Monday we headed across town to the national park to go see some of the famous African wildlife. By now I think I've gotten somewhat used to the traffic, I'm not as surprised now when we get through a trip. When we entered the park we were greeted by a sign announcing "Kenyan Wildlife Federation is a corruption free organization", a notable sign to have in Kenya among government agencies, but it still cracked me up that that was something to be announced. The next sign we saw as we came in stated, "Speed limit 20 kph. Watch for children and warthogs". I think it was a joke, but I know better now than to trust my own ideas of what's reasonable and makes sense. We didn't see any warthogs while we there, but maybe that's because we weren't watching for them because we didn't really see any children either. I don't know. The "Safari Walk" area was kind of scenic zoo. We followed the boardwalk around looking at the animals, with me marveling and snapping pictures as the Junior, Flo, and their friend chatted and waited for me to be done gawking. I've done a terrible job so far taking pictures, and I realized that part of that is I hate how much of a tourist I feel like taking pictures. Part of it is that I've never owned a camera and never really taken pictures, so unless I'm consciously thinking about it I never remember to take pictures, but I've found that I also just don't like taking pictures because I don't want to stand out as a tourist. I chuckle every time I find myself thinking that I don't want to stand out, because I'm a white guy with shaggy long hair and a beard, so there really is absolutely no way for me not to stick out regardless of what I do or wear. If I lived here for twenty years, spoke the language fluently, dressed like they did, and understood the local culture, I would still stick out like a sore thumb. I've made a resolution not to worry about sticking out anymore. Junior and Flo seemed amused at how enamored I was with the animals, which I'm sure to them were just animals. For me it was kind of a surreal experience because all the animals there were things I had seen National Geographic videos about, and it was strange to see them in real life, 50 feet away from me. After we left the park Flo took off with her friend and Junior and I went to his aunt's house, which is not far from the park. It's in a neighborhood similar to theirs but bigger, and his aunt's house was extremely nice, but not all that big. We sat watching TV until his aunt and cousin got home, and went through the proper introductions then sat down with Edgar (the cousin) to watch some football and talk about sports a little bit. Edgar offered us some tea and bread, but as we were getting the tea and bread he asked me if I had had a chance to sample the local brew yet, to which I replied that I had been hanging out with Junior, so I hadn't. Although I was wary of the quality of Kenyan beer, it was an experience worth having I decided, so Edgar and I headed down to the local pub, which turned out to be a bar with a couple plastic tables on a concrete slab outside under a covering. One aside here that I'd like to mention is the British influence here. Rather than bars they have pubs, they spell things British, like "tyre" or "centre", they have queues instead of lines, and they use words like "chap" and "alight" in ways that really crack me up. Anyway, Edgar and I sat and sipped on a couple Tusker's, the popular local beer, and talked about his family, future plans, Kenya, America, what's wrong with both of them, among other things. Edgar was a fun guy to talk to, and really seemed to know his stuff when it came to economics and politics, both in Kenya and around the world. In some ways I feel, at least it that respect, he exemplifies what I want to become, and would like to see more Americans become: people well educated and well informed about the way their country works and, maybe just as importantly, how it fits into and interacts with global economic and political systems. His was yet another valuable opinion for me of getting a glimpse of an outsider's opinion of the US and how we are viewed globally. There are things, both from Edgar and others here, that they have said about the US that I think have been really insightful and valuable for me because they are aspects and characteristics of our country that are just hard to see when you are a part of the system. It's so valuable to see what people who are outside of the system looking in think of the way things are operating. I was also pleasantly surprised by the beer, I think it was actually better than most of the American beer I've had, which granted isn't much, but I was impressed. We headed back to the house and found Mama Patrick there, and her and I headed home. Edgar said I should come over again, which I was happy to hear because I'd definitely like to hang out with him more. I had yet another evening of struggling to stay awake until bedtime, which has become the norm now. I don't think I can blame it on jet lag anymore, but I'm still usually snoozing by 9:00, so we'll see if that continues or if I can pull it together.
Glad to hear you're doing well! Good thinking/processing :) About Junior and Flo not being so impressed with the wildlife refuge, think of all those trips to the bison range with the Japanese foreign exchange teachers and Dad!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how either one tastes, but I'm trying to decide if Tuskers is a better name than Moose Drool?
ReplyDeleteI take pictures all the time. I use them as reference material for paintings and to remember people, places and events. So think of yourself as an artist or a historian as you use your camera. Maybe it will help you to feel less touristy.