Impressions

Yesterday Lisa had a friend come and visit.  Her name is Stephanie,and she works for UNICEF.  She told us about a person who was killed in the downtown streets of Nairobi, and how serious this was.  She was very concerned.  She told Kristoffer not to go in the downtown area this weekend.  Lisa said there was an article about this situation in the Washington Post.  

Anyway while Stephanie was here she asked us about our impressions of Africa, whether it was what we expected or not.  There are some things we expected and some we didn't. 

We sleep under a net, which is hung from the ceiling - just like in the movies.  Lisa told me she had a hair dryer I could use, but to bring my curling iron.  Well in the bath rooms the only outlet is up above the mirror and the voltage will only be safe for a shaver (male built house).  So the curling iron didn't work either - so we bought a new one.  Well the only places we could use the outlets for the hairdryer or the curling iron do not have mirrors for me to see - so yesterday we bought a mirror for decoration and my  hair necessity. 

We are very surprised about the Indian influence here.  The Indian population is very large and mostly very rich.  Ida, the housekeeper, told Lisa that when there is a western influence in building homes and servant quarters, they have hot water and other amenities.  When there is an Indian influence, you get the bare minimum.  She only has cold water in her quarters here.  

We are surprised to see people walking everywhere.  From the airport to way out where they live, you see lots and lots of people walking.  You see them carrying things on their heads.  You see men pulling carts, very large carts, who just jump out in traffic and go with the flow.

We are surprised to see walls.  Everywhere there are walls, with either very large houses or compounds behind them.  At these walls there are gates with private security to open and close those gates.  

All the houses are either made of cinder blocks or stucco.  The streets are mostly very bumpy.  Mike says that is because there is no structure under them.  The earth is red clay.

The flowers here are beautiful.  Lisa says that is one of their exports.  Yesterday Kristoffer went to their local mini market and while there bought 3 dozen beautiful roses  They are white with red ends, and it cost him $3.  

Mike thought there would be more of skyline.  There are 3 million people here, and the downtown area is smaller that we thought.

There is a very large park in downtown, and that is where people go to protest.  In one part of that park, you can see a lot of monkeys. While stopped at an intersection, Kristoffer pointed out a tree and in that tree were very large vultures - what a sight in the downtown.

Kenyans don't necessarily believe in the same hygiene as we do.  We noticed it at the post office the other day and yesterday at the mall.  I had to leave a store because of the odor.

We have noticed very beautiful women here.  We haven't seen many different colored outfits.  Mostly we have seen western style clothing.  When you stop or slow down in traffic, men try to sell you anything from newspapers to toys to sunglasses.  And if you don't buy, they try talking you into giving them money.  Then there was a young teenager who approached us at the mall.  Lisa said they know him and give him money (the equivalent of 15 cents) about every three times they see him.  He knows their car and them.  She said he was a street child and that street children tell the children who are in school how much money they make, so the children leave school to try and beg on the street.  It is very obvious to us that education is the only way this country is going to make it.  There is the very rich, and I mean very rich, and then there is the very poor, and I mean very poor.  I guess there is a start to a middle class and that is what will bring them up.

The other thing here is that everything is tribal.  Some tribes definitely don't get along with other tribes.  And some people get jobs because they are from  certain tribes.  And certain tribes come from certain areas of the country.

There is this program that we use on the computer called Skype - it is wonderful.  Lisa has a camera on her computer.  So Christine, Meghan and Molly, Judy Hagan, and Carol Duffy have met Grace on Skype and today Mark and his family will be on Skype to meet Grace.  They have Skype on their computer - they also have a camera so we may be able to see them too. Also Mikey, Sean and Tim will be able to meet Grace.  Even though everyone does not have a camera on their computer, they can still see what Lisa's camera shows them.  She thinks because she has this new laptop the video transmission is better than before when we tried it on her old computer.  

I hope none of this is boring to you.  I am sure we will come up with more impressions.  Just know how lucky we are to be Americans.