Brains Over Beauty

I spent most of today with Florence. Pastor George was at a session meeting that I wasn't allowed to attend because I am a "student of ministry" not a "student minister." Over juicy breakfast fruits, Florence asked about my hair. She was shocked that I wash my hair every other day. We proceeded to have a long discussion about societal beauty expectations in our cultures. Women here typically get their hair done every other week and wear "natural faces" while many women (particularly white women) in the United States wash their hair daily (or every other day) and wear makeup daily. While these are certainly generalizations, we discussed how these things have changed overtime and the implications it has on how we style ourselves. Makeup has recently become more popular here. Florence doesn't understand this trend and some of her friends have transitioned from wearing no makeup to lots of makeup. She tends to get her hair done regularly and never wears makeup. I tend to do the opposite when I'm at home. However I've quit wearing makeup since I arrived and I don't miss it. She concluded the conversation saying "some people may think I'm less beautiful without makeup, but all that really matters is that I have a brain and I know how to use it." Amen, sister. Later we used our brains in the kitchen as we cooked lunch and dinner together. Florence taught me how to make four Kenyan dishes: ugali, Kenyan stew, steamed cabbage, and chipati. I took lots of pictures and will be posting step-by-step instructions on how to make these dishes at a later date. They went over well with Pastor George - he couldn't even tell the difference between which chipatis I had made and which ones Florence had made. The most important thing I learned is that measurements don't matter. We eyeballed everything we cooked and you have to do it based off of feel and taste (and years of making these dishes) rather than measuring each individual ingredient. She has challenged me to make these dishes for my loved ones back home. I guess it's a good thing I took notes and pictures!  

I also made a new friend today. I've named her Lizzie. She fell on my head while I was just taking a shower. Needless to say we didn't exactly get off on the right foot. She's still in the bathroom and I'm hoping she goes back outside by morning.  

~ Sending big hugs from Nell in Nairobi PS: Birthday shutout to my baby brother as he turns 20 years old today. Van may be taller than me now, but he will always be my baby brother.