It is finally time to meander over to Kenya! We have waited so long to learn the mysteries of this vast continent, and soon we will uncover important truths like the proper pronunciation of “Kenya.” Is it “Ken-ya” or “Keenya?” The jury is still out, but will convene soon (probably something like three days from now). Our itinerary has us waking up before the crack of dawn to fly to Chicago, and then we touch down in London’s Heathrow and then finally, sometime on Friday, we fly into Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta. Wooo!
Yesterday Sara trimmed my fro and today I did a final number on my beard, so I think I look pretty presentable now. We spent our last day in America packing, enjoying a pre-departure feast at Denny’s, and watching Into The Wild at the movie theater (great movie, but the book was even better). I don’t know about Sara, but one of the comforts I will miss the most is American-style breakfast. I’m not usually a “bacon and eggs” kind of guy, but after two weeks of eating curry for breakfast in India I was ready for some freakin’ pancakes, ya know?!
Sara and I have not practiced nearly enough Swahili, which doesn’t look so good in retrospect. Hopefully the basic greetings and goodbyes will be good enough to get us through anything we could encounter in the first few hours of landing. Just check us out, we certainly look ready, don’t we? Notice the Canadian flags! Alright, folks, I’ve got some sheep to count and then a plane to catch. Keep your eyes peeled and ears open because we are now LIVE!
We now walk into the wild…
GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!! I want to know when you touch down. :)
WHAT THE F you two !
You weren’t supposed to leave till the 27th…. You bailed early and I was out of town because of the fires … I’m gonna come to Kenya now and hunt you down, because I didn’t get a goodbye hug.
Good luck Alan and Sara! We wish you well! – Bill & Jess
Hey guys, I think of you all the time and can’t wait to hear more! Alan, I keep thinking of things I want to ask you and then I remember that I can’t call you to ask. Oh well. Love ya!
wtf, canadians have terrorists now?? Nice shirt btw, Alan ;-) The Tala entry in Wikipedia is freakin weak sauce… you guys should have plenty to write about! Good luck you two, and post some pics asap!
So, I have two books to recommend. Don’t know if your mom mentioned them or not. The first is called: The bottom billion: why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it…I read it this summer, it is some interesting analysis of poor countries, mostly african, based on statistical work done at the world bank. It helped me make more sense of things.
There is another about Rwanda called something like: I would like to inform you that tomorrow we will all be killed with our families. I am not sure if that is exact, but you will be able to locate it based on that information. That is a sad book, and it rather slams the western NGOs, but still an interesting look at the region and an attempt to make sense of the atrocities.
Also, I note that the Open Society Institute (I work at the Open Society Archive—all George Soros) has an East African branch in Nairobi. Here is the URL: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/osiea
Oh and btw, have a great adventure!
oh my gosh, a little flag showed up next to my name…that is disturbing…