Sinks and Soaps

Everywhere you go, in homes, restaurants, and hotels, there are small sinks mounted on the wall, hovering, with no cabinet or frilly skirt hiding the silver pipes below. Just a small, white sink used to wash hands both before and after meals. There is usually soap, sometimes, but not always. But always they are tiny bars that fit on the tiny sinks. They might be in dirty chunks or pristine with a foil label still stuck to one side. Ants may float dead in the soap water or on the ledge. It’s common to find the entire spout turning when you turn the faucet handle. When turning on the water in our bathroom sink, mounted between the living room and kitchen, I hold the spout in place while turning the handle.

You’ll rarely find paper towels or napkins at hand. Perhaps a cloth towel for hand drying that could have been hanging there for months. There might be an automatic hand dryer, but it won’t work. Well, at least 90% of the time it will be broken. So I’ve gotten used to washing my hands and letting them air dry. The heat dries them soon enough anyway.

The staple meal for Kenyans is Ugali, a thick paste made of ground corn. It’s usually pressed down into a bowl then toppled out onto a plate where people dig out huge chunks of it with their hands. Ugali is always served with a meat and gravy or sauce, such as cubes of beef or goat or liver and fish still on the bones. Samuko wiki is the other vegetable served at most meals. It’s a form of kale, greens that are shredded and cooked like spinach. Kenyans eat with their hands (or 'natural forks' as they tease us white people), taking a pinch of Ugali and forming/massaging it with their right fist; never the left, always the right for sanitary reasons influenced by the Muslims. They then press the Ugali to their beef or goat or liver, gripping the meat and sliding the Ugali so sauce clings to it. They may pick up a bit of samuko wiki, too, and then pop the whole shebang into their mouths. They do not normally use napkins, but opt instead to use the little white sinks immediately after each meal.

At some restaurants, a server will bring a bowl with a tiny bar of soap and a pitcher of warm water to the table. Holding the bowl, the server will pour warm water over the diners’ hands. After the meal, the server brings the washing bowl around again.

Goat is the hands-down favorite meat in this region. The past Friday, we met Rachel from Boston. She’s been in Kenya for two months doing research on public health issues. Her last day is Wednesday and the center where she’s been working will hold a farewell party for her, though they are strapped for cash. Rachel, therefore, has bought a goat for her going away dinner. It cost about 2500 Ksh, approximately $30 US. There’s always someone around to butcher and prepare the meat, as along as they are invited to the party. And you can bet, wherever the party is held, there will be a nearby white sink attached firmly to the wall, waiting to wash away the Ugali and goat grease.