Thursday: Ol lady is a charm...I am amazed at how small their world in Nairobi is: between Her and my Dad, They know everyone I could possibly imagine, somehow through school, university, some past business deal, a marraige, a favour, their kids , their kids friends, their brothers their sisters..their brothers school, their brothers university, kids etc etc..u get the vicious cycle.
Anyway somehow thanks to this overwhelming network of influence, we got invited to the annual Kenya Fashion week gala dinner. It pays to be a beauticians son i tell u..we got complimentaries. Striclty black tie'd, we head off for the carnivore grounds to find one of the most amazing setups i've seen at the grounds.. it was grandiose in every respect - beautifully set up cocktail waiting area, the lighting pleasantly flowing down the skimpily clad waitresses: the flawlessly set round dinner tables sitting under the chunky langata grass...it was hard to beileive this was Nai.
More stunning was the aura of influence surrounding the whole event..politics, parliament, pharmacutical and fashion industry, corporate Kenya : all richly represented. Najib , agwombo, Nyongo, Micheal Joseph(CEO of Safaricom, with whom i couldnt avoid shamelessly schmoozing with), Titus Naikuni(CEO Kenya Airways) Sue Muraya(Top fashion head in Nai; hosting the event)...whashisface MD of CBA bank, ai the list goes on and on.
The most noticable prescence however was that of Ajuma Nyaseda - london based supermodel..this chic i understand has come from FAR. NO quesiton..there is MAD talent..
involved with anywone who zoolands with Naomi campbell.
So the show was fantabulous, lorna Irungu did a great job...huskii she's entertainment manager of the Carnivore these days raking in the chums..The standards were far and beyond anything ive seen..and i have seen some maajabu in this young life of mine.
Friday mornign was maumivu. Late for work..lakini In kenya all jobo implicitly anzas at 8.3somethingish...another thing about this city - way waaaay to many cars. The car person ratio in the CBD is absolutely a joke. If u start travelling at 745 from whereever u'll somehow be in traffic for a good 45 min unless uve become a matatu driver...and even they have sobered up of late.
As Certain as death and taxes i meet with Kibet at the increasingly popular 'cafe cream'(pronounced 'creme' by Nairobi wannabe's) which is a quaint little cafe up at yaya openly set up on a terrace. Note is said Cafe, not bar..but I noted this bizarre tendecy of uptown kenyan folk to turn the nice cafe's into BARS!!! Karaoke nite it was..and i was very displeased that no one selected a kenyan track!!!!!!!
Anaa clande habit i observed was this issue posing at 24hr petrol stations...ok for those of u unaware...GO to any 24 hr station..u will pata it has jaad with a range of shady to gisty lookin folk, sitting in , on or just standing around their car, boozing, chewing(miraa) and possibly smoking herb. It was an incongruent picture..but what do u do..mimi ni mgeni in my own home town!!
Then sato I'm off to Kenyatta market for some quality nyam chom...snag some good deals with the ol lady again at some of the stalls hoarding mens wear...afterwards it was off to fashion week again(this time for the catwalk only). The only thing that stays imprinted in my mind are some red hot hot pants...wololo i'm hoping for her sake her mom wasnt in the audience: those pants and the cleavage part thereof were a match made in heaven..lightning strike me for not having taken pics..
We have fries for 100 bob at Carni, and it has only now occured to me , now that i'm Bbbbbbroooke , that I am a foreigner who has not come to realise what 2 Canadian dollars mean in this country. Hard to believe we belong to the same country as those frighteningly atrophied kenyans in turkana and Kwale that we see on TV almost daily now.
End up clubbing allllll night at Soho's and Midas....these pub like clubs with tiny dance floors . sohos sounds were on point..but it was a fire hazard just waiting to happen. My friends were kidogo surprised that by 245 i was beat...yet another sign i've been away too long. I played it mr tough guy and went on till like 430 am after which i could no longer pretend to be awake....go home...
swatch for a handful of hours, and by 11 i'm in Church. All i can say is thatnk God for Redbull.
Sunday..aah sunday. Host my grandmom who continually makes fun of my broken meru..even i didnt realise it was that bad..damn..tutorial anyone!??
To all you folks struggling out there...take NOTHING for granted..I jus lost my distant cousin to a severe asthma attack..she was 14 with a bright future ahead...The world owes you NOTHING, is my surmise. We live by the grace of God.
More soon from the city in the sun..
Denis
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