Runners

Note for the folks at home: For the first time, I had a surplus of astounding (from an American viewpoint) Kenyan cultural facts for this comic. I literally couldn't fit it all into the space available. So: the wives of night runners are fully aware of what their husbands are doing. The wives, to protect their husbands during the event, must stay at home with one foot touching a cooking stone (where pots are placed during cooking). Failure to do this could (and generally would) result in the runner's injury or death. Night running is neither shameful nor proud --- it's just something that happens, like rain, or a sneeze. A night runner is not dangerous, but might hide in your front yard for a while waiting for you to move in sight of a window, to frighten you.

Every day!

 Note for the folks at home: Kenya's polite culture frowns upon discussing "unsavory" topics openly, so a number of creative euphemisms have become popular. Generally, any reference to heat or fire is alluding to feelings of lust --- "that type of burning", "the inner fire", "the body's hotness". Going to the restroom to take a 'number one' or a 'number two' are called a "short call" or "long call", respectively. (Replacing one euphemism with another! Score!) Talking flagrantly about alcohol is equally taboo. Instead, you might hear about someone's desire to take "a soda", or "one of them", or "solution T" (named for the country's most popular lager, Tusker).

Today's Experiment

Note for the folks at home: The Kenyan educational system is fairly similar to that of many other countries. The system, called "8-4-4", combines eight years of primary school (U.S. "elementary" and "middle school"), four years of secondary school (U.S. "high school"), and four (or more) years of university. In the secondary school level, most of the courses are similar to those taken by U.S. students: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, Geography, Computer Studies, and History. Kenya also has a few unique subjects: Kiswahili, Agriculture, Business Studies, and C.R.E.: "Christian Religious Education". C.R.E. is a nationally examined subject, giving evidence that "separation of church and state" isn't a huge priority in the Kenyan educational system.

A Blessing

Note for the folks at home: as it's been explained to me, the custom of spitting into another's palm to give one's blessing is born out of the fact that, in the semi-arid Samburu region of Kenya, water is a very valuable resource. Sharing one's bodily water (through saliva) is a means of demonstrating the spittee's worth in the eyes of the spitter. Further: the proper way to receive this gesture is to wipe the donated saliva into one's hair. Luckily, a foreigner isn't held to cultural norms as rigorously as a local, so I haven't yet been forced into applying bodily-fluid-shampoo.

Guest True Story 2

Note for the folks at home: a great deal of tribes throughout Kenya are historically pastoralists, living nomadically and raising herds of cow, goats, or sheep. While this practice isn't possible in the big cities, rural areas still see a lot of free-range livestock traffic. It's not rare to see a cow walking down a rural town road, eating garbage, dodging the occasional passerby on motorbike, or a family of goats hanging out on a school compound, the bravest ones coming right up to the classrooms to scream (the way goats do) into the open doors. Furthermore: chickens. Chickens everywhere.

The Funny Joke Zone

Note for the folks at home: The political situation in Kenya is consistently a heated topic of debate among Kenyans. Since becoming and independent republic in 1964, Kenya has endured a grand total of zero political movements that lacked widespread argument. First, Jomo Kenyatta led a single-party system and in 1978 was succeeded by his Vice President, Daniel arap Moi. Along with (from what I can tell) every other leader to ever hold power in Kenya, Moi was accused of unjust tribal favoritism ("tribalism") throughout his career as President. Eventually, Kenya developed a constitution that banned Moi from serving indefinitely, and Moi was no longer eligible in the 2002 elections. Next came Mwai Kibaki, who, as current President, is close to the end of his two-term, ten-year service. In 2007, during the election that resulted in Kibaki's second term, allegations of corruption in the voting mechanism led to the 2007 post-election violence. Over 1000 people all over Kenya died in riots and violent unrest. Since then, Kenya's effort to put to justice those responsible for the violence has just recently started to show results: four prominent Kenyan political figures have been sent to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to decide their fates. Also, this is an election year for Kenya, and since Kibaki can't be re-elected, you can imagine how it's all anyone can talk about. Kind of reminds me of another election-year-country...

tl;dr: Kenyans like to talk about politics.

How I Look

Note for the folks at home: Many native Kenyans have a skewed view of what all white people ("wazungu") are like, and it's no surprise. For a great deal of people living in rural Kenya, the only white people available for study are those on television and any tourists that might pass through. TV Wazungu, and you can check to see this for yourself, are by and large rich music/movie stars, politicians, or contestants on Extreme Couponing (is that a real show?! ... I've been in Kenya a while). Similarly, Tourist Wazungu are rich enough to holiday in Kenya, and entirely unaccustomed to the heat, stress, amount of walking, etc. of African life --- hence the "baby" stereotype.

And no, I wasn't pulling off the mustache.

Note for the folks in Kenya: drawing the "rich man" version of myself reminds me of a Monopoly Man story...