First off, Christmas. Christmas Eve was spent visiting one of E's cousins and his wife, they made us a nice rice dish lunch- it was tasty, but I couldn't finish it. I struggle to stomach that much rice as I've mentioned before but it always makes me feel bad that I can never finish the food they give me, especially when I know they can't afford much more. Still, it was a nice visit and I can tick two more rellies off the list.
In the evening we visited E's oldest nephew, his partner and their new 3-week baby. This nephew is quite close in age to his uncle because of the age gap between my inlaws children is 15 years between first and last born. On the same property, lives this nephews brother, paternal grandparents and aunt/uncles and cousins. Confusing as it is, E refers to this side of the family as his in-laws even though that's a broad connection through his sister (deceased).
We had chai and biscuits with them and said hello to all that side of the family and then went home.
Christmas Day we slept in! Nice! I made pancakes and eventually we picked up mum, dad and little nephew to take them out for lunch, our treat. It was interesting to see my inlaws at a more westernised cafe- they weren't sure what to eat or how to choose but it went down well and everyone enjoyed it. We got a puncture on the way back to their place, so that delayed our return as we were looking for a place to get a new tyre. We stayed at their house until evening, handed out the presents we bought for them, and then mum sent us home with a stack of chapatis and some arrowroot for later. Overall a pleasant day with family, quiet and chilled and it didn't rain at all like predicted!
Boxing Day, we made a trip over to another aunties house, Aunty Mary. She made the most delicious pancakes. I don't know the secret but they were thin, yet not too thin; crispy on the edges but soft in the middle; sweet enough not to need toppings and oh so moreish. I had three, but I could easily have eaten the whole plate. Ok maybe not the whole plate, but you get the idea. I tried recreating them on Monday but still didn't quite get it right.
The next few days we had mostly to ourselves, visited the elephant orphanage near the city and babysat little nephew. We caught up with a couple more friends for a drink and had some time to relax and watch some tv. The weather has been amazing this past week or so, minimal rain and not as humid as when I first arrived so that's been really nice.
That brings us to NYE, which was quite relaxed, drinks with friends and then watching the concerts broadcasted on tv until midnight. We ate pizza and chocolate and went to bed around 1am (well I did anyway!) today, January 1, we've spent the afternoon with mum and dad, eating nyama choma and drinking chai. My father in law told me I'm on my way to being Kenyan, and that I'll know I've truly transitioned when the bones on my plate are completely clean.
I'm not sure my teeth are quite ready for that challenge, but who knows!
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