Whirlwind Nairobi Tour

Well our last blog post was certainly the result of some serious jet lag!  I took a 30 minute turned 4 hour nap and left the husband blogging unattended.  Shame on me.  But let's face it, the entertaining entries (albeit embellished) will be from John and the informative posts will be from me!

We are continuing to settle in - the jet lag is fading, our stomachs are slowly adjusting and we are beginning to adjust to Kenyan accents and phrases.

Downtown Nairobi

Saturday was quite a day!  We took a trip with other new students to tour Nairobi and learn important things like where to change money, how to take the bus from downtown back to Karen (suburb where AIU is located) and where to find local markets.  There were 9 students on the tour - 5 Kenyans, 1 Ethiopian, 1 from Malawi, me and John.   We started with a stop at Uchumi - a Walmart/Target type store where I was reminded that carrying tissues is a must as public restrooms do not supply their own toilet paper!  I left Uchumi with several packs and now have a stocked purse.  Next we drove into downtown Nairobi which is a mix of old and new buildings, plenty of traffic and the smell of diesel exhaust.


We took a quick tour of the chaotic rail yard where you can pick up bus 111 to get from town to Karen.

Rail yard - although I only saw buses, no trains!

We then drove about 15 minutes outside of downtown Nairobi and stopped at a market for lunch.  Here's where things started to get interesting!  We moved past the tables of produce, shoes, and clothing to a series of buildings and alleyways.  All the buildings were painted red and had a coke bottle and the coke logo displayed on the side.

The alley was full of men in white coats cooking meat over open fire and thick smoke hung in the air.  Our tour guide Daniel was surrounded as each vendor vied for our business.  He disappeared through the crowd to try to get a group deal while the rest of us waited on the outskirts of the alley.  While we waited we were constantly approached by the cooks.  I kept hearing "sister, sister come and eat."  Finally we made our way through the alley to the shop Daniel had chosen.  We were about to eat a real Kenyan meal - nyama choma with ugali.  Nyama choma literally means meat roasted and ugali is kind of like grits the day after cooking them (that's how Lois describes them!).  Big sides of raw beef were hanging in the windows of the shop and they cut off a piece, salt it liberally and throw it on the fire - and then use the same knife to cut off a hunk of ugali for your bowl!  Once cooked they chop the meat and place it on a wooden platter.  Everyone has their own bowl of ugali and you are supposed to take a small bit, roll it in your hand and use it to pick up the meat.  I was a bit nervous about the meal as thoughts of food poisoning ran through my mind, but when in Rome....and beside we are here to learn and experience Kenyan culture and it is my understanding that this meal is common and ugali is definitely a staple.

Ugali

nyama choma

We proceed on our tour and were slowed considerably by some serious traffic, but finally made it to a second market.  We saw produce, cows, goats and chickens and caused some heads to turn since we don't exactly blend in.  I bought a pineapple for about 80 cents - but only after one of the Kenyan students asked about the price.  It is quite obvious that we don't exactly know what we are doing!

Produce at one of the markets we visited

It's now about 3 pm and we are beginning to fade as afternoon jet lag sets in.  We return to the van and proceed to a third market about 10 minutes from AIU called Dagoretti.  This market was definitely a little intimidating.  The people in the market were a bit more aggressive - we were constantly asked to buy things, to hire a matatu (vans that give rides) to interact in some way with the locals.  Small shacks lined either side of the road and water and sewage ran down ditches.  Someone tried to pick pocket both of us but John was completely prepared and had his wallet attached to his belt and I was carrying no money.  Thankfully the man quietly slipped away when he realized he couldn't get anything from us.  We were later told that if we had pointed out the man, the community would have rebuked and beaten him.  This points out that the community wants to be able to do business, and not scare off potential customers. We are thankful that such a scene was unnecessary.

Dagoretti was a difficult place - and not just because we were weary from a long day, or that someone tried to take some money from us.  It was a realistic view of poverty and although forward, these people were simply trying to make a wage.  The majority of our experiences so far with Kenyans has been lovely - they have been welcoming and friendly and we are grateful to be received with such warmth.

The day and our experiences pushed us out of our comfort zone, but we believe that is a good thing and part of the reason we are here for the next few months.  It was good to see lots of different sides of Nairobi - from the quiet and tranquil Karen Blixen Coffee Garden to the harsh and dirty streets of Dagoretti.  I have a feeling we will be spending the next few months exploring what it means to live among these extremes.

Charlotte