I'm in Karen, the picture perfect Nairobi suburb and preferred location for expats. A few days ago I was listening to stories from communities in Rwanda who are struggling to provide food for their families. So this is a massive jolt to the system.
I've promised myself that I'm not going to think about work for five days. However, I can't help thinking that this Kenya is a world away from the images of famine, conflict and corruption that often dominate coverage of Africa.
This Kenya tells a different story - one of a burgeoning middle class. Here you are welcomed by a plethora of glossy multi-storey shopping centres; posh restaurants and, the Java House set. Java is Kenya's version of Starbucks. It's packed with expats, yummy mummies and good looking Kenyans on laptops or reading their newspapers - and for one week only - little old me.
A study by the African Development bank, released earlier this year, highlights that close to half of the Kenyan population, 44.9% are categorised as middle class. It defines the middle class as those spending between $2 (Ksh166) and $20 (1,660 Ksh), a day.
This makes Kenya home to one of the largest middle class populations in sub-Saharan Africa.
This is news to me, and I'm still struggling with this figure as it doesn't correlate with the images of starvation that have flooded the media over recent weeks. Plus, next week I will be covering the food crisis in the northern part of country - and I've already been warned that I will be confronted by heartbreaking images.
So what's the reality and how is this middle class really defined? To gain a better understanding, I decided to interrupt some of the yummy mummies and young professionals having coffee and ask.
The first person I came across was an unemployed professional in his forties. Kenyan born, he moved here from the UK a year ago and has still not found work. He disagrees with the report. "A stone's throw from here, people have nothing, unemployment is high and there aren't enough jobs for the amount of people out of work." He was in Java using the internet access to apply for jobs.
Next I disturbed Korneila and Louise, thirty-something girls having lunch. They agreed that Kenya has seen economic growth, but suggested that the report wasn't representative, as most Kenyans will spend more than $2 a day just using public transport to get to work.
They defined middle classes as people that are in good jobs, can pay their mortgage and perhaps take a holiday and run a car. They pointed towards more companies selling a consumer driven lifestyle that people see and want to aspire to.
Prominent Kenyan journalist, Sarah Kimani, said she agrees that there is a visible growing middle class in Kenya, but is cautious: "Living at the moment is a delicate balancing act for Kenyans. Much of the wealth we see could be window dressing wealth. This is because the amount of people in debt has also risen. People are now able to buy houses with 100% mortgages and buy a cheap car on loan with nothing else other than a payslip to prove they can save."
Sarah went on to highlight that inflation has gone up - food prices have risen and the government has just introduced a law on price control for essential commodities.
This is because although there is a rise in young professionals, the amount of poor people in the country has also grown.
It's worth noting here, that the 44.9% figure in the report is actually reduced to 16.8% when you remove the percentage of people that are barely above the poverty line from the calculations. And, a UN world food programme report, states that 46% of Kenyans can scarcely afford one meal a day.
I was reflective as I digested what I'd heard. It would seem that professional Kenyans are courting a precarious relationship with debt that many in the UK have found themselves in. I got a 100% mortgage six years ago - you'd struggle to find a bank in the UK that would give you one today.
I'm sure the debate about the middle classes in Africa will go on and on. It's obvious that people are keen to show me the Kenya that people don't see - and I'm inspired. That said; electricity is still a problem as, as I sit writing in my friend's lovely suburban home, the power has just gone out - again.
Plus, there is no doubt about it; more than 12million people in parts of East Africa are facing the worst drought in 60years. This hasn't changed just because the cameras have left.