Random Thoughts of a Girl in Nairobi

I really should re-watch this movie...    I’ve never truly been home alone. Even when both my parents had to go out of town for one reason or the other, I always had either my bro or my cousin sticking around because they had to be in school or something. But not this time. My Dad works in a different county now, my mom and bro have gone to ocha ( That means ‘country-side’ for our international readers ) and my cousin’s at an internship out of town. So when this week was approaching my parents were kind of nervous because you know, I’ve never truly been home alone ( And apparently all girls’ parents suffer from some kind of separation anxiety to some degree! It’s a proven fact, ask your girlfriend or sister guys ). But me, I was over the moon!! Why? Let me tell you why: No cleaning up after anyone. Sometimes I feel like a babysitter because let’s face it, my family can be pretty messy and I like leaving things exactly how I found them. My plan was to completely scrub-...

1. Why are you so organized? I just stumbled upon my form 3 diary/planner ( Yep, apparently I was that chic. I think I started it after reading ‘ New-York minute ’ ). It has all these entries on what I was supposed to do on certain dates and then every completed activity has been checked with a red pen! You know what; I’m not explaining it right. It would be better if you saw it for yourselves so I'll put a few pics below. But at this point in time, I am personally appalled by the degree of neat-freakishness I had back then! But then again, my mother would be proud. 2. Think about what you’re about to say! I mean really think about it . To this day, I am haunted by the memories of stupid stuff I can’t believe came out of my mouth.  When I remember them, I end up having a lot face-palm moments! Statements like ( I apologize to the person I told this ): I’d never wear pink! I’m a tomboy!.....What was I thinking! Urrgh! I'm not particularly fond of the...

   A blanket. That’s what I imagine my life to be. Every experience, every person I meet is a single thread. Just a tiny bit of the whole thing. Sure, some people and experiences are so big that they are like the main picture stitched into the blanket, but only some. Unfortunately it’s so easy for me, for all of us to forget this simple fact. We obsess over the tiniest of failures and over people whose actions should probably not bother us at all. We make them the centre-piece of our universe and focus on details so minute that we miss the bigger picture. We are short-sighted and it’s the best example of biased judgement I could ever come up with. And it is for this reason that it so important to sometimes seek somebody else’s opinion. Someone who’s able to stand at a distance and observe the bigger picture without seeing it through rose-coloured glasses. Someone who’d be able to tell the truth without hiding anything just because it would sound better.    ...

   They say that when it rains, it pours but this is just getting ridiculous. My fingers are frozen almost half to death and every time the wind blows it's like a slap in the face. This morning I had a very serious conversation with myself so that I could convince the logical part of my brain that it was important to brave the cold and attend school. I’m also hungrier than I should be and I'm convinced that this is due to one of 2 plausible reasons: A) My body is working harder than ever to burn more energy and keep me warm ( I think it might be losing that fight ) or B)My body's taking the easy way out by requesting extra food then stockpiling it as insulatory fat ( This will probably come back to haunt me in the warmer months to come ) All, this consideration about what I like to call the 'Kenyan winter' got me thinking about animals that hibernate. Did they wake up one day and have a debate about the merits of collectively sleeping during the cold ...