eat this martha

10 bottles of red wine
4 bottles of white wine
8 bottles of vodka
3 bottles of gin
1 bottle of whiskey
1 bottle of rum
120+ cans / bottles beer

vat homemade hummous
tub homemade salsa
bowl homemade guacamole
50 homemade samosas
3 trays freshly baked cookies
1 cheese tray
plenty o crackers & crisps
fresh baguettes
2 very cute bowls of olives
100 plastic glasses and then some

4 hosts
>100 guests
20+ nationalities
a few people told to go smoke outside
2 sketchy characters
1 time i was told i am the glamorous flatmate (?!)

1 dancefloor
1 mug broken
2 new safari chairs
3 new floor cushions
2 packages of candles
1 kerosine lamp purchased at 7:30pm
4 vases of fresh flowers
1 bowl full of 8 grapefruit
2 soapstone bowls
many outdoor plants brought inside
1 threatening phone call from the neighbours
1 argument with askaris
over 50 photos of the evening
3 new phone numbers in my phone the next morning

1 eviction warning

our party was the perfect representation of nairobi life - there was no electricity (and therefore no hummous or cookies or coffee to ward off friday night's hangover and fatique) from about 3:00pm until 7:50pm (our invitations said the party would start at 8:00pm) so 3 girls had to take timed showers so we didn't use up our hot water and then apply make up in the dark while we watching our hair air dry into poofiness. we made a pact that if the lights came on during the party, we would all remind each other to run to the bathroom and check our make-up. luckily, we didn't need to do that and the lights worked perfectly the entire night. which is good because otherwise people wouldn't have appreciated our decorating talents and our food preparation. but tell me if you have ever been to a party where there were cookies that came straight out of the oven?! it all worked out thankfully.

the next day, however, we had to run away from the mess and the lack of water in our compound and go for breakfast. there was no water all day and we were very dirty and so was our flat. but i have a wonderful flatmate who did the majority of the cleaning (and sorting) before we got back from breakie and then we had our housekeeper come in on monday and she had everything looking shiny and new by monday evening (even that wall that i thought we might have to repaint).

a number of people have told us since that that was one of the best parties they had been to in nairobi and we've already had requests to host another. although we also had to promise our landlord we wouldn't do it again. at one point our living room was as crowded as a bar and i recall wondering who were all these people. but nairobi is a small community when it comes to the international community and we did a good job of mixing it up.