Kenya, Travel

I’m home safely from Mombasa (read on). I spent the week wandering around Mtwapa, Nyali, and Mombasa itself while my friend Anique was at work. I’ve been to the coast before but I have never had as much fun as I did this visit! I don’t have any pictures because my camera is dead… pole sana (so sorry)!

Highlights

  • Salsa dancing lessons
  • Swimming in the ocean for the first time since April
  • Bus home to Nairobi being attacked by people with crude weapons
  • Kid on beach bouncing a dead, but fully puffed, puffer fish
  • Being in a matatu (public service bus / minivan / taxi thing) which got in two crashes, the second one after the conductor and the door operator were yelling at each other about the first one
  • Browsing a spice market and being asked if I wanted to buy something that would let me “touch the sky”

The Bus Attack

The bus attack was pretty hardcore actually. I was on the 10pm Mash Poa bus from Mombasa to Nairobi. Mash is one of the coach carriers in Kenya (think Greyhound). I think it was around 2 am and I was asleep, but I awoke to some commotion and banging sounds around the bus. People around me were wincing and ducking, and the women were yelling “Twende!!” (Swahili for “let’s go!”). At first I thought the bus was broken but then the guy next to me said something like, “Alan, they have crude weapons!” Sure enough the front windshield had two large cracks in it from rocks. It was over as quick as it had started.

I guess what happened is that there was another Mash bus with a flat tire and we had pulled over to see if everything was ok. That’s when the commotion started. There were a bunch of cars and police after about 10 minutes and we all got out. The other bus wasn’t as lucky, several windows were completely shattered and some passengers had been robbed/beaten, including the driver.

Karibu Kenya (welcome to Kenya)!

Kenya

I’m headed off to the coast for a few days because work’s been slow. This past weekend I was in Nairobi and I went to a UB40 concert. I had never heard of them before, but every Kenyan who I told I was going was very jealous. It turns out that they are a British Reggae band that sings a million songs I know you’ve heard, like Red Red Wine. I went with a few volunteers and some Kenyans and we had a good time dancing and hanging out.

Music and dancing is really big in Kenya. There’s plenty of “traditional” music around, but the pop scene is overflowing too. There are lots of rap and hip-hop artists in Kenya and Tanzania, and lately I discovered there is even a Somalian hip-hop scene. Oh, but once you enter my house it’s almost always all metal, all the time! Here’s some music to keep you busy while I’m gone.
Continue Reading

Kenya, Rants

Lately a lot of people have been asking me for money, and it’s getting really annoying. Sometimes it’s, “give me twenty shillings” and other times it’s, “buy for me tea” or, “give me your bike.” I have so many experiences with this, nearly ten in the last two days, that I hardly even know where to start!

Today was a long day at work because my class wasn’t until after lunch, and then I talked for nearly two hours, waving my hands, writing on the board, breathing chalk dust, etc. After work I walked to the market to drink a cup of tea and eat a chapati. It’s only one and a half kilometers, but the hot African sun scorches my nose and neck and there’s a gauntlet of children yelling at me along the side of the road almost the whole way. Sometimes they yell, “Alan!” and other times it’s, “Mzungu!” or, “Wewe!” (Swahili for “you”). Even after you wave they keep yelling, and it’s really annoying when you’re walking with someone trying to have a conversation. The other day a rock/clod of dirt hit me in the face and I swear it was one of those kids (but I can’t prove it).

After arriving safely to the market I headed to the cafe I’ve been having tea at lately. It just so happens that the cafe is next door to the barber shop where I normally get a shave and hang out to kill time, so I went to greet people. The owner mentioned that they wanted me to buy them tea, to which I laughed, but he persisted. He said that he knew I was about to go drink tea and eat chapati. After that, how could I then go have tea next door without feeling guilty? So I proceeded to another of my usual cafes where I saw a certain mzee (respectful title for an old man) who was eager to greet me. He’s always really nice and I see him almost every day, but he doesn’t speak much English and my Swahili is better-suited for speaking with small children. I sat down at his table and made some small talk, inquiring whether he had already had tea; bado, “not yet.” I asked if he wanted chapati and he said something about it costing a lot of money, so I told him I’d buy for him.

As we were eating, a drunk (or crazy) guy started greeting me and asking for tea and chapati. I tried to tune him out but I still heard him telling me “God will punish you” and other crazy things like, “I am Kenyan.” He even came over to me to insult/beg to my face and I had visions of him throwing my tea at me. I tried to tell him to leave me alone and to go away (in Swahili), but this only made him more excited. Luckily a waiter saw him and shoed him away.

This stuff is entirely typical, though. Yesterday I was walking to a little restaurant to buy some fried fish and ugali and an annoying woman ran over and started following me. This woman is always nagging me. Every time I walk by she jumps up to come talk to me, dismissing whoever I’m talking to, pretending we have some pending business to attend to, “Alan, I want to talk to you about something.” She ended up following me several blocks to the restaurant, “Alan, I know you’re going to eat fish. Buy for me.” I’ve ceased to be courteous with this lady, so I just responded, “Linda, I will not buy you fish. I want to eat alone. Please leave me. You can walk that way now.” Another day she asked me to “just give me 100 shillings.” When I declined she made a big scene asking me over and over “why?”

Also typical: someone asks me to buy them food or tea and I see they’re chewing miraa (qat, a narcotic plant) in their pocket. I’ll joke with those guys and tell them that I can see they’re already eating some sukuma wiki. It’s probably rude, but how can I buy ten shillings of some leafy green vegetables when they’re spending 100 shillings on drugs? I’m not the morality police, but don’t ask me for ten shillings when you’ve blown 100 on drugs.

Just another day in Kenya I guess.