Nairobi

It's been a while, but it's been a tame few weeks compared to the rest of the semester. I've been living in a homestay in Nairobi (the capital city) for three weeks now. The family I'm with is more American than I am: they own three SUVs and watch WWE and The Real Housewives of Atlanta. It's been very comfortable, and I don't have a lot to say besides a few observations:

• Nairobi is too small. I've been stopped three times now for 45 minutes because of the president's motorcade. He drives through the busiest streets at rush hour with a motorcade that is almost a mile long. It is so long because he is trying to outdo the prime minister, so every time the PM adds a car to his own motorcade, the president adds one to his. I told my host mom he should get a helicopter and she said her friend was put in jail for saying that.
• Nairobi is too small. Today I was having drinks with a friend of the family and his friend. A random man came up to the friend and greeted him warmly in Swahili and left. It turns out the friend plays one of the main characters on Tahiti High, one of the most popular shows in East Africa.
• Camels don't speak English. I was in a park in Nairobi a while ago and there was a man offering camel rides for about $3. I jumped at the opportunity. He told me that the camel speaks English, so just say stop, left, and right and you should be okay. He sent me on my way. The camel spoke no english and walked one speed down the central pathway in a very crowded park. For some reason there was barbed wire on both sides of the path in a public park. Everyone had to scatter to get out of my way and avoid cutting themselves on the barbed wire. I almost knocked over an ice cream cart, and all the local people were giving me dirty looks.
• Some Kenyan people are really nice and they want your money. I've had several long conversations with random people on the street who I thought were genuinely interested in talking to me. At the end of the conversation they invariably produce a petition asking for money for some diseased person who almost definitely doesn't exist.
• Ostrich bites hurt. I went to the animal orphanage and one of the trainers asked if I wanted to feed the ostrich because I'm a Whitey. The ostrich basically attacked my peanut filled hands giving me a moderately sized bruise. I don't hold it against him/ her because he/she doesn't have any parents.
• Slums. We went to Kibera a couple weeks ago, the largest slum in East Africa. It was staggering-- there's no comparison anywhere in America. The population density is slightly less than New York City with no multi story buildings. The smell is powerful, as is the sight from the top of a centrally located hill: an uncountable number of rusted corrugated metal sheets make up the roofs of an uncountable number of shacks. The northern border of the slum is a large luxury golf course.
• I want to stay here for a long time. I've just decided to go backpacking at the end of the semester through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland, and Mozambique. I'm hoping to get an internship for the rest of the summer.
• Taco Bell isn't really Taco Bell. There's one in Nairobi, but it's a product of lax copyright laws.

That's all I have for now. Tomorrow we go to Amboseli National Park to see a bunch of animals and live with Maasai tribesman. After that we'll be in Mombasa for a week for our "spring break."

Aaron