Birthdays and B-sides

Yay! So it’s my birthday today! Emmah, Helen and David made a little sign for me and there was freshly baked Monkey Bread for breakfast!

NOTE: No actual monkeys were used in the making of the monkey bread-either from an ingredient nor manual labor standpoint

I am not sure what surprises lay in store for my birthday… Emmah and Helen were plotting something the last couple of days, but I have no idea what. I am going to try to get out to Maseno Club to celebrate later. I’ll let you guys know what happens! In the meantime, if you all would be as so kind to post comments on my website and facebook pages when read a journal entry. Any feedback from “nice job” to “I hope you get jungle fever for your birthday” is totally appreciated. Also, it seems that Skype is the most reliable way to contact me. If you have an account- 714 831 451 is my number. Hope to hear from you soon!

B-sides - the Kisumu entry was actually even longer than the one I posted. Here’s some of the material about Kisumu/Kenya culture I didn’t include because of length.

Regarding the Obamania of Kisumu

I thought Obama was a big deal in Maseno - he is like a god in Kisumu. His books are for sale everywhere, and there are these awesome Kenyan Swahili Obama cartoon books that basically say Obama was found into the bay of Lake Victoria on a bed of reeds, he could perform miracles: such as turning water into drinkable water, etc, etc. Everywhere I go, the news of Obama winning the Nobel peace prize is the talk. Talking with folks, I don’t think they believe Obama will change Kenya, but they are still extremely proud of their native grandson and that he has put Kenya in the spotlight. If I get a chance to go back to Kisumu, I may have to covertly snap photos of all the Obama dresses and Obama gear that can be found everywhere-it was truly incredible.

Regarding cell phones in Kenya

Cell phones have revolutionized things here in Kenya, and the leader in the cell phone race is definitely Safaricom (with Orange in #2 I think). There wasn’t an infrastructure for land lines here, and the mail system does not serve many areas, so everyone from the richest to poorest person here has a cell phone! That way they can check market prices before taking their goods to market here. There is also a widely used service called “Pesa” which is essentially paypal or western union over your cell phone. You can instantly wire payments over your phone and people then go to a pesa office and get their cash.

In reference to the high end appliances at the Nakamatt

It’s ironic to see all these HD devices without really any ability to use HD content. Playstation 2 was the only system I could find (no PS3 or Xbox 360 where I looked). I highly doubt there is HD tv signals either, or it is so expensive only a few can afford it. Take for example the satellite internet-which is still the only way to get broadband-like speeds here (the only other option is you use cell phone tethering, but the network is 2g-EDGE). Satellite internet is 20,000 Ksh a month-roughly US $230 (which the average Kenyan makes in 4 months) and that’s after the MASSIVE setup fees for the satellite! I find it hard to believe most Kenyans can get high definition content, but at the same time, I find it hard to believe most Kenyans can get an HDTV let alone any TV (I haven’t seen anyone in Maseno with one).

Learning Swahili-The 3 unrelated phrases that make up the tragic tale

Mpenzi wake alifariki aunia kutokana ana na ajali.

Her lover died in a road accident

Mpwa wangu alirithi ma yote.

My nephew inherited all the wealth

Mjane nuyo alinyang anwa ma mumeye

The widow was denied her husband’s wealth