It’s one thing to be white living in a rural area, but it’s another thing to be white and live in a rich suburb of Nairobi. I spent the last nearly two years living in Tala, where I was one of the only white people. It wasn’t hard for me to make myself at home, my current roommate was even teasing me the other day because I behave like someone from the shamba (farm) — shopping at the budget stores, eating boiled beans and chapati on the side of the road, speaking Swahili, etc. I guess I spent a lot of time learning to be mwenyeji (a local): becoming an expert at local trivia, food, language, geography, you name it. Now that I’ve come to Nairobi I realize the black–white dynamics are different than in Tala, mainly because there are more white people here. White people — Kenyan or foreign — don’t interact with the blacks as much, and they tend to zip around in taxis or private cars, go to separate dinner parties, clubs, etc.
Nairobi
Music in Uthiru
About two weeks ago I moved to Nairobi to start my new job. I live in Nairobi’s Westlands suburb but I commute daily about twenty-five minutes to a small town called Uthiru. The first difference I noticed from Tala is that the predominant language is Kikuyu, whereas in Tala it was Kikamba. I’m not worried, because I’ve learned enough Swahili, and everyone speaks that one in addition to their mother tongue. The one place you’ll notice the change in language right away is in the local music. It seems that every ethnic group in Kenya has their own distinct style of music.
I never liked the music when I was in Tala, but I miss it now. Every bicycle taxi, small shop, or matatu always had these beats on the radio. I’ve heard that this music is pure matusi (literally “abuses”), but of course I don’t understand one word they’re saying! The most famous Kamba artist is a dude named Ken wa Maria, so if you wanna hear more just Google him up. I don’t know any famous Kikuyu musicians yet, but their music is easy enough to find. Enjoy!
Kamba Music
My Furry New Friends
No, scorpions are not furry. Neither are snakes. I guess some spiders are, but now I’m bringing back too many memories from Tala. I don’t think those wild animals will be bugging me any more now that I’ve moved to Nairobi. Instead, I have two wildly energetic dogs constantly disturbing me, Peanut and Mascha. Peanut’s probably a black lab and Mascha is… furry. My roommate recently inherited them when his mom passed away, so last month he flew back to New York and arranged to have them brought to Kenya. They’re a great addition to the house, and I’ve missed having dogs as pets (since the only other interaction I’ve had with dogs was them chasing me in Tala while I was carrying groceries on my bike. On a bumpy dirt road. At night).
Peanut is the friendlier of the two, but he’s also the youngest and a bit more excitable. He likes to come sit on my bed when I’m on the computer in my room. If I leave for more than a minute or two, he’ll jump up and run to find me. The other night he was sleeping on my bed and I didn’t want to disturb him but I wanted to sleep too, so I just climbed under the sheets. I kicked him off the bed in the middle of the night when he refused to scoot over and was hogging all the blankets (and I was starting to get cold). I don’t think he took it personally because he still runs to greet me when I come home from work in the evening!
Mascha is from Russia… she’s furry and used to the cold, so she likes sitting on the tile floor. She’s a very interesting dog. Sometimes I walk into my room and find that the sheets are disheveled. I’m not the messy type so it left me wondering the first few times until I caught Mascha red handed once. I watched her hop onto my bed and start peeling the blanket and sheet away until she had revealed the sweet, soft inner sheets and was finally happy to sit down. She’s very eccentric, just like her owner (my roommate). He even speaks to her in Russian — I’m not sure what he says, or even if she understands, but it’s pretty hilarious and gets her revved up.
As I sit writing this Mascha has wedged herself in between the wall and the couch where I am sitting, and has rested her head on my foot. Haha, crazy dog…