Lunch and Lounging with Sammy

Sammy Mobile is a good friend. People call him Mobile because he’s always on the move. He travels throughout Kenya with a program called Rites of Passage. It’s a Christian camping and backpacking program offered to adolescents as an alternative to traditional rituals of circumcision. Often Sammy will take groups of students to climb Mount Kenya, other times he’ll lead retreats or organize conferences for young people. . . Last week Sammy took us to his church near Nairobi University and then out to lunch at a popular Kenyan restaurant. We shared a meal of boiled and fried meats, kale, and the tortilla type substance known as chipati. Chipati is a staple of the Kenyan diet and is served by itself with tea or alongside any type of meat or vegetable. The other day Sammy came over for an American dinner and we cooked him chipati pizzas. Then we played an intense game of Cranium. Amber and I won. . .