Feats of Clay

Ok, so I am sure I am not the first one to write that headline, but I haven't see it anywhere in Nairobi. If anyone can DVR the inevitable NESN replay and save it for my return, I would love to see the game. And I was sure I wouldn't miss any baseball that I actually wanted to see while I was gone. In any event, congrats to young Mr. Buchholz. Here's my weekend:

Day 6 & 7- So This is Nairobi

Saturday I finally made it into the city center and saw downtown Nairobi in its full commercial flower. I tried to go in via bus, but the buses that came were typically quite full, so I was forced to take the matatu, which was not so terrible except that it left me off in a different place than I expected. Ultimately it was no matter, I was able to figure out where I was without much difficulty, and made it to my first destination rather easily, despite the swarming crowds.

Where I was headed was the office of Let’s Go travel, a travel agency with a good reputation for booking budget safari packages. From my reading, I had decided that I wanted to go to Masai Mara if at all possible- a large game reserve in southwestern Kenya, on the border with Tanzania and at the end of the Serengetti plains, home to the massive wildebeest migration everyone has seen on the Discovery Channel.

As luck would have it, the migration takes place from July-October, so I am here at a very good time for it. I had decided that I would like to spend my last 5-6 days here seeing the rest of the country, so I went in with those broad guidelines and a price in mind, and asked for the best available package.

The agent right away suggested a group camping trip that will take me first to 3 of the lakes of the Great Rift Valley- Baringo, Bogoria, and Nakuru, and then on to Masai Mara. Along the way I will see spectacular bird life at the lakes, as well as hot springs (geysers), hip-hopopotamuses, and crocodiles, and then at Masai Mara I should have a good view of elephants, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, lions, and wildebeest, as well as possible views of cheetahs, leopards, and the endangered black rhymenocerous. The whole package is quite affordable and gets me back in time to make my flight on the 21st, so now I have that to look forward to as well.

Next stop was to find accomodations for the night before and the night after the trip. The Tumaini Centre is a bit too far away from where the trip leaves, and I also need a place with secure luggage storage to leave my excess baggage while I am away. I found a room at a decent hotel right in city center that is also reasonably priced, albeit 4 times more expensive than my current accomodations. So I will be at the Hotel 680 for the 14th and the 20th if anyone needs to get in touch.

After that it was still only noon, and I wanted to see what else Nairobi offers. The answer is that Nairobi offers pretty much everything for sale, but not much else to see. I walked all over the city, past the big tourist hotels and the cafes and bars. I walked through some outdoor markets. I walked out of the city center and up to the still closed Kenyan National Museum (“due to re-open in June 2007!”). I walked down Biashara Street to check out the African fabric shops. And by 2 pm I didn’t have much else I wanted to see and I was not yet ready to buy, so I went for the bus home, which took forever to arrive. But eventually I made it back to Tumaini and spent the rest of the afternoon reading.

I ate dinner with the residents again, and had yet another opportunity to explain American culture, history, and geography to the younger set. Everywhere I have travelled in Europe I have always felt like the people knew as much about the US as the average high school graduate, if not more, but Kenya has been an awakening in that regard. Even though their movies are our movies and their TV is also largely US exports, there is a huge gap in practical knowledge.

They wanted to know how many black people there are in the US, and then how they got there, and then what tribes they came from, which leads to a delicate conversation and an unbelievable amount of white guilt on my part. They wanted to know what other languages are spoken in the US. They wanted to know if we had any myths in the US. For many people, there is confusion about the difference between the USA and the continent of North America, or even the the entire American land mass.

Although they have heard of Boston from the marathon and Washington, DC from the news, they don’t have any sense for where they are geographically. I don’t really blame them, I know American knowledge of Africa is much worse, but I am somewhat surprised anyway. Somehow you figure when everyone speaks English, they also know about the USA.

After dinner I went back to my dorm and uncovered the TV to watch a Sunderland- Manchester United football match, featuring the return of Man U hero and Irish legend Roy Keane to Old Trafford, now as manager of Sunderland. Keano’s lads took it on the chin, with a 1-0 score line flattering them, but it was nice to have a chance to watch a little sport on tv, even with a very fuzzy picture.

I think next Saturday I will try to make it out somewhere that the expats hang out, likely the suburb of Karen (former home of Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa) to have an afternoon of Rugby World Cup action. New Zealand play Italy, Australia play Japan, and England play the US. None of those figure to be close matches, but at least I can have a few Tuskers.

Sunday I went to mass, once again offered with readings and homily in English (this time with a Spanish or Latino priest) and hymns in Swahili. After that I walked to the Sunday Masai crafts market next to the Ya Ya Shopping center, where I learned a few things about bargaining, the most important being that I am a sucker who is incapable of walking away from a negotiation. Even so, I picked up a few nice things, and now I have to figure out how to get everything home.

Later in the afternoon I had planned to go the Ngong Hills Hotel bar for their Sunday afternoon jam session, but found nothing going on when I arrived around 3. So I walked back toward Tumaini and instead stopped at the underwhelming Sherlock’s Pub in the Prestige Place Shopping Centre, intent on finally sampling Tusker. I was suitably impressed by the product, which is a bit sweeter than American lagers, due to the presence of corn I imagine. I could certainly get by on such a beverage for a while.

I was also pleased to discover I was just in time for the start of Arsenal-Portsmouth, a match that drew a large crowd of Kenyan Arsenal supporters. Personally, Arsenal is the one side I always root against in the Premiership, probably because they were roommate’s favorite club when I was in Ireland, and I just wanted to root against him. Dennis Bergkamp’s later domination of me in FIFA Soccer on Nintendo did not help me gain an appreciation for the Gunners. Even so, Arsenal were out to a commanding 3-1 lead by the time I had to leave for dinner, and the Tuskers had gone down quite smoothly indeed.

For the evening, I had been invited to dine with Fr. Terry at the Jesuit community in Karen. He picked me up and we also stopped to collect a Jesuit from Gonzaga in Spokane, Washington doing a sabbatical at Hekima College in Nairobi, and we drove the few kilometers out to Karen, where you would have no idea you were actually still in Nairobi.

There are about 12 Jesuits who live at the community in Karen, including Terry, who is the head guy- I forget the proper nomenclature. They live on a sprawling estate that was once part of Karen Blixen’s coffee plantation, and they run a retreat center there, with lovely views of the Ngong Hills in the distance, peaceful gardens for quiet contemplation, and modern conveniences throughout. It is a far cry from the atmosphere at Tumaini.

In the course of the evening I was asked by almost everyone if I was a Jesuit too, and everyone was interesting to talk to. I managed to have good conversations with Jesuits from Oregon, Wisconsin, Ireland, and Germany. Of course all of them were at least 30 years my senior. And of course the Jesuits do not have the same alcohol restrictions as the sisters, so I was pleased to be able to have a glass of Scotch before dinner, and enjoyed the time with two groups I have not spent much time with since my arrival- men and Europeans.

Terry drove us back after dinner, and even though it was only a short ride, it is pretty scary to be driving after dark in Nairobi. Even on a major thoroughfare, there are no street lights, lots of bumps and potholes, and even a road block that let us go very quickly once they saw the occupants of the car. Terry said they rarely hassle white drivers, I am not sure why.

So it is that I come to the end of week one in Kenya. It has been eye-opening and it has been something of a struggle, but it has also been a very rewarding experience. I knew coming in that I was not coming here for a party, but it has been a bit more austere than even I had anticipated.

My lowest moments come when I feel alone, and there are many of those moments here, but it is also easy to get past those times when I think of the fact that I have been so blessed in my life and that I have only a short time to be here and experience everything. I am constantly confronted by my own prejudices and forced to reconcile them with what I see around me. I am sure I can never become comfortable here in the 4 weeks I am in Kenya, and I really don’t even know how long it would take me, but I am grateful for the opportunity to test my character, despite how often I fail.

Already, I have met brilliant, passionate people and seen images that will stick with me forever. I am more thankful than ever for all that I have been given, and yet I have great hope for the young people I have met here. It is true that they have struggled and will continue to struggle, but there is community and energy and spirit and a real life for them here, and with continued hard work on their part and the necessary help from the rest of us, they will make it, and the next generation will improve on their successes.