Sunday, August 19, 2007

Hello, Nairobi

<due to frustrating web connectivity issues, photos for the blog will have to wait a few days>



August 18 p.m.



For a city of approximately 2 million residents, this city feels remarkably manageable. There are a few major roads, always packed with traffic, and the downtown core.









Rosemary took me on errands with her this morning. We went to the meat market and I wished I had brought my camera to shoot pictures of the woman who was using flaming newspaper to burn the pin feathers off freshly-plucked chickens.









A Masai couple came into the Halal butcher shop, where Rosemary was buying a leg of lamb. She had traditional beadwork ringing her stretched earlobes. He was carrying a walking stick and wearing the traditional garb, about which I recently heard Gwendolyn Thompkins say �[it] can only be described as a miniskirt.� I was somehow pleased to see that the soles of his plastic loafers were reinforced with a cob-like mix of mud and grass.









As we drove up the hill by Kibaki�s residence, Dan said that, although there are about 40 tribal groups in Kenya, it has little bearing on social structure. Tribalism only comes in to play around elections, he said, when political parties attempt to use those affiliations to garner votes. Kibaki is Kikuyu, as are many of the current members of parliament. But despite the upcoming election, Kibaki is refusing to claim affiliation with any particular party. He was elected as a representative of the NARC party, but has yet to announce who he'll run for this time around. Dan said Kibaki does not want to align himself with one tribal group, which seems to fly in the face of the tribal politics statement. I�ll have to ask for more information.





1 comment:

  1. Hey Sara,
    So good to hear your initial thoughts. I hope you're feeling better. Your feverish call from the airport was a treat. Haven't been able to access the personal blog but will try again tomorrow.
    love you
    Jess

    ReplyDelete