Skip to main content

12 Questions with the Kenyan Nomad

I'm a huge fan of getting beneath the surface, of getting to know people beyond what they present to the rest of the world. Given my recent challenge-to-self of being more vulnerable and stepping out of my comfort zone, I thought it only fair to give others the opportunity too! I hunted around the Internet for a few questions, but I'm open to taking yours too (within reason ;) ).



1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
Well, this is a tough one. Do I have to choose between having J.R.R. Tolkein over to tell me stories about middle earth, or a random person from a random period in life who could tell me all about how they lived? Since the choice is hard, I'll take the easy route and say - my best friend.

2. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?
Oh, mind, definitely, provided that it retained the ability to grow and learn.

3. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
The various relationships and opportunities in my life that have come my way.

4. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?
TELEPORTATION! It would solve so many of my problems. Within reason? I'd love to be a polygot.

5. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?
So much! At the end of my life, what are the regrets I would have? How long will it take to discover life on other planets? Where will I be professionally (without giving too much away) in 10 years? In 20? Where will I be personally (again, exec summary) in the same time period? What happened to Roanoke? Who are the top 10 people I speak to the most over the decades?

I feel like this question could be a post of its own... maybe the things I want to know are pointing me in a certain direction, and I probably need to reflect on that!

6. Is there something that you�ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven�t you done it?
There is - and I'm working on it :)

7. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?
Another tough one! I'd say one of the things I'm really glad about is the fact that the number of close friends I've known more than 7 years (you know why) is quite a good number - we're willing and able to put in the time and effort to keep these relationships alive.

8. What do you value most in a friendship?
Long version or short? If it's the latter, then trust, emotional intelligence and the willingness to grow.

9. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?
Well, crap. I'd hope not - I'd like to think that I may be at a stage in my life where I'm making good choices - but hey, see question 5, and feel free to advise ;)

10. How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?
Amazing, grateful, inspired, blessed - I really could go on forever.

11. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?
Within the past month, actually, for both. See exhibit A: being vulnerable is not a bad thing and B: I believe that having a good cry once in a while is actually healthy.

12. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?
Is my desk or my bookshelf an option? That would count as one item, right? More realistically, it would have to be something tied to memories, and knowing me, words. So whether this is letters, all my birthday cards ever (I'm quite organised) or things I've written, I guess they'd all be fair game!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Five years of The Kenyan Nomad: Looking back

How time does fly! I can't believe that my little blog is five - what a journey it has been! I thought it would be fun to look back on a few posts I've done over the years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My first post  was an attempt to restart a blog that I had started writing four years ago - back then, it was more of an extended, and public mailing list. This was a week after I turned 20, and I think the 'new decade' brought me some inspiration to write that I'm still going on! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few months later, I shared some pictures from a trip to the Masai Mara. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- During the spring semester that year, I did a few posts from a series I had posted

Amani ya Juu: Restaurant Review

Although Nairobi is definitely a greener city than many others, it can sometimes feel like we are surrounded by concrete and construction, and personally this can be overwhelming at times! This is why I love going to restaurants like Zen Garden and the Arbor - the outdoorsy ambience serves to remind me that Nairobi is STILL more than your average concrete jungle. I was super excited to learn that there's yet another restaurant I can add to my beautiful ambience list - Amani Ya Juu  (or Amani Garden Cafe, not sure which is the correct name :) ). Amani ya Juu literally means 'peace from above', which I think is quite beautiful.   When a friend suggested meeting here for lunch one warm Saturday, I naturally jumped at the chance! To drink, I ordered their iced tea, which was quite lovely and refreshing in this weather! Also, my new thing is iced tea, especially flavoured. For mains, I ordered a cup of tomato soup and grown up grilled cheese (it had salami, pesto and mozzarella)

Restaurant Review: Christmas at the Arbor

Happy holidays, everyone! As I write this, I'm sitting in the U.S., having travelled here to spend time with family (and see friends if I get lucky). Saturday the 17th of December, however, found me in a food coma after a delicious Christmas meal with Darshani (of Cupcakes to Curry) at the Arbor in Lavington, Nairobi. The Arbor has a very laid-back, chic outdoor ambiance, well-suited to Saturday brunch or a dinner out with friends. Darshani and I were there to do a review for a podcast, and thus ended up having a multi-course meal at 10 am on a Saturday morning (accompanied by various cocktails, of course, much to the envy of the other diners)! The weather was perfect December weather - warm and sunny, forbidding any sort of indoor seating at all. For my non-Southern hemisphere readers, you'll just have to visit Kenya to know what I mean when I say 'perfect December weather' and 'warm' in the same sentence. It was started about two years ago by Shamini, original