Time in Nairobi - Days 2 and 3

(Sorry for the late posting - internet access is not always easy and we've been ripping and running since we got here).

We were really happy that we stayed up those 24 hours on the trip here, jet lag was not really a problem and we hit the ground running (and haven't stopped!). We are tired but so happy for this opportunity.

Day 2 (8/3)

We decided to hit up Kenyatta University (where Pat's husband Daudi works and which houses a collection of different model homes from the various tribes here in Kenya). Before heading to KU we spent about three hours on the phone and pouring over our guide books looking for places to stay in Mombasa. The Nation (Kenya's big national paper) was reporting that the AGOA conference (trade conf that Hillary Clinton was in town for), some big student music festival and the countries holiday period all meant that the big vacation spots were completely booked up. We called about twenty hotels trying to find spots to squeeze us in. Pat was a great help and we burned through about 2 phone cards but finally we secured hotels both in the west (Kisumu, Naivasha) and in Mombasa. A lot of the hotels are much pricier than we had anticipated so we spend a lot of time crunching numbers, reviewing receipts and fretting over whether or not we'll be able to stay in budget - eek!

Next we headed out to a local beauty parlor where Njeri and Mer wanted to get henna temporary tattoos. Jessie was also persuaded to get one as well. It was really cool and VERY basic - the beauty shop was really just five plastic chairs, one sink to wash hair (though there was no water), one display counter with a few pairs of earrings and a shelf of a few bottles of shampoo. The walls were painted bright orange and there was a lace curtain that hung to separate the shop from the street. Several muslim women came in and out to a mysterious back room, we weren't sure why. The tattoos ended up taking about two hours to apply, pause, wait for them to dry, apply the next one, etc. By the time we left it was quite late.

We departed for KU finally and this was our first chance to ride a matatu - we had to take two to get to KU (each cost between 40 and 50 kenyan shillings). The matatus come in a variety of styles but are basically mini vans with four rows of seats tightly packed in - you can get about 12 in a matatu. The driver (who sits on the right because they have those british style cars and drive on the other side of the street) just drives while another guy hangs out the side of the van calling passengers and collecting fares. Each matatu has its own style, most have loud reggae, afro-beat or hip hop/R&B blasting. They are brightly decorated, have paintings of famous people - we've seen 2Pac, Brittney Spears, Kanye West, Puerto Rican flags, and a lot of Obama, and some even have black lights and Video screens.

The matatus are scary and dangerous and a lot of times we are clinging to the seats, other times we are stuck in never-ending traffic. On the second matatu ride headed towards KU the traffic suddenly slows and there's obviously something ahead causing traffic to merge to one lane on the highway. As we drive by we see a young boy face down on the road with people taking pictures and a video camera trying to collect evidence. It was a hit and run incident, the young boy was killed and the driver had not been apprehended. We looked around on the matatu, everyone looked at the body, shook their head, and there was silence in the van for a while afterwards. We felt the same way - we kept thinking about the boys family. What was missing from the scene was shock. No one seemed surprised and though there was a sadness in it, it wasn't a big enough event to warrant conversation from our hosts. When we started to discuss it they sort of waved the conversation off and moved on. The image of the boy is still fresh in our head.

Finally when we arrived at KU after the two hour matatu ride we were delighted by the campus. We sat down to have some ugali (think grits but finer and cooked drier) and meat with cabbage. It was Jessie's first time with the Kenyan staple and she loved it though wished for sugar and butter on hers! We sat there relaxing and taking in the gorgeous campus. It was already 6 p.m. and the campus was closed so there wasn't a lot to see. We also found out that the models of the different Kenyan villages had been torn down. Still we enjoyed a walk around the large campus, it was a beautiful night, fresh air and a really relaxing environment. Nice to take the edge off the day.

We headed home in a taxi (Daudi paid for it because he thought it was too dark to take a matatu) and that night we had a nice long talk with Daudi. We talked about political corruption, the diversity of religions in Kenya, tribal divisions (and how they disappear abroad), and even how to get out of meetings with a phone program called "call interupter manager" which basically allows you to fake a call from someone to get you out of a conversation or meeting (BOBBIE!). Daudi is a really nice and interesting guy and had some new perspectives on some of the questions we had.


Day 3 - 8/4/09

Today was the day that matatus stopped being fun for us. Though the previous days incident with the boy on the highway already had us heading in this direction, on this day we discovered that after one or two rides in a matatu it is worth looking in your budget to see if you can afford taxis!

We headed out in the morning for Nairobi's National Museum of Kenya which is the most famous museum in Kenya. We got a late start but when we got to the crowded stop we had to wait for a matatu. We got on one that was really loud and fun - it had a video screen which was bumping all old R&B and hip hop videos from our college years. We had fun singing along. Jessie was also really taken by the four young muslim women in full hijab (bui-bui) who got in the matatu with us. One was fully covered with only small slits for her eyes. We wondered, why are some allowed to show their faces and others not. The one with her face covered was bumping and dancing to the music and kept getting annoyed when the person in front of her was blocking her view of the videos. It was an interesting and perplexing thing to watch. There are a lot of muslim people in the section where Pat lives (south c) and a mosque that wakes us with its call at 5 am every morning. What has been really interesting is to see how the different cultures of people influence how they dress and practice islam (even in the same country). The Somali muslims are very different than some of the other tribes. Some people where clothing we'd imagine people in arabic countries to wear, while others where wearing scarves made from more traditional african fabric. There is so much diversity here of religion, ethnic groups and cultures all in Kenya - what we should, but don't often, expect from a country that proudly calls itself the birthplace of humanity.

Finally we arrived at the museum which was a bit of a disappointment. The museum had undergone some renovations and had a very modern (and expensive) coffee shop and a new gift shop but the exhibits were a bit neglected. There was a wonderful (read REALLY wonderful) photography exhibit by a man named Patrick Armory but was curated very poorly - no captions for photos, very short explanation of the exhibit, and the only thing with any info was a copy of the exhibit brochure taped to the wall (they had no other copies and no books of his for sale in the museum shop but we have vowed to find it online). There was also an interesting (but very elementary) exhibit called the "cycles of life" which showed the traditions and routines of various cultures through the different stages of life from birth to death. On the first floor we were really impressed with an exhibit on evolution showing skulls found from early humans until today. It was really amazing to see skull pieces over a million years old and we couldn't help but think that Jessie's grandmother would've loved to see it. The Kenyan's are very proud of their place in history as the craddle of humanity and love to show all the fossils that have been found here. We enjoyed seeing this exhibit.

We left the museum at 5 pm and walked to the matatu stop with Pat and Njeri. After waiting 30 minutes and seeing that every matatu was full we decided to walk down town to catch a different one. We walked for about 45 minutes and happened upon this really well maintained, pretty area of downtown which housed the famous Norfolk Hotel, the National Theater and a pretty park. We were surprised to find it in the middle of very noisy, crowded and often gray downtown Nairobi.

We stopped for a hot chocolate and then as soon as we turned the corner we found ourselves back in the downtown Nairobi we had passed through several times. We had to walk about ten more blocks to the matatu station that would take us home. On the way Pat decided to head into the big supermarket to pick up bread for the next day so Njeri, Mer and Jessie waited outside. By now it was dark and all of a sudden Nairobi felt a lot more tense and dangerous. People were staring at us as we waited against the wall but no one really bothered us and we started to relax. Pat was taking a long time and we were laughing about something when a young man, obviously high, extremely dirty, with yellow eyes and brown teeth approached us and reached for Mer's coffee. When she said no he couldn't have any he kept reaching, now grabbing her arm. Njere told him to leave us alone in Swahili but he looked at us with there really wild, jaded eyes and seemed desperate for this coffee Mer was holding. He reached for her again while he waved an old glass bottle with yellow gooey stuff at the bottom (he was sniffing glue). Pat walked out just at this moment so we began the trek to our matatu stop. The guy began following us so Njere and Jessie crowded around Mer and pushed her out of his reach. We'd cross the street and he'd appear again. For some reason none of us thought to just hand over the coffee! We crossed another big street and he was heading towards us again so Jessie turned around and yelled "Stop" at him and he looked up at us, stood still and turned around and walked away. After that Jessie wouldn't let Mer (or her purse) go and was holding on to both with white knuckles. Mer couldn't stop laughing (though she was also scared) at the situation and how the man was so thirsty for the coffee but for some reason she hadn't thought to just give it to him.

When we arrived at the station finally it was packed so we stood at a nearby corner where there was an illegal matatu station. Still three matatus came and went and we still weren't on one. By now everyone, Pat, Njere, Mer and Jessie, were tired of matatus, downtown nairobi and the dark. We were anxious to get out of there and feeling desperate to leave - it dawned on us to take a taxi since we had the money and get out of there.

After a stop for some dinner we were finally home where we had to hurry and pack for our trip to Amboselli and our safari the following day!