When it rains, it pours...

So it looks like this trip is going out with a bang…

I had a lot to talk about for stuff that we’ve done the past couple days but I’m going to condense it all to get to the story at hand…

So after village market last week I went into Kibera for a couple days. There is not a whole lot interesting note other than meeting this cool college student from Japan who is interning for Ken’s YMCA this summer. He went around with me on my research on Friday.

Saturday was the big goat feast day. We woke up early at 6am to get to Robert’s house by 7am to kill the goat. Emily successfully made the kill, much to the surprise of all the Kenyans that thought she would chicken out. I’m not going to go into the details of the kill and its subsequent skinning and dissection, but it was a fascinating experience. Ask me about it if you see me in person and I will tell you more about it.

As soon as we had killed it, we tossed its liver on the grill and after a thorough cooking we had some of it which tasted pretty good. It is traditional to eat a piece of it right after the kill so we had some of that meat for breakfast. Afterwards Matt, Roy and myself came back to Kilimani for a couple hours before returning to the house for a lunch of some more goat. We watched Lion King with Robert and his neighbor’s families. We then went to his father and brother’s house. His brother had a meeting to go to with the vice-president of Kenya, but we spent some time talking to his father. He was a very intelligent man, and asked us to quiz him on his knowledge. Most of his answers dated back to biblical references as he was deeply religious. After that we had a dinner of more goat, before leaving for the night. We stayed up a couple hours to see Emily off, and then we went to bed.

Sunday was a very relaxing day. We sort of wanted to crash after the bus days prior so we sat around for the most part. We sat around and then at night we went to see Captain America at a nearby movie theatre. I enjoyed it and thought it a little ironic that we were watching Captain America in Kenya. It was the next morning when all hell broke loose.

Just before Emily left, we blew a fuse in the house. We thought it only pertained to half of our room’s electricity, but it was also the fuse for the water pump. Little did we know, the water pump was slowly draining over the next 24 hours so eventually it ran out and we had no more. We realized last night that we had run out of water, so we sent an email to the landlord and waited for a response today to figure out how to fix it.

I woke up this morning around 10am. I got out of bed and saw that no now was home except for Minh. I went and asked him what was going on and he told me that Matt had taken Roy to the hospital. At this point I was like What? As it turns out, both Minh and Roy were affected by some kind of food poisoning. They both had thrown up quite a bit, but Roy was especially bad so Matt needed to call a cab to get him to the hospital in town that the expats go to. He needed to be given a ton of antibiotics and they ran a number of tests on him after hooking him up to an IV.

Back at the apartment, there was still no power and no water. On top of that, the toilets were overflowing from the vomit that the two of them had ejected in their sickness. The landlord told us to go and find the caretakers of the complex we live in who do a lot of repairs. I went and found one and brought him in to help. He came to look at our fuse box and told us that the fuse for the water pump was only 10 amperes and we needed a 20 ampere one. He went out and bought one and came back and installed it. After putting it in, the power started flickering a bit, before we lost all of our power.

The caretaker went to check on other apartments, and it turned out that the whole building blew a massive fuse and had no power. We needed to wait for someone to pick up a couple new fuses, and for an electrician to come and install them. Meanwhile Roy and Minh were still sick and there was puke everywhere. While we were waiting for power, I went outside and filled some buckets of water at a nearby tap to pour into the back of the toilets to cause it to flush. It did not work super well, but it was the best option we had.

After a few hours, we finally got our power back. Apparently a fuse had completely exploded and the whole building shorted out. It was all repaired and we thought that everything was fine. Roy was finally released from the hospital with a big bag of medication to take, but he is feeling a little bit better now. Minh is also, but he is flying out tonight which should be an interesting experience. I went to go flush the toilets and it didn’t work. We still did not have water.

I went to go find the caretaker again to ask him to look and see what the problem was. After a little while he figured it out. With all the power troubles, our water pump must have completely lit on fire. The whole thing was scorched and completely burnt out. We need to get a new pump before we get any water.

Luckily the caretaker offered to go and pick up the new pump for us, and he said that he can install it sometime today. It will cost us around $70, but we will eventually get reimbursed by the landlord. And that’s where we stand right now. Roy is home now, and he and Minh are sleeping trying to recover. I’m waiting for the caretaker to come back with the new pump so we can finally get water back in the house.

I just love how both of them get sick at the exact same time that we lose all water and power and ability to flush down any waste. 

Oh Kenya…

On Stranger Tides

Today was an interesting day (I feel like I’ve said that a lot). I was able to experience some genuine culture shock, and had a good time doing it.

I spent about 11 hours today in a place called the Village Market. Emily had a meeting in a part of Nairobi called Kigeri. It is a really beautiful and green part of town, and it is where most of the foreign embassies are located, as long as an enormous UN compound. We wanted to check out Village Market so we figured that while in the area, it would be a good opportunity to do so (as it is kind of far, and expensive by cab to get to).

Emily went to her meeting nearby and I continued straight to the mall. When I got there, I became a little confused as to where I was. The place was absolutely ridiculous. There was a big waterfall nearby an outdoor food court. There were dozens of stores, carvings, more waterfalls, artwork, and art gallery, a water park, mini-golf, a movie theatre… the list goes on and on. It was massive.

The Village Market seems to be the place where the families of diplomats go for leisure. It was filled with foreigners from all over, and it seemed to be quite an affluent crowd. (There were many Kenyans there as well, though they were definitely upper class)

I went and sat in a café for a couple hours and finished a book (the 7^th I’ve finished since getting here). Emily eventual came from her meeting and we explored a little more. Then Matt and Roy joined us and we played 18 holes of mini-golf (I won) before eating in the food court. We then sat at a bar with live music and killed some time until we went to the movies to see the 4^th Pirates of the Caribbean (It was all that was planning).

The whole time, there were moments that I forgot that we were in Nairobi, Kenya. It felt a lot more like a tropical resort. It was bizarre, but a nice relaxing day that is sure to be a contrast with going back to Kibera tomorrow.

Pranked

Not much new to talk about. We are settling back in after our Safari. I’m going to begin working again with Ken in Kibera this week. I just wanted to quickly relay something interesting that happened to me yesterday.

I had just finished meeting with Adam and walking with him back to his house to pick up a spare power adapter he was lending me. As I was walking through the Prestige parking lot a Kenyan man flagged me down. Normally if random people try to talking to me, I tend to ignore them as they normally ask for something because I stand out. He was very persistent though and walked up to me.

He started pointing to the back of my shirt and said that I had something there. Dirt or something, maybe paint. He then stepped closer and started saying more emphatically that I had something on my shirt. At this point I started to get worried and I grabbed my phone and wallet through my pants pocket to make sure no one was trying to steal them. The man then took out a rag and started trying to rub whatever I had off my back. Suddenly, another Kenyan man walked over and agreed with the first man that I had a lot of paint on my back somehow. The both continued to try and wipe it off the back of my shirt. I tried looking to see what they were gesturing at, but for the life of me I could not figure out what they were talking about. I was still nervous about them, but I tried brushing the back of my shirt to see if I could figure out what the hell they were talking about. I started getting kind of stressed as they become continually exasperated about the fact that my shirt was filthy.

The first man then tapped me on my shoulder and smiled. He gave me a thumbs up with his other hand and said “Look! You’ve been Pranked!!!”I turned around, and out from behind a car was a video crew with a big camera all smiling at me. Then everyone standing in the parking lot around me began to laugh. The first guy thanked me, patted me on my back, and sent me on my way.

Yeah, that’s Kenya for you. Take a look; I will probably end up on Kenyan television.

Safari

So, I’d say that going on a Safari would be towards the top of the list of the coolest things I’ve ever been lucky enough to do. It was a pretty awesome experience all around, and make sure to check out this photo album to see some of the pictures. More pictures from each of us that went should be added over time, so check back every once in a while.

We started out Friday being picked up in the morning by our driver Paul. Our safari vehicle was a matatu specifically made for safaris. It has a lot of space inside, and the roof also rises so you can stand up inside and look outside. Here is a picture from google of what one looks like:

We set out immediately and our first stop was at a view point over the Great Rift Valley. The valley is a large rift between continental plates that extends from Lebanon all the way down Africa through Kenya and further south. The view point gave a pretty awesome view, and we were able to look many miles away into the valley. After taking a few pictures we were back on the road to a town called Narock where we ate lunch. The place we ate at was called the Dream King Restaurant. It is an all you can eat Kenyan restaurant that has many deals with different safari groups, so it was filled with white tourists which was kind of unsettling at first. After lunch we were back on the road.

A little bit outside of Narock we hit this really awful road. It was so rough going driving on the road, that it was a smoother ride with half the wheels off road and driving in a ditch. It was a pretty uncomfortable stretch of road as it constantly felt like we were about to tip over on our side which would have been pretty unfortunate. At one point one of our tires was punctured and we had to stop to replace it with a spare. After some bumpier driving, we eventually reached the Masai Mara area.

The first thing we did when getting there was to go on an afternoon game drive for a couple of hours. We had to stop at a gate and Paul paid our park entrance fee ($80 a day per head), and then we were in the park and were immediately greeted by our first pack of Wildebeest of many that we would see across the rest of the trip. I’m not really sure what to write about the safari itself. I don’t want to write too much about just what it was like, and what I felt. Instead, here is a list of observations and things I saw from all three of the game drives that I did. Then I will explain the accommodations and the rest of the trip.

•          There was so much open space. You could just look and all around you in each direction was just empty land filled with animals.
•         We were in the park during the great migration which is when wildebeest and zebra travel into the Mara north from Tanzania. The migration is peak safari time, as there were literally millions of them walking around. You would just look out, and every dot you saw was a wildebeest extending far into the difference. A remarkable thing about them is that they travel in almost straight lines when they walk which is neat to look at.
•          Our Tufts bred need to see elephants were more than satisfied. We saw probably dozens walking around, eating, drinking, all mostly in families.
•          We saw tons of giraffe too.
•          Lions were pretty cool. We saw the most on the third day. Normally they would just lay around in the shade to avoid the heat of the day, but a couple times we saw them more active. Once we saw one chasing after some wildebeest down into a ditch. When we got to the other side of it, there was a dead wildebeest at its side. Another time we saw a lion feasting on its prey. It then started to carry it away from some vultures.
•         Vultures and storks are really nasty creatures. We saw them eating a few carcasses. One vulture fresh at a kill site ate the scrotum of a wildebeest and then proceeded to stick its head and long neck entirely up the hole where the scrotum used to be into the body. It was pretty disgusting.
•          You never see in any pictures of animals, that whenever there is something interesting, dozens of safari cars rush to the scene. You know there is something interesting when you can see a group gathering in the distance. You then rush up to them to see what they are looking for.
•          Other animals we were gazelle, water buck, antelope, impalas, and a lot of different birds.
•          Unfortunately, we were not able to see any cheetah, leopard, or rhinos. All three are very rare.
•          Sunrise over the African Savannah. Just think Lion King.

There is so much more to talk about the safari, but I would not do it justice by writing here. Feel free to ask me about it in person next time I see you and I will be glad to explain it some more.

The place where we stayed at night was called Rhino Safari camp. It was not a great hotel or lodge, but it was comfortable enough. Accommodations were either tents under a roof attached to a bathroom, or small hostel type rooms. We stated in the latter though the first night there was a snafu with the lodging, and two of the group had to stay with strangers. All was well though. The food was also pretty good. Again, standard Kenyan food, but that is not a bad thing.

This is a long post so I am going to stop here. I have a lot more to talk about safaris, but I will leave that until the next time I see you in person. All in all, it was an incredible trip, I would recommend it to anyone, and I would definitely do it again.

Safari Tomorrow

I don’t really have all that much to add today. I spent the day going around Kibera again with Ken and Joshua, talking with a number of different people about data. The past couple days have been pretty uneventful overall. I needed to recover after spending so much time in Kibera on Saturday and Sunday, so I spent most of this past week just processing the information that I’ve gathered. We also booked a Safari and we are leaving tomorrow.

We are going for a 2 night safari in the Masai Mara, one of the world’s most famous game reserves. The Masai Mara is the northern portion of the Serengeti National Park located in Tanzania. It is the home of lions, cheetahs, giraffe, zebra, hippos, and really pretty much any animal that you can think of when picturing the Lion King (which we watched last night).

We are being picked up at 9am or so tomorrow morning for the 5 hour drive to the park from Nairobi. In the afternoon we are going on our first game drive, then returning to Rhino Camp at night. We are going to be sleeping in Tents, though they have roofs, and the whole area is in the enclosed campsite (so we are not in danger of being eaten). All day Saturday we have another game drive, and Sunday morning we have a final one as we are leaving the park.

I will be sure to write all about it when I get back, and I will try to get some good pictures online.

More than just Money

Yesterday was quite a fascinating day in Kibera. Today on the other hand, I relaxed for a bit, finishing a book and starting another, as well as typing up some of my notes so far. I’m a little tired currently, so I will skip most of the details of the day, and just mention each of the interesting or bizarre things that occurred.

Synopsis: I was in Kibera again all day in order to continue my research. Ken led me around again, and Matt decided to come to Kibera as well.

The Friend: Soon after we arrived in Kibera, Matt commented to Ken that he knew a lot of people around town, as we had to stop every thirty seconds for him to talk to somebody. Ken then agreed that he knew many people and pointed out that he knew a man who was across the street. The man was sitting in and picking through an enormous pile of garbage. Ken called him over and asked what he was doing. The man was covered in soot and garbage and was explaining that he was collecting it to sell. He was not completely there though. Something seemed a little off. Ken introduced him to us and told us that they went to college together. He tried talking with the man for a minute or two, but most of what he was saying did not make a whole lot of sense. The man then asked for help and said, “Watch, I can do tricks”. He then proceeded to do a split. It was the single most uncomfortable experience I have been in so far while in Kenya. Ken gave him a few coins and as we were walking away, Ken told us that they were in the same class, and that he had a lot more money growing up than Ken himself did. He told us that there are other factors then just money that affect how people turn out. It was just such a stark difference. Two young kids, coming from the same place. One ends up being a successful community activist, the other, a likely burned out from drugs beggar, picking through trash and doing tricks for some spare change…

The Drunkenness: Ken pointed out early on that Sunday is the major day for drinking in Kibera. Apparently, alcoholism is a pervasive problem in the slum. Throughout the day, we would see drunken people stumbling on by, yelling obscenities and falling over themselves...

The Art Studio: At one point, Ken brought us to this art studio in the slum. Inside were a few of the artists who were part of an art collective that worked out of this one studio. The walls were covered in their artwork, some of it quick comical, and full of political commentary. They told us how they have art hanging all around Kibera. They might be a group to get involved with the data center to help represent data in a variety of forms. As we were there, this man came in whose hair was in dreads. He asked for my name. When I told him it was David, he proceeded to tell me the following: “You are David. You live down in the hole you fight the lions in the dirt under the ground you feel the air it surrounds you everywhere the air it touches it moves it flows around your body it keeps going it flows the air the life force you fight the lions…” he trailed off. He then turned to Matt and ranted in much the same way, except about how Matt wrote the gospel of Matthew in the bible. He was very obviously high on something more than alcohol...

The Rat: We were in the house of one of Ken’s friends talking about the data center. The man told us that the houses are very poorly built in Kibera and they need to be fixed up. As if on cue, immediately after he said that, a huge rat scurried by on a ledge behind his head...

The Fight: As we were leaving Kibera we walked past a big fight going on between a few people. They were obviously drunk and just brawling. We quickly evaded them to avoid getting drawn in...

The Police Officers: After we had left Kibera, we were walking through Kilimani about a block from our house when two police officers came up behind us and stopped us. They asked for our IDs and we quickly complied by showing them our driver’s licenses. They continued walking with us for a few minutes, interrogating us about what we were doing here, where we were coming from, where we were going. One then asked me if it was true that in the United States, police officers don’t carry big guns. In Kenya, the police walk around with very large, automatic machine guns. They are actually quite unsettling to see everywhere. I told them that it was true; in the US they only use small side arms. He seemed disappointed, and said that his gun was easier to shoot people with. When we got to our block, they left us alone, but I think they were probably trying to get a bribe out of us. Bribes are a pretty typical way of life here...

What a day…