Sunday, October 26, 2014

Grill Time!!

This past Friday Mwangi and Frances (our program director and student affairs coordinator, who also happen to be husband and wife) invited us to their place for a Friday evening get-together and dinner. It would be a time for all of us to hang out, and enjoy each other’s company. Since the program is small, we see each other quite frequently but it’s always a challenge getting everyone together, and the Public Health students don’t see Mwangi that often (he teaches a class for the development folks) and with Frances’ immersion in another culture class being completed we also have not had a lot of time to catch up with Frances.

We were brought to their beautiful home right from our internships, and started helping prepare some things for dinner (well- some of us helped I relaxed). The menu was: make your own kabob with plenty of veggies and meat, salad, couscous, hummus, and plenty of other sauces. We were hanging out on the roof for a bit, then trekked down the stairs and prepared our kabobs! I was talking with Mwangi and Victor, and Mwangi asked me if I liked grilling to which I naturally responded: yes!

Much to my surprise, a few minutes later Frances asked me if I would like to grill and I jumped at the chance. Victor and I took our places at the grill (which got quite hot – quite fast) and started grilling! We started with the vegetable kabobs then worked our way to the meat. Mwangi jumped in quickly and started rearranging the kabobs, because we were noticing the vegetables were burning by the time the meat was cooking. We kept grilling, and Frances was our chief inspector ensuring that all of the meat was done and safe to eat.

It was great fun to grill, and be able to visit with Victor and Mwangi as we all got the kabobs going. The best part of all of it, was we were eating as we went. The fish was falling off the skewers, and of course we needed to taste the chicken to make sure it was done. I swear we snacked on so much by the time I sat down for the actual meal I was already half full!

The actual meal was full of laughs as Victor kept egging on the vegetarians, and even convinced one of them to eat meat! It usually started with him asking if they’ve ever eaten meat, then explaining that Kenyan meat was much better meat. Another great laugh was when Mwangi said quietly to me “I just had a piece of tofu….I was hoping to avoid it the whole night” to which I found great humor as he slid the rest to the edge of his plate to ensure he wouldn’t accidentally eat anymore.

We (I) found out that Victor graduated with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration on October 10, and he didn’t tell anyone! Naturally, I felt a toast and round of applause was necessary, and everyone seemed to agree.

We enjoyed a nice meal, but then came the real fun. We were to grill an entire goat leg. THE ENTIRE LEG! It was amazing. Head Chef Frances had soaked it in an amazing sauce, and we got it on the grill. The longer it was on, the louder and louder the dogs barked (we all credited to the amazing smell wafting off the goat leg). When it was done, only a few of us wanted to try it. I was so excited. Throughout the evening Mwangi, who also loves grilling, was teaching me a few tricks of the trade. He taught me how to cut the leg, and then offered me the best part, an incredibly tender piece of meet right along the bone. This meat was by far one of the best things I have ever eaten!

This entire evening was incredibly relaxing, fun, and overall a great time to be together. I enjoyed being able to jump behind the grill, show off some talents and learn some new things. It was even more fun to be able to talk with Mwangi and Victor about Kenya, my time here so far, and the time going forward (the half-way point is just two days away!). 

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