Random Kenyan thoughts

One last post for the day, for the country, for the continent. These are just a collection of random thoughts, observations, and anecdotes from my time here. Enjoy.



I've never eaten so much cabbage in my life. While here I have also sampled goat, ostrich, loads of mangoes, lychee, paw paw, passion (fruit, alas), and about a bushel of raw tomatoes.

Kids seem to wander free here. Rarely do I see even the youngest of children being supervised by an adult. Even at recess. (When I went to visit Materi, Sister Esther took me to see the primary school next door. We just wandered in through the open gates and were immediately swarmed by the entire school. And not a grown-up in sight.)

There doesn't seem to be much in the way of garbage service here (I asked about recycling, and received a laugh), so people burn it. It's not uncommon to see a goat atop a pile of garbage which is still smoldering a bit. There is garbage (plastic bags especially) everywhere. It makes me shudder every time I see it.

Billy Ocean appears to still be big in Kenya. I heard him a number of times on the radio or CDs. Ditto for the song Celebration. (Go 1982 World Series Champions Cards!)

On Qatar Airways, one of the graphics that comes on the screen (along with how far to your destination, where you are now) is which direction Mecca is.

On the trip to Mombasa our van driver suddenly said we needed to be wearing seatbelts (after 11 days of not caring a whit). A police checkpoint was coming up. The three of us made a mad dash, but not a one of us could find both sides of a seatbelt. I just tucked mine into the side. The guy next to me contorted himself over the top of the seats (tall seats) into the next row (leaving a flip flop and much of one leg up front) in an attempt to find one. That not working, he contorted himself back up to the front, all the while yelling "Where ARE the seatbelts?!"

On the first day of monkey chasing I thought that our leader's hair was awfully well coiffed. Possibly TOO well coiffed. My theory was confirmed when she caught a twig and her wig came off. She put it back on, but a little crooked. (After that day, she gave up and just wore a scarf. On the last morning she said she couldn't wait to have her hair done properly.)

The monkeys ate the same sour fruit that I did when visiting that family. Turns out to be tamarind.

I did my laundry today here in Nairobi (at my cousin's cousin's house). When I went to hang it on the line, it had already been done (by the "domestic"). When I went to get it off the line, it had already been folded. It had also all been IRONED! While I can quite happily iron linen napkins for hours on a Saturday morning, I draw the line at ironing ALL of my clothes. They've never looked so good (and certainly won't again for the next six months, as I cram them into my backpack!).

I kept misreading the sign "Plot for sale" as "Pilot for sale".

One day I was served stew, and I said "Thank you" to the cook. She said "Caribou". I thought to myself that I hadn't known caribou were in Kenya, but really, what do I know? Then I realized she was saying "Karibu," which is Swahili for "You're welcome."

When wandering through the woods I kept smelling butter, and wondered who had greased themselves up. Turned out to be the pollen of a tree.

The CB in the safari jeep sounded just like something squawky out of Star Wars.

I saw a restaurant that had this painted on it's windows, presumably by way of an advertisement: "Breakfast Marinated Salad".

One evening after dark we were driving through a small town and I noticed that only a few shops had lights on. One had a nice v-neck dress hanging in the window. As we approached, I realized it was actually a butchery and that dress was a goat or sheep.

Everyone and their grandmother has cell phones here. You'll see a Maasai warrior with his spear, blade, club, and a cell phone clipped to his belt.

I have been singing Hakuna Matata for two weeks.

I misread the Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology as Scientology, and thought, Oh no, not here as well!

One day I was sitting near (not by) a river, just watching it roll by. A guy on the other side came up to it, presumably to wash, but threw a big rock in first, to ward off any crocs. I think I'd rather be dirty.



I guess that's it for Africa. Hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. I'm sure I'll have many more stories in person!