Kiea's Thoughts

My friend Kiea was here to visit me for a week and half and I wanted to share her impressions of Africa with you since I thought they were really insightful.
Here are her first impressions of Africa.


Mzungu:

Mzungus are what white people or foreigners are called here in Nairobi. From where I am staying with Kristin in town, mzungus are few and far between. Walking down the streets it is very clear that I am out of place. At least I have dark hair and tan skin so I blend in better that Kristin and her blond hair and pale skin but there is definitely no place to hide. When I was in Greece and Italy I could sometimes pass for a local on the streets or at least blend in with the tourist crowds but no such luck here. I do get a lot of staring though. I don’t think my casual attire helps much because everyone there seems to walk around in the nicest suits no matter how hot it is. Even the poorest of people are own suits and are more presentable than my dressed up of work days. Kristin’s house maid who lives the largest slum in Africa (about 1 million people) even is styling.

My first day here, after arriving the Nairobi airport at 4am, was mostly spent catching up on sleep and slowly exploring the immediate area. I wandered down to the nice hotel nearby to lay by the pool while Kristin has to work and I took in the Africa bit by bit. I was really happy to see Kristin and how she has settled into this different country. I admittedly was quite nervous about being in Nairobi since I did now know how I would be received. After about 2 days of culture shock, I feel much more comfortable.

This week for the most part has been checking out what Nairobi and its surrounding areas had to offer. Sadly, there has been a drought here (except today) and Kristin’s trusty taxi driver warned me that of the animals would be in the Nairobi game park if I went on an expensive tour. No cool wild animals. Therefore I spent a half of a day checking out the Elephant Orphanage, the Giraffe park and a place where single mothers are employed to make beads and necklaces. I passed by the rich part of town with houses comparable to the US wealthy neighborhoods and then I passed the African slum. Very strange to see them so close to each other. It makes me a little angry.

Today I went to the Nairobi National Museum to see a lot of stuffed animals birds and game- not quite the same but it will have to do. However the museum was packed with children on field trips and there were more than entertained by me, the Mzungo. So many smiles, hellos and hand holding. I love how kids can lack inhibitions
Tonight I am about to go pack up for our weekend in Uganda since we need to leave extra early tomorrow. Kristin and I and 8 other scholarship students and friends are headed to see some of rural Africa and life outside of the more westernized Nairobi. Im so excited. Additionally, we are going to do some rafting/floating on the Nile so that will be an adventure too.

Desensitized:

Desensitized, suspicious and a bit cynical is what you have to become as a westerner to live and operate in east Africa in my opinion. I had a conversation with one of Kristin’s fellow Fogarty scholarship winner who hosted us in Kampala, Uganda this weekend about this. It’s amazing what kind of environment your body and mental state can adjust to out of necessity. Anyone who has spent time in a less than stable, corrupt county or environment can understand….It’s hard to explain but I guess it’s like something that is consistent and uncontrollable like earthquakes or hurricanes. At first your terrified, intrigued or excited and your body is full alert- fight or flight. Then when news informs you of a category 5 hurricane headed straight for your house for the 3rd time, it’s just another fall day in Florida- your just annoyed at this point. Or when you (I didn’t) get arrested for 45 minutes by the corrupt policemen with large guns looking for extra cash at the end of their shift at a checkpoint in Nairobi because someone in your packed car doesn’t have their seatbelt on and you don’t want to pay the bribe- it’s another morning commute in Nairobi.

Or Malaria is as common as the flu- “Oh, she’s out sick again with Malaria, third time this summer”. It’s just how life is. Cynicism is a trait that is inevitable as well. All of the crap that people try and pull, like charging you more because your white and hoping you won’t notice, it’s hard to give people the benefit of the doubt. That comes with living in a city anyways.

Desensitized and cynical is what I was becoming for the short time I was in east Africa- truly Amazing. I really think it’s just how your body adjusts to such a culture change. What an adventure! I love it

Uganda:

East Africa is such a unique place. It’s people, the social system and the variety of ecosystems/landscapes. I was lucky to come and visit Kristin when she had planned a trip with fellow students to visit Kenya’s neighboring country Uganda to float the Nile river and check out it’s Capital city of Kampala.

Me, Kristin, Anne and Damian (the Nairobi crew) left Nairobi at 7am Saturday morning for a 12 hour bus ride to Jinja, Uganda. The 12 hours seems to fly by since there was so much to see along the way. I had a chance to see the small poor villages where people lived in straw huts and markets packed with people. I also experienced the countyside’s ever changing landscape going from dry and deserty, into an evergreen forest and out into a jungle that would resemble a South American jungle. We even passed right through the equator line.

After one full Kenny Rogers video (hilarious right?) shown on the bus and 3 really bad African movies, we arrived Jinja about 7 pm and met with the 7 other students gathering there. Summer and Miriam booked us a cabin in a westerner filled campsite on the banks of the Nile River. There we grabbed some food and a few Ugandan beers and got ready to raft early the next morning.

We left about 830 and the ride to the drop off point for the rafts was an experience itself. In an opened top van we were offroading to the river through some villages and were chased down by their extremely excited children waving and shouting hello. I felt like a celebrity! Very cool.

The van dropped us off at the beginning of the floating route which actually is the VERY start of the Nile river. Kristin and I had a blast floating, swimming and playing in the river and seeing all kinds of monkeys swinging alongside the river and people washing their clothes. It was surreal that we were actually there! After leaving the river we recooped near the river and hiked around river falls until it was time to head to Kampala a few hours away.

The Nairobi crew had one more day to spend in Uganda so we checked ourselves into a hotel that night in the larger city of Kampala. I really liked Kampala. Things weren’t as crazy as Nairobi, it was much safer at night and they actually had more civilized things like sidewalks, nicer buildings, normal looking stores and street lamps. We spent most of the day navigating the city by foot, checking out the craft market and eating. We even went to a Mexican restaurant for HH Margaritas- Crazy! The familiarity was nice.

Side note: East Africans LOVE Obama! Barack and Michelle are the leading baby names in Kenya and Obamas grandmother, who lives outside of Kisumu- which we passed through, is a celebrity. I even considered getting an Obama scarf with his face on it.