Halloween in Kenya

Subtitle: How Cian spent his first Halloween in a Nairobi bar dressed as a fish...

This weekend had two very different parties...one was a lovely dinner at the Fairview Hotel in honour of my friend (and quasi-boss) Lisa leaving Nairobi for a few European adventures before going home to Winnipeg and the other was the crazy "boys night" with my Kenyan "bosses" Dr. Khisa, Dr. Kagema and friends. What a crazy weekend to dichotimize the differences between an expat evening and a Kenyan evening - both lovely but very very different.

On Friday night we went to the Fairview Hotel which is like this little pocket of oasis in the middle of Nairobi. You enter the gate and are immediately transported with lush gardens and the sounds of a man playing classical music on a beautiful grand piano. It was dark when we arrived so the gardens were back-lit with lanterns and the pool-side restaurant was humming with people enjoying a beautiful tropical evening. It was our family, Lisa, Anna, Marnie, Mike, and Dr. Khisa and his wife and Lisa treated us all (because she is crazy generous) to a lovely dinner (I had bruschetta and red wine) and classy conversation and in general a beautiful and classy evening. Mrs. Khisa held Cian 99% of the time as they are becoming fast friends. Keith said we were hysterical to watch because you could totally tell the cultural differences between mothers in Canada and mothers in Kenya. Mrs. Khisa has 3 children (the oldest is 15) and had no problem taking care of Cian all night (in fact she INSISTED on this) even when he wanted to grab her face or her necklace or her hair. I kept apologizing and saying I could take him back at any point (the typical Canadian mother not wanting her child to be a bother) and Mrs. Khisa kept looking at me like "I've raised 3 children I can handle this" - all good-natured but funny to see the differnces. Dr and Mrs Khisa drove us home, with Mrs. Khisa only giving me Cian at the last possible second. They thought it was hilarious that Cian was still so awake that late at night (around 9pm) and that he was watching Dr Khisa drive so intently. In fact, the next day Mrs. Khisa told me that Dr. Khisa's new name for Cian is "Amanda's Obama".
On Saturday I worked for half a day doing a laparotomy on a patient that had a connection between her bladder and her uterus. She'd had three previous C-sections and her belly was a MESS (just in case you think C-sections are benign - they aren't). Then Dr. Khisa went to work in his private clinic and said he'd call us to come out after work. Dr Kagema had asked if Cian would be dressed up as it was Halloween (even though they don't really celebrate it in Kenya) so all I had to dress him in was his towel shirt that has a hood that looks like a fish so he went as a fish - it was very cute. Around 430pm he called and told us to walk one block toward the clinic and cross the street and call him from there and he would direct us. We did this and we were standing at an office building with an alley beside it (it was light outside people so don't start freaking out). He told us to walk to the end of the alley and he would meet us there. So we walked down the alley with Cian in the stroller and suddenly the alley opened up to reveal this huge square with hundreds of people and different little curio stands. It was the Kenyan version of Diagon Alley hidden away behind Argwigs Khodeck (the main street). Dr Khisa and Dr Kagema were sitting at the edge of this restaurant and waved us over to sit with them. Tusker beers immediately appeared before us as well as the Kenyan delicacy of "Mbuzi" (Goat) ribs. Then came the Peri-peri chicken and the ugali (the maize porridge which is traditional all over East Africa) and the "traditional" which is like mashed potatoes and veggies in ugali form (this I liked a lot better than ugali). There was SO much food (and this is coming from a Mennonite) and we were required to eat and eat and eat. Keith had to eat the gizzard of the chicken because that is what the favoured men do - and he was very favoured that night - these guys wanted him to join their "group" - I foresee a lot of "man dates" in his future. During this time of meat and beer there my little 9 month old was with alternating goat ribs and chicken drumsticks in his mouth (there was no meat on them) - the newest teething rings perhaps? Just imagine Cian sitting on Dr. Kagema's lap dressed as a fish with a goat rib in his mouth at "boys night" watching football on TV in a sea of black faces. It was quite the sight. We were the only white people in the whole compound and he was for sure the only white baby who had ever been there as it quickly turned into a bar as day turned into night. (Note: We did not take our 9 month old to the bar KNOWING it was a bar - it just developed into that and there was no getting out of there until our Kenyan hosts had sufficiently treated us - we tried - it just wasn't happening) And the drinks kept coming with the phrase "after work" said with every round. I had to beg them to stop giving me beers but Keith was in no such luck as they wanted him to feel "very welcome" and probably also felt bad for him that he had to stay at home with the baby while I worked so they wanted to show him an exceptionally good time. Then the African sausage came out and I have no idea what was in it but I tried it because it was a requirement and it would help with keeping things "dry up here" and "wet down here" I think implying it would help with the hangover from all the beer that they were giving Keith. Then suddenly I had another beer in front of me and I asked "who's beer is this?" and almost dropped it and it splashed causing the entire table to erupt in cheers (and the entire bar as one of the teams scored a goal at the same time). I worked valiantly at finishing that beer and then the "soup" came out. The soup was I believe a mix of goat broth, peri-peri and some other spices. It wasn't bad soup but it was piping hot and after beers I thought I was going to die. The boys were all saying that it was good for me and it would make everything "crystal clear" again pointing to the head and I promised I would go home and drink water. They said it was good for my bones and my heart and every other organ there is and I said I would pay for someone to drink my soup because if I could finish the beer it would be a miracle. This was hilarious to all concerned. We tried to pay for the soup, the beer, the food, any of it and there was NO HAVING THAT. Massive uproars at the table that we were not to pay for anything as we were their guests. Finally once I convinced Dr Kagema that I really had to take the baby home and that one day we would certainly go dancing the Khisas drove us home. It felt like 2am and when we checked the clock it was 9pm! It was such a great night and people were so hospitable and it felt like we really had an evening to experience a real Kenyan Saturday night but I think Keith is going to have to rest up for those future man-dates because both the boys went immediately to bed when we got home.