Random Thoughts of a Girl in Nairobi

   Growing-up in Africa in the 90s was a singular experience. Don't let my title fool you. I'm not racist or anything. I'd probably still be nice to you even if your skin was green and you were from Mars, because I have bigger things to worry about. Like how much paper and consequently trees are wasted in the making of campaign posters or something. But there really is no better way of putting it. Back then Africa was like its own Universe and some things you only saw on TV. Some things we’re just thought not to happen in Africa. But let’s just take a minute to appreciate the global village we live in. Anorexia. Girls who didn't eat because they felt. It made them look fat. Yeah, you always ate what my mother made because her house=her rules...fear of getting a major thrashing was also a major thrashing. So you can imagine how foreign this was. Paper cuts Yeah...this did not make any sense until I saw one with my own eyes when I was 16. The though...

   I’m going to make a confession. For the past approximately 4 years my hair has entirely been in braids. I’d undo one set of braids and get another re-done literally the next day...for four years! Don’t judge me yet because mine is a story many of you might identify with.     Like most African girls, I was told growing-up that my hair was ‘difficult’ or ‘too much trouble’ and therefore the only way to make it manageable was to relax it. I’ve only relaxed my hair twice in my lifetime and both times it ended with a haircut because the breakage was so bad. The first time was in primary school and the second was in form 2 of high school. You can only imagine how frustrated I was both times. The non-stop braiding regime began after high school. The aim being for me to grow my hair to a certain length then probably relax it ( again ). It’s not that I have anything against short hair; it looks incredible on some people. It’s just that some girls prefer flowers...

This year, I decided that I would give football one last chance. You know? Watch the world-cup matches with a completely open mind and if I didn’t love the game afterwards then there would be no hope. I’ve only followed 3 World cups in my whole life: 1.        France 98 – I was 7 years old and in-love with all things French so I watched it simply because France was hosting. I still remember the theme song ‘Ole ole ole ola’! 2.        South Africa 2010 - Come on, every African with an ounce of pride in their heritage was watching this one! 3.        Brazil 2014.     So 1 hour to the opening ceremony and I hadn’t chosen a team to support. I randomly settled on Spain because they won the previous World cup ( wrong choice ). I also picked all African countries ( Big-ups to Ghana by the way ). I watched the opening match and...It was actually pretty darn interesting! I wa...

I dove into this recipe feet first and with both eyes closed. I’ve cooked rabbit before but I wondered how it ( and meat in general ) would taste after being marinated in passion juice! Strange, I know, but it also was a huge success! ( Whoop whoop! ) So here goes: Ingredients ½ a rabbit cut into pieces 1 large onion 2 large carrots 3 medium sized tomatoes 1 large capsicum 1 medium sized courgette ¼ cup cooking oil 1 teaspoon of royco For the marinade 1 cup fresh passion juice 5 cloves of garlic 1 heaped teaspoon of salt 1 heaped teaspoon of black pepper Instructions 1. Crush the garlic and mix with the other marinade ingredients. Place the rabbit pieces in a bowl and pour the marinade over the rabbit. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours, turning the pieces after an hour and a half. 2.  Pour the cooking oil onto a heated saucepan and add the rabbit. Fry at medium heat until browned.  3. Add the rest of the ingredient...

I've decide to make 'What I ate' an official category on this blog...like with it's own tab.Then I'll use it to post pictures of recipes that I've actually cooked and enjoyed just to show you it is practical.... enjoy! #RandomThoughts Ciao...

   At some point in my childhood, I developed vampire teeth. Don’t get it? Let me explain. You see, it was that point after I’d lost all my milk teeth and all that was left was permanent teeth. I think I was around 9. My lower jaw was fine, my upper one, not so much. My upper canines couldn’t come down properly, so they were suspended somewhere midway between the other teeth. Hence the term ‘vampire teeth’. My brother on the other hand was born with perfect dentition so yeah, I’ve been a little jealous.         It was mostly a private joke between my mom and I. I might have even once pretended to suck someone blood ( lol! Don’t judge ) but things got serious when I was 11. Maybe it was the whole puberty thing and my mom decided she didn’t want her daughter to grow-up with weird dentition. For the sake of my self-esteem or something. I don’t know but I should probably ask her. When I was 11, she decided that I needed to see a dentist. I was ...

 I’ve recently come-up with one of the coolest breakfast idea ever. Rice Krispies with hot milk and drizzled with chocolate syrup  ( Cornflakes and Weetabix are too mainstream. And I've always loved Rice Krispies, especially the ones by Kellog's ) . Admittedly, I’ve been putting chocolate syrup on a lot of things lately: cake, ice cream, pancakes...and now...cereal. Now before you judge me, try it! Like really, it’s an amazing thing!   My ingredients: Milk Cereal topped with sliced bananas Chocolate syrup The final result. With a side of avocado, for a healthy diet.    Admittedly I have a huge sweet-tooth. There are times when I actually have to restrain myself from eating or buying certain things because the rational part of my brain knows it’s unhealthy. But I know that I’ll be that mom/aunt who freely promotes sugary treats. Sure, my kids will eat healthy but yeah...there’s no way I’ll say no to ice cream and sw...