One Month Anniversary

I cannot believe how fast time goes here and that I have already been here for over a month. These past few weeks have been really busy, but so much fun. Last weekend I went with my roommates to Lake Naivasha, an hour-long bus ride north of Nairobi. The trip was extremely relaxing and was the perfect getaway from the chaos of Nairobi. While in Naivasha, we went on a walking safari, one of the only walking Safaris in Africa. We heard about it through one of our Kenyan friends and realized once we got there that it is definitely an off-the beaten path experience that not many people know about. We drove to a remote area and as we were walking around for nearly three hours, we did not see any other human life at all. Luckily, one of our Kenyan friends walked around with us to make sure we didn’t get lost and in order for us not to get eaten by any wild African game animals, we also had our own private park ranger—clad in head-to-toe camouflage, combat boots, and carrying a huge gun. It was kind of scary at first knowing that we had to be accompanied by a trained ranger, but he assured me that he only has to use his gun around once a year in order to fend off animals. The initial fear did not last long, however, because once we started walking we were all too excited to really be worried. The whole experience was truly amazing as we were able to walk within nearly 10 feet of wild game animals. The plant and wildlife here is so beautiful and it seemed so surreal to be standing so close to such exotic animals as giraffes and zebras in their own natural environment.
After the walking safari, our friend took to Fisherman’s Park, which is a large tourist attraction on Lake Naivasha. We went on a boat ride where we saw all different kinds of African birds and my personal favorite, hippos. We weren’t able to get too close to the hippos though since they are one of the most violent animals, responsible for more deaths of foreigners in Africa than any other killer—all other animals, disease, and human activity included. While on the boat, we bought fish from some Kenyans who were doing their daily fishing. Our Kenyan friend did some birdcalls and then launched the fish in the air and we got to see enormous African eagles swoop in to grab the meat.
Back in Nairobi, I had another busy week with classes and my internship. For my Politics of Culture in Kenya class that I have with the 17 other AU students, we went to the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, which is the second tallest building in Nairobi. The building is compromised of offices and conference rooms, which house almost all of the large international meetings that occur in the city. We got to sit at the desks where the current president Kibaki sits and where the heads of the UN and other NGO’s do their business. Being on the roof of the building was amazing and provided us with an incredible view of the city.
This week was huge for my internship as it was the beginning of the Kenyan film festival. My company’s short film was chosen as the opening piece and was shown in front of an esteemed audience. Speeches from the French ambassador, the Minister of Communications, and the Vice President himself followed after the showing of the film. It was quite encouraging as the film was widely enjoyed and I was so excited to see how well accepted the film was and how proud my bosses were. Big Ideas has four different pieces in the festival so it should be quite interesting to see how the rest of the films are accepted and how this exposure affects interest in our company.
Going to the United States International University, I am constantly meeting the sons and daughters of important politicians and diplomats. I have become close friends with the United States ambassador’s son Mark and was lucky enough to be able to go to the ambassador’s house Saturday for a pool party and barbeque along with a couple of my friends from the program. The area in which the ambassador lives is like an oasis, everything is so peaceful and green. The house is huge and is beautifully decorated and furnished. Mark showed us the house, which includes huge rooms for receptions, an enormous kitchen with a chef and kitchen staff, several bedrooms, baths, and living rooms, and what I found to be the most remarkable—huge bulletproof doors for the two wings of the house. Mark has his own personal driver who is on call 24/7. The security there is really tight as a result of the bombing of the American Embassy in 1998 and we had two armed military guards escort us across the road when we left in order to meet our taxi. It was all-pretty overwhelming as we are all used to working and traveling in the slums and the not so affluent areas of town. We were all pretty excited though to have some of the American food that we have been craving since we got here. Being the ambassador’s son, Mark is able to get access to all American food and products. We were all so jealous to see that he had the New York Times; since you cannot get it anywhere in the city but apparently it is privately delivered to his father. All in all, it was a luxurious and relaxing day at the pool and it was also pretty exciting to meet the ambassador and hang out at his house. Oh what a rough life I have! Baadaye!

Life in Kenya

Last Monday I started my internship, working at a company called Big Ideas Entertainment, which produces documentaries, commercials, and short films. The business was started by three Kenyan men in one of the guy’s mother’s dining room and has been nurtured to the point that it is now one of the leading film companies in East Africa. Those who work at Big Ideas are driven to promote social change through their work. Some of their past films have focused on taboo Kenyan subjects such as rape and prostitution. I am excited about this opportunity, as it will allow me to interview and meet all different kinds of people, from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich.

Also, last Tuesday I started classes at the United States International University of Africa. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious universities in all of Africa due to its ties to the US and its Western curriculum. All the people there are extremely wealthy and most come from diplomatic families. Although it is seen as a “western” University, the style of learning there seems to be pretty different than what I am used to, regardless, I am really interested in hearing about international relations from a foreign perspective. After the first few days of classes I can already tell that it is going to be a long semester, since both of my professors seem to be rather anti-American and always call on us few American students in the class to defend the actions our government.

Although I’m pretty much always busy, during my free time over the weekends I’m typically out exploring the city. I have fallen in love with the children at an orphanage called Mama Fatuma’s in an area of the city called Eastleigh. Eastleigh is a slum inhabited by refugees, mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia and is extremely dirty and impoverished. Most Kenyans will tell you that the reason why Eastleigh is so bad is because even though many of the people there were born in Kenya or their families have lived in Kenya for several generations, the Kenyan government still considers them as foreigners and consequently does little to improve the conditions there. Mama Fatuma’s is an Islamic childrens’ home sheltering 85 children between the ages of 3 to 24. I go there to spend time with the children whenever I get enough free time. The last time I visited they had me help prepare the Ramadan dinner, which was quite a scene since I can barely cook simple American food. It was, however, a great experience as I got to practice my Swahili and learn about Kenyan and Islamic cuisine. Tutaonana!

Finally Here

After over 24 hours of traveling, I finally arrived in the beautiful city of Nairobi, Kenya. The past week has been both extremely exhausting and totally amazing. There are 18 of us American University students here and this first week of orientation has had us running all over the city, getting accustomed to the public transportation and acclimated to the way things run here. We have spent a lot of time visiting the internship possibilities available to us here, which has taken us to three different slums and a refugee camp. One of the most remarkable aspects of this city is its diversity. In a mere 10km you can go from gigantic castle style houses to tiny huts built out of corrugated tin. This past weekend we got to see rural Kenya as we stayed in a small town called Voi. Getting there was a hellish 6 hour drive in an old 24 passenger bus. Many of the roads in Kenya were built by the British before independence in 1963 and have not been repaired since then, making traveling outside of the city both bumpy and time-consuming. To sum it up, Kenya is amazing and I have a feeling that four months here may not be enough. Kwa heri ya kuonana!