I've uploaded several pictures throughout this blog post. The first three show our cozy little apartment. The fourth shows our cab driver Kaylo. The fifth is of Muthoga, who will be our tour guide on our climb of Mt. Kenya and on the safari. And the last three photos were taken inside the memorial garden for the old U.S. Embassy. One shows a picture of how the embassy used to look before the August 1998 bombing. The second shows a wall that lists all the victims' names from the bombing. And the third shows a Kenyan proverb that hangs in the park promoting peace.
We started the day of with making our way to the market so we could withdraw money to pay our rent for October. Every time I pay for anything, I feel guilty for spending money because even though I know the exchange rate (1000 shillings= US$16) paying 1,000 of anything seems like a lot of money! So imagine how I felt when I had to withdraw money for a month's rent. It was by far the largest number I've ever typed in to an ATM! Even though the walk from the apartment to the market is not long, we waited for our cab driver to come pick us up from the market because we didn't want to be walking with all that money on us.
After paying our rent, we headed downtown to meet Shashank Bengali, the Africa Bureau Chief for McClatchy Newspapers. (For those of you who aren't in the journalism field, McClatchy Newspapers is a media company that owns several newspapers across the U.S.) He used to work for the Kansas City Star and is a friend of Randy Smith, the very helpful editor from the Star who has helped me tremendously getting set up here in Kenya.
Shashank took Michael and I to the Nairobi Java House, which is known for its incredible coffee, breakfast, burgers, and all around great food. Actually, the Java House is one of two coffee houses that actually brews coffee made in Kenya. Most of Kenya's coffee gets sent abroad, mostly to Europe. Shashank has been living in Nairobi for about two years and is required to cover all of Africa, except for Egypt!! He gave Michael and I suggestions on restaurants and how to use the matutu system. Matutus, which are 15 passenger vans and the main means of transportation for Kenyans, have a reputation for being a pickpocketer's heaven not to mention the chance of having a traffic accident- although anyone could have a traffic accident here with how crazy the driving is.
Michael and I are going to steer clear of matutus for the most part because we'll be traveling with camera equipment but Shashank told us riding a matutu is part of the Kenyan experience so we're going to attempt to figure the system out.
You would think that since Shashank has mostly all of Africa to draw stories from, he would constantly be getting published back in the states. But Shashank told us it's harder than you would think since U.S. newspapers have limited space in general- especially limited space for international news.
And when they want international news, it's generally Iraq, Iran or Israel. So I have a challenge before me: get people back in the U.S. to care about the HIV orphans, the education crisis, and the means for achieving sustainable development that I plan to write about. I'm also realizing how important it was that we planned to be here for 7 weeks because it definitely takes a while to get going once you land on the ground.
Not long after we finished our lunch with Shashank, we headed back home. As we drove along, I noticed several women roasting corn cobs on the side of the road, women trying to sell vegetables from a run-down shack, and a mother and child holding cups in the air begging for a spare shilling.
But then I turn my head to the other side of the road and there are men walking down the street in fancy suits heading off to their high paying job. It's very black and white here with little gray area. There are the rich and the poor and very few middle class. 46% of the population live below the poverty line.
During our trip home, Kaylo brought up the upcoming election- something that is huge news here but most Americans could care less about it. But on the other hand, Kaylo and several other Kenyans I have spoken to know all about U.S. politics and the upcoming election next November. Definitely an eye opener.
Kaylo explained another part of their election process. Each election, they elect a consular, a member of parliament (MP), and a president. But the president is actually a member of parliament as well. However, whoever wins the presidential race also has to win their constituency's parliament seat or they automatically cannot be president and a new election has to occur.
This has never happened in Kenya's history but I still thought it was interesting. Here, the president is above the law, above parliament, above the courts, and obviously above the people. The current president, Kibaki, is running
for re-election.
For anyone who has Skype, my account name is jenprice497.
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