Happy 4th and 150th!

Today is my 150th day in Kenya. Don't worry, I didn't know that until I decided to count it out for this post. And it just so happens it's a nice, round, momentous number! Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and for the first time 3 years I won't be in a dinghy with my parents and friends in Marina del Rey watching fireworks from the channel. And apparently no one will, as my lovely state is flat broke. I will be celebrating the way that any patriotic American living in Kenya should...at Diamond Plaza, eating Indian food with my hodge podge group of friends that are in town. What says God Bless America more than naan and butter chicken? I'm hoping to make an apple pie, which should round things out.

With 150 days of life in Kenya under my belt, there is a lot to celebrate, reflect on, and laugh about:

My first birthday in Kenya, and my first fancy dinner out in Nairobi at Zen Garden, and my introduction to Kim's idea about what constitutes a picture opportunity...

A trip to Uganda to raft the Nile...in which I didn't drown, but thought I might. Also worth mentioning were the giant rats that fought it out in the roof 8 inches from my head on the top bunk, directly under a giant hole in the bamboo ceiling...and I went right back to sleep. Who says I'm high maintenance? The dead rat the size of a Yorkshire terrier outside our room the next morning proved some didn't fare as well as I did...

Matatus...van-taxis that abide by no apparent traffic laws, have incredibly crazy names like "Radiant Dancer" and "Blessed" and more than occasionally cause traffic jams, accidents, or Kim to lecture out of the car window. Just last week I took my first ride in one, which was happily uneventful. 

Whitney's visit! Sharing my new life with my best friend was an unmeasurable blessing. Not only did we have an epic safari in Masai Mara, but we visited baby elephants at the elephant orphanage and kissed giraffes. And that is giraffe food I'm holding in my mouth...not my tongue. 

They really are amazing, otherworldly creatures. Out near camp, we see them in the wild fairly regularly. Did you know that when they run, it looks exactly like slow motion? It's kind of crazy. I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing giraffe, baboons, monkeys, zebras, and antelope in "regular" life. 

Getting used to a no voice-mail world, which means a lot of texting, "flashing" people (where you call them once and they call you back), and people calling you 2-4 times in a ROW when you don't answer, letting it ring approx 15 times each. Add into that that the camp phone is my iPhone, and that parents call me at all hours of the day (9am on a Sat, 8:30pm or 7:12am any old day...) Love it. 

The beginning of my love affair with Ethiopian food at Habesha. A taste of LA at The Tribe. A re-discovery of chocolate mousse and a taste Europe at Art Cafe. $12 massages and incredible food at River Cafe. Stove-popped popcorn...even our housekeeper makes fun of how often I eat it. 

My first foray into middle school theater

A week on the African coast, complete with a sail in a wooden boat potentially held together by rope and scotch tape. Tide pools, cliff jumping, sea anemones, and a million stars by a campfire on the sand with friends. Ahhhhhh

Banana and taro chips. Tree tomatoes. The complexity of baking in another country. Shopping at a market, a green grocer, and a butcher every week. 

Trying to (and failing at) making homemade lard. For a pie. Which involved a flirty butcher, free fat, and the fact that I no longer shop there due to sheer awkwardness...

Discovering my intense fear of hippos. 

Becoming hooked on Brothers and Sisters. 

New friends. New life. New challenges. Same God. 

Happy 150th day together, Kenya. I don't say this lightly, I am falling in love with you, more and more each day.