Category: Kenya

If there was one reason to move to Nairobi it would be the weather.

An exciting day out the windows of 88mph.  First a small protest and now camels.

This was the sight out in front of our office for an exciting one whole minute today. Apparently the Kenyan government has passed a law that matatu drivers hate. As such, the natural reaction is to protest and walk down Ngong road with leafy sticks. After doing some research it enacts the following:

• Life imprisonment for reckless driving (I believe matatu actually translates into reckless)
• Physical and mental examination for matatu drivers every 3 years
• Criminalizes drunk driving
• UPDATE: No more overtaking (this is like asking a person to stop breathing)
• UPDATE: No more cutting through gas stations to jump traffic

Now I get it.

Dumbfounded? I was.

On our way to Hell’s Gate in Naivasha, we passed this sign on the highway. Turns out it’s for a non-alcoholic beer.

Yep, I live this close to work. Part awesome, part sad.

Just to clarify, I’m ok, safe and the bombing was on the other side of town.

On Sunday a bomb was placed on a public bus and as such killed 7 and wounded 30 or more. These attacks are taking place due to Kenya’s hand in fighting the Al-Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia.

This has since enflamed some local issues in the Eastleigh neighborhood which is home to many Somali families. There has been some rioting and conflict between Kenyan Christians and Somali Muslims. This was the second day of such riots. The issue has been primarily the Kenyans fighting against the Somalis because they really have no one else to attack for the bombing.

Here is a story from the local paper: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Riots-rock-Eastleigh-for-the-second-day/-/1056/1624512/-/14918h2z/-/index.html

I know the magnitude is nothing like that of 9/11 in the U.S.; however, the targeting of innocent Muslims, neighbors is very similar. How do you fight a faceless group?

We’re in one of the rainy seasons. Can’t seem to figure out which, but that means it rains pretty much every day in the evening/night. Check out the downpour in this video. These regularly last for about 30 min to an hour.

Our daily Swahili class this morning was focused on telling time and we found out an interesting fact.

Here’s how you’d say it’s 7am:  Sasa ni saa moja asubuhi.

Let’s deconstruct this sentence.

Sasa = Now.

Ni = Is.

Saa = Time.

Moja = One.

Asubuhi = Morning.

Now you’re probably wondering the exact same thing that we did.  Why are you saying it’s one in the morning when it’s really 7am?  Like in Ethiopia, time begins with the rising of the sun.  So effectively, 7am is one hour after the sun rises near the equator.  This works well here and in Ethiopia because the time the sun rises and sets is pretty much the same every day.  Fortunately, we don’t see this in practice on a daily basis, but certainly something to think about.

Big 5 Breweries (same bar that’s in our building) is putting on Oktoberfest this weekend just across the street at the Impala Club.  It’s a 3 day, beer, music and food festival.  We went last night and were greeted by a power outage.  After about 30 minutes the power came back on and we were able to see that the festival is actually pretty cool and definitely doesn’t feel like you’re in Africa.

They included a nice branded 500ml glass in the 3 day price of 1,000 Kshs; that’s about $12.  So for $12 we get entrance for 3 days to a music festival and a souvenir glass.  I consider this a deal.  Oh, and it also includes a beer tasting.

There are some fun and exciting things going on in Nairobi, so if you get the chance to visit Kenya sometime, don’t overlook the city.

I was just watching a news story while eating lunch and learned an interesting fact about beliefs on albinism in Kenya.  There are some who believe that the body parts of people with albinism are magical and therefore will pay for them.  As such, there are some who will attack these individuals, cut off various body parts and then sell them.  I am not certain what people do with the body parts.  Additionally, the belief continues that people with albinism vanish when they die.

When I was here in 2007 I was working with the United Disabled Persons of Kenya.  The main goal was to advocate for equal rights for persons with disabilities.  They are still not protected under the constitution in Kenya and many spend their entire lives indoors and out of sight.  This is due mainly to the stigma of having a child with a disability as they believe it reflects poorly on themselves.

In case you were wondering, thought I’d share a little bit about the weather in Nairobi.  It’s actually quite nice right now.  Every day is just about the same with highs in the low 80s and lows around the low 60s.  Nairobi’s elevation is 5,450 which helps keep the temps down throughout the year as compared to other regions of Kenya.

It’s nearing a short rain season which means that it just kind of rains in the morning and now and then.  Pop up stuff.  It seems to help keep the air quality better.

As for air quality, seems ok generally, but the cars/buses here are horrible.