The following are the guts to a message that I was copied on containing a itinerary for Mark and the next young lady (Marica) that will be joining him in Kenya. She will be staying the duration of his remaining time there. She leaves the same day, March 4 as Mark.
Obviously this is only a initial itinerary, some of it is in coordination with Ann's presence in Kenya. The AIDS conference that is referenced actually occurs later in 2008, and takes place in Mexico City. Kigali, Kampala, and Bujumbura are in Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi respectively. You can look at a map and see the locations of the countries. In Burundi, the country is currently governed by the Military. Jerome's Uncle is a General, and the plan currently is for Mark and Marica to stay with him while in Burundi. Jerome is the Refugee that Mark worked with here during his senior year at UNM. I forgot to ask about Rwanda; my understanding is that they would be staying with Jerome's brother. He has not mentioned any arrangements in Uganda.
We spoke with Mark today utilizing Sykpe for about 45 minutes, a lot of questions answered and now probably incorrectly presented.
Ann's extended family are located in Northern Kenya. They are a mix of Masai, and primarily Kikuru. Mark, while visiting Ann's family will have the opportunity to have a special soup. Now the gross part, the soup is made from Goat's head, that the hair has been removed, and then boiled. It is supposed to be very good. Some folks remove the brain and eye balls, and make the soup. I kid you not on this! There is also the opportunity to try the Milk and Cow blood that the Masai are famous for. I asked Mark if he had a shot glass with him. That way he could try it, and be limited in what amount he had to ingest.
There is also a refugee camp in Northern Kenya that contains refugees from primarily Rwanda, and many from Burundi. They plan on spending time there. With it's proximity to Sudan, I expected these people to be Sudanese. They are however in the Nairobi area.
The populations of Asians are growing in Kenya. The Chinese government is working on infrastructure, and is building a trans-continental highway amongst other major projects. Efforts by the West are quite absent. (Obviously this is due to the slow eroding of the Western influence and presence in some parts of the world.)
The primary religions are Christian, those being Baptist and Catholic. Mark said they are Hindus, as they have a temple or two in the Nairobi area. From my readings, these are probably Buddhists. And probably are an import from China or other Asians. Buddhism is one of the fasted growing practices around the world. Note I did not say religion, because it is not.
I also asked about clarification on female circumcision. This practice is outlawed in Kenya, but is not easily policed, so there are some pockets of it still occurring.
We also asked about the transportation used for his travel to Mombasa. There are three airports that service Nairobi. The one he flew out of is named Wilson, and the flights were with Kenyan Airways. Jomo Kenyatta is the major airport that the large airlines come in and out of. Delta just recently started flights into Kenya. Upgrades to the airport have attracted many European airlines. One of the runways was outfitted several years ago with IFR.
We are preparing a care package for Mark. One of the requested items was a flashlight. Nairobi suffers blackouts, quite frequently at times. We are looking into a rechargeable, smallish flashlight to avoid the cost of batteries on his end, and the need to get a supply of batteries to him initially. Primarily because of weight, we will send the smaller size. This care package will go down with Ann and Marica.
Any questions you would like me to ask Mark are of course welcome. We do not often get the opportunity to find out about most parts of the world at such and intimate level. The hour show on PBS, or National Geographic just don't really provide details.
One thing we had a chuckle about is that the mass emails Mark sends, and which Ann is copied on; she forwards to her family. This was unknown to Mark. As Donna found out that Ann was doing this when she had a conversation to coordinate some things with her this past weekend. They love Mark and he has given them a different view of Americans. We are very proud of him.
Mark, June and Stephanie attempted to prepare a Mexican food meal for their hosts. Mark made Guacamole. Obviously, he could not get the peppers we use. And (so he) utilized some from the area that are around an inch and a half long. However, they were extremely hot. June and Stephanie made Tacos, making the shells from scratch.
Well, I have exhausted what I wish to share. And there is not much I am not sharing. I could, in having taken notes and written this, misrepresented something(s), so . . (take it with a grain of salt!) All I have to say is; what an adventure!!! (Marks dad, Dale) 11/28/07 e-mail |
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