Global Cuisine

A pleasant surprise that we’ve had the pleasure of experiencing here is volunteering with people from all over the world. When we first arrived, we expected to be the only volunteers, but instead have been accompanied by Valeria, who is a French Venezuelan here for two months, and Carmen, a Spanish who is here for a year accompanying her boyfriend as he is on a year long assignment with the Spanish embassy. Lacking world traveling experience, I love interacting with these girls and learning more about where they come from. And, it comes in handy that I’ve studied Spanish, so can understand them pretty well when they speak to each other in their native language, although I have not yet mustered up the confidence to speak back. We all spend our days together, which include long walks and ample time to get to know each other and thus have become great friends. One of the best parts about our newfound friendship is the global cuisine we have enjoyed together. It started out as Valeria inviting us over to the house she’s staying in, that of her cousin and his wife who both work for the World Bank, to cook lunch. This house is incredible, and Valeria has spoiled us by having us over multiples times to do laundry in the machine-- a luxury here-- and use the free wireless. Not to mention, they have an awesome dog with whom we get our pet fixes, as we are saddened that we have to walk past the adorable slum dogs everyday not able to pet them. Anyway, back to lunch.

We decided to make a tortilla-- not the American or Mexican version of a tortilla, but the Spanish kind, which is basically a quiche without the crust. We decided to cook it over at Carmen apartment, as she is the resident Spaniard and she would know how to cook it best. It was delightful! A thick slice of potatoes and onions held together with scrambled egg-- a wonderful reprieve from the somewhat monotonous rice and beans we eat at Hamomi when we stay for lunch. After our first successful food experiment it was time for Valeria to show us some of her heritage by making ratatouille from France and platanos from Venezuela. Now, ratatouille is pretty well known, but the platanos are a wonderful treat we fully intend on integrating into our diet, both here an upon our return. Platanos are plantains sliced into pieces, fried until golden brown, then taken out, smashed down a little, soaked in garlic water, then fried again, topped with a little salt. They make French fries look like child’s play. We had them once at her house and then tried making them ourselves, and while hers had the taste of an expert, we’re confident we’ll master the art of making them in no time.

So, after crossing over from Spain to France to Venezuela, it was our turn. While we were thinking ( or craving) a variety of burgers, French toast, biscuits and gravy, etc, we took our cue from the less than desirable weather, which has been dreary and rainy due to the short rain season we are currently in, and we settled on a nice vegetable soup. Not having ever made soup before, much less completely from scratch, we picked out a hodge podge of vegetables, some chicken bouillon cubes, and got to work. Everything came together really nicely, it was just a little…. Lackluster if you will. Basically some stewed veggies in a chicken water broth. So Val had the idea of taking some of the veggies and broth and “liquefying” it, blending it together. We took her cue, but left some vegetable to add some texture and variety to the mix and wouldn’t you know, it was perfect. The new broth was like a cream of vegetable broth with chunks of vegetable, the perfect rainy day remedy.

I think one of the best ways to experience a culture is through the food, and we are certainly getting our share of Kenyan food here, so it has been such a treat for us to try new foods from new places of the world I have not yet been to. But, more than the food, it’s has been great having other volunteers around to share the experience with and to create a truly global experience here. Carmen and Valeria have brought a new perspective to this experience and one that has been really unique. Everyone experiences things differently and it’s a learning experience just hearing their take on things and their worldview in general. Valeria has really taken a liking to Nairobi and is looking to move here in January for a year or so, hoping to land a job with an international organization. She keeps urging us to do the same and is always pointing out reasons for us to stay, or to come back here for awhile to work. Who knows. As Val says, “ Lo que sera, sera”. Basically, what will be, will be. For us here, and for the future, definitely words to live by.

-Laurel