Why?

Lydia was a bit frazzled this morning, a departure from her usual calm.  She said that she had to leave her home before 5a because of some news she received about a market downtown.  She keeps a stall at this market with some of her sewing projects.  (We also pay her on the side to shorten some pants.)  She was told by a friend that there had been some commotion at the market and she should go to make sure her stall was OK.  Thankfully, it was.

But when she arrived, she found out that there had been plans by the city council to clear the area surrounding the market of its street vendors.  The vendors apparently hadn’t been told about this plan.  In the middle of the night, heavy equipment was brought in to tear up the street.  A nightwatchman had drifted off to sleep and was killed by the equipment operators.  “Why,” Lydia asked, “didn’t they just honk their horns before getting to work?  Certainly, the man would have woken up and his life would have been spared?  Why, couldn’t the city have warned the street vendors about this plan, so that they would not have lost valuable wares?”   

Who’s the Boss?

I cannot get used to the way muzungus (and others?) use the term “boss” here in Nairobi.  If the guard opens the gate, “Asante, boss”.  Talking to a taxi driver, “Please stop here, boss.”  It just feels super weird to me.  Boss most definitely refers to a man and always to someone who is most certainly not actually in charge.  Using it just seems to highlight the extreme power mismatch going on between people in this city (and elsewhere?). 

House Helpers Without Exploitation

Is it possible to hire house helpers* without engaging in exploitation?  Does it matter where you are?  (Of course it does.  If a geographer believes in anything it is that PLACE MATTERS.)  Does living in Nairobi present particular challenges to this question?  If so, what does this non-exploitative relationship look like?  How can I achieve it?  If not, how does a family with two working parents and a child move forward with their careers?  Am I asking the right questions?

*I include all manner of childcare in the category of house helpers.

Braving the Matatu

In many places that I’ve visited (Amman, Panama, Israel) a private system for public transport flourishes.  Here in Nairobi, there is the matatu.  Matatus are vans that hold approximately 16 people (or more if squeezed in) and ride along the established bus routes picking up and dropping off passengers anywhere along the route. There is a driver and an expediter who handles all the money and tells the driver when to stop and when to continue on.  DW, in his many moons of travel to Nairobi, has never ridden a matatu.  And for good reason.  Matatus drivers have a reputation for being wild and completely unsafe.  The ride was rumored to be stinky, with ear-blasting music, and you might pick up TB (or some other disease) to boot.  Basically, not recommended.  But since arriving, I’ve met a number of young, muzungu women who ride matatus during the day – so I said, what the heck?!  Let’s do this.  I asked my new friend RK to take me for a ride.  (She rides them all the time.)

First, the pick up.  You better know where you are going and you have to know approximately how much it will cost.  You should confirm this before hopping inside.  We had a choice of matatus at our various pick up points and you can decide that one looks too rickety, the music is too loud, or you generally have a good feeling about one versus another.

Then, the ride.  Relieve yourself of any notion of personal space, because you won’t have any.  People will smush themselves into spaces “between” seats where no tush will fit.  Make sure you have small change.  The expediter will give change, but will not be happy with big bills.  Body Odor…. Yes.  Blaring Music….. Indeed.  Some drivers seem to be worse than others, but the ones who took me around town seemed downright cautious.

Finally, the dismount.  The expediter will tell the driver to stop, but it may seem more like a rolling slow-down than an actual stop, especially if it’s not a regular pick up point.  Be prepared to force your body through some small spaces to get out of the vehicle. 

All said and done, my matatu ride was actually pleasantly uneventful.  Yes, it was a bit uncomfortable, but the price was right.  We paid 20 bob (shillings) – approximately 23 cents for a ride that would’ve easily been 500 or so by taxi.  Cool.

Next up – the motorcycle taxis.  (But I’ll tell my mom about it only after I arrive where I’m going safe and sound.)

Week 3 Wrap-up

Today marks three weeks since we arrived in Nairobi and I have to say, I didn’t expect this place to grow on me as fast as it has.  It definitely has its… er…. quirks that make the pace of life somewhat different than what I am used to, but I don’t know if that is all a bad thing.
For this week’s wrap up I’ll give you my top 5 pet peeves of Nairobi coupled with top 5 enjoyment factors about this city.

Pet Peeves

5. Crime.  I haven’t actually experienced any of it first hand (thank god), but its existence means that I have to live my life in a certain way: no going out on my own at night, special care taken when going out at all, plus this general suspicion of strangers.   Not a fan.

4. Intermittent Internet.  This is more of a headache than a true nuisance.  I rely on internet to connect me to my family and friends.  Actually I’m hoping that it will help me focus on the true work at hand – dissertation research.  (So it goes in both the good and bad column)

3. Car Traffic.  Since I’m home a lot, I don’t have to sit in this as much as DW does, but the traffic is ridiculous.  It is unpredictable and can leave you at a standstill for hours.  Ugh.  (However, I’m always reminded that we aren’t hindered by traffic, we are traffic.)

2. Undrinkable Tap Water.  I so appreciate just being able to turn on the faucet and drink water without fear.  Not possible in Nairobi.  We are purchasing filtered water and aside from the expense, it’s just a shame.  It also means I haven’t had a green salad in three weeks. Boo.

1. Burning Stuff. I guess I have a sensitive nose because the burning that takes place periodically next door is just a lot for me to handle.  I also think some people are using gikos to warm their homes in our building!!  I know it isn’t good to breathe and it is just downright unpleasant.

Despite these pet peeves, I do think that the enjoyment factors are beating them out.

5. Lush Greenery. It has been a long time since I lived somewhere that had lush greenery everywhere.  I do love both AZ and CO climes, but I am digging the huge leaves, exotic flowers, and other loveliness that comes with more rain.

4. Pole Pole Attitude (Pronounced Poh-lay).  This is the generally laid back and relaxed approach many Kenyans have to their surroundings.  Perhaps I should also put this on the negative list because sometimes, it is good to get riled up.  But in general, this at ease stance vis-a-vis the world is calming.

3. Availability of Everything.  I know I poo-pooed this attribute of Nairobi when we were back in CO, but it really does impact our lives for the better.  Hankering for a particular kind of cheese?  Nakumatt has it.  Need to outfit a house with the necessities?  No problem.  Just blew out your power supply on your computer because you're a bonehead and forgot to switch it?  It'll be here in the morning.

2. Avocados, Pineapples and other delicious fruits and veggies.  ‘Nuf said.

1. Friends in the Yard.  This is a distinct benefit for us to be living in an apartment complex instead of a single family home.  J has made some terrific friends of all ages and backgrounds in our complex.  The kids are fun and kind and I know he is enriched by the experience of meeting them.  See photo evidence below.
 

Viewing the Mara

This past weekend we went to the Masai Mara – I’m a geographer and needed a map, so here you go.

And a close up, satellite style.

We woke at 5a to arrive in downtown Nairobi around 7 to catch our tour bus.  This thing was mammoth.  Imagine a truck container that had been converted into a passenger bus.  We were certainly the tallest thing on the road.  Then began our journey.  We had it in our heads that the ride would be four hours – WRONG.  Googlemaps cannot be trusted in Kenya (or anywhere?).  After stopping for lunch and traversing some of the bumpiest and most treacherous driving I have ever seen, we arrived at our camp around 3pm.  Then we set out on our first game drive.

The Masai Mara Game Reserve was established in the early 1960s and much of what I know about it,I read on its wikipedia site here.  The reason we decided to go this weekend is because we heard about the Great Migration, which apparently is happening now as Wildebeests (could be called the “weirdebeasts” for their odd appearance) move en masse from the Serengeti into the Mara and back again.  Unfortunately, although we nailed the right season to see the migration, our short trip meant that we didn’t actually see wildebeests by the hundreds or thousands as expected.  However, we did see lots of animals, got out of town to see some new landscapes, viewed the great rift valley (geo-nerd alert!!), learned a bit about the Masai people, and had a lovely time.
And what did we see?  From the paragraph on the last post, here’s what we viewed:

wildebeest CHECK, gazelles CHECK, antelopes CHECK, topi CHECK, giraffes CHECK, elephants CHECK, ostrich CHECK, zebra CHECK, warthogs CHECK, elands NOT SURE?, buffalo CHECK
Plus we got an eye-full of lions with cubs and a leopard finishing a huge meal.

And without further ado, my photos.  A disclaimer: I am not a photographer, nor do I have a telephoto lens.  Plus, sometimes I had to choose between watching something with binoculars and taking picture – binoculars won many times.  But I hope you’ll enjoy this collection.
Link to the picasa album is here: https://picasaweb.google.com/MTIsaak/MasaiMaraTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmQkIi93KDxBQ#

Over the next few days/weeks I will go back to these photos and narrate some stuff about them, about our trip, and about what we learned.  In the meantime, enjoy. 

A bit of commentary:  There seems to be a power struggle between the local council that controls some of the game reserve and the national wildlife association in Kenya.  And this makes sense because the reserve is a cash cow – each non-resident paid $80 USD to enter for 24 hours (thankfully, Jonah was free.)  It was intimated to us that unscrupulous ticket takers pocket large sums of the cash.  It certainly hasn’t gone to enrich the entirety of the Masai people, who live traditional lifestyles based on animal herding.  But there is a lot I don’t know and don’t understand.  How was the Mara established?  How is it managed?  What sorts of biological inventories or other research are conducted there?  I must read an environmental history of Kenya generally and of the Masai Mara region specifically. 

And what I know you’ve all been wondering:  J did great on the trip.  It required basically two days of sitting in his carseat on very uncomfortable roads and he slept through lots of it like a champ.  Did he enjoy looking at the animals?  I don’t know.  He seems to enjoy mooing at cows more than staring at giraffes.  I guess he just has pedestrian taste. 

Our Flat

I haven’t posted much yet about our flat where we are living, but pictures are so much more satisfying than my wordy rendition.  So here goes:

Since we plan to only be here a year, we are renting a fully furnished place.  This relieved a lot of stress on my part and made our arrival so much easier.  But it also means that the furnishings are a little… well… fancier than we would choose.

When you open the door, you see our living room, which opens onto a lovely porch.

The living room is open to the dining area and kitchen.  I am making a tomato-chard stew. 

(Notice the mess: indicates that this picture was taken before Lydiah arrived on the scene.)

J has a big room where he can play with the load of toys that I brought from the U.S.  We put his gigantic mattress on the floor.

 

The all-important guest room, ready for visitors.

 

The carpet that we had to… ahem… remove.

       

Looking out from the front porch are some picture of the highrise building going up next to our complex.  You can see the lack of any safety procedures taken to protect the workers.     

And J loves playing on the porch.  This kiddo loves hats!