Wazungu and their Protectors

Ok so I do have pictures but we're in the office getting ready for homestay so I don't have time to upload my pictures and I promise I'll do it later...

Habari zenu? Ok so we’ve done a lot since I last posted on day one and I don’t want to bore you all to death…feel free to give up reading, I promise I won’t be offended.

Here is a series of random thoughts:

I’ve been running every morning since we got here…altitude definitely makes a difference, or I’m out of shape, either way. No one runs near the city because they all just walk so much. Basically that means I get a lot of really weird looks because not only do I already stand out enough as an “mzungu” but I’m also running. I did get a fist pump from another mzungu I saw out running earlier in the week though, great moment of solidarity.

We were staying in the Karen district of Nairobi for the first few days. Yes, named after Karen Blixen of Out of Africa fame.

We had French toast for breakfast at the guesthouse we were in, no maple syrup. I miss Vermont. Also there are lots of cows here, but they’re just skinnier.

My room at our guesthouse in Karen had a crucifix with a glow in the dark Jesus on it so I could tell he was watching me all night long.

The bus we ride around in as a whole group is called the Jazz Quartet bus and is of the prom-bus variety with a paisley wallpapered ceiling. It’s pretty bad-ass.

The roads here are impossibly narrow. Sitting in the front seat of the bus is like taking your life in your own hands. Red lights seem to be more of a suggestion than a stop signal. And I swear it’s a moment of Harry Potter-esque magic that two cars can fit past each other on the road without swerving off the edge onto the red clay dirt “sidewalks” on either side of the road.

What we’ve been doing:

We had our drop-off assignment on Tuesday where I got dropped off at Kenyatta Hospital with two other students. We basically had to walk around the hospital and talk to random people to learn as much about the hospital as we could. It’s a public hospital here in Nairobi and it looked nothing like a hospital you’ve ever seen before in the U.S. It was all made out of concrete, Ryan decided it was of the post-apocalyptic architecture style. In the end we sort of failed the assignment because no one would talk to us without the permission of the Chief Public Relations Officer. At his office no one could figure out what 3 white kids were doing asking questions about their hospital but eventually the CPR came and talked to us for a few minutes. He was pretty cool, his name was Simon and he did his masters on the effects of globalization on health in Kenya. Simon also taught us that the man is always the leader in Kenya…definitely not helping the alpha-male complex of the only 2 guys on our trip.

Okay so, PROTECTOR COMPLEX!

We met Donna, Oloch’s wife, who is hilarious! She gave us the rundown on ethnicity in Kenya and we learned that it all boils down to circumcision here. That’s the major dividing point between different ethnic groups.

The next morning we had girl-talk time with Donna where she warned us about the above-mentioned protector syndrome. Basically, since we’ve all been stripped of our family and friend groups and our familiar environment we feel very vulnerable here. According to Donna, this vulnerability makes us biologically more likely to seek out a protector. A.k.a, fall in love with anyone: our taxi driver, housekeeper, homestay brother, random man on the street, etc. Apparently there’s an average of one secret marriage between a student and a Kenyan every semester! We’re taking bets on who’s going to come home married. “Anytime we think we’re in love, we just have to take a step back and remind ourselves, it’s just biology.”

Anyways, we did a walking tour of the city with our Swahili teachers! Took a “Citi Hoppa” bus (great name) into the center of Nairobi, “town,” to start getting our bearings. The tour ended at the Sizzling Grill, with two whole floors of “sizzling hot clubs.” We got our first real Kenyan food and tried Ugali…which tastes exactly like nsima, in other words, pretty much has no taste. Our meals here are basically all starch all the time.

We moved to Salveberg, a new guest house closer to the city and right near our SIT school building. Lots more cultural meetings in the morning and then we got a walking tour of our new digs. We found Java, a coffee place with free wi-fi and American food. Definitely planning to make my way back there for a chocolate chip cookie hot fudge sundae when I really need a pick-me-up. Also, for those of you who know me well, you’ll appreciate this. I cracked already and bought a bag of Peanut M&Ms at Nakumat, the grocery store. Couldn’t go five days without m&ms, whatever.

Today we had a three hour Swahili class. So much to try and remember but it’s a good thing because…drum roll please…we found out who our homestay families are today and we move in with them Saturday afternoon!! (Oh, we also had a lecture from a guy who runs a Gender Violence Recovery Center that was great and inspirational for ISP ideas.) So, I’m going to have to live with a real live family and communicate with them in Swahili, I’m so anxious about it.

My family lives in the Olympic neighborhood, which borders Kibera slum and is the farthest away from our school offices so that will be an adventure. Luckily I’ll have three of my fellow SITers in the same neighborhood as me. I’m living with a Muslim family so that will be an interesting learning experience. The mom’s name is Zahra and so far all I know is that she has a daughter at college in Uganda, a son who also goes to college there but will be home for the fall because of school fees, and a daughter in eighth grade. Good thing all those toys I brought for small children will be getting put to good use. Woops.

Anyway, sorry this was such a rambling mess, it’s so hard to summarize everything we’re doing. Hopefully I’ll get to write again soon after I meet my new family!!

Kwa heri.