Wikendi Iliyopita (Last Weekend)

February 28: On Friday night Sam and I took a taxi to Upper Hill Springs, a local Kenyan bar/restaurant in Nairobi. There we met up with two other SLU friends, Cody and Lacey. Cody's host sister from his urban homestay had invited us to join her for a birthday at the bar. There was a live Kikuyu band playing when we arrived. In perfect Kenyan time, they arrived almost 2 hours after the said starting time. We got a large table and enjoyed dancing to music other party-goers as well as random other people from the bar. The DJ was wearing a Colgate sweatshirt and we found that one of his relatives is a current student there. On the dance floor I met a 40-year-old oncologist that works at a hospital in Nairobi. He asked for my email address so that he could invite my friends and me to come to the hospital to dance with his cancer patients. I haven't heard from him yet but I really hope he gets in touch with me. When they cut the cake, friends of the birthday girl smeared frosting all over her face and hair, which we learned is common at Kenyan birthday parties. Later Sam and I took a taxi into the city center to meet up with a Kenyan friend of Sam's. I was intimidated as we climbed the steps, faced with dozens of Kenyans staring and smiling at us, no other mzungu (white person) in sight. As we entered the bar, we were immediately approached by two Kenyans who asked, "Are you looking for Kevin?" We were shocked that he knew our intentions and laughed as we followed them out to the balcony where Kevin was waiting for us. The two men that had greeted us were friends of Kevin that are rugby players who play in the Kenya Rugby Union. We spent the rest of the night dancing with them to a great mix of American/African music.

March 1: I woke up early to join my host mom and sister on their trip to the hair salon. We had to sneak out of the house so that my little brother Ethan wouldn't be upset that we were leaving him at home for the day. We arrived at the salon and I briefly watched what I knew was going to be a long process as my sister was getting her hair relaxed and my mom was getting a new weave. I stayed for a while before leaving and doing some shopping on my own at the Maasai market across the street. I bought a few things for myself and a few gifts for others, and although I did my absolute best bargaining, I still must have gotten ripped off. I returned to the mall where the salon was located and was a little confused when I realized that I had no idea which salon my family was in, seeing that there were about a dozen other salons in the mall. I went into what I thought was the correct one, walked around making very awkward eye contact with everyone in there, waved goodbye and left. Luckily, my second choice was correct, and inside I met my mom and sister who weren't even close to being finished. My host dad arrived shortly after and told me that we were going to a soccer game in the afternoon. He bought me a ticket on the way to the car, which cost about $12. I left with him and we drove to meet up with Sam and her host father, Max, who happens to be best friends with my host father. We had lunch at Sam's house before heading off to the game. Traffic was terrible since everyone was heading to the game. Gor Mahia was the team we saw, who are the reigning champions in the Kenyan Premier league. My host dad explained that they are the most popular Kenyan team. It was crazy as we entered the stadium, met with rowdy fans who were very excited to see some mzungu attending the game. We had pretty good seats, and were pretty much the only mzungu in the stadium, not including those sitting in the VIP section, who I assume were owners. Raila Odinga, the ex-prime minister of Kenya, also attended the game, yet we could only see him from a distance. It was an exciting game and the crowd was very lively. We were sitting next to the media booths and at one point I was asked to speak on the radio. They asked what team I liked and since I wasn't able to remember the correct pronunciation, I just said, "The green team!" which caused quite a laugh. After the game our host dads brought Sam and I to a nearby sports bar so that they would watch some of the Arsenal game, their mutual favorite team. After a short while Sam and I taxied into the city where we enjoyed a nice Kenyan dinner and another night of dancing at various places in the city.

me with the rugby players

Sam, Gor Mahia's "biggest fan" and me

in the radio booth