Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it? But, alas, here in Kenya there are no tigers or bears to be found, and the lions have yet to show themselves to me. However, last week I did have the chance to visit the Nairobi National Park which is located about 10 minutes outside of Nairobi (at least at 6am with minimal traffic…it took more like 40 minutes at 3pm when we left), just 7km outside of the city center. The Game Park is a national park, featuring hundreds of different species including Four from the Big Five (Lions, Buffalo, Rhinoceros, and Leopards…excluding only Elephants). While I did get a few pictures of some buffalo, the other three were a little elusive. None the less, it was a beautiful day, starting with a gorgeous sunrise and cool breeze (and of course a thermos of coffee in my hands!), and culminating in my first driving lesson here in Kenya…which involved the “wrong” side of the vehicle, a Land Rover, and a stick shift. Every one of those was a first for me…but though intimidating, it was a blast! Ok, so I might have stalled out a few times before I could even get moving, and I only went around one little loop with no hills (or other vehicles) in sight, and I didn’t get it past second gear…but hey! Baby steps…and maybe good car insurance, you know, for that bush that might jump out at me…
In between the gorgeous sunrise and my adventurous driving lesson, there was plenty to see:
Like the aforementioned gorgeous sunrise, plenty of amazing landscapes and acacia trees…and of course lots of fun animals and beautiful birds:
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So needless to say, my first safari was a success…however humble it’s beginnings.
Anyway, this week has been a busy one, hence why I’m just now writing about last week’s Game Park trip. On Friday last week, instead of my normal language lesson, my teacher invited my housemate, Bettina, and I to her house to teach us to cook some Kenyan food. We learned how to make chapati, which is similar to a tortilla shell, but tastes entirely different, ahem, better…sorry all you tortilla lovers out there . Kenyans eat it with most any meals, and although it only consists of 3 ingredients (well, four if you count the salt), it can be slightly time consuming, especially if you were to be hosting a large group of people for dinner.
Chapati consists of flour, water, a pinch of salt, and oil to fry it in. It was a small kitchen, and I of course forgot to take pictures at the beginning of our lesson….so I didn’t get great pictures, but here are few of the process:
First, combine and knead the ingredients until a smooth ball is formed (it’s kind of like pizza dough in it’s consistency)
Next, break off fist size chunks and roll flat into a circle
On your rolled out dough, place a small amount (like a teaspoon or two) of olive oil and spread evenly over the surface.
Roll the dough up like a cinnamon roll, and then roll it into itself, so it ends up shaped into a fist sized amount of dough again:
chapati after it's rolled up again
When you’ve done this with all the dough, roll them each out again into a perfect circle…and I do mean perfect- that is, until I get a hold of the rolling pin and begin creating something more akin to skirts 😉 Luckily, Josephine rolled most of them, so they turned out perfect:
Josephine making the perfect chapati
Each “circle” is placed individually in a clean, hot frying pan and browned on one side and then flipped. While the other side is frying, place a small amount of olive oil on the side that has been fried once, and then flip it over and repeat on the other side. So basically, each side gets browned twice, first without oil and then with.
into the frying pan
My turn to attempt to cook chapati...
And if you’re Kenyan and amazing at this, you can fry 2,3, or 4 at a time….which is very necessary for those large dinner parties.
And then if you’re like me, you proceed to eat about 5 of them…ok, maybe 2…or 3…I don’t know why exactly, but they are addicting…I think I want to make some right now…
Kenyan beans and chapati...yum!
Ok, so now that I’ve told you about how much chapati I can eat in a sitting, it’s probably a good time to mention my run from Saturday (I really just ate all that chapati to fill up on carbs for my race the next day…really!)
Me, Stephanie and Bob ready for our 10k
It was a great run…my first 10k (actually, my first race ever), and I ran it with my friends Stephanie (who happens to live right next door to me on the compound) and Bob, both of whom work with SIM here in Kenya. By God’s grace I was actually able to run the whole thing, which is why there is no “after” picture…I was gross. But I think my favorite thing about this run was that it had a purpose…to run for the Bible-less. It was an effort by Bible Translation and Literacy to raise money and awareness for the translation work being done in Kenya to provide Bible’s in the many different mother-tongues here. Any time I felt like I couldn’t keep going, I was reminded of the many people who have never heard the Good News in their heart language…and that’s what kept me running. What an amazing opportunity!
And then to top off my crazy but super fun week, I had the chance to go to an Animal Orphanage (kind of like a zoo) with the Uzima children. These are mostly orphans and street children, many of whom have been on the streets for years (oftentimes sniffing glue) before being rescued and rehabilitated. I loved having the privilege to see through their eyes, everything fresh and new, and to have the chance to love on them and see them open up and smile a bit…It will never become old to see their smiles 🙂
“For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the fields is mine.” – Psalm 50:10, 11
“Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him?” – James 2: 5
Christopher...about 5 years old and completely adorable 🙂
Rafiki zangu Sylvia na Bettina (my friends...)
Through the Lens of Hope... 