I know this seems like a trivial thing to write about, but I had such an experience getting there & back I just had to write about it... plus I have not added anything in a while.
first of all we don't have a car yet (not until mid january) so I have to rely on the kindness of others to get around. My social sponsor calls me up this morning to see if I wanted to go to the butcher & green grocer. Food was getting a bit low & I a;ways jump at the chance to get out. So 8:45am and we are off. To give you an idea of where we are going the total round trip is about 5 miles... at most. We run into traffic right from the start. To understand traffic in Nairobi I need to first explain a few things.
Our compound empties onto a 'major' road in Nairobi. I need to describe what a major road is. This road is one lane each way and is a step up from a dirt road. It is paved but in ill repair. To all my Portland friends, this is about the equivalent of Broadway... with pot holes... one lane each side... same amount of vehicles. Sprinkle in a few roundabouts for good measure and you have the route we took.
To make matters worse there are no traffic laws, or at least none that are enforced. There are cops who try to direct traffic but only end up making things 10x worse. And then there are the matatus... the what? Matatus are a form of public transportation in Nairobi. They are mini vans that have had the back seats taken out and in their place are 4 rows of bucket seats, 3-4 sets per row. Each matatu is privately owned and they are decorated in a manner of different ways. Each matatu has a name that the owner puts on the front windshield. These names can be anything from celebrities (B'yonce, Clinton, Clooney) to just pure randomness (Fox news, Shazzam, Death Trap). The owner/drivers make money by cramming as many people into the van as possible and making as many stops as they can. More stops=more passengers=more money. Needless to say the matatus do every they can to get to where they are going as fast as they can get there. Today I saw multiple vans drive by on both sides. That means the sidewalk (if there were sidewalks) and into the oncoming traffic. It is pretty funny to watch. To give you an idea of how insane these guys are, the embassy has forbid us to ride in them due to "their appalling accident record." Trust me there is no way I would step into one of those things. I will try to take a photo of a few of these things as they are a spectacle.
So I got off track. I just wanted to give you an idea of why a trip that should have taken 15 min can take almost 2 hours. Did I mention that the round trip was about 5 miles?
Anyway the "Jam" gave me a chance to take in the roadside wonders. the entire length of this main road has nurseries (plants before you ask) & wood workings (people selling anything carved out of wood; bed frames, shelves, wood animals, etc) on the side of the road. It is pretty interesting. Also there are small burning trash piles ever so often on the side of the road. Yup we're not in Kansas anymore Toto.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
First Impressions
OK kids here we go. E (Erica) & I have been here for 4 days now. I guess I can now give an accurate first impression report. Before I get into that i want to address a common request I have been getting... photos. Don't worry folks we'll get some pics up but so far there is not to much to see. Our lives have been home, embassy & the "mall" down the street. Once we get settled/established a bit more we will start snapping photos. Also, the embassy is great for organizing day & weekend trips. Again once we get established we will start going on these excursions and will have photos from that.
First impressions... Let me start by saying as I am doing this blog thing for posterity I want to be brutally honest (the good, bad & ugly). I guess the very first impression i had of Africa/Kenya/Nairobi was something I expected. Jamie Fox did a stand up routine where he described his experience in Africa while filming Ali. He said the first thing that hits you is the smell. It did not disappoint. The first step off of the plane and it hits you hard. You know right then that you are not in Kansas anymore. it is not necessarily a bad small just different (and pungent). I can't describe it except for that is smalls of people & earth. Like I said not a terrible smell (although it can be in larger crowds) just different.
From there lets move to the people. i need to preface this with what the US government throws at you before entering Kenya. The warnings are abundant. I think the term 'Nairobbery' has been used in more than one publication. The terrorist threat is moderate, but the crime threat is extremely high. Having this drilled into your head you have no choice but to give someone a certain view/outlook of a culture & its people. Psychological fact of first impressions, If you are told negative things about a person (in this case a society) you will go into the society with a predisposed negative attitude.
That being said in the four days i have been here i have had nothing but positive interactions with the Kenyan people. Most Kenyans i have run into are quick with a smile and a hello. There is a very easy way about them and they are extremely polite. The plentiful presence of security & armed guard are a constant reminder that there is still the alternative. Hopefully that generality I have discovered holds firm but I'm sure I will run into the contrary in the time we are here.
Our house... I said something about our 'ridiculously large' house in my last post. We are in a three bedroom four bath (2 full & 2 half) townhouse. Our bedroom is larger then both our bedrooms in our Portland house combined. Plenty of room means we are open for visitors, so here is your chance to visit Africa.
We are staying in a walled housing compound. The walls are tall with electrified wire along the top. The the entrance has two gates and is manned by 6+ guards at all times. Inside the compound is basically little America. Quiet brick streets with one side full of townhouses and the other side with huge single family homes. There are tennis & basketball courts, a pool, soccer field, restaurant, bar & commissary (think small connivence store with imported American goods, just to make us feel at home). the inhabitance are all Americans working at the embassy and it is a nice slice of America. I personally did not come to Africa to spent time living in America. Many inhabitance feel the same way and get out as much as possible, but there are obviously some who are perfectly content to stay within their 3 mile radius (see above... home, embassy, mall). I want E to kick me if I ever get that way. It is a very nice place to live and sometimes it is good to have good old American interaction, but as long as it does not become your life.
I think I have rambled on enough. By all means shoot me comments if there is anything you want to know or are curious about.
Later
First impressions... Let me start by saying as I am doing this blog thing for posterity I want to be brutally honest (the good, bad & ugly). I guess the very first impression i had of Africa/Kenya/Nairobi was something I expected. Jamie Fox did a stand up routine where he described his experience in Africa while filming Ali. He said the first thing that hits you is the smell. It did not disappoint. The first step off of the plane and it hits you hard. You know right then that you are not in Kansas anymore. it is not necessarily a bad small just different (and pungent). I can't describe it except for that is smalls of people & earth. Like I said not a terrible smell (although it can be in larger crowds) just different.
From there lets move to the people. i need to preface this with what the US government throws at you before entering Kenya. The warnings are abundant. I think the term 'Nairobbery' has been used in more than one publication. The terrorist threat is moderate, but the crime threat is extremely high. Having this drilled into your head you have no choice but to give someone a certain view/outlook of a culture & its people. Psychological fact of first impressions, If you are told negative things about a person (in this case a society) you will go into the society with a predisposed negative attitude.
That being said in the four days i have been here i have had nothing but positive interactions with the Kenyan people. Most Kenyans i have run into are quick with a smile and a hello. There is a very easy way about them and they are extremely polite. The plentiful presence of security & armed guard are a constant reminder that there is still the alternative. Hopefully that generality I have discovered holds firm but I'm sure I will run into the contrary in the time we are here.
Our house... I said something about our 'ridiculously large' house in my last post. We are in a three bedroom four bath (2 full & 2 half) townhouse. Our bedroom is larger then both our bedrooms in our Portland house combined. Plenty of room means we are open for visitors, so here is your chance to visit Africa.
We are staying in a walled housing compound. The walls are tall with electrified wire along the top. The the entrance has two gates and is manned by 6+ guards at all times. Inside the compound is basically little America. Quiet brick streets with one side full of townhouses and the other side with huge single family homes. There are tennis & basketball courts, a pool, soccer field, restaurant, bar & commissary (think small connivence store with imported American goods, just to make us feel at home). the inhabitance are all Americans working at the embassy and it is a nice slice of America. I personally did not come to Africa to spent time living in America. Many inhabitance feel the same way and get out as much as possible, but there are obviously some who are perfectly content to stay within their 3 mile radius (see above... home, embassy, mall). I want E to kick me if I ever get that way. It is a very nice place to live and sometimes it is good to have good old American interaction, but as long as it does not become your life.
I think I have rambled on enough. By all means shoot me comments if there is anything you want to know or are curious about.
Later
Friday, November 19, 2010
Kenya... How did we get here
Man the time has flown by. It has been almost 2 years since Erica first told me she was applying for the Foreign Service. Now we are in our new home in Africa.
But let me back up a bit. i know all you want to know about are the lions & elephants, but I want to remember the process. As we have only been here two days, I don't have much to report about Nairobi.
Just to avoid boring you all I will just go over the last two months. Erica was sent to Washington DC to begin training in September. I was about a month behind driving cross country and arriving on Oct 16th. From there we had a month before we were to be shipped out. I was thinking 'It's party time', back in DC with all of my friends. No job and nothing to do except for going to the Smithsonian... WRONG. Little did I know Erica had three little tasks for me to complete in that months time... Buy a car (right hand drive) to be imported into Kenya, arrange all our worldly goods to be shipped, and figure out how to ship 2 cats to Africa (toughest one of them all). Without going into the long story... household goods are on the way, car is ordered (Honda CR-V), and cats are safely with us (after over 18 hours in the guts of a plane, poor cats).
Aside from my tasks I also had to get my run of vaccinations and because I couldn't find any previous records meant I had a total of 10 shots for various diseases... ouch.
Even though there was a world wind of activity, Erica & I still managed to hang out with friends, visit parents and even be tourists again our old home town.
And then off we went on nov 16th. Two 8 hour flights with a 3 hour stop in Amsterdam. We are two days into our adventure and I have not been able to get out much, just a few trips to the local store (I'll explain why in next post).
As jet lag still has a firm grasp on me i will end this entry. i promise the next will actually have stuff about Kenya in it. Next installment will include first impressions, our ridiculously large house and how I see it so far. Bye for now.
But let me back up a bit. i know all you want to know about are the lions & elephants, but I want to remember the process. As we have only been here two days, I don't have much to report about Nairobi.
Just to avoid boring you all I will just go over the last two months. Erica was sent to Washington DC to begin training in September. I was about a month behind driving cross country and arriving on Oct 16th. From there we had a month before we were to be shipped out. I was thinking 'It's party time', back in DC with all of my friends. No job and nothing to do except for going to the Smithsonian... WRONG. Little did I know Erica had three little tasks for me to complete in that months time... Buy a car (right hand drive) to be imported into Kenya, arrange all our worldly goods to be shipped, and figure out how to ship 2 cats to Africa (toughest one of them all). Without going into the long story... household goods are on the way, car is ordered (Honda CR-V), and cats are safely with us (after over 18 hours in the guts of a plane, poor cats).
Aside from my tasks I also had to get my run of vaccinations and because I couldn't find any previous records meant I had a total of 10 shots for various diseases... ouch.
Even though there was a world wind of activity, Erica & I still managed to hang out with friends, visit parents and even be tourists again our old home town.
And then off we went on nov 16th. Two 8 hour flights with a 3 hour stop in Amsterdam. We are two days into our adventure and I have not been able to get out much, just a few trips to the local store (I'll explain why in next post).
As jet lag still has a firm grasp on me i will end this entry. i promise the next will actually have stuff about Kenya in it. Next installment will include first impressions, our ridiculously large house and how I see it so far. Bye for now.
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