From Harm to Home

This evening, two IRC colleagues (who also happen to be Princeton in Africa fellows) and I went to an exhibition opening at Amnesty International called I Define Me. The exhibit shows portrait photographs of Somali refugees holding or doing something that exemplifies who they are as individuals. It's an effort to challenge the label of 'refugee' and affords the subjects an opportunity to present themselves on their own terms. It got me thinking about the people IRC serves. Five months into the fellowship, and I feel like I have a better idea of the beneficiaries in our programs than when I started. I certainly know percentages, population increases, male and female breakdowns, the numbers enrolled in nutrition and HIV programs, etc. But sometimes I sit at my desk trying to comprehend what it means that a camp that was expanded in January 2014 to hold 120,000 people now is home to over 178,000 or that over 4,500 children were born in one year in one of the camps. For so many, these camps aren't just a place of refuge, they become home. People are born, live, and die in these camps, real people with likes and dislikes and strengths and weaknesses and feelings and interests and hopes and pet peeves and frustrations. I look forward to hopefully meeting some of these people some day and getting to know them beyond the numbers with which I've become so familiar.

(Me, at my cubicle in the IRC Kenya office).

Weekend wanderings

Today marks the end of month five on the fellowship, which is hard pretty hard to believe! I thought I'd mark the occasion by documenting some of this weekend. Eva and Christina came to visit, and we spent our time like this: 

Friday: After work we celebrated Nairobi Restaurant Week by meeting up with friends at Soi, a new Thai restaurant nearby. The food was delish and we welcomed the excuse to dress up. 

Saturday: Christina and I walked to Toi market in the morning to run some errands. In the afternoon, Rebecca and I met our friend Alex at the New Life Home Trust, an orphanage down the block from our apartment, where Alex volunteers. We spent two hours helping with the infants - playing with them, feeding them, and getting them to bed. I spent a good ten years babysitting at home, and I so enjoyed meeting the babies and helping out. I'm planning on going back regularly! In the evening, Rebecca, Christina, Eva and I met a family for dinner at one of the best Indian restaurants in Nairobi.

Sunday: Today we headed to the Kitengela Glass factory and had a great time exploring the grounds and seeing some stunning glasswork. Pictures from today follow! 

(above clockwise: two camels on the Kitengela property, a helpful signpost, our trusty morning French-press coffee, and a mosaic-ed treehouse)

(above: various hand-blown glass items from the glass factory; my personal favorite is the terrarium)

(above counterclockwise: Christina takes a solo swing, Eva and I pause for a selfie on a mosaic-ed throne, Rebecca and Eva take turns in the swing, and me).

Weekly words of wisdom

When you go into the world, go with your heart, mind, and body. How can you take in anything or learn from new people if you've left any part of your self somewhere else? 

- so said an old man who stopped me in the street on my walk home from work this week.  

Home cooking

Butternut Squash Soup*

The essentials for this recipe include: (1) electricity, (2) a blender device of some sort, (3) a heating element, preferably a stove and/or oven, (4) a good cooking playlist- I recommend this one. Or this one. 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 butternut squash
•  2 yellow onions
• 1 apple
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp. each of sage, basil, ginger 
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the butternut squash in half, scoop out any seeds, and place the halves face-down in a roasting pan. Put the pan in a 375 - 400 oven for 45 - 50 minutes (on our oven this is #7 or 8 out of '10', which I assume puts the temp in the 375 - 400 range). 

2. About 15 minutes before the squash is done, finely chop the apples and onions, and sautée them in a pan with 2 Tbsp. olive oil and 1/2 - 1Tbsp. butter. Cook for approx. 10 minutes or until the onions are transparent and the apples are mushy. We left the skins on the apples, but you can choose to peel them beforehand. 

3. Check on the squash after 45 - 50 minutes of it's being in the oven. It's done roasting if the skin is papery and pulls easily away from the pulp. It's okay if it's toasty because it won't be going in the soup anyway. Remove the skin exterior of the squash and any tough bits. Once you've roasted and de-skinned your squash, dice it into cubes. 

4. Put the squash, apples, onions and chicken broth into a medium-sized saucepan and cook for 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from heat. 

5. Now comes the metamorphosis part! You can use a blender, food processor, or hand/immersion blender. Rebecca and I treated ourselves to a hand blender at Christmas, and it's my #1 favorite thing. Blend the mixture at 1 minute intervals until it has the consistency of, well, soup. 

6. Once fully blended, stick the soup back on a medium heat and add the salt, pepper, and herbs/spices. Heat thoroughly for 5 - 10 minutes. 

7. Enjoy! Bon appetit! Pour the wine and cut the cheese! We bought a baguette on the way home (yes, bougie Kenyan lifestyle choice, I know) and it was glorious. 

* This is a recipe I made up, so it comfortably serves 2 very hungry adults, and there were no leftovers.

Weekend roadtrip

This weekend, we headed four hours north to Nanyuki, where PiAf fellows (and good friends!) Eva and Christina work for the BOMA Project, and to Mpala Research Center, where Sally (also a good friend) works. We did some quality road tripping (see bumpy video below), saw gorgeous wildlife (I fed a hornbill peanuts from my hand this morning!), and did some hanging out and catching up. As always, I was grateful to get out of the Nairobi chaos and see more of this beautiful country!

(Pictured above left: Rebecca, Jayme - PiAf fellow at Sanergy, Eva, and Christina; above right: Rebecca, me, and Jayme on the equator).

We took a matatu from Nairobi to Nanyuki;  I sat shotgun on the ride home and snapped this pic as the sun was setting. Matatus don't make for the smoothest of rides, but they're a fun way to travel with friends and see the country. The video below was taken on our matatu ride out to Mpala, where we saw giraffe, dik-dik, impala, warthogs, mongeese, and even some elephants! 

See the video below for a quick shot of our weekend road trip adventures! 

Top 5 travel items

I have officially spent more time in Nairobi than any one location in the last four or five years, and not a day goes by I don't thank the stars for the travel opportunities I've had. This semi-nomadic pattern has given me numerous opportunities to pack and unpack my life, literally and figuratively. While I'm still prone to packing a bag slightly over 50lbs and having to unzip it all at the check-in desk and play lets-guess-how-much-shampoo-and-knit-sweaters-weigh, I have also accumulated a list of travel essentials. Here are my top 5 travel items, in order of priority: 

• Items in a carry-on to get me 24-hours without my checked baggage. Okay, cheating, yes because this involves a number of items (contact lenses, fresh clothes, a toothbrush, cash, chocolate) but it's a singular concept, and it's my list anyhow so I say it's one item. 
• A first-aid baggie with Emergenc-E, ibuprofin, Band-Aids, lip balm, and sunscreen. I cannot begin to explain how many times I've gotten sunburned or ill on day one of travel and have had to rally for the remainder of the trip. 
• A scarf. It doubles as a blanket on the plane and can be handy in cold weather or hot. Forgot a towel? A scarf is basically the same thing! Longing for a charming tablecloth for your impromptu picnic? Viola! Also it can provide hours of amusement on long flights or layovers. 
• Pen and paper. So deeply useful and underrated. I don't always have access to my smartphone and often need to write down directions, someone's number/address, spontaneously journal or make a grocery list. Also the golden rule of travel is: she who has a pen in the immigration line is the most popular traveler of all. 
• Tea bags, English breakfast, enough for a couple of days. "An essential item?" you snidely ask. YES. Tea is home and peace and sustenance and a good way to make travel friends and just pass the hot water would you?

Read All Over

I love mornings; I like having time to leisurely wake up to the day, have a cup of tea, eat breakfast and ease into whatever tasks I have ahead of me. Particularly, I like sitting down to the news; every morning growing up I'd share the paper with my dad as the sun rose over the San Francisco Bay and in college I listened to the BBC "World News Report" while getting ready. Staying current is more than just a point of interest in my Nairobi life, it can be a smart security move and a great way to feel connected to goings-on at home. Here are a few of my choice news outlets: 

• For African, East African, or Kenyan news I look to the good people at allafrica.com or Al Jezeera. For compelling thought pieces on all things Africa I go to Think Africa Press; I always appreciate the range of perspectives that speak on all topics, often ones a little too 'taboo' for Western news sources. For immediate, by-the-minute information, I go to Twitter; I follow a number of news agencies, the US Embassy, even the Nairobi international airport. 
• For international news, Reuters, the New York Times, and the BBC are all obvious, tried-and-true sources. For UN-related news, I head to What's In Blue or Security Council Report, which give great updates on what the UN Security Council is currently working on and developments within the UN. 
• For news of home, I'll check out SF Gate or follow headlines posted from friends on Facebook or Twitter. 

On with 2015

On January 5, 2014, I had no idea where I would be in a year; the world was full of question marks, and I still had a full and final semester of college left. In March, I committed to moving to Kenya and living out a year of service. In May, I graduated and closed a challenging, happy, and friend-filled chapter of my life. From June to early August, I met inspiring high school students and forged deep friendships with amazing co-workers. And then in late August, I said goodbye to almost everything I knew and loved and hopped a one-way ticket to where I am today. So in may respects it was a big year. But in others it was just life with a couple book-ends. Here are a few things I took away from 2014: 

1. Live with your decisions. This year, particularly the post-college bit, taught me the power of making and owning my decisions. I've been deeply grateful for the guidance of friends, family, and advisers, but I've also had to learn how to listen to my gut. As this whole adulthood thing is still shiny and new, I'm learning to accept the consequences of my decisions and most importantly to discern what I can learn from each experience. I've found pride in being responsible for my decisions, their outcomes, and my growth from them. 

2. Be where you are. I've spent a lot of time in the last few years missing people and places. I greet homesickness like an old friend and know too well how to ride the waves of the anywhere-but-here syndrome. But 2014 taught me that I'll always be a composite of the people and places I've loved and that I can only offer 100% of myself to one place at a time. In order to give 100% of what I have, to learn everything I can from an experience and to appreciate the world for what it offers, I have to be fully and wholly present. If the universe has put me 'here' then I might as well be here. 

3. Be kind to yourself. Balance was not a quality I was particularly keen on developing growing up; though I have no regrets, I spent a lot of time and energy perfecting academic and co-curricular performances. I'll never apologize for wanting to be Hermione Granger, but I'm beginning to value balance and to accept my limitations. Being kind to myself requires knowing how to listen to my self, something I did not have much consideration for in the past 17 years. It's a big world and I have to be my #1 supporter, friend, and advocate, right? 

4. "Why not?" is a better question than "why?" Thanks to a best friend's mom, I read Lean In earlier this year and did a lot of talking about female confidence with my empowered lady friends. What I have decided is that all of the self-doubting and society-exacerbated negativity that sometimes hold me back can be highlighted by asking myself, "why not?" And when I answer myself, I hear how BS most of the answers sound and how much I don't believe them. And if I do have a good answer for "why not" then I've found I can confidently move on to the next opportunity. 

5. A really good cup of tea fixes most any problem. I have known and adamantly touted this for years, but the highs and lows that rocked through 2014 only proved this to be more true. Tea can complement the bliss of solitude or bring people together. 

At 23, I am living my life for me. I'm unattached and responsible for no one's well-being but my own. My choices are by definition selfish, which does make me squeamish, but I also think it's important for me to make the most of what the world and life are offering me right now. Every day I'm learning more about myself and working on my weaknesses and championing my strengths. I've been blessed to know some truly good people in 2014 and to deepen old relationships. I'm looking forward to what this new year has to offer. 

Turning to home

Rebecca and I ventured to Ireland for Christmas, where we met my Dad and brother for the holidays. We cozied up by the fire with buckets of tea and had maximum quality time with extended family and friends, old and new. 

Going back to Ireland always feels like I'm going home, and in a way I am. It is the homeland, the homestead, and one of the places that instantly makes me feel at home in myself. I was lucky growing up to visit frequently, to know my cousins, family, and friends in Ireland, and to see the places where my dad grew up. Each time, I'm humbled to return to the homes, towns, seashores, luminous rolling hills, and graveyards that constitute the 'where I'm from'. There's something profound about just being at home and feeling whatever knots that have tightened in me loosen their holds. 

After two glorious weeks in Ireland, I made the trek back to Nairobi yesterday, but somewhere mid-flight I was struck by the weight of the trip's privilege. I've lost count of how many times I've been back; barring flight costs and time flexibility, there are no barriers preventing me from digging into my roots and relaxing into family. Yet here I am, four months into a full-time, intensive job with a humanitarian refugee organization, and I've only just appreciated the meaning of 'being home'. 

So for the next eight months in this new year, I resolve to work for this idea of 'home' - nyumbani in kiswahili. Every person deserves to know and to feel the calm and comfort of being home. I am privileged to be in a position that in some small way might impact that sense of home for someone else. Yes, I have my daily frustrations with work, and my job is deeply un-glamourous. But I also know that my cog in this humanitarian, bureaucratic machinery has to keep turning if those who have been forced from home, have never known or felt 'home', or are unable to return might be served.