Hangover Hotel...

  Today 4 representatives from Christian Aid Ministries who are here, Tony and Judith (the other Agape/CAM couple), me, myself and i, and of course my husband and a few random children headed out to Hangover Hotel for lunch.

  Sounds bad, doesn't it? Hangover Hotel and a few plainly and soberly dressed missionaries discussing life over sodas at a hotel (meaning restaurant) with the name Hangover attached. As far as we know there's no alcoholic beverages even sold there. Interestingly enough, we didn't notice any people with hangovers. Seems that back in the day it was the place where people went after a night of drinking for a bowl of soup and hence the name.

  To get to the restaurant we strolled back through a small, dirty alley way where at one point a gentleman with large buck teeth and a wide smile hung over a small wall waving at us. We hung a left out of the dirty alley and walked into a rather amazing, spacious for Kenya, restaurant. There were several points of interest that captured out attention. One was a tree growing in the middle of the restaurant, altho it may have been just the stump and not so much growing. We never did find out. The other was a waitress sporting a Cracker Barrel apron with the name Mary wrote across her chest. Neither did we find out if her name was actually Mary or if she just picked the apron up for cheap. It's Kenya and small details like that don't matter so much.

Even you would be welcome!

  We ordered chicken for some, beef for others. French fries (called chips here), a bit of tomato salad, Ugali, (cornmeal mush), and chapatis finished out the meal. I braced myself for tough chicken but to my shock the food was quite tasty and tender. The chapatis were fresh and hot and everything tasted most satisfying.

Making Tomato Salad

  There's another interesting bit of news about the place that makes Americans shake their heads. We were told by other missionaries who eat there that when you order your food, you ask for the "anti-theft" portion. Meaning you want the FULL PORTION of meat, otherwise they will only give you SOME of the amount and sell the rest to others. They will charge you the same price, whether you get the anti-theft version or not. So we ordered the food and before the waiter walked away Marlin informed him we want the "anti-theft" amounts. The waiter cracked the smallest of smiles and agreed pleasantly.

Only the best cuts served here!

 End of story. We got our full portions as far as we know and we realized once again that there are some things we will never understand about this country or their people. 

World Class Chefs... that would make Dwight Miller green with envy!

  I wonder sometimes if America will seem dry and sterile after Africa and if we will miss some of the quirks of this country. I think we might. As i sat there today and watched the people eating and talking loudly (no quiet classy conversations here) i thanked God for the opportunity to experience the craziness and insanity and beauty called Kenya. Somehow i believe we love these people and their "Hangover Hotels" more than we realize. I feel sad sometimes at how little i've really been able to reach out and yet i also know that i'm called right now to stay at home and raise these children that Marlin, God, and i have produced. They are my mission field and i want to live it to the fullest. But anytime Marlin and visiting white people want to visit the Hangover Hotel, i'm available.