Hujambo!

“Pictures or it didn’t happen!” Well it happened: I ran 10 km in the 2009 Nairobi Marathon, and here are the pictures to prove it! There were almost sixty of us from ILRI, and we all finished without the aid of an ambulance. Finishing 10 km was a bit anti climatic because we didn’t finish inside the stadium. I’m not even sure I crossed the finish line because by the time I got there people were already lined up waiting for medals or certificates or something. Next time I’ll do the half marathon (21 km).
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Some people even told me they saw me on TV running. I guess I’m on my way to being famous, maybe?

If you want to see some more crazy pictures you can see the gallery here: http://thefro.org/gallery2/v/2009/marathon/

Getting a haircut in Kenya is a big deal. I figure in the two years I’ve been here I’ve gotten eight or so haircuts (the best of those being Sara’s). I can specifically remember three that were terrible, but I’m gonna go ahead and round that up to four because I’m sure that’s a more realistic figure. Here’s a few notes about the haircut I just got tonight in Westlands after work:

• My heart dropped and stayed in my stomach for the entire twenty-minute ordeal.
• Why did it take him so long to find the scissors, and why are all the other (Kenyan) men only getting their beards trimmed?
• I should be put asleep for these kinds of procedures.
• Is this guy drunk? Why isn’t one of those nice-looking, fashionable ladies cutting my hair instead?

Despite all that, I’ve now washed and touched up my hair with my pair of scissors and it’s not looking so bad after all. I also bought a new pair of shoes to replace the beat-up pair I already had, so tomorrow I’ll probably cause a scene at work when everyone sees the “new” Alan. HAHA!

Also, stay tuned: pictures of the marathon are out, but I haven’t sorted through them all!

I ran 10 km in the Nairobi Marathon, hakuna shida (no problem). It’s not far but I’m really tired! As I was waiting for the 10 km group to start I saw the wheelchair group fly by, and then the full marathon group. The 42 km guys are serious runners, holy shit. And the wheelchair guys were going so fast, and with such vigor, that I wondered if any of them ever fall. It would have to be catastrophic! I don’t even remember seeing them wearing helmets…

I had a lot of fun, so I’m actually looking forward to more runs in Kenya. I felt a real comradery when I arrived in the city center in a matatu in the morning. Because the police had closed all the roads I had to walk from the business district to Nyayo Stadium where the race was starting. Lots of people were walking, and random people were slapping high fives when they saw that you were obviously running in the marathon. As we were waiting at the venue I saw kids, old ladies with hunchbacks, and people in way worse shape than me running 10 km, and that’s ridiculous. I’ll have to do 21 in the next marathon, but never 42. Out of the 60 or so ILRI people who ran, two went for the full marathon. They both finished, but one of them was a bit out of this world when he crossed the finish line (if you know what I mean). 42 is too far!

We had ILRI people taking lots of photos, so I’ll post those when I get copies later this week.

It will be two years ago tomorrow that I moved to Kenya with Sara. After a few months living in Tala we were evacuated due to the post-election violence after Kenya’s 2007 Presidential election, but I came back soon after. In that period I’ve taught computer classes as a VSO volunteer, traveled all over East Africa, learned Swahili, forgotten English, and gotten a non-volunteer job in Nairobi. Who knows where the hell I’ll be in two more years!

Tomorrow is also the annual Nairobi Marathon, in which I’ll be running 10 kilometers. I’ve never been a runner, per se, but I’ve always been into sports. I want to do the run more for fun than anything else (besides, 10 kilometers isn’t really THAT far; a whole marathon is 42). For the past two months or so I have been training (if you can call it that) with some buddies at work. We run at lunch time, anywhere from 5 – 10 kilometers, through dirt roads, corn fields, etc. It’s a great way to get out of the office if nothing else. Not to mention the countryside is very beautiful, especially when you’re running in the rain. Also, I don’t feel so guilty when I go out and eat a pastry at the coffee shop afterwords.

Adios, muchachos!

It’s been my observation over the last two years that you don’t go to a restaurant if you want to eat sweet chapati. Much like the most delicious burritos in Southern California are found in “hole in the wall” Mexican food joints, the tastiest chapatis are found in vibanda (shacks/sheds) all over Kenya. It’s a well-established fact: if you want a nice, hot, fresh chapati like you’ve never tasted before, it has to be cooked over a wood fire on a pan of questionable cleanliness by a mama on the side of the road.

I live in Westlands, an uppity suburb of Nairobi where there is a lot of work being done to make new housing and business complexes for upper class Kenyans and expatriates. These shacks pop up to meet the demand of the day laborers who do work on the construction projects around the neighborhood. There was no food in the house this morning (and today was Kenyatta Day… no work), so I walked over to the junction up the road and had a chapati and a cup of chai. People driving by must think I’m crazy, but everyone there knows me already. I buy milk every day from one dude. I buy four chapati on Saturday mornings from one mama. Sometimes I even go there for lunch (greens, beans, etc, all for twenty shillings or so). The guys even shout Niaje?! (What’s up?!) when I walk by.
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