....and we're back!

Wow. What a month! There is no way to sum up the past month in one post so I am going to work on giving you tidbits of my travels over the next few posts. I went back to the US for the holidays and it was a whirlwind of seeing friends and family and getting my fill of America. I am not going to bore you with a play by play of my daily activities. Instead, I thought it would be fun to share with you the things that I have realized I really love about the states (most of them are food related of course!).

1) SUSHI: By the end of 3rd year, I think that I was eating sushi about 3 times a week (thanks to a restaurant that gives students amazing discounts and made my vice affordable). By last October, I was dreaming about spicy tuna and I made sure to get my fill over the holidays...on three different occasions. :)
2) Bagels: I didn't think that I missed bagels that much but when I bit into my first taylor ham, egg and AMERICAN cheese on an everything bagel sandwich my tastebuds were dancing.
3) Cheese: All of the guidebooks claim that Eldoret is known for cheese and yes, we are very blessed to have ANY cheese available. But honestly, whether you buy gouda, new highland, mozzarella or cheddar it all seems to taste the same. It was great to walk around the Wegmans cheese section and enjoy white stilton with cranberries, camembert, comte and fresh mozzarella.
4) Target: I don't typically support our western consumer habits but I will admit that I now appreciate the convenience. I must have spent an hour walking around just staring at all of the options. An entire wall of trail mix! Gizmos and gadgets for every room! toothpaste...shampoo? sure, choose from about a thousand different brands. It's a bit excessive and overwhelming but I suppose useful when you are looking for specific products.

Things that shocked me a bit:
1) How expensive everything is. I felt bad for my friend who had to listen to my rant about parking fees in NYC and how many street children we could feed with that money.
2) Cold weather and snow.

Some picture highlights...

Christmas get together with some fabulous people












Holiday cheese platter












The family at the Christmas table












Imani Workshops sale












Way too much snow