Hujambo!

Randi and I went to Lake Naivasha last night. This satisfied two items on our fake scavenger hunt: the Great Rift Valley and hippopotamuses. Here’s the funny thing, we don’t have pictures of either of them; you’ll just have to take it on faith that we actually went there. It’s sad, I know, but you’ll live. The Rift Valley does have some awesome lookout points as you descend, but they’re really touristy and I just don’t think I could handle it (plus, getting the matatu to stop would have been really embarrassing). The hippos only come out at night, but they stay a bit far away, and we’ve all seen hippos before, so I didn’t bother to capture any.

We arrived a bit late to the Fisherman’s Camp at Lake Naivasha, and by then the only room left was this ritzy thing for 4,000 shillings (about 60 US dollars), then dinner was also expensive. Oops. Well we had a nice time and saw some hippos wandering around at night. Lots of white people too.

More pictures here: http://thefro.org/gallery2/v/2009/naivasha/

I haven’t been on hiatus, I’ve been on holiday! Actually I’ve been working a lot, but I did make it across the border this past weekend for a little rest and relaxation. One thing I realized during my 24-hour stay in Tanzania was that my Swahili is permanently Kenyanized. I’ve already accepted that I’m nowhere near fluent by Kenyan standards, but I’m a disaster by Tanzanian standards. You see, after their independence Tanzania embraced Swahili as the national language in order to unite their country as a common people, no longer colonized and no longer a collection of tribes. They were Tanzanians now! Kenya chose both Swahili and English, and while people here speak Swa, it’s kinda a watered-down, Englishized version (“sheng”). Kenyans even make fun of Tanzanian Swahili; it’s a chore, it’s boring, and it even sounds funny. And I know it’s terrible, but I do too…

To back up kidogo (a bit), I went to Tanzania to get a new visa; both Kenyan and Tanzanian. My one year, multiple entry Tanzanian visa expired earlier this year, and my Kenyan one is due for mid December. Sure you can go to the embassy in Nairobi but that’s no fun! Border runs are fun! Besides, Arusha is only five hours away, so it’s like living in San Diego and going to Mexico to eat tacos for dinner. Besides, I’m a local in Arusha by now. I’ve been there two times before so I’ve got the hang of which hotel to stay in, where to eat, and how to get around. I’ve always liked Arusha because it’s a mid-sized town with lots of local life buzzing around at night; finger food is plenty and cheap, and I’ve never felt unsafe there.
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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!

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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I’m finally settled in Nairobi. Last night was the first night sleeping in my new place. I’m now located in Westlands, one of Nairobi’s ritzy suburbs. The complex is very secure, but pretty secluded. That means it’s very quiet! It’s a nice place, a three bedroom apartment with a huge sitting area, kitchen, and several balconies. The apartment is located on Wayaki Way, just past Sarit Centre in Westlands. That means there’s no traffic jam in the mornings, and it’s just a fifteen minute matatu ride up the road. It’s about 15 minutes the other direction if I want to go to downtown Nairobi. Not bad!

I don’t own much stuff here in Kenya, mostly clothes, but moving was still kinda lame. It took me three separate trips, I guess it’s because I only have two medium-size bags. I brought a buddy from Tala with me for the last trip. The room I’m renting has a bed, cabinets, and a bathroom with a shower, one of the bonuses of paying a bit more per month here since I might not be staying after December. All I really had to buy were those blue curtains hanging over the window. My roommate likes having parties, and I’m getting old, so they’ll be handy if I want to be a party pooper and go to sleep early and not worry about people peeping in the window!
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