Food

 

food is an important part of my parenthropology. I love introducing different foods to the children. Through different perspectives. Nutrition yes, but just as much as a fun and sensual experiences, and learning new social, cultural and geographical perspectives with every bite.

Like any other family food must be had before running on to other things; school, work, football training or whatever. But we always sit down for meals. Sing a blessing while holding hands before eating. Cook old things in new ways. Place small bowls of condiments to be tasted and added separately, according to taste and braveness.

Like chili.

Encouraging everyone to try, to taste, to smell, but never force the portions. We talk about the food and its origin, travel through the meals. And friends are always welcome to join and dessert should follow!

Sara was only six months when we started the Black Gold adventure and explored the world of coffee; I brought her with me to the warehouse where she crawled around on the floor licking coffee beans while i was roasting kilos of raw beans from Ethiopia, Bolivia and India. Emptying the abandoned latte cups in the cafe while I was closing up. I introduced «babychino» on the menue and am still meeting raised eyebrows when i serve Erik and Sara cups of espresso with milk on a Saturday morning, as part of my own weekend ritual. Children shouldnt have caffeine they say, it may suppress their growth. But still serve them coke from one-and-a-half litre bottles.

Sara is now 130 cm at the age of 6, tallest in her class. Lots of babychinos.

 

And so here we are in Africa and Vincent, the kitchen man asks: What dishes do you eat at home? What do you like? What do you want to eat here?

My answer: cook what you are good at cooking, cook what you want us to taste, what you want us to experience. Use fresh ingridients and prepare local dishes..

So far we have eaten the following during these ten days in Kenya:

• Chicken stew and rice (more than once).
• Beef and ugali (the main staple, widely used in the whole region, made of cornmeal).

• Grilled chicken and sukuma wiki (collard greens/kale fried with garlic, tomato and a hint of salt).

• Fried cabbage and pilau (spiced rice).
• Mashed green plaintain banana/matoke. 

• Whole baked Tilapia (fish from Lake Victoria).

• Chapati and mung beans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Kitchumbari (a salad of shredded tomato, onions, green chili (!) and fresh coriander- perfect with boiled eggs for breakfast). 

• Irio (mashed peas and potato)

• Mandazis- different types of deepfried dough/doughnuts

 

As well as loads of sweet bananas, mangos, avocados.
Tomatoes, cashewnuts and gingercake

And tomorrow we will have a real Kenyan BBQ with nyama choma- lots of roasted meat! Served with more pilau, kitchumbari and chapati!

 

No taco, pizza or fish fingers. No ketchup, cornflakes or brown cheese.

 

We conclude:
 
Kenyans like chicken in all forms here. And we too.

Meat for sure.

They like starch- the portions of rice, ugali and potatoes could feed a family twice our size. Definitely no low-carb issues here.

They like deep-frying things; like potatoes, dough in various forms and shapes, even bananas.

The fruits here are a million times sweeter than in Norway. One has to drink fresh juice every day and at every meal.

The avocadoes are most likely the best in the world, and almost the size of a basket ball!

But.. I prepare the coffee myself, (I almost fainted the first day when i saw them pouring the newly brewed coffee back into the brewer to make it warmer...) and let them serve me masala tea instead.

 

Safari City-Style

Sunday morning and it's time for a trip. We decide to go for a morning safari in Nairobi National Park, next door. Sara’s late sleep-in was a one-timer so we set her up as alarmclock, and 5.30 a.m. she is already dressed and happily going around waking up the rest. I pack a few mandazis made by Vincent before the weekend, bottles of water and fully charged cameras. The main gate to the park is 5 minutes away and soon we are driving into the wilderness.

 

This is safari citystyle I think as a flashingly expensive BMW drives past us on the path and i catch a glimpse of a stylish woman in the passenger seet, sipping her coffee picked up at Dormans coffee shop on the way. Kids are in super form in the back, dressed in their special outfits: David in his camouflage t-shirt and green trousers, camera hanging heavy around his neck («do I look like a real safari-man now»?), Erik as always in longsleeved shirt, jeans and a thick fleece sweater («Im never too hot) and Sara in shorts, a sleeveless top and flipflops («Im never too cold..»).

Naomi in her carseat chewing on her favourite giraff and babbling away.

And there in the middle of the road: real giraffs. Beautiful elegant creatures!

 

Nairobi National Park is a 120 square kilometer area located on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital city, with only an electric fence separating the wild plains from the metropolis. 

 

Supposedly the elephants have been taken out of the park because they were moving too close to people, but the park is still the home of a number of other animals. Today we see waterbucks, buffalos and thompson gazells, but not a stripe of zebra. As we keep hunting for leos we suddenly find ourselves on a muddy path. A good land cruiser and cheufeur take us safely through mud, bumps and rocks. The same cannot be said about the young Indian couple we suddenly meet, sitting still in their tiny saloon car, way too deep in mud and way too late to manouver out of it. Unfortunately we didnt bring ropes, so instead we go back to ask for assistance at the gate. The kids are worried about them but get assured when the park rangers promise to go and pull them out, and they admittedly love it when we have to drive outside of the paths to get around the mud. 

Suddenly I see what at first could look like a rubber hose in the road. A PYTHON SNAKE! I dont think we’ve ever seen one of those in the park before and the kids are excited!

 

Not to forget the black rhino only some 100meters away, one of the really rare animals and its so close and even walking towards us..

  

But the lions are well hidden today and around midday the sun is so hot we suggest to go back. David and Sara disagree loudly and instead we drive North, towards Kitengela, the area where we have bought a piece of land by a Masai, with the dream of buidling our own house there sometime.

As we drive deeper into the valley, wide plains all around, dry grass, fertile river beds, akasietrees, I feel deep and warm happiness, a feeling of connectedess. It fills me thoroughly every time on safari. This is where we all came from. The wilderness. The wild. The open. Hot dry air. The quiet. Buzzing sound of insects. Every now and then a brief sight of a BEAUTIFUL bird with colors from divinity.

And there suddenly, under a dry tree, a long tail swings up in the sky, the black tip giving it away in the yellowbrownish grass: A giant Male having his day rest. We turn off the engine and wait. Will he get up? Will he look up? ..

No it seems he is too lazy. He's like you, Erik says to his father; he likes to be lazy on Sundays.

We catch a brief glimpse of his face as he winks away some flies and lays down again. Ok, now we can go home!

On our way back to the gate we see a dead animal by the side and Sara suggests we call a veterinary. Sara is also upset that the lions kill other animals to feed themselves. Why dont they just eat grass instead she says, and I smile in my vegetarian heart. After a 5 hour long Sundaytrip in Nairobi National Park we drive hungrily off to Java to have burgers and fries!

 

«Why dont YOU eat grass instead, Sara?» David asks and laughs as (s)he diggs into the meat. 

David på bursdagsfest: bading, overnatting og løvebrøl under åpen himmel

Allerede etter tredje skoledag kommer David hjem med bursdagsinvitasjon.
Ruben og Mathias, de to andre guttene i 5. klasse skal feire bursdagen sin sammen, i morgen kveld halv 8 "etter bønnemøtet".

På konvolutten står det noe som gjør at vi skjønner at dette blir en annerledes bursdag enn vi er vant med..

 

Etter middag pakker David sovepose og liggeunderlag, genser og skolesekk og drar tilbake på skoletomta. Ved bassenget henger det skilt med "Private Function" og her er det stelt i stand med utegriller, lykter og stor prosjektor. Hele klassen fra 5-7. er bedt på festen som begynner med å leke sheriff. Taperne i hver runde må ut i bassenget, og tilslutt er hele gjengen i vannet. 

 

Nairobi ligger 1200-1600 m.o.h og det blir kjølig om kveldene her, selv i tørketiden, så det er godt å varme seg litt i badstuen etterpå.  

Så benker de seg sammen for å se Home Alone 4. (Var det ikke Home Alone  1 og 2 vi så på klassefester da vi gikk i 5., Ruth Bakke og Oddrun Nilssen (..eller var det senere?)) 5.klassehumor ser i alle fall ikke ut til å ha forandret seg så veldig. Når filmen er ferdig og marshmallowsene grillet på glørne er det blitt seeeent... og leggetid. Jentene skal sove på den ene siden av bassenget og ordner seg til med soveposer oppå de harde plastsolsengene, mens guttene ligger rett på bakken på den andre siden. MEN.. har ingen tenkt på at myggen? David har fått honnørplassen mellom de to bursdagsgutta og de ligger og ser etter stjerner, men akkurat i kveld er det visst flere mygg enn stjerner på himmelen.

I følge guttene sovnet jentene først mens gutta ble liggende å klaske etter innpåslitne mygg.

Helt til de hørte det første løvebrølet. I 1-tiden var det visst. Og det stemmer på klokka med gryntene vi hørte her hjemmefra da jeg var oppe for å amme. Vi bor på Karen, ikke så mange kilometer fra Nairobi National Park hvor det er massevis av løver.

Løvebrøl kan man visstnok høre opptil en mil unna.

Ja, da var det nok løvene dere hørte, nikker Patrick vaktmannen når vi forteller han om det i dag.

Tross mygg og løvebrøl, jenter og kjølig luft under Afrikas himmel må det tilslutt ha blitt morgen for de tre nye kameratene i 5.klasse.

Og da var det tid for å rulle sammen soveposene, tusle opp til Rubens mamma og spise frokost, og så løpe videre ned til klasserommet for å ha ukas siste skoledag.

Dette var jammen bedre enn bursdag i Leos lekeland!  

 

 

1. skoledag på Den Norske Skolen i Kenya

I dag måtte Sara vekkes klokken 7! Nesten ny rekord stråler hun stolt. Spenning kan visst gi dyp søvn også, ikke bare insomnia.

David oppdager et nytt pålegg til frokost: minibananer! Eller sweet bananas som de kalles her. Vi mumser toast med sweet bananas and off we go- må ikke komme for sent på første skoledag.  





For sent? Merker tempoet er annerledes med en gang; skulle det ikke ringe inn halv 9? Joda, sier rektor Margunn kledd i piratbukser og slippers- og går inn på kontoret og henter den lille bjellen som hun rister litt på og så løper ungene skrålende til klasserommene. Hvitmalte rom med en stor gårdsplass foran hvor de leker smashball eller hva det nå het. Skal jeg lære dere det? spør en gutt i solbleket lugg og drar med seg Sara og David. Erik synes fortsatt det er greit å observere det hele fra samme posisjon som pappa; stående i skyggen.

 

Et vell av minner skyller over meg idet vi går inn i de små klasserommene- dette kunne like godt vært Den Norske Skolen i Addis Abeba (Etiopia) på 80tallet: tegninger på veggene, 123, ABC. Bare at det også står en pc i en krok, og antibac ved vasken. Veggene utenfor er påmalt sebra og løve, vaske vesle Brumlemann og Tobias i tårnet, jammen er dette en liten bit av Norge i Afrika.

Det er 25 elever på hele skolen. Mange hvite barn med solbleket hår og flassete neser som sikkert har tilbrakt juleferien ved det indiske hav. Men det er minst like mange barn her som har en brun mamma eller pappa, i tillegg til noen barn fra Somalia og Sør Sudan. En herlig fargerik gjeng som har til felles å ha norske pass. 

I 1.klasse er det fire elever og den andre jenta er superglad for å få en jente til i klassen, og dessuten deler de klasserom og undervisning med 2.klasse som bare er tre elever. Og de har selveste rektor som lærer!

Eriks klasse er den største med 11 elever fordelt på 3 og 4.klasse, og heldigvis kjente Hilde Ding som lærer. David synes det er litt rart å være i Afrika og ha de samme fagene som i Norge: Norsk, Matte, Musikk og Gym, og mor er lykkelig over at de til og med har RLE- Religion, Livssyn og Etikk- selv om det er en kristen skole drevet av Norsk Luthersk Misjonssamband (NLM). Men her følges norsk grunnskoles lærerplan og alle lærerne har godkjent lærerutdanning fra Norge: 3 menn og 3 kvinner deler klasser og fag mellom seg, og så er det noe undervisning felles. Idag har de for eksempel musikk sammen hele skolen. Og på fredag har de felles gym- med bading i utendørs badebasseng på skolen område!



sånn ser det ut i garderoben når en hel skole har musikktime sammen

 

Joda, vi skal nok trives her, tenker jeg idet Norbert og jeg trekker oss tilbake og ungene blir igjen for resten av skoledagen. Heller ingen SFO, så klokken 2 henter vi hjem en lettet gjeng som overlevde første dag. Vincent, som jobber på kjøkkenet vårt («kokken vår» som ungene kaller han) har laget smoothies som venter- proppfull av mango, appelsin, pasjonsfrukt, gulrot og avocado- og sikkert tusenvis av antioksidanter. Erik er imponert over at han ikke kan smake avocadoen, for han liker jo ikke avocado, og David og Sara er omtrent like imponert over at pasjonsfrukten kan maskeres så godt. Ned glir den i allefall, og så er vi klare for å avreagere med (nye) fotball(er) i hagen.

Travelling light

Picking and packing for over a week already. Realising it needs planning and thorough thought to travel with four children, including one growing baby. I always used to pack the last evening. Now the last evening is spent looking over the luggage, checking one last time! (As well as drinking prosecco and eating lasagne with good neighbour friends Julie, Odd and Siren).

Clothes for school, clothes for vacation. Decent clothes for villagevisits and church, skimpy clothes for beach and hot sun. Fleece and trousers for cold evenings, thick socks for stone floors. Swimwear and football shoes. Books for reading, school bags and bed linen, toys to play with until new friends are made. Teddy bears are super for emotional transitions and new beds. Car chair, stroller and nappies for baby. Passports and computers. It all adds to more than 100kgs. Crazy modern family with too many things I think as we load the 9 pieces into the maxi taxi and again off the maxi tax and puh, finally onto the KLM luggage counter.

A man smiles encouragingly to me as I balance the baby into the baby bear in front and a handluggagerucksack on my back while three muppets run around happily. Good luck on your journey he says passing, possibly an ironic twink in his voice. To be honest Im probably as excited as the muppets and as we sit down at the airport with hotdogs and coffee (what??! we even have time for that?! I never had time for coffees at airports when i travelled alone, unless there were delays, and that was normally at airports without any coffee available anyway) i feel the shoulders relax; the main work is done: packing and leaving.

From here its adventure and fun! Come lets buy taxfree goodies for the plane, kiddos!

out of africa

And so we are on our way
we are travelling out of Norway
and into Africa
again

Over three months we will be away
we have rented a house in Karen outside Nairobi

Naomi is 6 months old
David is 10 years old
Erik will be 9 when we are here,
and Sara is six and a half.

Our families and friends are spread out
from countryside HOME in Askøy,
to bigcitylife NewYorkCity,
Southern Sudan, India, Turkey, UK,
Tønsberg, Oslo and Radøy

I will tell some of our stories
share some of our images
sometimes in Norwegian
sometimes English
Swahili or Luo

from the view of a parenthropologist

                                             "If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me? Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had on, or the children invent a game in which my name is, or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me, or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?"

-Karen Blixen- Out of Africa