“Sauerkraut, Sausage and Ugali” Philister responded. Ever since she had introduced it into her Menu, the profits in her catering firm had been soaring. The new Kenyan middle class was not only enthusiastic about exotic food but also had the money to spend on it.
“That doesn’t sound Kenyan” Ramona said suddenly feeling unsure of herself.
“Well, it is a long story.” Philister responded with a chuckle.
“Could you then also bring some normal Kenyan food?” Ramona asked.
“Don’t worry I will bring the best of everything. Some fish, some meat, some vegetables,” Philister Taa responded. She wrote down the address of the client and immediately set out to work. She had earlier promised to accompany Tamaa Matano to something she said was very important. But that was going to have to wait. Business came first.
“That would be perfect,” Ramona said, and as she put the receiver down, she looked out and saw her sister Irmtraut and her two sons walking into the house holding hands. She smiled up at them.
“I’m so nervous,” Irmtraut said after the boys finally left the room.
“Why?” Ramona asked. Once in a while she still thought of the way she had hated her sister most of her life, and felt ashamed of it.
“Do you think she will like me?” Irmtraut asked anxiously.
Ramona smiled at her. She remembered her own prior obsession with being liked. “You can’t make anyone like you,” she said. “If you do, then it’s not real.”
The sisters looked at each other and smiled.
“Tell me about this Tamaa Matano,” Ramona said.
“Well, Kioko and Tamaa Matano are twins, and their mother threw them at different spots.”
“Threw them?” Ramona asked in shock.
“Yes,” Irmtraut responded.
“She was young and poor so she abandoned them. Luckily for Kioko he was abandoned at the entrance of a church so a priest picked him up. She just left Tamaa Matano with a neighbor and disappeared.”
“Oh my God!” Ramona exclaimed. Irmtraut stared at her silently. The horrific things she had experienced or heard ever since coming to Africa sometimes made the abuse they had experienced at their own mother’s hands seem like nothing. But only sometimes.
Two hours later, the two sisters sat in Irmtraut’s bedroom in front of the dressing table. “He gave me these earrings,” Irmtraut said proudly, showing Ramona a set of gold earrings.
“Who?” Ramona asked playfully. She still didn’t quite understand the relationship between Kioko and her sister.
“I feel like an impostor,” Irmtraut said abruptly.
“Why?” her sister asked thoughtfully. She suspected that she already knew the answer. They loved their lives in Africa. They had African friends. They felt completely at home—except they weren’t.
“I think that’s normal,” Ramona said finally.
But Irmtraut didn’t seem convinced. “Do you think that is how foreigners feel everywhere?” she prodded.
“You mean, like impostors?” Ramona asked. She thought about all the foreigners she had seen back home.
“You know, that is really difficult to say, but I think that anything else would be unnatural.”
For a moment, they just stood in the middle of the room silently, both deep in their thoughts.
The doorbell rang, and Tankie and Lukas dashed to open it. Irmtraut rushed into the sitting room. She saw Kioko standing at the door and smiling at her. Lukas and Tankie were both holding his left hand. She looked past him to the woman standing nervously behind him. She was wearing a white Chanel dress. Their eyes met, and for a moment they just stood there looking at each other. They both wondered where they had met before. And then Irmtraut remembered the long endless legs. And the bibles. It was the attractive woman on her flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi who according to her seat mate had stolen the minister of finance away from his wife.
“Have you two met before?” Kioko asked, looking from Tamaa Matano to Irmtraut.
“Yes,” Tamaa Matano replied. She stepped forward and gave Irmtraut a hug. “The prayers worked. I am doing well!” she said softly, as if they had known each other all their lives.
Acknowledgements
Writing a book is a long process. Along the way, one needs encouragement or just people who enthusiastically look forward to reading the finished book. Knowingly or unknowingly, these people provide one with the motivation needed during this process. I would like to thank my husband Tobias Jakob for his insight and feedback along the way. As a European, who has lived in Africa before, his feedback was essential in keeping my wild imagination in check.
Along with my good friend Renata Rivkin Haag, they read the first draft and gave me feedback that helped in creating a subsequent draft and ultimately this book. For that, I am forever grateful.
Secondly, I would like to thank my good friends Annabelle Lanfranca and Dr. Claudia Handwerker for their help in editing and proofreading this book. They helped me polish this story and tie the loose ends. Our discussions about the book were always so entertaining. Thank you for your friendship.
I would also like to thank my friend Wendy Okolo for being the most ambitious and good natured person that I know. Our ‘talks’always make me reflect about life and the role of women in the African society. My friend Winnie Achoki can also not go unmentioned. Her boundless faith and optimism make her one of the most positive people that I have the good luck to have in my life.
Many other friends were very encouraging and supportive along the way. Zuhal Werner, Dr. Oezlem Durmus and Marion Frischeisen especially come to mind. Thanks guys.
1A kind of Kenyan donut
2Work, work
3Security
4An East African dish of maize flour (cornmeal) cooked with water to a porridge- or dough-like consistency.
5Kale (some kind of spinach)
6A brand of food seasonings
7God bless you!
8A kind of hot bread and intestines
9Indian
10Porridge
11Someone who studies business
12Shit! Shit! Shit!
13Oh, bad luck!
14Today we are not lucky at all!
15Only losses!
16Someone suffering from AIDS
17Go, go, go!
18milk that was provided for free to school children during president Moi’s reign(Kenya’s second president)
19A children’s TV channel in Germany
20Controversial German politician
21The largest newspaper in Germany
22“Who’s Afraid of the Black Man?”
23Small fish mostly eaten by poor people.
24Praise be to God!
25God be praised!
26Welcome!
27German TV stations
28Shit! Shit!
29White people
30A many-storied building
31Comrades
32Voice of Kenya (a radio station)
33We want success?
34My sister, what is your name?
35No
36Feast
37Midwife
38High school Exam
39Hello, how are you?
40You are very welcome!
41Town library
42Day care center
43White person!
44Bring!
45Bring money!
46A many-storied building
47Shitty nigga!
48Shitty foreigner!
49Lazy bastard!
50I Petra Kukolova
51Thank you
52Street kids
53Type of African dress
54Penalty points for German drivers
55Shitty English!
56Gross!
57How are you?
58good
59It’s OK!
60Bye!
61A supermarket chain in Kenya
62Christian democrats and the Free democrats known to be very liberal in economic matters
63Job Center / Unemployment Office
64Someone who depends on State Welfare
65Four-wheeled cart
66What’s your name?
67Where do you come from?
68Trouble
69Administration policemen.
70Black tea
71She is mad!
72Citizens
73Voice of Kenya (Kenyan radio station)
The Outsider(S) Page 18