John’s Birthday Surprise

John and I spent the morning meeting with craftspeople in Kibera and then meeting up with our friend Jacquie to visit the Masai Market being held at a very  nice outdoor mall called Village Market. Returning to the city in the late afternoon, I was dusty, sweaty, and my feet were filthy from the morning in Kibera. […]

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Kenya’s Diani Beach in Photos

Aside from our serious research interest in Diani, we managed to have loads of fun in between! I got a super cheap deal on a room (I’m pretty sure when I mentioned to the guesthouse that I needed a better price, the lady nodded to the boys and said “Oh yes, I’m sure they can’t […]

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Do People Cook With Saltwater?… The Verdict is in

At the beginning of my trip to Kenya, the boys and I took a little trip. We went to a beautiful beach south of Mombasa called Diani, which I visited in 2010 and loved. On a pre-trip interview, Onesmus and John declared that they thought coastal people surely cook with the saltwater, since, ya know, […]

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My Bipolar Trip to Kenya

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” The past seven weeks in Kenya have been quite a ride. In reflection, I’m not even sure how to describe it, but I imagine if bipolar could be an adjective to describe things other than humans, this would be an appropriate time to […]

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Artisans in Kibera

Day 2 of our Nairobi shopping research project: When you visit the curio shops at the craft markets in Nairobi, most of the vendors aren’t the ones actually making the products. They source them from all over Nairobi and Kenya, but I heard several people mention Kibera. Kibera has a lot of people (I put […]

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Power Women & My First Visit to Kibera

I’ve been on a 3-day shopping tour of sorts in Nairobi. Not so much to purchase goods but more to research and learn about the people behind the beautiful crafts and curios sold around Kenya. I took my friend John from the village with me; I want to expose him to as much as I […]

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