What?!?! I'm in Kibera?

The craziness continues in Kenya. Last weekend was the first I spent in Nairobi. It was crazy. I went to a couple parties and to clubs afterwards. The clubs here are absolutly nuts. Much nicer than I suspected, but absolutly crazy. After a few tuskers, of course, I busted out the finch-dance but was no match for those groovy Kenyans. I must have looked like a crazy mzungu and emphasized the stereotype that mzungus can't dance. They did however like the patented chinstrap point.

During the day on Saturday I decided to go to this used clothing market that everyone has been suggesting I go to. I think that typically when clothing that is donated as aid, it somehow ends up here. It was pretty cool and you can get stuff for super cheap if you are able to bargain with the vendors. It is turing into a bit of a sport for me, I buy just to bargain cause it is so fun. I walked and walked and walked until the market seemed to end. I was not sure where I ended up but decided to check it out anyway. So I wandered around the muddy streets ignoring the constant harrassment and above-normal poverty. After about ten minutes I came to the end of the street (mud ditch more like it) and was able to look off of a hill into the distance where I saw nothing but rusted tin roofs. I realized I was in Kibera, the largest slum in sub-saharan Africa. For those who saw the picture in the National Geographic, that was where I was. This is not a place that white people should be visiting alone. Everyone was in shock when I told them where I ended up and that I did not get mugged. Lucky I guess. I would like to go back, but next time I will go with a Kenyan.

It is a good thing I went to the clothing market on Saturday, because on Saturday night some bulldozers went in and completely tore the whole thing down. That has been quite common in Nairobi in the last little while. The government is apparantly trying to protect industry by eliminating the informal markets that undercut local businesses. Some sort of internal protectionism I guess.

I hear that there has been some snow back home already. I tell the Kenyans about it and they quiver. They don't understand how or why we live in such a place. It is hilarious.