August in September

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8.08.09
At 4 am the Heather and Kathryn were up and getting ready to leave. I had bought a roundtrip ticket when coming to Kenya because it was cheaper than a one-way ticket and gave me a back-up plan if I wanted to come home. I never really thought seriously about returning but it was weird knowing I could be getting ready like them and returning to the U.S. I was so sick of flying I knew I couldn’t return even if I had wanted to so I walked them downstairs where Willis picked them up for the airport. He decided to return for me later so I got to go back to sleep. Upon returning to the room I was enveloped in the feeling that I was alone- truly alone in a strange city for the first time in three weeks. The four empty beds in the room magnified the seclusion but I realized that’s how it was going to be for the next three weeks and finally fell back asleep.

I woke up, alone of course, went to breakfast alone, checked out alone and waited for Willis to come and get me- alone. By the time I was in the lobby (I had to be checked out by 10), I was excited for the prospect of discovering the city and set out writing e-mails and blog entries because I was weeks behind. Willis had sent his brother Kevin to come keep me company because he was running late. We looked at my pictures from the trip and waited until about 12:30 when Willis arrived. He dropped Kevin and I off at the Nairobi National Museum which is a really interesting museum. The displays are connected by a maze of hallways and it would be all too easy to miss a room. The first room we started in had artifacts from different tribes around Kenya. There was a really good bird display in the next room with at least 20 cases of birds from around Kenya and even had a Red-Headed Lovebird, pretty much the coolest bird around. The museum also contained a local art exhibit and a display of the life-cycle of a person in Kenya. The life cycle exhibit was really cool because it chronicled how in different tribes births, deaths, rites of passages are celebrated and everything in between.

Kevin and I then continued onto the Kenyan National Archives after getting pizza. The archives have everything from furniture displays to pictures to timelines of Kenyan history, mostly since independence. A political man donated most of his collectables after passing away, starting the Archives. At this point I was a little exhausted so we went to Carol and Willis’ house where I would be staying for the next three weeks. Located in Nairobi West, the house is in the Swahara Crescent complex which has many of the same duplex style houses painted different colors. It’s right by the Mombasa road that leads to the airport and is one of the busiest roads but inside the house the noise is barely audible.

After a nice rest a huge group of us went out to experience Nairobi’s nightlife, which is pretty fun. We went all around, dancing and having fun. Right after we decided to leave the club all the lights went out. We made it out of the building with the light of cell phones and then got in the car to leave. We were in Westlands, a part of Nairobi, but even when we drove into downtown and then back to Nairobi West, all of the lights were out except for places with generators. Apparently this is really rare and even to this day I don’t quite know what happened.

8.09.09-8.12-.09
From this point my days get a lot less exciting. Although I feel comfortable getting into town, kind of, I am not sure if I could find a way out. The easiest way to get to town is by matatu, 14 passenger vans that you pay about 20 shillings (KSH) or 15 cents to ride. Each matatu has decorations, normally of black rap artists from the US, and some even have TVs inside. They have certain stops although none are indicated by signs and at each stop, a person with the matatu hangs out yelling for people to get in. I wish I could describe this better because it’s one of the weirdest things to experience. If you’re a rider you have some man yelling at you, hanging out of a vehicle while it’s moving.

Sunday was my first matatu ride although I had seen them all over town. Kevin and I went to Bombas which has a wildlife area and a park and a theatre. We went to see a performance of traditional dances from tribes all around Kenya. They were very interesting but the coolest part was the acrobats at the end. Some people have been made in very unique ways that allow them to bend in inhuman ways and these acrobats were the perfect example. The dance performers had active audience participation and everyone chosen got really into it which was so cool! There was a grandma and this mzungu woman who just shook it all out on stage.

Monday and Tuesday didn’t contain many entertaining anecdotes although I did go dress shopping at the open market. Kevin and I were going to a wedding with his sister Winnie on Saturday so I needed to find something appropriate. We decided to look at second hand clothes because I didn’t need anything too expensive. When trying on a dress I saw a Value Village price tag lying on the ground. Apparently most large second-hand stores send a lot of clothes to developing countries. Although I knew that, it was funny to see the $4.99 green price tag lying on the ground and it made me want to know the story behind the tag and the item it was once attached to.

On Wednesday Kevin and I took a matatu out to Sheldrick, an elephant rehabilitation establishment. The elephants at Sheldrick have all been orphaned and rescued by the staff members by airplane. The elephants may have been stuck in mud or a well or their mother shot by a poacher. Needless of the cause, they don’t have a herd anymore so at Sheldrick they try to recreate the herd mentality by putting groups of the elephants together to be rehabilitated then taken back to the wild. The animal chooses if they want to go back to the wild and if they want to stay with the herd created at Sheldrick or join their own. One of the key parts to success is only allowing visitors from 11-12 so they don’t become accustomed to having people around and are able to be released back into the wild.

There were three herds of elephants at the time and each group was taken into an enclosed area that the tourists were circled around. We were able to pet the little elephants and one of them even came up and sniffed my shirt and my camera with its adorable little trunk. The only thing is that it had been rolling in the mud so it got red-orange dirt all over my camera and shirt. Very adorable.

8.13-8.24
My days in Nairobi are short and long at the same time. I really don’t do much which is a big disappointment from the three weeks I had envisioned. I didn’t look hard enough for a non-profit organization to work with because I realized by the time I found one it would probably only be two weeks I would have to volunteer which didn’t seem like enough time. So I admit, I kind of gave up looking. And thus, I don’t really do much. It’s been great hanging out with Carol and her family. They returned Friday 8/14 from visiting her family outside Kisumu.

On Saturday the 15th Kevin and I went to the wedding I had purchased the dress for. It was a Catholic wedding and the first time I’d ever gone to a Catholic wedding. I wouldn’t have imagined that first would have occurred in Kenya. The wedding was LONG. There was a sermon first about fidelity, have done in Swahili half in English. Kevin was nice enough to translate some of it. The part that I most remember is the analogy of “Don’t leave your Rav4 for a sports car.” Then we had the whole ceremony and two hours later we were going to get food at the reception. The food was buffet style and set up in only one line for 300+ people. The wedding party members kept cutting and the line wasn’t moving and Winnie, Kevin and I were so famished we had to leave and get burgers. The food looked amazing and the birds thought so too. These huge hawk-like birds were circling the event like vultures and would swoop down and take food right off of people’s plates.

On Friday and Saturday I normally go out to dance with Kevin and his friends. It’s really fun but they like to stay out until 4am, which is way past my bedtime. Normally by the end of the night I’m just dragging along with the most lackluster dance moves anyone has ever seen, usually a nice toe tap from side to side. It’s really fun to get to experience their culture and the everyday lives of the people I’m surrounded by. At the same time, it’s hard not having my own life. I’m really dependent on Carol or Kevin’s plans because I’m not confident in my abilities to get and out of the actual city of Nairobi. To give an analogy of where I’m living, I live in Seattle West but I have to take a bus (in this case a matatu) into downtown Seattle if I want to do anything. Maybe if I didn’t have people to be dependent on I would get out of my comfort zone more but I also want to be safe and not stuck in some big city.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned but Carol has two sons, Ed who is 6 and Ian who just turned 14. Emmanuel, Carol’s nephew, also lives with them although he is from Seattle. During the day I hang out with Ed while he plays games on my cell phone and we watch movies when we have electricity which is only on Tuesday and Thursdays during the week. Ian and Emmanuel return from school around 2 in the afternoon so if I’m around I’ll hang out with them. In the afternoons Kevin and I might go into town where there is a business that allows me to call the states for really cheap.

On Monday the 17th the big activity of the day was a Matatu riot. A couple days ago Kenya Airways staff went on strike demanding a 130%!p(MISSING)ay raise. Maybe the matatu drivers were inspired or just a couple because after the Kenya Airways strike happened a couple drivers decided to take action. Somehow they stopped traffic at specific points on both lanes of the Mombasa highway (the main road in and out of town to the airport) and had traffic stopped for 40 minutes. I know all this because luckily one of the places they stopped was right outside Carol’s house so we had a front row view of the action. People were milling around however not much organized protesting occurred. Then the police showed up and Carol said we needed to leave where we were standing (right by the gate of the complex) because the police were probably going to throw tear gas. I didn’t feel as if I was in danger at all except for when I got in trouble for taking pictures but come on, what an opportunity. The riot didn’t even make the evening news and the rioters matatus were promptly towed away and sadly, the drivers were probably fired.

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