Sergio's final days in Nairobi :-(

So, my byu is gone (byu = Sergio).  He moved back to DC to work and start a masters program. I am going to miss that crazy byu. Me without my byu is  like snoopy without Charlie brown, like peanut butter without jelly, like the hamburglar without hamburgers; like kim kardashian without that kaboose - it just aint right! But life goes on - and we'll be fine. Our whole relationship has been all over the map, sometimes together, sometimes apart, but these things just make life more interesting and show you that you are stronger than you may have thought, as individuals and as a couple (one hopes ;-).
Here's a look into the going away party that we had at Mercury Lounge in Nairobi -

I wore the dress I had made in Senegal for the first time.  I figured I needed to be as African as possible for his Out of Kenya party.  I got a bajillion compliments on it so I guess I pulled it off.

The DJ was doing it right.

DJ UV, he kept pushing a button that said his name..like every 4 minutes you would hear the sound system say "DJ UV IN DA HOUSE"

Mercury Lounge - Kind of retro swank

Our Family

Sergio started doing the booty dance with strangers

Love my dancing byu

 Then, as we approached the final couple of days before byu's departure - things weren't so happy. I was definitely hurting and getting some serious separation anxiety - sad Sergio was leaving and I wont see him for a long time and nervous about living here on my own after having been here so long with him. Things will be different for me here without him. And this place is dangerous. I don't know that many people in the grand scheme of things but among those people I know here at least 75% (no joke) have been the victims of a robbery or kidnapping or worse. So, being alone here, driving around, coming in and out of places, night time noises, all that is much more scarey without a partner.  But, the days have gone on and I am feeling fine and my confidence is up - There's a quote I like "“Fear, uncertainty and discomfort are your compasses toward growth.”    So true - change can flip you upside down..but even upside down can feel normal if you give it a few days, right? (dang, i should patent that line)

Anyways, in our last couple of days we found the best best restaurant!!! I cannot believe we have been here about 2 years now and never tried this place. They have an entire page of mexican food on their menu!! among other amazing things.

River Cafe! I'd seen it since we first moved here and always wanted to go but we just never did..it's sort of hidden back away from the main road.

cool open air restaurant next to a little pond. A lot of restaurants in Nairobi are like this. Open air and very sort of afro/euro rustic

They have tons and tons of plants and herbs and other stuff for sale and this old car that was so cute and small.

They even roast their own coffee with this old school roaster

On Sergio's last day here, he wanted to show me the Kenya International Conference Center, one of the tallest buildings in Nairobi where you can see the whole city from the top. So, that's what we did.

Jomo Kenyatta - First president of Kenya and independence leader

Overlooking Nairobi

 

 

 

me and my byu

Then we went to a hotel called the Ole Sereni. They have a terrace area called The Water Hole that overlooks the Nairobi National Park. - Sometimes you can see animals but we didn't see anything except a an aluminum giraffe.

Full sun

Starting to set

Gone

And that was it. Byu's last night. We went home, finished his packing and reluctantly went to bed knowing the next day would be "good bye". 

(I miss you)

xoxo

Back by Popular Demand.......

Oh man! When I take a break from blogging I do not mess around! That was a hot second - a 6 week break.  I hope you will still accept me back. I'm ready to commit again.  Let me do a quick photo montage of December:
Arrival in DC  - not many pictures of DC since I was working most of the time. But I did get to have a little fun. I met up with my cousin Michael and his wife Bahar for dinner one night AND I got to go my Aunt Helen's  where I saw my aunts and uncles and cousin Nyla and her new baby for the first time.

First stop after arriving from the airport - got my hair did and my eyebrows cutted ;-)  My eyebrow hairs were super freaking long - if i didn't trim them soon, i was going to have to tuck them behind my ears where my sideburn hair goes. Sideburns didn't like that idea.

Little Eliana Louh - Such a doll

Okay so second to meeting my baby cousin, Eliana - the next biggest thing was my first stop at Taco Bell.  It did not disappoint. Taco Bell has come out with two new flavors of sauce Fire roasted and Verde.  Good stuff, but it tastes a little too gourmet so I'm sticking with mild sauce. Tried and True.

Then what to my wondering eyes should appear, mild sauce and 4 friends, Oh my! Oh dear!                                              

Then on to North Carolina for a work conference:

Christmas dinner with my co-workers at Maggianos in Durham, NC.  Half the table was still waiting for the waiter to bring rice to the table after we paid the bill. In Africa, a meal is not complete without rice.  Pasta didn't make the cut.

Moe's catered our lunch one of the days - mmmmm - I ate too much for lunch - then I just wanted to lay down a cot in the back of the conference room for the rest of the afternoon.

This is just a special one just for you - I spent an evening at this giant mall in Durham and was getting some photos printed in wolf camera store. This fine Wolf Camera Poster was hanging up on their wall as an advertisement for their ace photo services.  WHAT?????? so weird!! A) it's from 1981 B)That acid wash mess is nuts! the zipper on those jeans is like 11 inches long..no one needs to show off a giant pelvis in such a way! (more pelvis please) C) Those people are late for the gold rush.

Okay, so that was North Carolina. Then, I headed back to DC for a few days. I spent most of that time working, spending time with Sergio and his family and I hung out with one of my greatest friends, Genie:

We had a good old time. We went to this trendy pizza joint that has PEPPERONI DIPPING SAUCE. I'll never forget it. And we spent a few hours together talking and catching up, which was also nice ;-). LOVE GENIE!

Then, on to Kansas City for Christmas! It was a full week with my dad, stepmom, and younger brother and sister in town and my mom there and my older brother and his wife and kids. Sergio flew in on Christmas day so we got to be there together a bit. It was good times.
Also had lunch with my favorite Shanny C, but no photo to show for it ;-(

He's like a little duck. He does this think where he scoots/bounces on his behind without his hands all the way across the room. America's got talent.

It's her real life baby doll. She always says, "isn't he so cuuuute?"

My brother Jason, owning the sofa....And Batman

Baby Hewey. He looks so big here! He's only 13 months old! haha

Dont mind the evil eyebrow..i love my little sophia

with a fresh manicure and her first lashing of eyeshadow and lip gloss. She was feeling it too.

my beautiful sister

Love him!

We worked on Sophia's Lotus pose - she had no idea her legs could do that till Auntie Lenna came around.

Okay so that was Christmas -
Then we flew back to DC. We celebrated Aunt Amal's birthday, new years eve, and my cousin Deena's new baby Simeon's baptism! lots of celebrations!

Happy Birthday to our Matriarch! We love Aunt Amal

Mikey and Bahar

Me and Mom at Aunt Amal's lunch

 Then on to New Years:

Very Low Key New Years Eve. I was a bit under the weather (damn kids and their germs) so we ended up having to cancel our big plans and we just had a really nice time at a nice bar in Arlington. A couple of Sergio's friends came out and that was that. We wanted to make sure we were able to rest up and be in good form for our drive to Harrisonburg for the baptism!

The baptism of little Simeon! Such a cutie pie! I didn't get any photos with him though cause he was a sleepy little thing once he got done with his busy baptism morning.

Then we had 1.5 days left in DC - which I spent with my mom who was in town. We did some shopping and had good times.
Then we said good bye to DC ;-(

Key Bridge - courtesy of Joy Khalil's Droid

We left DC on Jan 3 and flew to Amsterdam..Landed there at like 2am and had until 6am to try to find a place to get some rest before the flight to Nairobi:

Damn armrests. All we wanted to do was sleep and there was NOWHERE.

Now, we're back in Nairobi - Or I should say I am back in Nairobi. Sergio was here with me for a couple of weeks but just left last night to move back home ;-( Definitely feeling the blues right now. So I'll leave you with the following link:
Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel