Randomness

After returning from the Masaai Mara we had a couple of days before our next adventure and we were ALL excited about this. We were heading to the beach! Diani Beach, to be exact. This beach is on the coast of Kenya, about 45 min from Mombasa. The pictures online and pics that friends and family have sent us have really drummed up our excitement.

There were a couple things we needed to do prior to going to the beach. We first needed to pick up traditional Kikuyu outfits that we had made from a Kenyan designer. Now, our cousin first told me about this designer, as she made a traditional wedding outfit for her. Many months ago I reached out to the designer, Yvonne, the owner of Afrostreet Kollections and let her know we would be coming and what I was looking for. She was very responsive and created what we wanted to wear for our vow renewal at the beach based on pics I had shown her. Funny thing- so when were on our flight from DC to Dubai I met one of the flight attendants who was Kenyan. We got on the subject of our vow renewal and I mentioned that Yvonne was making clothes for us. To my surprise she knew exactly who I was talking about and shared her experience with Yvonne with me. This woman is brave, let me tell you lol. She wanted Yvonne to make her a dress and she needed it by a certain date and was only going to be in town for a certain number of days/hours. Yvonne zoomed with this woman and her husband and walked her husband through how to measure her and this flight attendant said when she arrived to pick up her dress it was perfect! OMG! We went to the building where Yvonne’s store was located multiple times during our stay in Kenya. The first time was to be measured and pick out certain colors and fabrics. We returned multiple times for fittings and to get fitted for other things lol. We found “something else” we wanted made each time we got to her store lol. We ended up with out vow renewal outfits, shirts, shorts, jackets and I got a couple shirt dresses as well. One of her sisters creates bags so I got a couple bags and clutch purses as well. Yala Towers (the building her store is in) saw a lot of the Chege family lol. I will have another post about our actual vow renewal.

While in Kenya we also discovered a couple places we really liked to eat. So I had been told KFC in Africa is better than the states and OMG that was so true! We eat Popeyes at home because we like it better, but we ate at KFC multiple times and were please. They actually give you an entire chicken breast, rather than a small piece of a partial chicken breast like at home. We always ordered Chicken and chips (fries) and the fries never disappoint. Kenya has THE BEST potatoes and fries hands down! We had dominos delivered multiple times due to convenience. Ajali wasn’t a huge fan, but he took it for the team. Both KFC and Dominos were cheap compared to home so I didn’t care if the kids each wanted their own pizza and cheeses bread. Tipping was easy and just 100-200 KSH (a little less than $1-$2 ) was a big amount. We saw Burger King (Jasmine’s favorite) but never had the chance to stop. There was Cold Stone Creamery as well but we never got a chance to stop there as well. Ajali, Sanaa and I really liked a place called Galitos or “gas station chicken” by a friend of mine lol. This place is at some gas stations and has really good grilled chicken and fries! We went there a coupe times and even bought some sauce to bring home. Next to Galitos was often a place called Chicken Inn (fried chicken, which was pretty good), Pizza inn (which Jasmine liked and the rest of us thought was gross) and an ice cream place which I think was called Creamy Inn. Kenya has really good strawberry ice cream as well, which is something we all agreed on!

We had a list of food places that we wanted to go to while in Kenya. They came recommended by friends, family, colleagues and social media! There was another place Ajali and Jasmine really liked and it was called Mama Rocks. It was a burger pace. If it was up to Jasmine she would’ve had it daily lol. We went twice, ate there once and got it to go another time. The atmosphere was really cool. And the set up of the place was really nice. They have a couple different locations. We ate at one and did carry out at the other. Food was reasonably prices. None of us got too sick while there eating. I mean- a few bouts of travelers diarrhea but none lasted more than 24 hours.

Also before going to the beach we wanted to get mains/pedis and massages. On Saturday July 16th we did just that. My Kenyan friend from college has a sister who owns a nail spa. Ajali and I did a deep tissue couples massage and I have to admit it was the second best massage I had in my life and I will go back! They not only massage, but also stretch you. They offered us to shower before and after the massage, which we declined. It was supposed to be 60 min, but it was closer to 90. Sanaa got a massage as well, but Jasmine did not want one. Sanaa had a jel manicure, I had a powder dip one and I also got my eyebrows threaded. While there we were always offered water, tea/coffee and juice, as well as cookies. Those cookies were SO good, I went to the grocery store to buy some to bring home, ha! It wasn’t until I later I discovered they had wine too! They also had cute fruit on a plate. Prior to being offered all this food I asked one of the employees if there were good samosas nearby. She said-do you want some and my reply was “not right now”. What I didn’t know is that the woman walked down the road to the Indian restaurant and ordered samosas. OMG that was so sweet AND totally unexpected. Someone from the restaurant brought them when they were ready. The restaurant only had enough for a partial order (3). Jasmine wasn’t interested in them, so when they arrived there was enough for 1 each. They were SO good! I swear we found the best samosas at the Indian restaurants there.

Now you may be thinking, I know the spa in Kenya is cheaper than the US but how much did you pay??? Well, 3 massages, 4 manis/pedis, and one eye brown threading was $203 USD. We all enjoyed and we come back to this shop.

After going to spa our driver sent a different driver to pick us up. The guy who showed up was not our favorite lol. He had driven us once before as well. We did not like having him because he didn’t speak much English, therefore making it harder to to get from one place to another. I often would call or text our regular driver if we needed help translating.

On Sunday 7/17/22 we went to a village to visit family. We were not aware that so many family members lived in that area just next door, a few doors down or even on the next village. There were so many people to meet that we could’ve spent all day! Previously I said there are no specific addresses at times, people just know where to go, well this was one of those things lol. Our cousin, who is called Paparazzi (he used to take lots of pictures), told our driver that once he reached a certain point, to just ask anyone and they would know who he is and where to direct us to his house. It worked! We were supposed to arrive at 12p, we got there around 1230p, and Paparazzi let us in. He told us that he was expecting us at 2p Kenyan time lol. In other words we were on American time and he was still supposed to be at church. He never misses church services. Today he taught Sunday School and came home, as something in his spirit told him not to go to service today. If he hadn’t been there we would’ve been waiting for a while. His wife was still at church BUT there was no shortage of family members who weren’t at church and before we new it more cousins came by, their children, their siblings, etc. They were all excited to see us, and us them. After Ajali got more family information/connection information from one of Paparazzi’s brothers (who is in his 80’s and VERY sharp) we walked down the road to meet Paparazzi’s mom who had just woke up from a nap. She is 100 years old and was so stinking cute! She was happy to see us and grateful we came. She and the others spoke a lot about Ajali’s father and their memories of him. We learned about things he had done in different communities in Kenya and how the family knew he had children back in the US and wondered how they were doing now. Some of these people had met Ajali’s older siblings years ago. One of the most memorable things about this was having so many people with Ajali’s traditional name. They were excite, he was excited and they always wanted pictures with just them. I tell you- they loved on my husband and our family so much! They prayed for us multiple times during our visit and wanted us to come back.

Now, here is the funny part. So during our trip we learned a lot about how Kenyans have animals for security, not pets. Well at Paprazzis moms house there was a dog outside, a puppy and a kitten. My girls were so excited. I mean, the puppy was super cute! They were picking up the puppy, had dirt all over their shirts (there is no grass, just dirt on the ground AND it had rained so it was a little muddy). Before we knew it my kids brought these animals in the house and were sitting on the couch with them. I freaked out and told them to get them out the house lol. Paparazzi said it was ok (being a good host) but his mother was speaking her native tongue and I know she was happy lol. I’m sure in her 100 years of life she ain’t neva seen anything like this until these Americans arrives lol.

We were served Kenyan tea and arrowroot. I still can’t tell you what that was, but none of us liked it lol. It looked like a white/thick bread but it wasn’t and i know it came from the ground. They cut it in huge pieces as well. The girls didn’t want any and I told the family I would share my piece with Jasmine since it was so big and we didn’t want to waste. I was looked at sternly and told NO, she needs her own. Yep, ok, I see where this is going lol. The family kept talking about how good it was and how expensive it was in Nairobi. They told us the cost was about 150 KSH, which is a little less than $1.50, which is nothing to us Americans but a lot to some Kenyans. We were really grateful they were so generous with the arrowroot and I even started to feel guilty that none of us liked it (we didn’t say we didn’t but I knew by everyone’s facial expression that this was not yummy). I even wanted to give them 150 KSH but didn’t want to offend anyone as well. Out of the four of us I think I was the lucky one because I was sitting by Papparazzi and he loves arrowroot. I handed it to him and he ate my piece! Meanwhile Ajali, who knows what he was thinking ha ha, had a huge piece in his mouth he was trying to chew and swallow.

While still visiting more and more family came in and out. There was a funeral going on so some people were coming by on their way. We discovered one of the older cousins has 3 sons in the US and Ajali was able to connect with them. There were young kids playing outside with our girls, and there was one child, maybe Sanaa’s age, washing clothes and shoes outside. We walked around the area, looked at the houses, farms and animals that belonged to family members. There were cows, pigs, goats, chickens and Jasmine and cousin Paprazzi were holding baby chics. You know Jasmine LOVED that!

No formal meal was prepared for us here, as we came on a short notice. We were told when we come back they will prepare for us a traditional meal. Ajali is down for that, as he has been wanting the fresh goat he has been hearing about when people arrive lol. Prior to leaving we prayed one last time and then went to meet our driver at the end of the road. As we were getting in the car we were told that Paprazzi’s wife was a former school teacher of our driver! What a small world. Our driver, who I thought was in in late 20’s, but actually 43, grew up in this area. It was fun to see all their facial reactions and watch them talk and have no clue what they were saying, but I knew it was all good and joyous.