This Land Is Your Land

Yesterday I finally felt like I was back in Kenya. We took a taxi to the Railway station and the traffic was intense. There are wayyyy more cars on the road than there were in 2007. Also, the streets in the city center have a thick smog of dirt and diesel fuel that is also new. When you walk over the overpasses the air clears, which is good and means that the smog is new and has not been trapped yet. But it is still scary. And gross.

We walked around the area near the railway station and found our block of government buildings: National Bureau of Statistics, Kenyan Investment Authority, National Bank of Kenya, etc.. Security is also much more elaborate than in 2007. Most people say that is because of the Somalian intervention, and it surprisingly makes you feel more safe when there are men with machine guns always in eye-distance. Every building we enter in the city and suburbs requires bag checks, body scans, and use mirrors to look under the cars. I guess it is good they are taking security seriously, but it does make you question your safety overall and where the resources are coming from for this extra service. My political science brain comes out and asks what the government incentive is to increase security across the board. One benefit is that crime has greatly reduced and it is safe to walk around in the dark (or so Kenyans tell us now). Apparently thieves cannot distinguish between police and anyone else, so they have been forced to reduce their activities. I am not sure I'd still walk around at night, but it is refreshing to hear Kenyans talking about reduced crime in the city. 

Later in the day we took a bus to a different area of town and we felt like we were going to summer camp. As we entered, This Land is Your Land was playing from the speakers. This transitioned into When the Saints Go Marching In, followed by Kumabya, Amazing Grace, and Go Tell it on the Mountain. I've definitely missed the randomness of the transportation here.

So far things have been going great, but it is surreal to be visiting these areas that were not a part of my everyday life here before. I knew that we would be working a lot with the Chinese, business, and industrial sectors, but I do not think I fully realized how little we would interact with Kenyans and how selective (and high-end) the areas we would stay in. I'm excited to see this side of Kenya, but it does make me slighly sad that the experience is going to be less integrated. 

Random Happenings:

-Our taxi driver Simon's ring tone is hardcore American country music.

-I've been told by several different Kenyans that if they could vote in America, they would vote for Romney this time around. Mostly because of the economy. And by economy, they mean the economy of Kenya. Apparently they are not happy that Obama did not fulfill his familial duties by improving the economy of Kenya. 

-The construction is out of control here. So many houses. So many roads. So many buildings. Who will inhabit these places is unclear to me.

-I knew this before, but it is good to remember: Kenyans are extremely entrepreneurial, open minded, and intellectually curious. This seems to be very strange for Kyla because Chinese are the opposite.
-There is a Chicago Pizza-Indian restaurant that does not serve deep dish but does serve curry pizza and spicy biryani pizza

Happy Fourth of July for all my American friends!