Hi Everyone!
My cousin from Albuquerque, NM is fresh out of college and taking some time to meet some folks in Africa and learn about the country and people living there. He's allowing us to peek into his life and times there, so we can all enjoy learning and visiting vicariously! Join in the fun and if you have any questions you'd like me to ask Mark about, let me know and I'll update you with his response. With that said, here are his first impressions.
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11-12-07 Hi, everyone! Saasa (a local greeting)!
This is my first update.
Well, I have been in Kenya for a week now. Things here are very different than I expected, but I have fit in quite well. I miss home a bit I'm doing great. This is a very good place for me to be in this stage of my life, and I am learning a ton.
Despite any travel warnings and such, I assure all of you that I am completely safe and very well cared for.
In this update, I want to outline a few important things about life here:
l. *Home* The home life is very nice. We are living in a very nice place called Kasarani, a suburb of Nairobi. Traffic pending, it is about a half-hour outside the city. We sleep under treated mosquito nets at night. We shower out of a bucket and the toilet is a hole (called the loo). Clothes hand washed in a bucket and hung to dry. There is a water spout, which pumps treated water from inside the city. All the water and food is heated using either the kerosene stove (inside the house) or charcoal (outside the house). The garbage is burned in a pit outside, except plastic and metal which are recycled. There are many birds and lizards around. The lizards come into the house at will and eat the mosquitoes at night, which is a-ok with me. There is little light pollution from the city and even less from this area, so the nights are incredibly dark and the sky is filled with stars. The yard is very green and there are bananas, avocados, berries and mangoes which are grown here.
l. *Transportation* Matatus are the mode of public transportation. They vary in size, but are always very crowded and smelly and cost anywhere from 10-90 Kenyan shillings (KSH) depending on where you go and at what time of day. They drive very fast and very dangerously and are the cause of 90% of the traffic accidents here. The traffic in the city is crazy; traffic laws rarely exist. Pedestrians do not ever have the right of way, but despite this, people walk up the roads anyway because the sidewalks are crowded with sidewalk vendors (sidewalk vending is actually illegal in the city limits). At 5 pm, the traffic jams everywhere and since there are few stoplights (and a ton of roundabouts), it takes 3 to 4 times as long to get somewhere. We take matatus for long distances and walk everywhere else.
l. *Culture* The food here is incredible. Besides being very tasty, it is also nutritious. So far my favorites are chipati (sort of like a whole-wheat tortilla), samosa (beef and cabbage wrapped in dough and fried, tastes exactly like egg rolls) and mendazi (a pastry that is similar to a sopapilla, only better). Every dinner here features ugali (a cornmeal dish), rice or chipati, some type of meat, two types of vegetables, and fresh fruit for dessert. The dress here is very western (inside the city, especially), but some of the women wear more of the local traditional dress. The only tribe that still sticks very close to their original culture is the Masai. They can even be seen herding their cattle through the city. Tea and soda are taken several times a day,especially when you visit someone's home.
l. *Politics/Economics* Right now $1 American is about 66 KSH. There are no fractions of a shilling here (whereas we have quarters, dimes, etc.)
Some things here (like locally grown foods and matatu rides) cost much less than they would in America. Other things, like clothes and electronics cost exactly the same as they would in America, which is problematic because the income level is lower. Nairobi is home to the biggest slum in Eastern Africa. Called Kibera it has over 30,000 residents in about a quarter mile squared of land (and growing). I visited this place twice this week and it is very sad to see a town of garbage and scrap metal, sewage running down the side of the paths, unclothed children running around, a dead dog laying next to a house. Despite this, the people go on living their lives, ignored by the government.
The presidential campaign is in full swing. They campaign by hiring people to drive around in vehicles and ride bicycles, blasting music and rallying on the streets. On Thursday, the president (who's running for re-election) spoke in Kasarani, and the entire area shut down so everyone could see the speech.
l. *Mass media* Radio and television are very popular here. The 6 most listened to radio stations are: Reggae, British/American alt-rock, Motown/R&B/Soul, American Hip-hop and Rap, local music and worship. As far as television is concerned, the popular station is Citizen TV. They broadcast BBC World news, Kenya news, and an assortment of cartoons, dramas and comedies from America, with a spattering of local favorites and other imports (soap operas from Japan and Mexico). DVD's are also very, very popular. They watch American movies and TV shows mostly. As I've been writing this, the kids of the household have been watching CSI and the movie Antz. The local news and newspapers don't focus on much negative news. They are currently covering a lot about the election and politics, as well as a little international news. There is not a whole lot about murders or other violent crimes.
Well, I guess that's enough for now. My internet access is somewhat limited, but I am looking into a solution besides the cyber cafes.
Please let me know if you have any specific questions about life here, and I will attempt to answer them in a timely manner. - Mark |
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