Today has been a great day.
I took a matatu (public transport) to campus today for the first time. I had to ask around to find out where the one going to main campus was, but I found it shortly before it was leaving. Two of the students happened to be on it which immediately eased my nervousness knowing that I was in the right place. Sammy, one of the students, said I looked a little bungled when I approached, and I’m sure I did. It wasn’t the most comfortable ride as I was in the back and could not hold by head upright due to the roof…They’re not really designed for tall people. I’ll try to expound on the vehicles in Kenya on one of my less exciting blog days, but today does not fit that description. Upon arrival, we were a little early so we (Sammy, Moses, and myself) went and got chai (tea) and chipati (best described as flat bread that is a good snack and goes well with rice – it seems to be a frequent side dish).
At the start of our meeting, things got off to a slow start since one of the students was going to be a couple of hours late due to transit issues. The students proceeded to have some very animated debates. First was the subject of football clubs. Ezekiel is a hard core football fan (he later said football would take precedence over his family). Primarily, it was Ezekiel arguing that Manchester United is best because they can win any game they want to and thus save their energy for the “real” matches that aren’t just league games. Ivy was pointing out that Liverpool had beaten Man U in their last match and the debate really didn’t go anywhere after that despite the conversation lasting for another (loud) 15 minutes, or so. (I believe I got the clubs right, but I may have incorrectly deciphered them in the heated conversation.)
Next, the topic started as stereotyping men from a Nandi, a region of Kenya, and how they are all players and polygamists. Naturally, 2-3 of the guys in the group are from this region so they felt the need to defend themselves and “their” actions. This transitioned into women’s and men’s roles and rights which was quite interesting. I get the sense that there is a fair amount of male propaganda out there (such as there are 3 to 7 women for every man in certain areas therefore, a man is doing a woman a service by marrying her since otherwise she wouldn’t get married, and naturally, this means she would have a poor life – note that I right that in a sarcastic tone). It seems fairly uncommon that women choose to be single, and the men don’t seem to think it a very good option. They asked a little bit about the amount of adultery in the US, which I wasn’t really able to answer, but I believe it’s somewhat less frequent that in Kenya – I think it’s a little less discussed in the US as well though, since we don’t have an epidemic as prevalent as HIV/AIDS. I did point out that the US has a high divorce rate, unfortunately. The conversation then transitioned to modesty (the guys arguing that women are just throwing themselves at them by wearing tight, revealing clothing and the girls arguing that they choose what they wear solely on what’s comfortable, not to get attention), if girls ever initiate with guys in the US (they don’t in Kenya, at least not blatantly), and what everyone’s relationship status was. Overall, it was a very interesting two hours of listening into the male/female debates of another culture.
The actual meeting was less eventful, primarily consisting of me talking as we went through 15ish documents for the project (protocols, data forms, etc). Afterward, we got lunch at a nearby “hotel” (read: restaurant, though there may have been a room somewhere to rent). I had a nice plate of ugali (called ‘nshima’ in Zambia and is the staple corn meal food in much of Sub-Saharan Africa). It was great! A fair amount of the food here is similar to in Zambia, but I have to relearn all the names….Thankfully, I had the students to describe the dishes which I then could associate to my previous knowledge. They do eat more rice here than in Zambia – it is my understanding that part of Kenya grows rice, so this makes sense.
Overall, it was a splendid day.
-Steven
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