took a bit of a trip to the Langata Giraffe Center which is about a kilometer or so from our house. Was really cool to see the Giraffe’s up close, feed them. It is a private conservation center that has a few different species of Giraffe’s and it is quite cool to hear them called by name as well as hear about their individual personalities. Our daughter had a great time and was really geeked about them. I got some decent pictures of her feeding them and some of the wife too. They had a turtle exhibit with turtles the size of a large suitcase…seriously, I think you could put a saddle on these things and s…l…o…w…l…y ride off into the sunset.
We have rediscovered “DP” or Diamond Plaza. When we came here a couple of years ago, it was our favorite place in Nairobi. Because I was learning how to drive and just learning how to navigate the city…and DP is quite a bit away from Karen…it had presented some challenges. I had perfected the long drive to Westgate Mall, which is the small slice of Americana we indulge in about once a week, and finally realized a couple of weeks ago it is actually quite close to DP. So, took an adventure, drove for 10 minutes when I could have actually driven two, and figured out how to get there and back!
DP has the best Indian food I have ever eaten. My in-laws are first generation Indians that immigrated here in the early 1960’s, my wife was born in the States. Because of the in-laws status, they eat a ton of Indian food…they prefer it to American food (and I kind of agree with them on some of it). I hate to say it, but this food is better than what we eat out in the States (and some home cooked meals). Period. The food has almost zero grease, really fresh ingredients (their Palak is to die for). The best dosas I have ever seen/eaten in my life (thank you Chowpatys). They take service to a whole new level too. Imagine walking up to a table in an outside food-court. Then imagine 15 Africans mauling you, almost literally, shoving menus in your face…all talking at once…all reading the menu to you, trying to be louder than their compadres… That is the one thing that sucks. To the un-initiated, it would be an experience that would make you never go back. I sat there and took it all in for a minute or so and then noticed my wife was about to blow a gasket as they had taken to touching my daughter and her toys…that is a huge no-no in my wife’s book. So, I yelled out loudly, “…either back the hell off or we are leaving!” Mzungu are easy prey…they are not supposed to talk back like this…they just shell out money, right? Finally, this Mzungu is starting to get used to being Kenyan…just in time to leave. Funny, we knew who we were going to eat from prior to sitting down. This happens every time and it starts to become humorous after awhile…I cannot imagine how my family would react if I brought them here…the waiters would probably be bleeding if I brought Grandma and Auntie Paula….*snicker*
DP is not just a food place, it also has a ton of different stores that are all oriented towards the Indian Community. The Indian community is quite large here in Nairobi. In the late 1800’s, the British brought over a TON of Indians from India to build the railroad from Mombasa to Uganda (the lunatic line). Seems they brought a bunch of Punjabi’s as there seems to be a ton more of them than the other Indians. Punjabi’s tend to be a bit bigger, the “warriors” of India and probably much better suited to build a railway than the pencil-neck geeks that are from farther North or South. ****Side note, I am not an expert on Injuns, I am just married to one, have many Injun friends and make observations…no offense meant, so get over it**** Because of this mass-migration, once the railway was built the Indians that were still here saw a great opportunity to open convenience stores, clothing stores, restaurants, and electronics stores (sound familiar US and UK?) DP is the Mecca that is all Indian, for sure complete with Indian Grocery store, liquor store, numerous clothing stores, jewelry stores, electronic stores, banks, computer services, and bakeries. We mainly go for the food but in the past have bought some great clothing for a decent price and awhile back picked up a great getup for my daughter to wear on her first “Indian” birthday party…she is going to look really great! As I type this, I am getting hungry and would just about give up my left arm for Pani Puri, Masala Pappadaum, and Mysore Masala Dosa….I’m really hungry.
With just three days left, we thought we were going to be really boring…mostly packing our stuff up, arranging the shipping of our animals back home…generally just getting our affairs in order. Things had been going really smoothly until a couple of days ago, my wife made a comment that there seemed to be a strange odor in the water. I sniffed it real good and it seemed fine. My wife is pretty paranoid about things like this and it was easy to dismiss it. Considering that water is held in a tank in the attic, it is not uncommon for the water to be a bit “tainted”…if you know what I mean. It is actually well water that is pumped up once a day into a 30 gallon tank that feeds the whole house. A day later, we were bathing my daughter and it appeared that she had gone #2 in the water…it smelled, according to my wife. I smelled nothing and did a VERY close inspection…I kinda wanted her to apologize to our 11 month old daughter for such a horrible accusation! Geeze…make our kid grow up with some kinda #2 complex or something…
This morning (Sunday), we got up and she again complained about the water. This time I smelled it and though “…oh my God, somebody crapped in our water tank!” It stunk…dear God it stunk. I was immediately on the phone, texting our landlord about the feces-infused odiferous present coming out of our water taps. I kept thinking; ok, there is a huge drought, the water table has fallen really low and somehow the sewer has drained into our drinking water well (bore hole). We have great landlords and they had a plumber over here within 15 minutes of sending them a text message stating “Uh, there is the strong smell of feces/sewage coming from our water faucets, can you please help?” When the plumber came over, I started to give him my theory and just like in the States, he was not really interested in it. He had to verify that the water actually stunk…and this guy was pretty gamey himself almost smelling worse than the water. I gave him a glass of it and he stuck his nose in it and almost started to take a drink of it (I thought). Moments before the water touched his lips, he jerked back, looked at us and said “your water smells no good”. No shit…
After working on the problem for a about an hour, we are to the point where we need to get leaving…so I went outside to find both the plumbers outside playing with some steel mesh and a long stick. I asked them if they found the problem…and they said yes…dead rat…we need to get out. I brushed my freaking teeth with this water!!!! GAG! What the hell…how does a dead rat get in our water tank? And just how long does the rat have to be in there before it stinks up the whole house? Dear God!!! STOP THE MADNESS… Come to find out, the critter chewed its way through the lid of the tank to get a drink, fell in and drowned…as they removed it from the tank and walked it through the house the unmistakable smell of road-kill/dead animal permeated the whole house like only something dead can. We spend hundreds of dollars a year on candles, potpourri, glade thingys…and none have come up with the ability to smell up a large area so quickly and efficiently as a dead animal. And this thing was big. If it were spread out it would be about 10” nose to tail.
This has been the final straw in the Kenya Experiment for my wife…she is officially done with it. There have been so many challenges, so many hurdles…and we have pretty much taken them all in stride. However, having dead rat in ones mouth and bathing ones infant in dead rat somehow ices the cake. We are now packing quite happily, looking forward to a real bed, a real shower, and water that does not come pre-soaked in dead rodent…gives eau de toilette a whole new meaning.
We land at DFW on Thursday afternoon after spending about 24 hours traveling and although we will have severe jet lag, sleep deprivation that traveling with an infant can only bring…expectations of family for us to be happy, spend time catching up, going out to eat, and all that crap…we truly look forward to it…and finally watching Fox News after a four month plus deprivation…
Peace,
Dude
FBO
No comments:
Post a Comment