Katie and I have been attending a quiz night since its
conception in March. They were having
them every 2 weeks and now they are held monthly. The first few times I had a good table and it
was a great night, but the last time I went I had a dodgy table and when I am
paying 50 bucks in a cab to attend, plus dinner, plus drinks, plus the quiz
fee-I want to make sure I am having a wonderful time. This week Katie and I sat on a table together
for the first time and we had a great group of ladies and we ended up coming 4th
out of 7 teams, which isn’t a bad placing and I think the best I have come in a
team is 2nd last. The very
first week that the Quiz night was held there were 18 teams, but it is low
season here in Nairobi and also the turnover of expats that is currently in the
city it isn’t surprising that the numbers have dropped and will pick up again
in the coming months. The Quiz night
came about by a lady posting a simple on the NES Facebook page asking if people
were interested in a quiz night and with an overwhelming response the idea was
conceived, backed and a date set. The
poor woman that came up with the idea was now stuck organising them all and
wasn’t able to play, when that was all she wanted to do in the first place. So at the second quiz night after speaking to
her I mentioned that if she needed help organising the questions, I would be
more than happy to help. This offer was
mentioned before I went to London in May and then this Monday after the June
Quiz the owner of the restaurant where the function is held came over and asked
if I would be interested in putting the next quiz questions together for the
July Quiz. After Katie going into bat on
what I would get from it and after a few wines I think we may have negotiated a
free meal and some free wine to wash it all down as payment for my services and
I am now in charge of the next round of questions. I am up for the challenge and I am glad that
I have gone to all the other quiz nights so I know what questions have been
asked and how it all runs. I have found
some great web sites to source questions and I am starting to piece it all
together as we speak. I’ll let you know
how it all goes.
I’ve had trouble loading photos to Facebook this
week. I know to leave it a few days, as
they have been known to be updating FB and usually it just starts working again
in a few days. Well I was patient and
after 5 days I was still having the same issue so I checked out Facebook’s help
centre and there were a few troubleshooting hints which included making sure
you had the current version of Adobe and current operating system you use,
which mine is Google Chrome. I updated
Adobe and then stupidly uninstalled Google Chrome to download the current
version. WRONG MOVE. I am not sure why I did that, this is why I
won’t make a good nerd. I then, for some
reason couldn’t access the internet via Internet Explorer to get Google Chrome
re-installed and was at a cross roads.
So I took my computer with me to the shops on Tuesday as I had to use
the internet anyway and asked if they fix laptops. I felt like a stupid mzungu woman who didn’t
know what she was doing (oh that’s right I WAS a mzungu woman who didn’t know
what I was doing). I explained what I had done and if they could fix it. He said yes and as I was running late for my
Insurance appointment, so I left my password and flying out the door told them
I would be back in half an hour or so.
I’m not sure if I should have gotten a receipt from them saying I had
left the laptop, but these guys know me, I have been coming in to their shop
for the last 5 months, so I am pretty sure nothing dodgy will go down. When I returned after my appointment it was
all fixed (thankyou computer man) and he moved to the side to show me it was loaded
and then I asked him how much and it was all secret squirrel, and he said the
cost of lunch, 1000KSH. I knew this was
too much and I told him so and he said whatever you feel is fair for lunch, and
I was just so relieved to have it fixed I just gave him the 1000KSH. Really it’s 12AUD to fix my computer, I know
it wouldn’t have taken long, but I was prepared to not use the laptop till
Australia in November and use my travel laptop if I had to, so for 12 bucks, I
think it was money well spent. Welcome
back Google Chrome and I promise I will not do any more ‘computer’ fixits’ on
my own.
I got a call from Carpenter Peter on Saturday that the 11
pictures I was getting framed would be ready on Tuesday!! 5 days late-but generally these things can’t
be rushed, and really you wouldn’t want to have anything done in a hurry and
Steve and my saying - TIK (this is Kenya) applies here. I have had things made by Peter before, and
he has never had them completed when he has said, so there was no surprise when
he promised Wednesday, then Thursday and then Friday to making a time on
Saturday morning to come over and hang them and I was surprised when he text me
at 10am Saturday morning that he was on his way. In his defence he did text me both the days he
didn’t come to say he couldn’t make it, 4 hours after his appointed time, but
he did text and that is pretty good that he did that. Believe me.
It feels great to get some of my travel pictures framed. How many people buy pictures overseas and then never get them
framed whether it is time, money or both?!
Each of the 11 frames worked out to be around 23AUD a frame, which were
custom made for each picture with glass.
They are rustic looking, as I wasn’t fussy whether the wood had knobs
and knarls making them look like they had stripped the wood straight from the
tree into my frames and I LOVE them.
When I first saw them, my first reaction was AMAZING!!! They look unreal!
So Peter and his helper Michael were here for just over 2
hours putting up 9 of my pictures. It
isn’t a basic job as the walls are made out concrete so you just can’t just go
tapping in nails. You need to drill a
hole in the wall, which they had an electric one this time (last time he had a
hand held one to put up my mirror) then they tap a piece of round wood/dowel into the drilled hole and so they can then screw
the hook into the piece of wood to hold the picture. Some of the pictures were pretty long/heavy,
so Michael did 2 hooks for some of those pictures. It was a big decision to work out where to
put them all but I have my Masai picture that I bought in Tanzania in my room,
my 4 Kenyan wax pictures in the spare room, my 2 Peruvian pictures I bought at
the Otavalo Markets in the lounge room, along with my London bus picture and I
have my Tanzanian fish picture in the kitchen.
I also had two Australian aboriginal paintings I bought when I was last
in Darwin framed, but I haven’t hung them yet as I am not sure where to put
them, so I have one on the window sill in the lounge and the other on the
window sill in the kitchen and it is great to look at something that represents
home. I had asked Steve what would be a
fair tip for them to hang all the pictures and he said no more than 500KSH, but
since there were 2 of them and they were here for over 2 hours, I decided to
give them 1000KSH to share. They really did
do a great job, they took care hanging them and they made sure that they were all
straight and evenly spaced, so I think it was well earned. Thanks boys.
It is certainly a job I would not have been able to do myself and again
for 12AUD for 2 hours of work for 2 guys-I think that is a fair price to
pay.
My last piece of news this week was I finally got an
invite to the Australian High Commission for their last Thursday drinks they
hold at the end of the month. It is good
to know I am now on their social mailout list.
I got the invite on the Monday and I had to let them know if I was
coming by the Tuesday afternoon for a Thursday function. The bad thing about the short notice was I
didn’t really have the funds for the 3000KSH taxi as it was also on the same
day as my first meeting of the SAWA ladies and a taxi to Kelly’s for the ride
of 4000KSH. Spending 84AUD on 2 taxis
for a DAY was a push for anyone, so unfortunately I decided not to go figuring
I will be here for the next 2 before I head out of the country for 3
months. On an upside, there was a note
on the NES Facebook inviting people to the US Marines Happy Hour, which occurs
the 2nd Thursday of each month.
Just think if we could work out all the Consulates social calendars we,
well I, could have a function on every day of the week! How cool would that be? The great thing, well so far, is that you can
go to these doo’s even if you are not that nationality. As long as you are pre-registered on ‘the
list’ and have the correct ID you can enter.
The US marines promises ping pong, billiards, darts and other such
things so I am thinking it will be a whole lot of fun. The BEST thing about this social event is
that it is my side of town, as it is located on the grounds of the US Embassy
which is just down the road from me.
AWESOME!!! A 500KSH taxi and MY
SIDE OF TOWN!!! The requirements for the
US doo is that you must be 21 years of age or older to purchase or consume
alcohol on this premises. It is a
diplomatic happy hour, so we have to dress appropriately. PM the event organiser for addition to the
guest list as well as the start time and if we plan on driving, we have to include
our license plate number on the PM and lastly to bring a photo ID to be issued
a visitor badge (any government issued
ID’s/passports, including foreign IDs, will be accepted). Yes, none of this ‘just turn up’ events here
in Nairobi as security is taken very seriously, especially at High Commissions
and Embassy’s and if you do put your name down on ‘the list’ and don’t go,
believe me your name is recorded and could jeopardize future functions.
My social web continues to weave and with the influx of
‘newbies’ coming into town this month, I am guessing it will be a busy
month. WOO HOO!!!
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