What we experience in Kenya can’t really be called winter because we don’t have four ever-changing seasons like the other places that shed leaves in October, experience snow in December, plant daffodils in March and then look for holiday destinations in July to get away for summer. Here we have rain and then we have lots of sunshine. Our days and nights are 12 hours long, give or take a few minutes and the only thing we have in common, weather-wise, with the rest of the world is the changing weather patterns due to what we call global warming. Well, we do need something to blame it on don’t we?

The rain is beautiful in our country because it’s tropical rain. Go to UK for instance when it’s raining and you’ll probably want to sit in an unventilated car with exhaust fumes spewing carbon dioxide or monoxide or whatever it is that gets emitted from the exhausts to kill yourself from the misery of it all. Seriously speaking, the only thing UK is good for, according to me is chocolate and footwear! Actually there’s lots more but we’ll just stick to those for now!!!

Alright now that we’re on the blame game, let’s blame this stupid weight gain on the cold weather as well. What else can we do anyway? You get to work and the smell of hot mandazis fried to perfection wafts in the corridors of the building. Then at 10am the boss’s PA slyly slides out a packet of chocolate chip cookies to dunk in her mid morning coffee and you sit there watching in awe as she unwraps the packet of cookies, takes one out while gently dusting off the crumbs from her desk, dunks it in her chai and then neatly pops the whole cookie in her mouth before it gets too soggy and ends up a mess at the bottom of her mug.

Once that drama is over and done with it’s time for lunch. At the radio broadcasting studios, food is not allowed in the studios – which makes absolute sense because you can’t afford to spill your Bamboocha into the keyboard while leaving greasy fingerprints on the mouse and microphone after having indulged in chips and kachumbari. So you come outside and eat all that food. And even if it’s not you who bought the food, your work mate is compelled to share with you because the tantalising smell of chips is making your stomach growl worse than the lions of Tsavo.

There may be a sensible person or three who prefer bringing in their own packed lunch but then again sensibility on food matters is a bit rare these days. Even the pikipiki guys who come to deliver the food from various establishments are on first name basis with even the security guards of the building because they’re there so often. The worst is if you’re really trying to cut back on the fatty food you just avoid the lunch binge scenario right? Right. Then as soon as you step out of the temperature controlled studio your nostrils are assailed with a whiff of chips and that’s just it then.

So basically this is all that happens as soon as the cold sets in. We just tend to eat comfort foods like bhajias, chips and samosas and anything else that isn’t deemed healthy. The long walks one tends to take at the facilities that provide tracks, or even gyms seem to have fizzled out of human life in these few cold months. The amount of caffeine intake is also increased to keep warm and these months have the highest rate of child conception… Well, it’s better than using stima to keep warm don’t you think?!