Texas Living

I’m currently in Dallas for 2 weeks of meetings at SIL International’s headquarters. As well as being able to meet with Finance colleagues here, and discuss some of the current issues that we’re dealing with in the accounts in Africa, it’s a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends, most of whom are now working here, but have, at some point over the last 7+ years, been based in Nairobi.

Coming from Nairobi’s ‘winter’, followed by a few weeks in the UK (where temperatures were on average cooler than Nairobi’s!), it was something of a contrast to be greeted by a wall of heat at Dallas airport. Temperatures that day reached 42C (106F)! However, it has cooled down since, and we’re now enjoying relatively cooler days ‘just’ in the low 30Cs. Not that I really notice, as most of the time, I’m indoors in meetings, and generally reaching for my cardigan due to the air conditioning!

Over the weekend, I was given orientation to Texan living, though, bizarrely, this was done by a couple of New Yorkers who’ve spent the majority of their adult years in Africa! However, Rob is an anthropologist so that probably qualifies him! We visited a ranch belonging to friends of theirs on Saturday. ‘Ranch’ to me conjures up pictures of horses and cows. However, the only animals I saw there were a couple of domestic dogs and a baby squirrel that had been rescued! This was more of a weekend getaway house. It was big though (pretty much everything in Texas is), the land spanning over 220 acres. I got to see a fair bit of this on an ATV (all-terrain vehicle), ‘whizzing’ (I made it up to 25 mph!) up and down trails, through copses, across fields, and along a creek bed. It was fun. Steering round corners was a bit of an issue at times, but I only once nearly didn’t make it, and didn’t come off at all.

On Sunday, I went to a Texan barbeque with them. Barbecued meat here is smoked rather than cooked over charcoal as I know a barbecue to be. And, rather than being outdoors, which is how I think of barbecues, this was indoors. All very bizarre – but very tasty!

Toe Dipping Not Recommended Here!

I just got back from a very relaxing 2½ days at the Kenyan coast. What a treat, and a very welcome break from the cool July temperatures of Nairobi! Colleagues working in Uganda and Tanzania hold their annual conference at an all-inclusive hotel in Watamu in July, and the rest of us are able to benefit from the discounted rates that they as a large group have negotiated. It’s a great place. The beach there is beautiful – mile up mile of white sands, lined with palm trees. Great for walking (at least when the tide’s out), though I generally wind up with blisters on my toes from the extreme exfoliation factor after hours of walking. It’s also very nice to go exploring the rock pools when the tide’s out, and have the benefit of observing from ‘dry’ land just what you’re swimming amongst there when the tide’s in! Crabs are all over the place, scuttling across the rocks. A first for me was seeing what I think must have been squid (though I think our guide said it was a sea slug). With a little bit of encouragement, he caused it to spew forth beetroot-coloured ink, which made swirly patterns in the water. Most of the fish in the pools are small and prettily coloured, but there are some rock pools you just don’t want to stick your toes into! There’s a colony of Moray eels that weave in and out of the pools, coming up when people are around in the hope, no doubt, that someone may have brought a tasty morsel from the hotel. King George has dined on sausage for many a year and has grown to a significant size as a result. At least I assume it’s been the same one since I was first there in 2004. It could be King George XII by now I guess! We didn’t see him this time, but we did meet Queen Mary and King Henry. We were also told that there was an Obama lurking around somewhere! You never know who you’re going to meet here!

Kenyan Political Happenings

I was reading through a fellow blogger’s site last night, and came across an interesting article she’d written summarizing the current political scene in Kenya. I have taken some of what she said, and made a few changes, but the bulk of it is down to her (see http://www.africaexpatwivesclub.blogspot.com/).
1. A few weeks ago, Kenyan MPs quickly voted to vastly increase their monthly salaries to 1.2m Kenyan shillings including allowances (about £10,000). This would make them amongst the most well paid MPs in the world. And given the current number of MPs in the coalition government (222), this amounts to a vast sum of money for a third world country where the average annual income is about £490. Thankfully, the Finance minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, pointed out that there isn’t the money available to fund these increases. Someone had evidently been doing creative / pie-in-the-sky budgeting! In addition, there was an outcry against the increases by the Civil Society and the public, and an organised demonstration was held last Thursday. We were warned to stay clear of that area, though as far as I’m aware it passed peacefully.
2. Current talk is all about the upcoming referendum on August 4th regarding the proposed constitution. The choices are either ‘yes’ or ‘no’, i.e. you either accept all of it, or throw it all out on account of however many things you don’t agree with. In spite of initial hopes, the campaigns have got ugly and political with the 2012 election in sharp focus for many of the politicians. A month ago, the detonating of grenades in a large church prayer meeting in Uhuru Park caused some deaths and multiple casualties. (I’d actually driven by there just earlier than evening.) In addition, 2 MPs and a junior minister on the 'no' side were arrested and brought before the courts for peddling 'hate' speech, ie manipulating rural communities by using tribe in their arguments to persuade the public to vote no. That in itself is positive. A lot of hate speech was going on prior to the 2007 elections, and nothing was done about it then. Seemingly something has been learned from the post-election violence.
3. A development brought in a few weeks ago in an attempt to control crime and monitor hate speech/incitement etc, is that all pre-paid SIM cards in Kenya must be registered by 30th July (noticeably a date selected pre-referendum). The threat is that lines will be cut if registration hasn’t happened in time. This is something that I’ve heard of in other African countries as well. A recent serial killer case that had Kenyans gripped a few weeks ago illustrates the benefit of doing this. A young man in his thirties who had killed 17 people, and drunk their blood for good fortune, and was working towards a target of 100 victims, was finally tracked down and arrested thanks to a traceable mobile phone trail of SMS messages.

Rivers or Roads?

This photograph was taken about 4 weeks ago now by a friend from church. Whilst I wasn’t the photographer, I remember the day and the scenes well as it took me 2 hours to get into the office from Karen (without traffic, that same journey is about 20 minutes)! Torrents of water were pouring down the sides of the roads, and in many places, covering the roads as well. Actually, within a day or two, there was pretty well no tarmac on this particular stretch of road (a sign of rain or poor quality tarmac?!) – which in itself led to huge traffic delays for weeks after. And for pedestrians, life was very difficult. Despite the huge number of pedestrians here, pavements (sidewalks) are rare, so during the rainy season, pedestrians are picking their way carefully through thick sticky mud, or trying to avoid being swept away (as shown here).
The roads have certainly suffered. Potholes abound around Nairobi, some of them taking more than half the width of the road, and deep enough to do damage if you drove into them without realising it.

We’d been in a season of drought for a long, long time, but since about November, there has been quite an incredible amount of rain. Everywhere has stayed amazingly green – this has certainly been the longest period of ‘green-ness’ that I’ve known in my 7 years here. Drought isn't fun, and the consequences can be very serious indeed. So, despite the mud and potholes, we are all very thankful for the rain.

Goodbyes

The American schools have already been out for a week, which means that we’ve already had the main lot of goodbyes for the year. People seem to leave pretty much as soon as the school year finishes, partly because they need to get ‘home’, and get themselves and their children settled before schools and colleges start up again. So, we’ve had the round of household goods and furniture sales, and then a number of leaving parties. Two of the SIL families leaving Nairobi this year have been here a while, so their departures have been hard on many. Don and Jackie have been good friends of mine since my very 1st day here in February 2003. At that time, I came to take on Don’s role as Regional Accounting Services Manager, and actually moved into their apartment for the 14 months that they were gone on furlough, This time around, I’m stepping into Don’s shoes again as Africa Area Finance Coordinator, though I’m sticking with my own apartment. And next time, whenever that is, I’m not even going to step into his shoes – Calgary would be way too cold for me! As well as friends and colleagues, they’ve been my neighbours. Many a time have I popped round to borrow a can opener, just drop in, or ask a favour – and have reciprocated too. And Jackie has been my main research assistant in comparing the police stations of Nairobi (there hangs a tale or two!)! Life in Nairobi is very transient: Goodbyes are very much a part of life here, though they don’t seem to get any easier with time. I’ve asked a number of times, “How many hellos does it take to outweigh the goodbyes?” The ratio is surely at least 10:1. An amazing side of life here is the diversity, and the many nationalities that you rub shoulders with. The downside is that when people leave, it’s back to the four corners of the earth.

Due to the BA strike, their departure date was put back 24 hours. So, to celebrate ‘Buhlers’ Bonus Day’, and to help make their last day in Kenya after 15 years a memorable one, we got to spend it in Nairobi National Park. Despite narrowly avoiding having our lunch swiped by a troop of baboon (!), we enjoyed several hours in the Kenyan countryside (just outside the city), and the beauty of bird and animal wildlife. Next time, Calgary, or the UK, or …………..?

Memorials

Last weekend, I was privileged to be asked to play at the memorial service of an 86-year old gentleman, Dr Geoffrey Irvine, whose guest cottage I, and many of my SIL colleagues, have enjoyed staying in over the years. Geoffrey passed away a few weeks ago, having been airlifted to Nairobi because of pneumonia. He grew up in the highlands of Kenya, his parents having been sent out as missionaries by the Church of Scotland nearly 100 years ago, and then served there with his wife, both of them as doctors. He was truly a gentle man who took a delight in life. I always remember talking with him one time. “I used to dream of a place to retire with a few trees and some water”, he said. “And look what God has given me!”, as he pointed to the view from his garden of acacia trees, and through them, glimpses of the blue of the lake with the pink fringe of flamingoes; the occasional giraffe, zebra, or gazelle passing by; mountains beyond; and the humph-humph-humph of wallowing hippo. It was against this backdrop that the memorial service was held, marquees having been erected on the lawn. I didn’t get to experience it myself, but I’m told that the sound of a Mozart duet emanating from my flute and Julie’s violin, with that view behind us was quite something.

This was the second outdoor memorial service I’d been to (and played at) in the last 3 months, the first being for my dear friend Jane, who passed away in February after a battle with cancer. Both occasions were marked with an abundance of beautiful flowers (a benefit of being in a country where flower farms are big business), and people testifying to the faith of these saints, and the impact their lives had had on many.

All in the pink!

There are some sights here that might me smile every time I see them: some because they’re just plain funny, and others because they give me such pleasure. One of the latter is the view of Oldien Bay that you get as you drive onto private land (legitimately of course!) of the pink mass on the water that is made up of thousands upon thousands of flamingoes. Even more pleasure is derived when, sometimes for no apparent reason, one sets off the alarm, and they run on the water, then take to the air, the sound of their wings overtaking the chuntering sound that they make as they dabble in the shallow waters. As they circle around, necks straight ahead, legs straight behind, the air becomes speckled with their pink and white bodies, the flash of brilliant pink on their wings then becoming particularly visible. Whilst walking close to the lakeshore, there appears to be a ‘Red Sea’ type experience, the seemingly ever-present throng of pink parting just at the point of the walkers. Strange to think that the first time I visited Oldien Bay in 2004, there wasn’t a single flamingo there! Lower water levels, and therefore a more concentrated alkaline solution has perhaps attracted them. I’m not sure what the hippos make of these rather skittish and noisy neighbours though!