October through December 2013!

There is going to be a few entries where I just play catch up since I've (obviously) done a lot without updating. As I prepare to leave Kenya (which is approaching at a frantic pace) I think its really valuable and important to celebrate/share some of the stuff I've loved doing during my time here. So here goes. I'm also going to start back dating them so they appear closer to chronological order.

In mid-October I decided to get a Nairobi souvenir that will last forever. For a long time I've really loved this West African Adinkra symbol called "Odo Nnyew Fie Kwan," which means "Love Never Loses Its Way Home." That message really resonates with me as I pop in and out of various homes around the world, and I've been planning to get the symbol as a tattoo on the inside of my right forearm/wrist. After the awesome experience that Lainey had at Body Shock in Yaya, I decided to back to the same guy and get a tattoo. Jess accompanied me, and I really couldn't be more pleased.

Here we go.

Man is that sound addictive.

Pretty much done!

After it healed a bit.

At the end of October, the kids at Turbo Road (where we had seven friends living in two apartments in the same building) threw an INSANE toga party. It was so much fun. I took it upon myself to be toga-master, and spent most of the evening getting people's togas sorted/repaired. Those of you who know me know that I'm not SUPER social, especially in big groups that I find totally overwhelming. I do much better if I have a job and this was perfect. I met a ton of people I've literally never seen before and had a lovely time.

Cheers!
A visitor, Katrina, me, Malaika, Kalpana, and Chris

The lovely tenants of one of the Turbo apartments: Malaika, Fausto, and Katrina.

Kalpana grabbing a quick snack.

FRAAAINS.

Never has a photo more accurately captured how I feel. 

Lots of party people.

Strike a pose!
Kalpana, Chris, and I

Boys of Turbo.
Joanis, Adam, Tyler, Chris, Fausto, and Timbo.

Turbo love.
Fausto, Kalpana, Chris, me (honorary Turbo), Katrina, Tyler, and Malaika.

At the very end of October, Chris, Kalpana, and I went back to one of my favourite places in Kenya, the Sheldrick Wildlife Orphanage to visit the baby ellies!

Heeeere they coooome!

Ahhhhh.

Gulp!

Love the relationship they have with the keepers.

Just spraying some water. The yooj.

Trunks are so useful.

And sometimes a little messy.

Om nom nom. Just eatin' some twigs.

It was a very dusty day.

So everyone was quite thirsty.

And, yes, hungry.

Chris and Kalpana taking it all in. It was Kalpana's first trip.

Besties.

Cooling off with a little spray.

Sticking out their tongue.

Sharing is caring.

Bring in the next crew.

Getting ready to play a little football?

I think my camera still has dust on it from this day.

Squiiish.

This little girl was so nervous to touch the elephant.

Mud baths.

I'll just lean right here...

In the words of Michael Bluth "We're gettin' all jammed up here..."

Gimme dat leaf.

Got it.

Flop.

Man I love those elephants. 

November 3, 2013 was Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. One of my main tenets of happy life as an expat is that no one should ever have to celebrate a holiday alone. Diwali is a huge family holiday among Hindu families, and we knew some of our friends here would want to celebrate to stave off homesickness. Amrit and Kalpana hosted a beautiful (and delicious) Diwali party at Turbo. THERE WERE ALSO FIREWORKS! There was a ton of good food (including some kaju katli sweets that I made, which were pretty delicious if I do say so myself).

Teaching us how to make samosas. 

Master teacher.

Lots of people chipping in.

Mmm delicious samosa filling.

So much home made Indian goodness.

Turmeric traditions.

Enjoying dinner.
Fausto, Katrina, Courtney, Adam, Annie.

And another shot.

Bringing a little light into the holiday.

Lighting the diyas.

A dot of turmeric is placed on everyone's forehead as part of a cleansing ritual.

Nitida, Amrit, and Kalpana celebrating light.

Our lovely hosts.

Lots of votives.

Lighting sparklers!

Man I love this rooftop.

Beautiful!

Getting sparkly.

Passing the light.

So happy!

Lighting one of the fireworks.

Sparkly and spinny.

Wishing you readers love and light and friends that are as awesome as mine.

Happiness.

Very soon it was time for THANKSGIVING! Thanksgiving has always been a big holiday for my family, and I've had amazing experiences celebrating expat Thanksgivings twice before. Both years in Korea, we went to the same little Swiss restaurant in Itaewon and enjoyed traditional American fare with a European twist.

Dana, Chris, Laura and I posing with the chef in 2009.

The entire giant crew in 2010.

This year I decided to try something a little different. I took a deep breath, sent out the invites, and committed to cooking all of Thanksgiving dinner. For 15-20 people. Whew.

Dinner involved a lot of prep work. About a month out I ordered a 20lb turkey from Gourmet Butchers at Yaya Centre, which they source from Nightingale Farm in Naivasha. I picked it up a week before Thanksgiving and started the process of defrosting it in the fridge. 

For the next week, as I pre-made food each night, our fridge resembled a strange game of food Jenga more and more.

I took the day of Thanksgiving off and spent ALL day cooking. ALL DAY. It was a ton of work, but I swear to god...it was damn near perfect. I basically don't want to ever host Thanksgiving again because I don't think it could turn out this well.

I made a fabulous soy-honey-ginger glazed turkey, homemade cinnamon applesauce, butternut squash and spinach lasagna rolls, cornbread muffins, and mashed potatoes. Other delicious dishes included a red curry green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole. SO MUCH ABSOLUTELY AMAZING FOOD and SO MUCH LOVE.

Our turkey, ready to rumble.

Note the thinly veiled terror in my eyes. That turkey was the size of a toddler.

Basted and ready to go.

Thank god we had three apartments in that building, because the turkey took up one of the ovens for 7 hours that day.

PECAN PIE! THAT I MADE! THAT ACTUALLY CAME OUT PERFECTLY!

Look at that brown skin.

Fausto and Timbo getting down to business.

The Brit Boy and The Bird.

Timbo hard at work while others relaxed.

After cooking the damn thing I was REALLY happy not to have to carve it.

Joanis mixing up some gravy.

The boys being useful.

Apple pie and pumpkin torte care of Malaika, pecan pie by Meaghan.

Sitting down at the extra long table.

We had representatives from five countries (US, UK, Ireland, Germany, and Spain).

And, of course, a ridiculous amount of food.

Pointing out various dishes.

Food and friends. Xxx

Katie's loaded plate for her FIRST Thanksgiving.

Spanish carrot salad, lasagna, sweet potato casserole, and much more.

So proud of this food (and to call these crazies my friends).

Breaking down the dining area.

And carrying the tables back downstairs.

The day after Thanksgiving, we flew out to the coast for an AMAZING (as always) weekend in Watamu. God I love that place. So much. Thanks to changed plans and illness, it turned out to only be Karin, Katie and I in the house. It was just perfectly relaxing and wonderful. Exactly what I needed after the hectic holiday. It was really sad to say goodbye to the coast (as I won't be going again before I leave) but I loved it. Sadly, I forgot my camera. Again. Worst.

Katie, Karin and I. Blurry, but happy.

Sigh. My happy place.

December finally rolled around and it was time to do some Christmas baking with my BFF Jess. We made salted chocolate chip cookies, Buckeyes, and sugar cookies. So good. 

Rainy season in December gave way to quite a few beautiful rainbows.

Ready to get down to business baking.

So much peanut butter and sugar.

It is really hard to get chocolate chips here, so we did lots of chopping.

Lots.

Chocolate chip cookie dough.

Mmmmmm.

Salted to perfection.

I think Brittney, TJ, Steph and I probably ate 100 of these in a week. minimum.

Right before I went home for Christmas, I had the incredible privilege of helping Chris set up the perfect situation to propose to Kalpana. It was a lot of work, and a HUGE production, and while it wasn't flawless it was absolutely perfect. 

The whole event was a surprise, and it took place at Twiga House out on Lake Naivasha. Kalpana's parents and Chris's sister and her boyfriend flew out for the event, which included a walk through major events in their relationship, video messages from friends and family around the world, and a Bollywood dance number. No joke. It was great. AND SHE SAID YES, obviously. 

Chris's sister, Caroline, and her boyfriend David.

First view of the Rift Valley.

Love these overlooks.

Jay and Shannon's friend hooked us up with 280 long stem roses from Naivasha that had been cut the day before. We arranged them into various vases around the house.

Such pretty pinks.

I was obsessed with these orange roses.

After sprinkling all day, the sun came out JUST as he proposed, and created a lovely rainbow.

YAY!

Making calls to family and friends in the US and UK to spread the good news.

The next day I flew out to the US for a whilrwind holiday at home before returning for my last few months in Kenya.