Hello everyone!

So, I am clearly a failed blogger--terrible about posting.  Between unreliable internet, traveling, keeping a journal and group blog, I have failed to keep up my own blog.

To see what I have been doing, please look at Mollie and my group blog: 
http://chinaandkenya.blogspot.com/

Or Mollie's personal blog:
http://mollieinkenya2.blogspot.com/

I am sorry about my lack of blogging!

Best wishes to you all!

Kyla

Kissing Giraffes

Yesterday I kissed a giraffe, and I liked it!

Well, sort of liked it. It was a bit spiky, but very fun. But Matt has nothing to worry about.

Actually I kissed several giraffes and some baby giraffes too. They have very soft fur but terribly prickly faces and very blue tongues. They also ate from my hands. Don't worry I have photos.

Yesterday we did our first touristy things--over two weeks after arriving in Kenya. We have been so busy visiting factories and interviewing people for our project, we had not seen any of the sights! 15 days and no animals! But yesterday Mollie's boyfriend Jacob arrived for a few weeks and we went to the Giraffe Center.

The Giraffe Center is a breeding center for endangered Rothschild giraffes. There are lots of different kinds of giraffes, and 3 different types in Kenya. At the giraffe center they have young and baby giraffes, which they raise and then release into the wild. They say they are wild animals... but they don't seem so wild when they are eating food out of your hand!

So I got to feed several young giraffes and two baby giraffes! They lip the food right out of your hand from a platform, and if you hold the food in your mouth, they will eat it out of your mouth too, giving you a giraffe kiss in the process!

But before you start warning me of giraffe mono, don't worry. Giraffe spit is a natural antiseptic, so I didn't catch anything from my fuzzy friends.

After that we went to Carnivore restaurant, where we tasted farm raised ostrich and crocodile (no bush meat!) and they cut the roast meat off onto our plates with a machete!

Hopefully doing more fun things to write about soon! See facebook for the photos of me kissing giraffes!

Catch up!

July 15^th

I am sorry for the long lag in blog posts! We have moved to a different (cheaper) hostel which is closer to town, but does not have wifi. Wireless internet is scarce on the ground in Kenya—half the coffee shops which should have it don't, and of those that do, half of their wifi is broken, not working, slow or they have no plugs for computers anywhere. The internet may be working great at a cafe one day, and down the next. So its a fun game of find the wifi. We are working on getting an internet stick from a mobile phone company so we can have wifi on the laptop almost anywhere.

News from the last week or so:

--Our research is going well; we have interviewed 6 Chinese construction and manufacturing firms.

--We toured a car assembly plant (the largest of the 3 in Kenya), which was pretty interesting and exciting!

--Someone tried (unsuccessfully) to pickpocket my purse on a matatu and snatch Mollie's bag.

--I have received a number of marriage proposals, most shouted out of the windows of cars, but one man followed for blocks asking for me to marry him “in the name of Jesus.”

--A man tried (again unsuccessfully) to extract money from us by refusing to let us off the matatu until we gave him more cash.

--According to the radio news, 28000 people in Kenya were diagnosed with cancer, and 6 recovered.

Mollie's boyfriend Jacob arrived this morning, and because its Sunday and all of the companies are closed, we are going to the giraffe center this afternoon to see the giraffes! Its the first touristy thing we've done since arriving in Kenya, so I am super excited to go someplace which is not a factory, internet cafe or a construction office.

Searching for the Chinese

(or, In Which I Am Almost Mistaken for a Terrorist)

July 9

Sometimes doing this research I feel like a bit of a stalker. Or at the very least, an eavesdropper, a nosy parker. But I didn't think I looked like a terrorist.

Because are looking for Chinese companies, any time we see Asian people, we immediately start trying to (more or less) secretly analyze their clothing or hairstyle, get a glance at their papers, catch a few words of their conversation—anything which lets us distinguish whether they are Chinese, Japanese and Korean. And before anyone looks at me in horror—you lived in China for nearly 3 years, how can you not be able to tell a Chinese person from a Japanese person? Do you think all Asians are the same?—yes, normally I can and no, of course I do not, but when when people have been traveling and living abroad for a while, national and cultural identifiers start to fade. After three years of living outside the US, I am not sure how “American” I look until I open my mouth—even then, a charity mission group from Atlanta at our last hostel told me I sounded British. So often the only way to tell is to be slightly creepy, lean in, look the other way, and frantically try to hear enough to identify a language. The St. Mary's nuns that taught me would be horrified. But I have already embarrassed myself several times trying to chat with people in Chinese about what they are doing in Kenya, only to discover they have no idea what I am saying.

Also because we are looking for Chinese companies, any time we see Chinese signs, we take a photo.

Now, like the eavesdropping, this can make us look strange and even a bit crazy. But I didn't think it would almost get me mistaken for a terrorist!

We found a business park called “China Centre” and naturally wanted to explore. We chatted with the security guards, were let into the compound (pretty much all shops are in compounds here, with gates, walls and security guards checking everyone going in and out), and I whipped out my camera and started taking photos of the signs for the shops inside. One of the guards detached from the group at the gate and wandered over to talk to Mollie, and walked with us inside. He became alert as I lagged behind, again snapping photos without thought. When I finally reached the top of the stairs and started taking more pictures of the signs advertising our old friend “Little Sheep Hot Pot” and a Chinese hair salon, he asked me what I was taking photos of. Surprised, I said the Chinese signs. When he asked why, I simplified the truth a bit, and told him that I had studied Chinese and liked to practice reading. He asked me, quite serious, to show him my photos, flipping back past the ones I took at the center to the previous day photos at University of Nairobi, with me jabbering along about how I took this of the restaurant ad and this of the sign outside and this of the American wing at the college... and finally he smiled and said “I understand what it is you are trying to do, but actually you are not allowed to take photos of the building here. But it is ok, because I understand and I do not think that a woman could be a terrorist.”

Well, I had expected being asked to stop taking photos, and could even see being asked to leave, but had never thought I could be terror suspect! Suffice to say, I am now being more careful about the impression I may be giving—though to keep finding information I will likely have to continue to be a shutterbug and nosy nellie for the rest of the trip.   

Cooking for Kenyans

Hello!

Yesterday we celebrated the 4th of July by cooking American food for the staff at our guesthouse.

Of course, it was actually the 5th of July, and the meat dish was actually more Chinese than American (Coca-cola chicken), but hey, we have been in Africa for 4 days and we improvise.

Stage one of Operation Cooking Independence was to get the food. This required a trip to one of the more westernized (and consequently, higher priced) Nairobi grocery markets.  We pushed our trolley around, looking at camel milk in plastic bags, sacks of Indian spices, finger bananas, and massive 55 liter cooking pots for weddings.  Then we went to the check out... and were short money.  We were 3 Kenyan shillings short, which at 85 shillings to the dollar, is about 0.03 USD.

Luckily, the checker was nice, and let us slide.

Then we had to wait for our taxi driver to come get us.  Taxis in Kenya, as far as I can tell, are not "registered" per say, no signs lit up saying if they are taken or not, not even any sticker saying "taxi."  They are all private cars who either try to pick you up on the street, or who you know already and call to come get you.  Simon is our taxi guy, and we gave him a call to come pick us up.  But while we were waiting on the dirt strip besides the street, watching the security guards check under every car entering the supermarket compound with mirrors, a beggar man in very bad shape came up to us.  Which is fine, we had a whole bevy of street children asking for Mollie's jacket the other evening.  What was less fine was that he wanted our sodas we were drinking and wasn't leaving when we wouldn't give them to him.  What was even less fine was when he tried to keep touching Mollie's arm. What was totally uncool was that, not only were the security guards 20 ft away not paying attention (ok, they have jobs to do) several Kenyan men saw us two mzungo girls cornered by a rough 40 year old beggar man and not only didn't step in, but one actually shouted at us in English "give him something!"  Super helpful.  We picked up our groceries and walked away, closer to the guards with guns, and eventually the beggar left and Simon came.

Then we rode in the car back to the guesthouse and suddenly, one of our Chinese academic contacts called us and wanted to meet right now.  An hour later he would be busy.  And he was 18 km out of the opposite side of town.  I ask if we could meet him tomorrow or Saturday, and he said maybe, he didn't know what his schedule would be like tomorrow, so call him in the morning. 

Then we got to the guesthouse and found out guests aren't typically allowed to cook in the kitchen.  So we had to wait until the owners left... mostly.  The owner lady came in while we were cooking and asked a few narrow questions, but we answered light heartedly and it seemed to go down ok. 

But it was all worth it, because the staff loved the food we made and we had a really fun time making it with them.  The two cooks, house girl, manageress, and night guard had a ball.  They really enjoyed the coca-cola chicken, potato salad, watermelon, banana bread and vanilla pudding which we made, and learned how to cook new dishes and offered to show us how to make pastries tomorrow. 

So we celebrated independence from the British, both Kenyan and American, after all.

Happy Independence Day to you all!

First Days in Nairobi

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

This is actually the third 4th of July in a row I have been abroad.  Last year I was in China, the year before that in Malaysia, and now in Kenya!  I seem to have a habit of going to countries which end in "a."

Things have been good in Kenya!  We have hit the ground running with our research project.  Please see my other joint blog with Mollie Foust for updates on how that is going.  This blog I am going to mainly try to use to record funny stories and my personal impressions of Kenya, rather than information about our research.

Thus far, Kenya has not been quite what I expected. 

First of all, its cold here--cold enough I use a jacket except at high noon, and have layered blankets on my bed.  I guess I should have figured it out as its sort of winter here, but we are right on the equator, so I assumed it would be warm and packed accordingly.  I need to get some more long sleeved shirts.  My feet are icy.

Its also less populous and more developed than I was expecting.  Mollie says its much more developed than it was 5 years ago when she was here last, and given the amount of construction going on, it seems likely to be even built up 5 years in the future!  There are a lot fewer people on the streets, though that may be because we are out and about during the work day.  The streets are very congested in the morning and evening, clearly the transportation network is straining to keep up with the population growth, and the air is thick with exhaust fumes, smoke from coal cook fires and burning trash.  The roads outside of the highways and city center are not particularly planned, and definitely not paved or maintained.  Most people get around in overcrowded buses or minivans called "matatus", which also stop at bus stops and men hanging out of the open sliding doors cram people in for about 40ksh per person, depending on where you are going.  They are decorated with painted signs--"STILL BORN AGAIN" "FBI" "LOVE BOAT"--and bounce along the potholes.  I've ridden in a few, and once ended up on Mollie's lap, knocking my head against the ceiling with each bump.  Much cheaper than taxis, though!

The people in Kenya are really nice; if the weather is colder, the people are much warmer than I was expecting!  No one stares at you here, which is a wonderful relief after China and makes me feel much more comfortable.  People are very welcoming and helpful, and everyone speaks English, which is great when you are trying to find places based on non-existent addresses (as I noted on the other blog, there aren't addresses in Kenya.  There are PO Boxes for mail, and semi-descriptive directions for anything else).  Everyone likes to chat and has an opinion about things they want to share with you, wonderful for researchers!  We have had an encounter with some street kids (pretty nice actually, though they really wanted some change or Mollie's coat) and caught a few people eying our bags, but nothing bad.

Fun fact--a ton of the clothing and shoes which are donated to Goodwill, etc ends up here in Africa, sold from wooden stalls on the dirt streets.  So you see Kenyan kids walking around in Springfield 2001 High School Reunion t-shirts, which is funny.  

I will do more posts later about food and the slum. 

We have also found a new place to stay starting Sunday, which is good.  It doesn't have a garden like our current place, but is 75% cheaper, and closer to the city so we don't spend $10 per day on taxis.

Best wishes to you all!

Arriving in Kenya

Habari everyone, from Nairobi!
Mollie, my friend from the LSE MPA program who is researching with me, and I made it to Kenya, safe and sound!  No major hang ups or anything; all the bags arrived, no problems with the visas, the hostel met us at the airport, and we got our room just fine!
The hostel is in the affluent Karen suburbs, where all the foreigners and government officials live in big compounds with large grounds and guards, surrounded by high walls.  The land in between is just sort of rolling farm land and little shops and 3 story cement buildings that have everything from apartments to hair salons to auto part shops.
Thus far, Nairobi is a lot greener than I expected, lots of eucalyptus, palms, climbing flowers, and other things that I think of as house plants but would definitely not fit in a little pot any more.  Its very cool here right now, I am wearing a jacket, and overcast.
People seem very friendly, and there is a lot of security--gourds and army men around.  Apparently there was an attack on a church someplace close to Somali border while we were in flight, so I don't know if the security is because of that or just the normal state of things.  Everyone says Nairobi is much safer than it used to be and safer than the places attacked--our taxi driver said the politicians must be sure to protect themselves, and they all live here. 
Jet lag is not too bad, a bit sleepy but that could also be the altitude. No bad culture shock yet, but I have been in the country less than 24 hours.
Today we have been walking around--went to a grocery store to get local SIM cards (so now we have phones) and laundry soap and snacks, then walked to the SIT office where Mollie studied in 2007.  They were out, so we left our card with our new local number.  We tried to find her old home stay parents, but they had moved.
The Chinese are definitely in Kenya--we counted half a dozen billboards last night for Chinese companies on our way from the airport!  We saw a group of people at the grocery store who I thought were Chinese, so I went up and tried to chat with them in Mandarin.  Turns out they were Korean.  Very embarrassing, but saved the moment by apologizing in Korean and saying thank you and welcome, which they seemed to think was nice and funny.  They didn't know where the Chinese hang out, but I am sure we encounter them soon.   It sounds terrible, like I am searching for my white whale, but I am hoping that once we meet a few Chinese business men, we can get an sense of where the rest work and where the factories are. Feeling very good about the feasibility of the project right now!
More to come later!  Love to you all!