I’ve absolutely loved my time in Kenya that’s for sure, but I’ve loved some things better than others. So here they are – my 10 favorite things about Kenya.
10. Unlimited time in the shower – Yeah, so what if that’s because I take my shower with a pitcher and a big bucket, it’s still unlimited.
9. My tie – We went to visit a school one day and I found an official school uniform tie on the ground probably from about a 5 year old. It was put on with an elastic band around your neck and I picked it up and put it on. The man in charge of the school was amused and gave me a real one, so I now have an authentic Kenyan school tie to wear around the world. They did make me promise I’d wear it though if I ever met Obama…seriously.
8. It’s colder than Alabama – While it’s apparently recently still hitting 100 degrees in sweet home Alabama, it’s often cold here in Kenya. We arrived the first day of spring and while it’s slowly warming up there are definitely days I’m glad I didn’t leave my sweatshirt in Ireland, and you better believe I bundle up underneath blankets at night. Never thought I’d escape a September Alabama heat wave by being in Africa.
7.
Everybody’s
fine – Most people speak pretty good English here, but
99.9% of them know at
least two English phrases. Mzungo (white person), how are you? and I am
fine.
Tell somebody you’re good, and you might get no response. You are fine,
always
fine and so are they. Also, in Swahili hello can act as how are you
which when
I finally learned explained the frequent conversations like this – Me:
Hello!
Kenyan: I am fine. So in an environment where things can change so
quickly,
it’s nice to know some things never change. A Kenyan will in fact always
be
fine.
6. Corn
hole tournaments – Corn hole – the game of bean
bag tossing famous for its popularity on college campuses during football
season. I had never played before, but thanks to a previous squad here and
their affinity for corn hole, Patrick now has a home made set and we generally
play every day. So thanks to corn hole and waiting 30+ minutes each Internet
day to let 60 seconds of Alabama highlights buffer it’s like I’m not missing
college football season at all….ish.
When we arrived here we discovered we were blessed
with 2 televisions.
We quickly discovered that it wasn’t nearly as exciting as we thought.
There
were about 4 channels and they were all black and white and very fuzzy.
However, one day we arrived back to our home and walked in to discover
Pastor
Patrick with a large device taller than himself that looked like a huge
ray gun
laser beam device. Turns out we had got a satellite. Despite mine and
Matt’s
hopes we weren’t able to pick up ESPN2, but we did get some good stuff.
We are
now the proud owners of Cartoon Network and some Kenyan station that
runs
nothing but American classic professional wrestling during the afternoon
both
in color and crystal clear. So whenever I’m really missing the USA, I
can just
flip on the TV and watch some early 90s WWF and everything is all
better.
Note: I just changed this blog and this shot up 2 places because as I sit here in the Internet cafe the manager changed the channel and American Gladiators Season 2 came on. What a ridiculous blessing. Thank you Lord.
4. Named matatus –
The main form of transportation in Eldoret is a matatu which is
basically a van that fits 15 people or so. I’m actually riding in one right now
as I type this and counted 15 seats. Some however hold less like the first one
we rode on that advertised on the side room for 14 homies. If that’s not good
enough each one has a name. There’s several popular themes including American
rap artists (Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, DMX), Christianity (Ephesians, and a personal
favorite God’s Chosen One) and Obama (Obama, Yes We Can) who is not
surprisingly portrayed everywhere – more to come on that. Here’s names I saw simply on the ride in to town: songs, yesu yupu, spike, pet mac, lips,
wa-mercy, hot line, bricks, no limit, invisible, twins, N. America).
We have the pleasure
of traveling in Chief with our trusty driver everywhere we go.
So wherever you travel in Eldoret you may be cramped, but at least you’re traveling in style.
Our 14 homies ride was Ludacris �” yes it was absurd in the fact that we
were crammed in with our bags and 5 African strangers and a stow away who
hopped on the back for a free ride by holding on with his hand in our window �”
but I was referencing the rapper who was our matatu’s namesake. It even came
complete with his picture on the roof.
3. Calendars –
Kenyans absolutely LOVE calendars. They basically
are the equivalent of posters. The average Kenyan hut has about 3 calendars.
Many huts have calendars for 2007-2010. Some are normal calendars with Kenyan
landscape photos, some are sponsored by local businesses, but sometimes we get
lucky and there’s a really, really good one. One was a Barack Obama calendar
with him photo shopped into various situations. One he was winning a marathon,
another he was receiving an Olympic Gold medal, and in one he was scoring a
soccer goal. However, the best was him fighting McCain with the caption, “Take
that old man!�
close second place was the 2007 calendar named – The Rise and Fall of Saddam
Hussein with his life progressing in photos as the months went on and
concluding in his arrest. Don’t
know whether the residents were a fan of his
rise or of his fall, but nevertheless there it was stuck in their wall. Sadly I have
no pictures of either of these, but I hope you can enjoy the greatness of them
in your own mind.
2. Cheap Cokes –
We’re only a 10 minute walk from God’s gift to
us: the Highway Shop – a wonderful place that sells glass bottle half-liter
cokes for 30 Kenyan shillings – actual US retail price: 37.5 cents. Throw in a
few 5 shilling Kiko chocolate wafer bars and you have yourself a delicious,
sugary, semi-American snack for a whopping 50 cents.
1. I mean have you tried the ugali!?
