Random Musings (Kenya II)

Hey Y’all,

Thanks for the notes and for keeping up with my travels! I appreciate it immensely. I have a few short stories for you this time and in the next post I’ll have a few pictures too!

(Also, Kara put a good line in her blog that I’ll lift almost exactly just to clarify. This blog is just my personal ramblings and does not represent the opinions of the U of Washington or KRG.)

Puffy Coats:

It is winter here in Kenya, which means that the normally insufferable hotness has come down to a manageable 85-95 degrees during most times of the day. This is a BEAUTIFUL departure from the 115 degree Delhi heat of last summer. I have been wearing short summer dresses with cropped leggings and feeling quite warm most of the time but most people here think that this weather is insufferably cold, and that they should be wearing PUFFY WINTER JACKETS to combat the terrible cold. I chuckle to myself when I see children wearing huge puffy snowpants and a winter hat. I wonder how the grown men don’t pass out from heat stroke when they wear knit sweaters and puffy jackets in the blistering sun. Mothers dress their babies up in at least 5 layers when we see them at work. I am impressed.

Moto for Four (and other creative transportation solutions):

Motorbikes are overloaded in most of the countries I’ve traveled to, so this is no new news, but is always notable. I am impressed when I see 4 grown people on a single motorbike. I am also fascinated by the fact that  there are auto rickshaws here in Kenya. Apparently there is a large Indian population here in Kenya and they’ve imported auto rickshaws (along with “chapati” and “chai”, which seem to have been adopted as Kenyan staples).  My second favorite transport phenomenon is “piki-piki”, aka the guys on motorbikes or bicycles who pick (hence piki-piki) you up and drop you off where you’re going. It’s like a mini-cab on two of wheels. (And most of them are wearing puffy jackets when they ride.) My number one favorite creative transportation observation happened the other day when I saw a little kid riding a massive bicycle that was clearly way too big for him by sticking one of his legs through the space under the bar that the seat is connected to and reaching the pedal that way. (This is hard to visualize so I’ll have to take a picture of him leaning on a massive bike barely reaching the handlebars and post it here.)

Food:

Again, what would a global bumblebuzz post be without some food talk? First note is that Wheatabix is amazing. Wheatabix soaked in warm fatty fatty milk is one of the most amazing things ever. Competes for most delicious cereal meal with the watery oats I ate in Ghana. Who woulda thunk it?  I eat this most mornings at 6:45 am with fruit and tea before heading into work and it brightens my day. The other day when I was leaving Nairobi, I saw a guy selling fruit on the street and asked a coworker what the purple, ovular, small fist sized fruits were and he explained that they were “fashion fruits”, most likely passion fruits but I like the name fashion fruits way better. Although there are no obroni mangoes here in rural Kenya, there are mini-mangoes that I eat way too many of. The other day I bought FIVE mini-mangoes for ten cents (and left the ten cents change from the twenty cent piece with the lady) and enjoyed every mouthful of the slightly sour but sweet and uber fibrous fruit. YAY MANGOES!

Learning to Speak (Pick, Parcel, and Puncture):

Learning to speak is always a challenge when I travel, whether it is due to a different language entirely or simply a different style of English or maybe due to the fact that you speak to different people in different ways. Here in rural Kenya it’s all three of those. I’m learning (albeit mighty slowly) to speak a few key phrases of Luo (the mother tongue of this area), Kiswahili (the second national language in conjunction with English) and Kenyan English.  In Kenyan English I learn that if you want to compliment someone on their outfit you can tell them that they look “smart” an if someone is stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire, they’ve gotten a “puncture“. Most importantly, if you’re asking a waiter to pack your leftover bean stew into a take-away container, you should ask for a “parcel“. Finally, when you ask your coworker if you can pick up the modem from the clinic, you ask when you can “pick it” (not pick it up).

As I learn Luo, I’ve gathered the following phrases:

Ber = Hello! (or good)

Idinadi = How are you?

Maber = I’m fine!

Ber ahinya = Very good (often used in response to Ber)

Ero kamano = Thank you

Arruaki = Welcome

Oimoure = Good evening

Oyaoure = Good morning

Haven’t learned how to say such useful things as “dead horse smells bad” as I did in Twi, but I’ll learn 🙂

Random Ramblings:

Here are some totally random observations:

– The other day I saw ob tampons in a store here in rural Kenya and it blew my mind!

– People often ask if I have certain things in my country, including: chickens, corn, and donkeys. Reminds me of when Ghanaians would ask, regarding corn on the cob, “Obroni, do you know how to chew it?”

– Yesterday while waiting for my dinner I heard a chicken being killed in the back yard. The sound of it made me half-laugh and half-sick. It was a sobering experience.

– The children here have started saying things like, “I have money,” and “I’m sweets!”, which I assume mean, “Can I have money?” and “Will you give me sweets?” but I’ve responded with, “You have money? That’s good. I do not have money,” or “You are sweet? Yes you are!”  We’ll see if that works for a while.

– Along the side of the highway in Nairobi there was a little nursery started in plastic bags. Such a smart way of reusing plastic bags! It reminded me of how cocoa plants in Ghana were often started in the plastic bags that water came in. I am thinking of getting a few plants and putting them on my balcony here for some green action.

Okay, that’s it for the current bumblebuzz! Thanks for reading and check in soon for some pictures in the next entry entitled, Muzungo Meanders (Kenya III)!