Sooo, I realise I’ve banged on a lot about work and some aspects of play but haven’t really chatted about what it’s actually like to live out here!
In all honesty the first things that pop into my mind are the following - the friendliness of the folk (sometimes overly friendly), my daily living being a little slice of the times gone by, the religiousness of the country and safety issues - and therefore I’m gonna give a little insight into each of these…
Friendliness
So, Kenyans on the whole are extremely welcoming (literally - You hear “karibu” / “welcome” everywhere you go) with some people being unbelievably nice and going out of their way to bring you something or give you a lift etc. However, whether it be that I’m a white guy here (although slowly on the turn to tan ;) ) or the general way things work here people are VERY forward in asking for your number or giving you their number and telling you to drop call them immediately - the way this is asked is “flash me” which always makes me giggle like a schoolgirl. Some people then act as you expect them to and use the phone number when and if necessary, but there have been more than a few occasions where people have phoned me not long after I’ve “flashed them” (stop laughing) just to tell me the latest football score, or in one particular case I have had someone phone me a number of times this week before 7am to ask what I’m doing and where I’ll be that day (the same person than proceeded to phone me in the afternoon to try and arrange a meet-up and then the evening quite late to which I didn’t pick up). It’s difficult when I feel like I have to give out my number to clients in case of emergencies/major worries and I can’t really say no to neighbours friends/the under 18 football boys as I’ll see them a lot so it’s a bit of a lose-lose situation. Especially when I get woken up from my golden slumbers at stupid o’ clock even before the cockrel gets crankin.
So as I’m writing this the freaking calling me 24/7 guy calls me.. I say I’m going out in 10 minutes (which is true!) and he says he has a problem he has been faced with he wants to share with me and is coming round now to talk to me… Am really not looking forward to seeing this guy. Hmmmmppphh. Will tell you what happens at the end of the blog…. CLIFFHANGER!!!
Daily living
On average since I’ve been here I would say the electricity has been off approximately 1/3 of the time either due to power saving in the neighbourhood or the storms cocking everything up. These storms pretty much solely happen in the evening so being sat with a candle illuminating a dark room, a torch to navigate the house or pages of a book and a camping stove to cook with is a bit of a hassle/change from the norm! Because of the power I have to make a concerted effort to charge things when I can so I’m not left without my trusty technological buddies for company in evenings (laptop, ipod, mobile). The other two big changes I’m actually really enjoying - no fridge and no hot water. No fridge means I can’t really buy dairy or meat unless I eat it right away and similarly not keeping anything in the fridge + hot weather means things don’t last too long which means I buy almost solely from the small local stalls near me on a daily basis which is all a bit old school and nice plus it aids and abets my fixation on shopping and food hehe. Cold showers - sometimes I’m really not in the mood but in general, it’s good for the circluation, fairly welcoming after the initial shock of freezing my (enter body part here) off and always feel pretty awesome after J
Religiousness
People in Kenya are very religious, with the vast majority from where I am being Christian. In the month or so I have been here I reckon I have been asked approximately every 1.3 days “Are you Christian/religious?”. People who have asked me range from random tuk-tuk drivers - “Are you saved or born again?” to staff at workplaces (my personal fave: “I‘m Christian“ - No that wasn‘t her name, just the way she introduces herself when meeting someone new) and people in the neighbourhood. It’s gotten to the point where I almost feel bad for not being Christian and actually blurted out yesterday “No, I’m not Christian…. (awkward pause) Sorry!” To which the roomful of woman laughed jovially and most said “it’s o.k/no problem” with a few sneery glares in the far corners. This was my landlady/neighbour/Kenyan mama’s Christian group that meet every week for a get together. I don’t find it a hassle/awkward/difficult and in fact have had some really nice open conversations with people about the differences between England and Kenya with attitudes towards religion but I’m not gonna lie by saying I cringe a little every time Sunday comes round as undoubtedly there will be the calls of “Are you going to church today?,,, Why not? Is something wrong?” or “There is still time for you to decide and find God”.
Safety Issues
This is probably the thing that has the biggest overall effect on me as locals, other westerners and guidebooks all constantly say to be inside by nightfall or to take door-to-door transport from a reputable/trustworthy person. Due to this I am constantly making a mad dash back to mine by dark and the few occasions where I have been walking by myself at nighttime there is an eerie feeling that I can’t explain that is constantly in the air making me feel unsafe and always being watched (which in all fairness I probably am because at night time I’m pretty much luminous compared to the locals). I’ve never had this feeling before, even when in more dodgy countries/places. It’s almost certainly a culmination of stories I’ve heard (a friend has been robbed 3 times, once at knifepoint, a couple were killed/kidnapped from a secure safari compound recently etc..), the fact a lot of locals are back by dark or call on the local neighbourhood watch to walk with them and the widespread poverty present that truly makes you feel that someone wouldn’t think twice of hurting you for very little money/reward. This need to be secure and safe at nighttime prevents me from going out for a drink, going for a stroll/run in the evening and imprisons me to lonely evening of long hours.
CLIFFHANGER!!:
Turns out the call was from one of the under-18 footy boys whose problem was that he was kicked out of his house today and has nowhere to stay. It was really difficult for me as he was obviously pretty down/cut up about it and has nowhere to go but also either didn’t have an idea of who to talk to OR was purely angling to stay at mine. I gave him the advice I would to anyone/told him what I would do and his footy mates said they would ask their parents but would tell him tomorrow and the main coach who would be ideal to talk to (he’s training to be a social worker and is a really caring friendly guy) is away for a few days so I’m not exactly sure what he’ll do this evening. It was really hard but I had to flat out say I couldn’t take him in as this compound/house does not belong to me and due to security issues I have to respect my landlady (and common sense) who wouldn’t want me to invite anyone back here unless I had known them a long time and really trusted them. But also, crazy call guy called again this evening. Great.
Next blog will catch-up on the back-end of last week’s work, a football-orientated weekend and this week’s doings… Before I’m off to Uganda (Kampala) from Sunday through Thursday for a work meeting (oooooo fancy!), a bit of a look around and a celebration of Rachael’s birthday (she’s planning an old school bowlarama and cinematic experience!).
Love you byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xxxxxxxx
Top 3 Itunes songs whilst writing this:
1. Close call - Rilo Kiley
2. Paperback writer - The Beatles
3. Cancel on me - Bombay Bicycle Club
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