Even in Kenya…, June 6, 2008 (LAS)
We finally made it to Africa (and the blog finally indicates that)! Before we get into the really good stuff, we have a funny story about one of our first nights in Africa…
We checked into the Wildebeest Lodge in Nairobi after arriving at the airport at about 10pm. We're very glad that we picked the Wildebeest after the really nice experiences that we had there. Daniel, who was running the place for the owners who had just had a baby, was really friendly.
(the main house at the Wildebeest Lodge)
So - Even in Kenya. Last night Jason and I stumbled into a gathering at the hotel of a group of people from various parts of Kenya (turned out to be friends of Daniel). After a few beers in the crowd, they started asking us all kinds of questions and eventually led to -- you've been together for 10 years and don't have babies? It seems that this concept can never escape our discussions, right? We got quite a lecture from a Masai woman who explained that there is no point in living with a man if you do not create a baby with him. Essentially, a marriage is empty without babies. We added our 2 cents, but the younger Kenyans at the table shared our sentiments so it wasn't too hard for us. As the night progressed, we realized that this woman had 4 kids but no longer a marriage. Interesting, right?
(the gazebo where we all hung out)
Well, she had even more brandy than we had beers and a guy from Zimbabwe
showed up and complained of corruption in government halting progress in
African countries. The 2 of them were now head-to-head. It was a very
interesting night - one in which we definitely made some new friends,
learned a few more key words in Swahili, and learned a lot of Kenyan and
Zimbabwe history and culture.
Icing on the cake - the guy running the hotel explained to us this morning
that the woman full of opinions is the daughter of one of the high ranking
ministers of Kenya…good times.
-LAS