Kenya

Kenya

Tomorrow is my first day in the running club at my new job. I joined the coffee club last month, but this month I stepped it up a notch and joined the running club. There’s no formal membership (other than an inter-ILRI mailing list), but I did buy some shoes from the back of a woman’s car in the parking lot during the morning tea break. It kinda felt like I was buying something illegal, like drugs or guns. I had heard through a few people that there was a lady around who could get nearly new second-hand shoes. We communicated through email and she called me this morning, I don’t know how she got my number, but she told me to meet her in the parking lot. She opened the back of her SUV and there they were, a line of running shoes. I tried on a few pairs, found one I liked, and handed her a wad of cash — 2,500 Kenyan shillings, or about thirty USD. New ones go for 5 or 6,000 shillings.

There are some guys in my building who are pretty stoked on running, and I heard one of them plans his international travel schedule around marathons (Boston Marathon, etc). Tomorrow I have committed to running with those guys, let’s hope I don’t faint. There are a few groups who meet at the front gate just before lunch, so I’ll just show up and get a feel for who I can hang with. Probably the chicks. I’ve been running at the gym for almost two weeks now, but I’ve only been able to go five kilometers so far. I gave my trusty Nikes away when I was moving last month because I didn’t have room for them, so I’ve been running in a pair of knock-off Converse. Those blisters on my feet mean I’m working harder than I need to be, right? So I’ll be fine! … but running on a treadmill is easier than outside.

Oh dear, I hope I don’t faint.

Kenya

I’ve been at my new job for almost a month. I’ve been pretty busy and the work is challenging. I’m a consultant, so the pressure is on to deliver results consistent with my terms of reference. I was lonely at first, but I’m slowly making friends now. For instance: I am investigating joining the running club. They go running at lunch time a few days a week. In related news, I’ve discovered there’s a gym at my apartment complex (complete with a sauna). I’ve been going after work lately to work out, but it’s pretty lonely by myself, and you know I’m ADHD — it’d be great if I had people to work out with! I ran five kilometers tonight but I only have a pair of Converse, so it was far from optimal running conditions. I’ll look into buying a pair of running shoes this week.

Alan at his desk at ILRI
Alan at his desk at ILRI

I used to sit at this desk in the library, alone in a cubicle in the corner. I’ve since moved to a new desk which is in a warmer room. It was a good move, though I’m farther away from the server room, and that place was too cold anyways. I joined the coffee club at the old office for like five bucks for the month of August, but they only ever brought me tea. I would say I was swindled, but I kinda had a hunch it was too good to be true when they told me it was only 300 shillings per month. I am still trying to find a coffee pot for my house so I can drink coffee at home. My roommate has a coffee machine but the pot is broken, and Walmart hasn’t arrived in Kenya yet so spare pots are hard to come by. I guess that’s a lame excuse, because I could just put a cup under and push the spring, but then I’d need to buy coffee filters. Ugh!

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Kenya

“I was counted,” because Kenya is in the middle of counting Kenyans. The census, which apparently happens every decade, is a very manual process: from August 24th to 31st people are walking from house to house all over Kenya inquiring about certain welfare indicators. I’ve heard the list of questions includes things like how many kids in each home, how many toilets and which kind (flush or pit latrine?), diet, occupation, salary, etc. I wasn’t in the house when the counters came, so I’ll never be quite sure what questions they asked.

All I have to go on is the story I heard from my roommate’s girlfriend Tasleem. My Swahili isn’t so good, and neither is her English, and that makes it all the more hilarious. When I got home from work the security guard told me the census people had come, so I asked Tasleem, “Walikuuliza maswali gani?” (which questions did they ask you?). According to her, the representatives came in to see the living conditions, asking who lives in this room, and that one, etc. She told them, “Watu wawili wanaishi huko juu, mtu moja anaishi hapa chini” (two people live up there, one person lives down here). When I asked her if she told them Steve and I were foreigners she said no. Hah!

Mimi ni Mkenya (I’m a Kenyan). Also, she told me she informed them that I was a teacher, which is a close enough guess. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure she knows my name, because whenever I come home she just says, “Sema, bro?!” (like “say something, bro”). Karibu Kenya!