A Taste of Home Far, Far Away
After our activities on Sunday (see MySkills4Afrika – Journal 04), David (my transporter) and I were heading to the hotel. It was about 3:30 and I hadn’t had lunch yet because I ate such a late breakfast before we started on our adventure. My plan was to just head back to the hotel and grab a bite to eat there.
During our drive, I noticed that we were close to a KFC and had a quick chat with David about KFC. David hasn’t been to KFC yet so I thought we would pop in and grab a bite to eat. Most people would think that I’m crazy to eat at an American Fast Food restaurant while I’m in Kenya, but the experience served two purposes: 1) gave me a small taste of home far, far away and 2) it allowed me to buy David lunch for his hospitality throughout the weekend and give him a taste of my hometown as well.
But, would the experience be as it is at home? When I mention “home,” I’m not referring to the United States where there are thousands of KFCs. I was born and raised in Louisville, KY so KFC has a bit more of a special feeling.
There are three things I want to share about my experience with KFC in Kenya:
- I would say about half of the people don’t realize that KFC was actually named Kentucky Fried Chicken.
- When you order the chicken, you choose between “spicy” and “not spicy.” Not Spicy is what we call “original” back at home… it’s the original 11 herbs and spices created by Colonel Sanders that make Kentucky Fried Chicken (I mean KFC) stand out.
- Back at home, we generally eat the leg/drumstick with our hands but many will grab a fork and knife for the breast and thigh. Since I had both (a leg and breast) I went back to the counter to see if they had a plastic fork and knife that I could have. The kind man said “we don’t have them, you just use your hands because it is finger licking good.” That definitely put a smile on my face. “Finger Licking Good” is the Kentucky Fried Chicken tagline.
There was an added bonus on my visit. I was actually wearing my Louisville Cardinals (the mascot for the University in Louisville, KY) polo shirt and it sparked a quick chat with the man behind the counter on my hometown and on the restaurant – Louisville, KY being where KFC was founded.
So, that is it… my slice of home in far, far away Nairobi Kenya. I’m about 8,300 miles from home. Since then, I found another KFC in the city area. Somebody had mentioned there might be 4 KFCs in the area.
If you haven’t yet, please install my very first Windows 8 game – Simple Simon Said. I’m at about 125 installs against my personal goal of 500.