I think im getting worried. Im supposed to leave for my internship by the 1st and I haven’t heard shit from the local office that’s supposed to be working on my visa and my plane ticket. I got my yellow fever vaccination yesterday (and a backdated card, so I can travel on the 1st) so basically, Im ready.

But the phone number I have is not going through (I also have a shitty phone- just up and quit working as soon as we drove outside Kenya, wtf?). I have to go to the office today, at least so that I have an idea. I also have to find a travel agent so I can buy my ticket back in time for the Kampala conference (and before I end up broke, lol). This is frustrating tho- would have been easier if it was left up to me to get my visa and ticket instead of.... well, just waiting. ugh.

Black uhuru is performing on Sunday! Im excited about this- there’s a festival both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is Baaba Mal (might go for this) and some Kenyan/south african artists, Sunday, which im amped for, is reggae!! Including this german band that my venezolano friend absolutely loves. Trying to go out tonight but im a bit frustrated and its dampening my mood. its about 1pm and i've already had one beer- trying to decide what to do. its been cold the past few days too.
Im kinda ready to be out of Nairobi. I mean its fun and everything, my friends are spoiling me... but i do want to see Juba and Rumbek. and my mom arrives tomorrow which could be both a good and a bad thing. we dont do too well if we spend too much time together. i was pushing for 1 day this time round, not 3 or 4.ugh. maybe this time instead of merely threatening to move out i will actually move out (wait... im not too old for this shit??)

tanzania

this is the slowest computer on earth. i was going to upload more pictures but it'll take me forever, and i fear its about to rain... and the roads become a traffic nightmare when that happens.
anyway, this was a picture taken on the way to tanzania- your prototypical women by the roadside selling produce!

ugh, back to nairobi

Long ass bus ride. We stopped at every little town enroute, I swear. I slept, woke up, slept, woke up, and we were still riding. Ugh. The bus got crowded, hot, they were playing reggae (on the way to Tz, the bus had a tv so we watched a naija movie- my first love or all my life or someshit like that. Im still salty I didn’t get to see the ending- it was part 1&2.) they just kept adding people and dropping off people, bought mangoes and oranges on the way, drove past Arusha (I think we drove past the town but I was too drowsy). We were starved, had no more Tanzanian shillings to buy any meaningful food. I didn’t want to end up with all this currency I couldn’t use in Kenya. Ugh. We got home at 11p (17hr bus ride, damn!). Nairobi.

Zanzibar!

The ferry leaves at 7a.m so we had to leave the house quite early. Apparently because we are not ‘residents’ i.e. Tanzanians, the extremely rude ticket sellers decided we must pay 35$ per person, per ride, instead of 20$. So im trying to understand why –cause I was assuming, well we are all east Africans, that 35$ fee is usually reserved for.. well Europeans, Americans etc. He wasn’t trying to even budge. ‘If you don’t have the money, go, you are wasting my time. You Kenyans like arguing too much. You plan to go somewhere and you don’t know how it works?’

So I decide, ok, issue the tickets, there’s nothing I can do. It totals 210$ for a roundtrip (im really hating my cousins right now, lol). And the dude is like, no, show me the money first. I might write these tickets and here you don’t even have the money….” At this point im starting to dislike Tanzanians. This attitude is unnecessary.

Then we get to Zanzi, and us, being ignorant, forgetting that Zanzi is a self-governed island, of course did not come with our permits. So the immigration agent is like, “no way, no way. You aren’t getting in without either your passport or your pass, your identity card is not enough. Kenyans are not to be trusted (is this a recurrent theme?)” Im trying to explain that, clearly we’ve just gotten off the ferry from Dar, we had no idea we’d have to go through immigration again, we are only here for the day… he refused, claiming that some Kenyans had said the same thing a few weeks before, in fact, ‘look they even left their ID’s as goodwill that they are leaving the same day and they never came back. Hapana. Mtarudi.”. he only budged when we finally showed our return tickets, we had to leave our ID’s. At this point, im really, really disliking Tanzanians. I don’t mind protocol, but the whole attitude shift just because we are holding Kenyan identification papers is just unnecessary and uncalled for.

Despite the initial hitch I love love love Zanzibar and Zanzibaris. Even though because its such a tourism based economy every few steps there’s someone offering taxi ride, walking tour, etc.. Zanzibaris are soooooo friendly. We had a guide –cause I wanted to walk around, not drive. So first we end up at this (again) dingy place for breakfast. I think this was the first time I was a bit fearful that I’ll end up with diarrhoea, lol. I don’t know why, but I like hole-in-the-walls.

Walked around Old town, which has very very narrow streets, with many people on scooters, and bicycles, so while walking you are always dodging bikes, foot traffic, scooters etc. the houses all look old with worn out white, peeling paint- because of the humidity and sea salt from the Indian ocean. Women in buibuis despite the heat, kids playing outside, everything is so cramped together. For some reason everyone mistakes us for Ugandans (I guess we are, somewhat, I mean Acholis are also in Uganda, no? and where my grandmom comes from is right next to the Uganda-sudan border).

My favourite moment in Zanzibar was sitting on steps, drinking coffee with strangers and just talking about random ish. Some guy was telling me about life in Zanzi (personally I wanted to know how high rent is, because if im moving back to Africa next year….im thinking Zanzi would be heaven!), the Pemba-Zanzi-Tanzanian relations, etc. Before long we had a small crowd of people just shooting the shit, drinking coffee, I was eating mabuyus, my cuz some kashata (cant describe these). I must live in Zanzi at least once in my life, in fact im really contemplating next year after graduating- only question is can I get a job? I cant just bum around for life, which would be tempting.

We went to the old Slave market…atop of which they build an Anglican church(2nd pic). had another guide give us the history. Most of it I was surprised to still remember from history class (Seyyid Said, Tippu Tip, etc). they showed us the underground holding caves with a small space for light/air… etc. This was a bit of a blight/low moment.

What did we do afterwards? Went and saw the old Sultanate palace, walked by the beach, went to the fish market (dirty, smelly, noisy, lots of fish I cant name). Walked and walked and walked and walked. I love Zanzibar! I really must come back and spend a few nights on this island. Oh and I was giving everyone my cousin’s cell #, lol

Caught the 4p ferry back to Dar, got there about 6.30p. Dealt with two really shitty cab drivers. This one dude my cuz befriended cause he’s a Luo from Kenya (don’t know how they figured this out, I turned back and I see people holding hands and speaking Luo, lol). Anyway, he decides its dark, I think I should escort you guys cause the cab drivers will try and exploit you. So he gets us a cab, I have to find an atm cause we are planning to hit out to Nairobi the next morning and want to buy our bus tickets- the cab driver starts bitching, about the price we agreed on is too low, you must add more money (I mean wtf? You should have said this before we got IN the cab)

Then we get to Ubunge to get bus tx and he’s like, I have to leave you guys here- I cant go all the way to Mbezi beach, its getting late (its 8.00p.m), you have to pay me this amount…. At this point im just getting amazed about this shit. Dar express bus is full so we have to get another bus- that will probably take longer, and is not as… I don’t know I guess reliable. So my cousin starts giving me shit about this. (we cant go with this kind of bus, id rather wait another day- by the way, the reason we are leaving Tuesday morning is because she said she has to be at work on Wednesday- not because there’s anything im rushing back to- so im not quite understanding the attitude), it’ll take too long, no… blablabla. How much do tickets cost? Again, about 150$ so really I should be the one with the bad attitude cause I’ll be broke before mid summer.

And im just not understanding this, ‘im too good for this kind of bus’ attitude. Anyway. Its late, we are both cranky, our cab driver took off, this dude my cuz befriended just hit me off on some money (I needed to change Kenyan shillings for Tanzanian- and he gave me a really low exchange rate- so even him im kinda done with.). whatever, I hadn’t realized how much it would cost in tzed currency, I have no choice. So we get another cab, dude has to leave, I ask the cab driver if he can come pick us up the next morning to take us to the bus station (no, 6a.m is too early- im too amazed at this shit. Maybe if you pay me 20,000TZ shs- almost twice as much as it would normally cost).

Im so through with Tanzanians at this point. So we pass Tangi Mbovu (which we’d told him we are going to mbezi beach, the one for tangi mbovu- because there are two Mbezi’s and tangi mbovu is the marker/identifier. St. Mary’s, which is where my buddy lives is less than a mile from there. When turning into st. mary’s the cab driver catches an attitude. ‘No, you told me tangi mbovu, this is not it, you know how much petrol costs, you must add 2,000shs otherwise im not moving.’ And stops the car right there. At this point im really really disliking Tanzanians. Really. And im sooo pissed, there’s no way im giving this shitty attitude even a shilling. “Hapana! Wacha tushuke, atinikulipe? Kwani unafikiria tunatoa pesa kwa mti?). We basically walked the rest of the way. Ugh. Easy money will be people’s downfall. I’ve never had such problems before, over a few shillings at that. Ugh. Regardless, I intend to live in Zanzibar!

Dar-es-salaam!

Did the lame tourist thing and got into a cab and drove around. (lame, I know- I’d rather have gotten into a bus, and gotten lost downtown). Anyway, went and had chips mayai (omelette made with french-fries) which a tanzanian ex introduced me to, at this really dingy place… really dingy. Not really a hotel or a banda, just a guy with a charcoal stove, a karai with hot oil, and a little contraption (don’t know what to call it) to hold the fries, tomatoes, unappetizing looking sausages etc. I think my ex and I can make better chips mayai than Juma (‘chef’s’ name). Anyway, we were sitting next to these 3 women, unwillingly eavesdropping (they were loud). This woman was talking about her neighbour who beats her husband, and the entire ‘hood’ can hear.

She was like, “ai, I think those ones… I don’t even know, maybe that’s what they like. Because im telling you she beats him... all the time, sometimes he just gets home and she’s ready… everyone can hear him… and its not like he’s going anywhere… she’s been beating him since they got married.”
Her friend was like, “no, maybe she put a spell on him (amemroga)”. Which apparently Tanzanians are the most superstitious people on the planet). “He doesn’t have family or friends? How does one just let their friend be beaten by the wife. Or that’s how they get down?”

Hilarious conversation… but I hadn’t realised how superstitious tzedians are… actually not just superstitious but apparently a lot of uchawi (witchcraft) happens here, its even in the news.

Two stories…. There’s a govt official who went to the states about 8 months ago, and he died and was buried in the states. So we were listening to the radio and people were complaining that it was mysterious circumstances, they think the president had a hand in it, (apparently Bagamoyo, where the president is from, is known for this shit) in fact they heard he’d gone to visit said minister… they want an official statement.. so the president came on the radio and was saying, ‘tanzanians, here no one can ever die of natural means/causes- its always a case of amerogwa –he’s been cursed. Now even I am being accused…

There’s been stories of people kidnapping albinos to use in some sort of uchawi that enables one to get lots of money. Apparently it got so bad that they government issued a statement- babbiez told me there’s a word (I forget) that it’s banned to speak- because people would say that word whenever an albino passed and apparently it means something bad.

I have to find some news clippings, cause this shit sounds unbelievable. This one guy who was trying to sell me cheap jewellery (really insisting) was like, or should I give it to you free? So im thinking, why not? Sure. And he was like, ai, you are not afraid of…. Sheeit. It’s a bit unsettling. Almost as though it permeates everywhere. I’ve never really experienced this before- im sure in mombasa people are more superstitious but ai, not in Nairobi.

Anyway, we drove around, breath-taking. I do want to live by the ocean, for real. Later after B’s show was over we went to pick her up at the radio station and went for early dinner. Took pictures by the Indian Ocean of ships, boats going by, of course the African sunset (is there a set of pictures from Africa complete without this?). Oh, and Tusker beer is better than Kilimanjaro- the tzed beer. Anyway, we are going to Zanzibar tomorrow!!

Tanzania!

More like the drive there, actually. We left the club, took a cab home, packed and took another cab to get the bus. Ugh, left Nairobi at 6.30a.m- not realizing just how long this trip was going to take. Shit… 12 hours.

It took about 2 hours to get to Namanga- the border. Which I hadn’t realised was that close, either. At the border we had to beg and plead with immigration officials to get a temporary permit for my cuz (they were like, we don’t give these to people from Nairobi, you should have gotten it from Nyayo house- my cuz got caught telling a lie about being from Kajiado (ha!)- actually her older sis busted her out by saying, ‘oh we couldn’t get these in Nairobi cause she got there late’. I think they almost told us to go back… which would have been disaster- actually, I wouldn’t have, ah ah. So, I was thinking, oh 2 hrs into Tanzania, Dar cant be that far…. Yea right.

Tanzania -very mountainous/hilly-hadn’t expected that, I don’t know the names of the ranges- I think its Ngorongoro, need to look it up- except its all part of the Rift Valley. My cuz swears she saw Mt Kilimanjaro while I was passed out asleep, but I don’t believe her (someone should have had the decency to wake me up- or don’t tell me at all). Countryside looked a bit sparcely populated- at least there didn’t seem to be as many people as I’d have expected (I think my Nairobi bias is showing- im so used to overcrowded streets)- but also… well they probably don’t live right next to the main road. For the first time I realized that there are (probably) more Maasai’s on the Tzed side than they are on the Kenyan side, at least they are everywhere…. Even in small towns in their bright reds… Much of Tzed looks like rural Kenya (like the drive to western Kenya)…people selling produce by the roadside (bought oranges for real cheap), mud huts next to stone structures, little kiosks selling a little bit of everything- some with catchy names like Zaire shop, Kalifonia, (mainly maasai) cattle herders....

think I romanticize country living a bit- everything looks so uncomplicated-but it probably is hard- but from the outside looking in, everything looks easy- roaming around amazing countryside, fertile land, growing all your produce… why not? Oh and they grow sunflowers…. that made me happy cause next to gladioli these are my favourite flowers (no particular reason). Also many sisal plantations, and maize, of course. That’s about all I could recognize.

We had a few breaks but the bus driver was in a rush to get to Dar-es-Salaam by 6p.m. We stopped once for lunch- its hard being vegetarian- such limited choices, but I did like my meal- pilau with some vegetables- not as spicy as I would have wanted it to be…. we’d barely sat down to eat before they announced- if you are in Dar-express the bus leaves in five minutes- so we had to buy to-go boxes (ugh). We got to Dar late, about 7p.m, had to call babbiez to give us directions to there… the bus station (ubunge, I think its called) as bustling, taxi drivers hustling, people selling (always people selling), buses coming going, there was traffic, cops doing whatever it is cops do. Really nice seeing my homie- she’s been in dar since before I left for the states- been working as a radio and t.v presenter.

Nairobi

Hadn't realised how much i missed nairobi

got here thursday at 2.p.m, by the time i got through the bureaucracy (i say bureaucracy because i kept getting stopped so that some random person can leaf through my passport. not like they had anything important to say/do)
anyway, got home about 4p and was meeting friends downtown at 6.30p

i love this city. nothing much has changed. same bartenders at my favourite watering hole (when did you get back? you want the same, eh?). absolutely nothing new. not as noisy as it used to be and still cleaner than it was years ago.

Liddo's

Went out late last night. Well just to the local watering hole. Everyone kept saying nothing happens on Thursday and besides, they gotta work on Friday, I shouldn’t think life stops just because I landed in the city (ha!). and barely a year since I was last here. (kwani you were being chased from the states). My cousins, are quite amazed that I seem to have the same shoes and clothes from last year. Like the defining thing of coming home is seeing new shit. (they were like, ala! The shoes from last year are back?)

Anyway, we are going to Tanzania! Initially I was going to go by myself but my cousins want to come- so it will have to be by bus cause I cant afford 3 plane tickets (life of a broke gradstudent). We had to go to Nyayo house to get temporary travel permits because my lil cuz doesn’t have a passport, and we thought we’d need it anyway. Took a few hours- my lil cuz had some ‘technical difficulties’ so she didn’t get hers – we are going to have to beg and plead at Namanga – the border into Tanzania.
Anyway, afterwards it was off to river road to book a bus –Dar Express, cost me about 9000Kshs in total (about 140$ one way). We have to leave bright and early at 6a.m. Me and my lil cuz are going out tonight (strip club!!) so I think we’ll be leaving the club to go get the bus.

Liddo’s
That’s the name of the strip club. Its in a very sheisty area of nairobi. Very very sheisty. We started off in Westlands- where all the upscale clubs are- you know the kind where everyone is ‘posing’. I got a keg of beer for me and my homegirl, S (cause it felt like the right thing to do!) I didn’t think we’d finish it but sometimes I underestimate our alcoholism. Yes we can!

Afterwards we hit up Liddo’s (S was telling the cab driver not to tell anyone where he dropped us, lol. (as I said, sheisty, dingy hole in the wall- Like he gives a shit)
Anyway, maajabu nakuambia! The Dj at liddo’s was talking too much- a ManU fan that kept stopping the music to laugh at any Chelsea fans in the house (how is this relevant?). every couple of minutes. I went to tell him to just shut up and play the music but did not quite get there. (and the last time I told a dj something similar- we were in mombasa a few years ago and I was told if that’s how they do it Nairobi- where someone goes to tell the dj about his music then I need to take my ass back to Nairobi, ugh).

Anyway, showtime. Damn! Two strippers, 1pole. Damn. Wait a minute, these females are not playing- taking off clothes…. Going down on each other… got damn moving to the counter. At this point there’s a crowd all around them (cheap broke ass motherfuckers who aren’t coming out their pockets) Maajabu, nakuambia. at this point I’m kinda speechless, I had to give them some $$. Wont lie, I had fun.

Oh, before I forget this old man –old ugly man I should add- attempted to offer me 10,000Kshs for a night (about 150$). Feeling quite pleased with himself like I was going get wowed over that shit. Course I cursed his ass out but he was somewhat relentless. I was telling him just because im a black female in a strip club doesn’t mean he can just come out his mouth over some bullshit- and I was pointing to the working girls, on some, you need to be trying to pay their rent, not mine. Im here for the show. Ugh. “can I offer you a meal? (who the fuck says meal? I couldn’t place the accent) I just want to get to know you... I know I made an error, can I make it up to you…Motherfucker. Amusing to say the least. At least I know what the going price is. Even at a place like Liddo’s.

some stuff i had on my flash disk...

(I think its Thursday)
Its about 1hr 30 minutes to dubai and im kinda sick and tired of being in this plane. I’ve slept, woken up, slept again- my body refuses to do that mess again. It doesn’t help that I didn’t sleep at all the night before so my time is all off. But its been about 12hrs now.. sheesh
I should do some reading.
Its 125degrees in dubai- ha ha im going to look rather silly walking in the airport holding my big jacket- but it was cold when I left nyc and it will be cold in Nairobi. it feels as though as soon as we got to the middle east it go ridiculously hot inside the plane.

Im kinda fascinated by the emirates- not sure why. I think especially cause a friend worked in doha for a while and she describes an interesting experience- fabulously wealthy kingdoms in which no one works so they import all their labour who live in certain parts of town and aren’t ‘allowed’ into certain parts of town (or rather the bus from the area they live in doesn’t go all the way into the town, so they have to walk the rest of the way. D says’s it used to until one of the princes’ felt some kind of way about it. Or she talks of camping in (what seemed like) the desert and when it came to lunch-time she’s all ready to fire up the camp stove when someone whips out a satelitte phone and orders take-out. Anyway, I’d need a visa. I was reading down the list of countries that don’t need visas to dubai and apparently Africans and latin Americans are not trusted- there was not one country from these regions. Im still quite salty at the fact that Americans can buy visas into Ethiopia from the airport and I, as a Kenyan (hello neighbour), cannot. Surely.

I know how to say fasten your seatbelt in araic- hazima tan matai- or so it sounds like. At this point im sure they are just saying that ever so often to keep us occupied/ give us something to do.

stressed out: too much to do, too little time

i leave in a 4 days. i have way too much to do by then and i dont know if i will be done. still trying to decide on what clothes to pack and what books to take and what i dont need to forget. easier said than done: how does one pack for the unknown?

after a lot of drama, i finally got my nyc-nbo tickets. -flying emirates to dubai then jkia. which is cool, i guess. but its a 13 hr flight to dubai and that's a long time to remain seated. but i've never been to dubai and i wish i had more time there.

i dont have my flights to rumbek. but apparently i will now be flying into juba, for a day or two of orientation. i prefer this because i do want to go to juba, to see what its like. and to get to see my cuz!! maybe i will see the other akon, who knows. that will be nice too.

i feel like im going ill prepared. been meaning to read up on adult literacy programs. still have no clue as to what exactly i signed up for. i partly feel like im just going for the experience. but i do want to accomplish what i signed up for. if only because i think its very important. adult literacy: for women. the illiteracy rates in south sudan are so depressing. we are starting from so low- but that means there's only UP to go, right? i want to be part of that process.

more later...