wapi dawa man?

i suppose i should explain the origin of the blog name. i have a small swahili phrasebook that translates helpful things (i.e. "where is the bathroom? how much is this?" etc etc) I was flipping through it before departing the U.S. and there is a section on romance and "social activities" (read: sex). Needless the say, the translations are quite funny including:
"No. You will not use me for sex."
"We need to use a condom" (always helpful)
"I do not want to marry you."
there are then some commands followed by "Easy, tiger!" which, as you may have expected by now translates to "tulia, simba!" I found it entertaining that lonely planet thinks that would be helpful to a western tourist. thank you, lonely planet.

last night the three of us wandered out to carnivore for a plate of meat and serious night out on the town in kenya's adult playground. it was just as extravagant (and delicious) as I remembered, and after a handful of dawas (medicine = vodka, honey & limes) we were frolicking on the playground, playing pool with the assistant manager and shamelessly dancing to MmBop (again?!)--kenyans have not lost their love for hilariously bad 90s pop music. i also learned that, as to be expected, facebook made it to this continent and even if you don't have a phone there are ways to make new (aggressive) friends.

slides!

the assistant manager that helped us win our pool game

another wonderful aspect of kenya is their television shows. namely i have watched mexican soap operas dubbed in english. so antonio is actually the father of jose but he's in love with another woman who told him she is pregnant but even her mother thinks she's lying, someone was poisoned AND everyone found out nicholas was lying about being blind once he saved a boy from being hit by a car. and that all happened in one hour!!

today, a couple of us wandered through kibera. i wanted to buy flip flops and was in the mood to be chased by adorable kenya children yelling "how are you!" which is exactly what happened. the slum is still shocking. the filthy water runs through it, as people throw their waste (fecal matter and trash) right out their front door, which is a 12'x12' mud hut with a tin roof they pay about $12 a month for. the children are adorable too. you will hear them as you're approaching "pshh, a mzungu, yada yada...a mzungu" to their friends. then like a well-rehearsed chorus they begin yelling "how are you! how are you! how are you!" it's not a question, some would be confused by an answer. i didn't bring a camera but this is the idea:

the railroad in kibera

waiting for our afternoon beer with our new irish friend

i should be packing. we leave for eldoret in the morning.

tembo, twiga & politics

the smell in this city is something you don't forget, it's somewhere between burning trash, smog and fresh cut grass.

this morning i woke up from a dream that i was a soccer star. i was the goalie and i dove for the ball repeatedly and missed it. we were playing girls vs. boys and there were a lot of people from high school playing in the game. odd.

then we hopped on a matatu and headed to karen to see the elephant orphanage and giraffe center. however, about halfway there i started to have severe stomach troubles. so i actually paid about $9 collectively only to use the bathrooms. i assume my luck will change for the better shortly. i did learn this about elephants: they are a matriarchal society and the eldest female actually controls the herd. they form deep personal connections: with friends, their keepers and when they lose an elephant close to them they can become very depressed which can make them physically sick. they are extremely intelligent and curious. and downright adorable.

baby elephant!

twiga

last night i had dinner with my former home stay family. my father works for the Norwegian Refugee Council and is going to the dadaab refugee camp on friday to open an office. NRC provides vocational education, shelter for many refugees and programs to address women and children rights. they are also exploring the possibility of opening an office in yemen--where there are a lot of somali refugees--but the U.S.'s current stance on yemen has already begun to cause complications. we talked at length about a handful of political situations in africa. he has just come from three years in liberia where the general population does not trust ellen johnson-sirleaf due to the fact she has been unable to stem corruption and has hired many of her friends for the central government. liberia is due to have a general election next year, yet he believes ellen will contest it (again) in an attempt to remain in power. there is an inadequate police force as well throughout the country, yet (beautifully) in september the first child to not know war in their lifetime entered kindergarten. he noted s. sudan would have a collection of problems in the coming years. firearms are in the wrong hands, and although all s. sudanese can agree they want autonomy, there is little else they agree on and there is a strong ethnic divide even among the southern sudanese themselves. uganda is due to have a general election in 2011 (where the LRA will certainly be a factor), followed by kenya in 2012. needless to say east africa will be a political hotbed for the next few years. all very interesting to me; i hope to be back.

this is happenin' in kenya

love your elders

a few photos to wet your whistle

the garden of the hostel we are staying in--moments before i lost my camera to the cement

megan & kei in prestige plaza

a view from the taxi

another view from the taxi

the sign that welcomes you in the airport

well, i found hartstone

a view of city market

megan and i on the city hoppa

my former home stay brothers, ian and issac, and their new baby sister!

and then there is this, just in case you need saving in uhuru park

correction: nairobbery

nairobi has a distinct way of welcoming you. it's full of smiles and cheap soda and as soon as you assume you're comfortable it sneaks up on you, and steals your phone.

i should start with the fact that the past two days (read: my first two days in africa) have been problematic with electronics. yesterday i dropped my digital camera and the lens jammed = broken. so, i swallowed my wallet and went downtown to buy another one. $140 later i was relatively pleased and ready to continue documenting this adventure. then i got back and realized my memory card didn't fit in the camera. WTF?! the corporate man is trying to keep us down. so, i will soon wander back out into the concrete jungle in search of a memory card that will fit.

following the (expensive) camera purchase i went to catch the bus. i was proud of myself for finding the hilton and remembering the buses. after a little wait and reminiscing of fancy christmas dinners in the hilton, my bus came and about 40 or so kenyans all push to the door. as i'm getting on i feel someone tugging at my purse, so i turn around and catch a middle-aged man trying to get into my bag. he shrugs and grins and waves as i board the bus and i'm thinking "ha! i caught that sucker, thinks he can rob a mzungu, no way." then i sit down and it dawns on me that sonofabitch was grinning and waving in appreciation, he was now the proud owner of a cell phone. at least he didn't get my wallet (?!) i'm not going to buy a new phone (out of principle) until i get to eldoret this weekend.

i should share though that we went to walk through city market and spoke to people in broken swahili and one old woman saw me coming and yells "oh dear! i have been waiting for you my whole life! {holds my hands} now! come look in my shop" her name was pamela. her breath smelled of rum. she thought i was 18 (and was later appalled to discover i was 25 and unmarried without children). she had an obama bumper sticker on her shop and teared up when she spoke of him, since "he is her brother."

last night laura and i found a pool hall and heard inappropriate jokes from two kenyans while listening to beyonce and catching up. it was wonderful. and tonight i am going to dinner at the house of my former homestay. hense why i have to go find a memory card, because i'm sure the little boys have grown so much. i also came back to the hostel and found two large turtles mating as i went to take a shower. i would have taken a picture, but ya know...

{sigh} africa: the continent that will eat you alive without a sense of humor.

nairobi

made it (back) to nairobi. after a long flight, delicious airplane food and a great movie: "away we go" with john krasinski with a beard AND in a visor for a good 15 minutes = recipe for success. and i need a bit of a nap, but otherwise it is perfect here. i arrived with megan and kei and our hostel is wonderful with a garden and friendly dogs and children roaming around. the roads are still a reddish-brown since it rained this morning, our taxi driver could not have been nicer (even though we got him lost), the chinese (?!) food i just inhaled was delicious and tonight i have the distinct pleasure of seeing miss hartstone and going out on the town for big, cheap beers.

i'm really happy right now, and definitely miss you all.

final london

mini-guard

buckingham palace

last morning in london. i am currently hanging out with aavani, watching her dance in the corner (apparently you can put Baby in the corner) and checking out the news from across the pond. yesterday was so nice. i sat for a few hours at a coffee shop then walked around in search of the national photography gallery, but by the time we found it, the building had moved. blast! then we had delicious sri lankan food at olivia's (future) in-laws house. it was wonderful to sit and drink wine and talk and play "football," which went really well until i kicked the ball over the fence like a true sports hero. market today. nairobi tonight. still excited.

by the way, pandora and lala don't work outside of the u.s., so you should probably never leave.

007

so, more or less every day i can be found in a t-shirt of sorts and pants (especially after the pedicab driver at wonderland haggled me for wearing leggings--not over it yet, apparently), but low and behold miss olivia wrangled me into a red dress and high heels for our james bond themed new year's eve event. and we had a "brilliant" time dancing and drinking and being dressed up. then today i woke up at 3pm. i made it outside for a walk as the sun was setting. then i made dinner {gasp!} and i didn't even burn the pasta.

i like this

albert bridge (olivia's home) at sunset

us with baby bottles of vodka--they were confiscated at the door

olivia, elaine and i on NYE
fancy peoples