Contrast Tour of Nairobi

We took the students on a contrast tour of Nairobi today. Fortunately traffic wasn't bad so it only took a few hours. We started with off with a view of the Nairobi skyline.

Becca has proved to be a great person to watch futbol with! We've watched all the World Cup games so far together since being in Kenya.

First we toured the 'posh' areas of Nairobi. We even took the students to a number of malls that look just like America. We went inside one of them and while some of the students didn't seem to understand why that was worth their time ("we could go to something like this anytime in Seattle), if we didn't expose them to all levels of Nairobi, that wouldn't really be showing them the contrast. It's interesting how eager some people seem to be to be exposed to poverty.

We drove through Eastleigh which is a fascinating district. It is predominately populated by Somalis now and most Kenyans don't approve. It is said that you can go there and see what pirate money is doing. Somali pirates can't channel their money into Somalia since there is really no place for it to go. So many say that it goes to Eastleigh. And I would believe it as it shows. The area has become much more developed and even cleaner and nicer! You can tell where Somali owned buildings begin, not just because of the Islamic references that being appearing, but also the better condition of the buildings and street area. Kenyans disapprove because they think the Somalis should return home. Their money is making them powerful in a way that Kenyans are wary of. Pretty interesting matter and it made for interesting discussion in the van, with our Kenyan program coordinator sharing his honest opinion.

I couldn't help but take this picture of a random mzungu (white person) walking in a slum/low middle class area. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Even I immediately thought, "Mzungu!"

I snapped this picture right as the kukus (chickens) began to fight! This man's hand on only one chicken neck calmed the whole lot down.

While I'm sure most people don't see the beauty in hanging laundry everywhere, I like it. A rainbow of colors on all the buildings.


I'm taking some of the students to a Kenyan play this evening. What a way to celebrate the 4th of July. :) I have absolutely no idea what to expect, so we'll see what happens!