Meanwhile, In Nairobi...

Boy, am I ever jealous of my better half's exploits in NYC. The best I've come close to re: chocolate and opulence has been the jar of Nuteez (chocolate and peanut butter - a sad imitation of our beloved Nutella) hidden in my homestay house room... ok, perhaps that's not exactly accurate - since arriving in Kenya last week I have been fed quite well by my host family, the Oumas, gone on two or three "lunch meetings", visited the ICANN conference several times to avail myself of the free dainties and internet and attended a Kenya ICT board "meet and greet" Friday breakfast meeting... so all in all, not bad. And, by the way, Paul Ouma, my "dad", comes from the same tribal area as Barack Obama's father... NYC eat your heart out.

So what am i doing in Kenya? I am interning with Digital Opportunity Trust, a social entrepreneurship modeled NGO, helping with preparing for a new round of youth training, doing research in the country on our target youth segment and, generally speaking, assisting in DOT's mission of "building capacity". For those of you familiar with development-speak (and those who aren't) BC basically means helping someone help themselves (not bullcrap as I've heard some disgruntled aid workers refer to it in the past).

What is Kenya like? Not too sure yet. I am based in Nairobi and haven't yet had too much of a chance to see the rest of the country... when i do, you'll know. But, in the meantime, what can I say about Kenya? It's hot and sunny for starters. It's also a relatively young country - nearly 60% of its population is below the age of 30. It also hosts some of the greatest runner-athletes the world's ever seen. You can in fact see "the big five" here - but you might have to shell out the sometimes exorbitant amount to go on a Kenyan Safari to do so (I'm working on that one). The time of year best to go is during the migration... not now however as I've heard. Just my luck.

Here are some other interesting details:
- being a British colony, they drive on the right/wrong side of the street... I have almost been hit several times because I've looked the wrong/right way before crossing the street.
- Another colonial legacy, light swtiches. I always turn lights off when i want them to come on.
- for whatever reason the power goes off on Sunday in the morning and doesn't come back on till sometime in the afternoon... despite the government being able to pay, with its own money, to keep them running.
- one of the better ways to understand Africa is to divide it into regions - countries just don't quite describe it.
- the "violence of 2007" was really something unique and rare in the eyes of most Kenyans I've met... keep in mind you could very well call my experience of the country so far very "sheltered"... although visiting Kawangare definitely wasn't sheltered (think give money to help this starving child kind of aid commercial's backgrounds).
- there is a high probability you will get mugged and/or kidnapped depending on where you go, at what times and with whom... honestly, I feel pretty safe.
- Africa needs more sidewalks outside of the city centre areas... pronto.
- I miss Britt.

I hope you are all doing well. hopefully you've enjoyed the blog posts thus far. I know I have (britt's got some talent for writing doesn't she?). I promise to post more pictures soon... internet is not as readily available or as cheap as it is back home - right now I am "borrowing" the ICANN conference's free wireless.

That's it for now!

Asante!

Steve