The Whitest I’ve Ever Been

I spent most of yesterday, my first day in Kenya, adjusting to the jet lag and taking a brief trip downtown.

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Today we had plans to visit the museum, but it rained and the traffic was miserable, so we spent most of our day sitting in cars and taxis. Nairobi when the sun shines is hot and exotic but when it rains – it feels disgusting and hopeless. The corrugated metal shacks look a lot more sad with wet rats scurrying around them and people huddled inside; people walking along the roadside dodged giant, muddy, polluted puddles; and cart-pullers were covered to the waist in reddish mud and drenched with sweat from the labor of dragging such a heavy load through the streets. The “traffic jam” was incredible – beyond my wildest imaginations of the term. People sat for hours in hot, packed, stinking busses with music blaring while peddlers took advantage of the chance to sell nuts wrapped in paper and small, clean towels between the packed cars (which obey absolutely no traffic laws).

All this was contrasted with a visit to Benja’s uncle’s house in a posh suburb outside the city. Uncle David is the head of the equivalent of the IRS. I don’t know exactly how to describe it – “posh” isn’t really accurate when his sprawling mansion was lined by a homemade barracks of sharpened logs and guarded by a few servants who live in old metal shipping containers at the bottom of the driveway. I played with his youngest son, Sokoro, and we went and ran around in the lawn briefly. A dog was barking and I asked the five-year old about it, then noticed it was locked in a very small, worn-out wooden crate against the fence in the backyard. I asked if it was sad and if we should let him out. Sokoro said no, they didn’t play with him. I was confused and felt a little bad for the dog, which continued barking and frantically trying to scratch out of the box. Back inside, I mentioned my confusion to Belinda, who said the dog was only let out at night to guard the place and they would never dream of having a pet dog. Everyone agreed how ugly and disgusting the animals were.
These people agree with my Ben – pets are grotesque.
It’s all very strange and intense. I think I am finally experiencing culture shock – I say finally because I don’t feel I ever really have before. Korea and Bosnia can be weird – but Kenya is truly shocking.