That means ‘thank you’ in Kiswahili… well, not the squash banana part. We heard the phrase so many times in Nairobi, that when I finally heard the squash banana part from a women in the market, I got so excited to figure out what Rafiki was saying all that time. Hakuna Matata is used quite a lot as well, and somehow I don’t think it’s because Lion King just came out again and is doing freakishly well…
So now that we are fully caught up on the journey to and from Nairobi, it’s time to hear about just what the heck I did in my 72 hour stay! We got in just in time for services, and if you are someone who goes on time to services, well, then we got there pretty late for services. By the time we got to our host Carol’s lovely apartment, we had around 7 minutes to change, brush our teeth, and be out to the door. They almost didn’t let us in since we were so late, but our names were on a list and we still got to hear a good chunk of the service, including the shofar blast. The synagogue is located right cross the street from Nairobi University, and is beautiful with lush garden surrounding it and a lovely temple with stained glass windows. The service was led by what I assume to be 2 chabad rabbis sent from Australia and Brooklyn and led a fast paced service that I could barely keep up with. I definitely knew when we were at the shofar service and Oseh Shalom, but besides that, I spying on other people’s siddurs to try to keep up. In fact, if there hadn’t been a break in the middle for some challah and apples and honey, we probably would have missed the entire service! The demographic was almost all white people with around 5 Africans in attendance. It certainly was no Beth-El Sudbury, but we were very happy to at least hear the shofar.
After the service we found two nice Jewish boys who were in Nairobi for the next year studying this and that and didn’t have a place for some lunch so came back to Carol’s with us. We hung out, made some Guacamole (!!!!!!) with tortilla chips (!!!!!!!!) and pretzels (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), took a swim, ate some pasta, watched Kevin Kline in his seminal role in In and Out and called it a night. Both Erin and I were very sleepy, even thought we had had a good 15 hour trip to rest. A delightful Rosh Hashana if I do say so myself.
On Friday, we started off our day at a Masaii Market where the hounding to “visit my shop, sister” was worse than the shuk in the Old City of Jerusalem. It did not help that we were clearly white people and got there around 10AM and were pretty much the first customers of the day. We started to browse around a small hall outside before we realized that the huge warehouse in front of us was filled with the rest of the market! My haggling skills got better as I went along- my dad would’ve been proud. They do expect you to bargain so it is not too big of a feat, but apparently my intense expressions came in handy as the other two girls I was with said that I just made a really pained expression when they said their price and then went WAY lower. The best deal we got was on a pair of coral earrings I decided I wanted and couldn’t figure out if they were the best price or not. Erin and I began to speak in Hebrew so they wouldn’t know that I really wanted them and jack up the prices. It freaked them out! They asked what language it was and if it was a type of American slang? When we kept speaking it, they man said fine! And gave it to me for the price I asked. One point for Hebrew! Since I got so into the haggling, I got way too much jewelry. So, if you thought “there is no way Shira is bringing me something back from Africa”… if a pair of already worn earrings fits your fancy- I got just the thing for you!
We then went to visit Carol, another AJWS volunteer at her placement in the Kibira slum of Nairobi. It quite large slum reaching over a a square mile and had the highest concentration of HIV/AIDS cases in all of Kenya. Within that mile, it is divided up into 11 different tribes all living almost directly on top of each other. Carol’s NGO works right in the center of the slum and has different programs and facilities for the people of Kibira. We went on a tour of some of their facilities and programs, but not before we put on some heavy duty boots to deal with the mud and “flying toilets” we would encounter along the way. (as there is no running water in the slums, residents use newspaper or plastic bags to go to the bathroom and then throw them out the window- thus flying toilets.) Although we had to concentrate on where we were walking to ensure no one slipped and fell, we got to visit the clinic and a factory, a part of their “trash is cash” program. (first of all, awesome name!) In one center they take cow bones and shave them and wax them to make ornaments and jewelry. ( I know, I know… more jewelry. But this time, there was NO way I could bargain… so I TRIED to get less. Note the operative word- tried!) It was actually really amazing to see, not the best smells coming from that factory, but great to watch! It was also really fun to the children running after us or towards us yelling “how are you? How are you?” When we would answer “good, how are you?” the response we got was always “how are you? How are you?” Ok, so didn’t get past the question part of the English lesson, but still so nice that they cared to ask.
Friday night marks my two weeks straight of dancing with different people on Friday night. Unfortunately since tonight is Yom Kippur, I think my streak is over. Another volunteer from AJWS in Nairobi works with a gay and lesbian advocacy organization and they were having a fund raising dance on the parking lot roof of a mall in Nairobi- so, where else would we go? It was a blast and we were not the only white or straight people there. We danced up a storm and they played a good deal of American music including, obviously, Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”… and we were NOT the only ones screaming along!
Saturday was what I think will be my only semi-safari day in Africa. We got a driver for the whole day (aren’t we spiffy) to take us to all the same sights that everyone goes to in Nairobi National Park. It was nice to be pretty touristy for the day. We first went to go see the elephant and rhino orphanage where they take in baby elephants and rhinos that are found without their parents. They feed them from bottles and we watch them play around and you can pet them and yes, they are absolutely adorable. Next we went to the giraffe sanctuary where you get some pellets to feed to the giraffes. Giraffes are definitely cute, and an interesting animal to watch, but my word, are their tongues gross!. They have washing station but after a few times feeding , it just didn’t feel like enough. They were delightful to pet though and really fun just to watch walk around! Also, at the giraffe place, I got a discount for going in with my “student” ID: my Wash U ID from 8 years ago, so I clearly loved that place! Lastly, we went on a safari walk which was half zoo, half awesome. At first we saw a monkey in cage and were less than impressed but then somehow got a tour guide to walk around with us and get all the animals to come to us. We pretty much got to be real close to the “big 5.” These, I believe, are all the main animals of Eastern Africa: Lion, Tiger, Buffalo, Elephant, and Rhino ….(I think those are right) We also got some great shots of hyenas, cheetah, and some baboon tush.
We ate dinner at an interesting place. It was outside, practically in the park so many baboons came over to say hello. Unfortunately the food selection was not the greatest. The menu looked finger lickin’ good, but also was completely a lie. Almost nothing on the menu was actually in stock, and what was in stock was slightly different than advertised. I ordered a lovely veggie sandwich with eggplant, zucchini, mozzarella and black olive butter on wheat bread. I got a grilled cheese with cucumber on white break. Hey, I’m not complaining- I will never complain about a grilled cheese and fries, it was just a little surprise. We had an early bus the next morning so we went back and watched some of the DVD’s Carol brought from home which included many episodes of the first season of Glee, so I was a happy camper, as I’m sure you can all guess!
That was a great deal about Nairobi and I was only there for three days! I want to write more about this week so stayed tune for more. Still to come: failing miserably at trivia night, failing not as miserably at my first African dance class, and a Uganda vs. Kenya soccer game to qualify for the Africa cup!
Love to all and Gmar Chatima Tovah (transliterations are hard!)
Shira ZK
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