The Kenyan Way

I ran again this morning with the regular xc group, but this time we ran a 6k, and still I was dying. I felt like a smoker who's been smoking for 10 years. Needless to say the altitude is awful! Workers on their way to work were walking some said jambo, others stared, and others weren't phased by our presence.  I am sure soon enough they will get used to seeing us run every morning- I plan on being consistent on this! If my high school xc coach were here, he'd love the way people respond when you say jambo. 10/10 WILL respond if you say some sort of greeting.
                  Kenyans are all about being polite, this I have noticed in many instances. For example, the first day we arrived it was pretty obvious that we were exhausted and completely drained. It is considered disrespectful to even start up conversations with someone who as just arrived and haven't eaten. Warimu served us fruit and chai and we relaxed for an hour until we were well fed, and then we talked about orientation. During school we have Swahili for 3 hours and the teachers realize that this is a long time to be focusing and practicing. About an hour and a half through we will stop for a chai break. As you may remember, chai is HUGE in Kenya, that's what they live off of: chai at breakfast, chai mid-day, and chai during dinner. I always smell Isaah cooking chai at the compound. Anyway, we stop for a chai break which last for however long the teachers want it to. If they sense we need more time to socialize and sit in the sun we will have chai for 45 minutes as we did today. Yesterday we only had chai for 15 minutes.  I always look forward to chai breaks- they come at a perfect time! Also served at chai time is uji or porridge which is a more liquid version of oatmeal which people usually sip on. I really enjoy Swahili class because our classes are small- about 7 people and we each have the opportunity to hear ourselves talk and practice with the teacher. If we mess up we usually burst out laughing because the words are quite funny to pronounce and our American accent makes the words even funnier. The teachers laughs at us too but it is all in good fun.
           After class we came back to the compound for lunch which consisted of delicious pizza, vegetables, and chocolate covered bananas- yum! From there we went to the Nairobi hospital to meet our assigned physician for the semester and to be issued our insurance cards. Every hospital/doctors visit is covered by the university. The doctor was very thorough, and made us feel at ease about all the possible contracted diseases that exist here. He assured us that our medication and vaccinations will keep us very good health- he explained that no student has ever left the compound in poor condition.  So all of you out there worried about my health- DON'T :).  
           On my way to the hospital I sat in the front seat next to our driver Njau on the bus and I was able to get a great view of the landscape. One of the things that I have brought up in earlier posts is the Kenya driving- it is absolutely insane. I had multiple heart attacks sitting in the front seat.  I was so amazed by the lack of rules, road signs, stop lights, etc. They don't exist! It is a complete free for all! I thought that multiple times Njau would hit people crossing the street. People would literally cross the street at a snail's pace as speeding cars are flying toward them- they don't care. No one is ever in a rush, no one is every upset, and no one is every angry. The roads here are very skinny- probably the length of a single lane on the highway.  Additionally these roads are bumpy and not well paved. Potholes are filled with rocks and dirt and there are some places where the road gets as skinny as 5 feet wide. A good example of how reckless the driving is was an instance that happened as we were driving home: a mutatu (cab bus) was stalled on the slope of a big hill. Noticing this, cars passed him from either side of him speeding up the hill- not caring if anyone was coming down the other side. It was a clusterfuck of traffic and it was a complete free for all- cars were driving on either side of the street. However no one was honking, giving the finger, rolling down their windows, or throwing their hands up in the air. In the US if a car pulls out in front of you- you roll down your window or give them a face that says "are you serious?!" Not here. Pulling out inches in front of someone is the norm, and it always have been, so people like Njau have been driving like this forever.  Seeing this all happen in front of me I was gripping the arm rest and saying my Hail Mary's. Motorcycles and pedestrians go where ever they want too. I saw a motorcycle driving in the middle of the road as cars went past him on either side. I even saw pedestrians walking in the middle of the road leisurely- like where are you going!!
          On either side of the disheveled streets are rust colored dirt paths about 20 feet wide that people walk on- and or sleep on. Everyone is walking. Herds and herds are people are walking to and from work. Some men that are friends are even holding hands- a norm here. What I thought was funny was the amount of people sleeping on the side of the road. They would post up and take a nap anywhere: in a tree, in the dirt, on a small patch of grass, everyone is taking their afternoon nap and they will take it where ever they can find a spot.
          On the way to the hospital our bus suddenly stopped. I thought it was another traffic jam but nope it was another regular occurrence- camels crossing.  These lazy creatures were just chillin, crossing the street looking to and fro like whatever don't care, shakin my head. They didn't belong to anyone, I didn't see an owner anywhere in sight, they were just living in the wild. I also saw a mob of goats on the side of the road too.  Again they didn't have an owner either they were just skittishly  dodging traffic and hopping around. I couldn't believe that these animals roam around like that!
          As I mentioned before the rich and the poor live cohesively here. The hospital that looks like a resort- wild flowers are over flowing through the windows, is placed right next to furniture shops that have tin roofs, and markets that are selling dirty fruit. As we were driving out of Nairobi, a relatively rich city, is placed next to one of the largest slums in Kenya- Kibaru. Looking out you could see miles and miles of tin houses placed on orange plots of land. What a horrible way to live. I always feel so terrible when kids come up to me asking for money but if I gave money to everyone that asked me I'd be broke!
         The landscape here in Kenya is absolutely gorgeous. Although the slums I saw looked horrible, exotic flowers and trees decorated the perimeter.  I recently found out that our compound has avocado trees! I have to go to class now but I'll write more later! Qwaherini!