Things of Interest in Kenya

1.  Looooong words in Swahili.  Try saying this one:  Ninachanganyikiwa.  That one word is a complete sentence!  It means, “I am confused.”  Yes, that has been me many times in the last 5 months!

2.  Shopping carts.  Shopping carts in Kenya are much different than shopping carts in America.  Pushing a shopping cart here is an experience everyone should get to try at least once in their lifetime!  In America, the front two wheels of the shopping cart can rotate, but the back two wheels are fixed to go straight forward.  Not so in Kenya!  All four wheels rotate!  You would not believe what a difference this makes in pushing it.  It causes you to walk very awkwardly in order to get it to go straight forward instead of veering off to both sides of the aisle.  To my extreme embarrassment today, I ran my cart right into a British lady as she was shopping.  I’m telling you, these carts have a mind of their own!

3.  Having to stockpile.  This is a must in many countries.

You try many different products to find the ones that taste the best and work well.  Then when you go to the store and they have it in stock, you buy TONS of it because they may not have any more for weeks on end!  I can remember my dad raking the shelves clean of an item that we particularly liked!  And now I find us doing the same thing!  It is a way of life for many missionaries, I think.  We actually have a “stockpile cupboard”! 

4.       Filtering water.  The water here is known to sometimes have typhoid, so all the water that we drink or cook with comes from our water purifier.  I am very thankful an abundance of clean water.

Soaking fruits and vegetables.  I have to soak all of my fresh fruits and vegetables in water and a very mild type of bleach that they have here called Aquaguard.   

     

      Since I am buying for the whole week, and we eat a lot of fresh food, it usually takes me the rest of the day to get all of them cleaned, dried, and put into the fridge. 

      But it is worth it.  The food tastes wonderful here.  The fresh fruits and vegetables are so sweet—-carrots, bell peppers, everything.  Nothing has preservatives in it either.  So, of course, that means that I have to use it up fast, but it is a lot more healthy for us that way.  And all these fruits and vegetables only cost us about $6.50!  They are very cheap here. 

6.       Cooking from scratch.  This one I really enjoy.  They don’t have all of the box mixes and prepared foods here.  So, cooking takes longer, but it tastes so much better when it is made from scratch!

7.      Bouquets of flowers.  My husband is very romantic.  Every week, he brings home a fresh bouquet of beautiful flowers.  

 
This week it was red roses with baby’s breath.  I’ll bet you can’t get 18 red roses anywhere in America for $3.75!  The flowers here are beautiful and cheap to boot!