Hujambo!

Here are the five computers in my roommate’s office. Each one of them has the dude from 1984’s face on it.

My roommate Stephen is a funny guy.

Yesu yu aja (“Jesus is coming”). Wacko alert! Yes, they do exist outside of Texas! I think this guy parks his minivan on prominent streets in Nairobi to get the word out. I’ve seen this van before so it was like bumping into an old friend. When I saw it I thought, “Oh, it’s that car!” and I just had to stop and snap a picture. Thank the lord for cell phones with cameras. Citizen journalism, baby!

I wonder if he knows something we don’t, or if he will adjust the date next year when nothing happens on July 10, 2010. If he’s wrong, maybe he’ll change the date to something more in line with the real end of the world, December 21, 2012. Anyways, keep your eyes peeled while you walk in town and you might catch a glimpse of this hilarious minivan.

I posted some pictures of the inside of my house last month when I moved in, but I know you guys are wondering what the apartment complex itself looks like. I live in the Westlands suburb, just off Waiyaki Way near the Safaricom headquarters. I walk about a kilometer to the main road, along which there are several small kiosks set up where people sell milk, bananas, airtime for cell phones, cigarettes, etc. We live at the end of the road, down a small hill. By the time I reach the matatu on the way to work I am almost sweating from the walk (and embarrassingly out of breath). On weekends I can walk over and buy lunch from the ladies on the side of the road (they cook for the construction workers). Beans, chapati, vegetables, etc. Real cheap and delicious!

A few pictures from outside the complex. We live on the top two floors on the right with the brown balcony:

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Living in Kenya is hilarious; I’ve learned more about rap during my last two years living in Kenya than when I lived in the United States. Maybe it’s because I always listened to metal music, but there is no missing the influence of American rap on Kenyan culture (Nairobi especially). You’ve seen the matatus, right? Kenyans know about rap/hip-hop artists dating back to Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. (and even less-mainstream artists like Army of the Pharoahs and Immortal Technique which I figured only conspiracy theorists like me knew about). The most obvious influence is from the rougher ‘gangsta’ and ‘crunk’ styles like Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Hurricane Chris, Young Juc, Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, etc. You know, the usual stuff: money, guns, bitches…

Of course I don’t understand most of what these guys are talking about (sheng changes every day), but you can see the style of rapping, dress, etc where the influence comes from! These tracks are a few years old so the video is iffy, but the music is nice (unless you hate rap!). If you wanna be real cool, head over to Get Mziki’s urban music blog and throw this stuff in your car. You might get some funny looks but don’t be embarrassed, this stuff is hot over here!

Abbas ft. Chiwawa – 2050

I have no idea what 2050 is… but he is saying he wants a fly chick, and the chick is saying she wants a guy with a house, money, and a car… Sikiza tu (“just listen”)!

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ILRI apparently has an international “theme night” once a month (music, food, dancing, socializing, etc). This month is Kenya, and some women in human resources said they want me to be the DJ. Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into? I guess when you walk around speaking Swahili and Sheng and reciting lyrics from local pop music you’re bound to get noticed!

In fact, just that morning I was wondering when they were going to ask me to be the MC for the Friday morning coffee ceremony. Every week staff meet in the courtyard around 10:30 to listen to announcments, drink tea/coffee, and meet new staff and visiting consultants, students, researchers, etc. We have a guy from Finland here to help us out with some pressing issues on our Linux cluster and research computing network, so our team is supposed to introduce him. Just before it was time to introduce the guests my boss told me he wanted me to do the honors… haha. I don’t know if I’m funny, I certainly wasn’t trying to be, but people always laugh. I even made a comment like, “This isn’t supposed to be standup comedy” because people started laughing right after I said, “Hey, guys” in the mic.

So I wasn’t suprised when a woman I know in the Human Resources department pulled me aside at lunch and told me she had a proposition for me, and to stop by her office later. She told me there is a Kenyan theme night next week and “we” have been thinking you should be the DJ. Hahahaha. Flattering but what?! I’m from California! I don’t even speak Swahili (leave alone SHENG!). I guess I’m being modest, because obviously I know enough to get myself into trouble. She said she had suggested it to her friends and they said, “Who? Ohhhh, THAT guy!” Wow. We’ll see what happens.