So it’s been three weeks I have been in Nairobi. I’ve been working pretty much every day since I arrived and it took me through a few part of the city. And I’m supposed to have my first trip outside Nairobi tomorrow.
So what is it like to live in Nairobi? And more what did I learn from Kenyans’ way of life? Because my way of life in Nairobi isn’t really relevant… But my observations took me to learn a few things about Kenyans already. I work with some Kenyans in the BBC but most of my colleagues are not typical Kenyans. Our office manager is a British Kenyan; our office editor is from England and here in a mission for 2 years, just like the BBC World’s correspondents, and our marketing officer is originally from Uganda and grew up partly in Tanzania and in Kenya. A quarter of the producers is actually Somali and work on the Somali programmes. So to focus on the Kenyans… All of them are bilingual; they work both in English and Swahili. But most of them also speak their own tribal language, Gikuyu, Luo, etc. They mostly come from Nairobi. Most of them are men. About half of the women are Muslim and very discrete; you would never hear them giving there opinion out loud in the office or talk to someone they don’t know, while Somali Muslim men are pretty loud and outspoken; one of them never stops talking, his phone never stops ringing and his radio set keep pouring the Somali news to everyone around.
Kenyan women in their thirties have children but husbands are another issue. One of them told me she was divorced, but she didn’t talk about it with the colleagues; she says she doesn’t want to go through the bother to explain why they split up. She says most Kenyan women struggle in the relationship; men don’t commit or they leave someday and never come back to take care of the family. One of the drivers I’m working with admits he thinks the same. He is the only one of his brothers to be married and he knows they don’t want to. Men from the neighbouring countries usually come to leave in Nairobi without their wife’s, and they live with other women in Kenya in the meantime. What strikes me is that they talk about it so openly. In the UK and in Europe, monogamy is considered a norm, at least officially. In the US cheating is considered a really serious misbehaviour and couple split up regularly over extraconjugal relationships.
About nightlife
My francophone colleague working for the Great Lakes Service is from Burundi. He is married with no child and his wife still lives in Bujumbura. He took me to most Rwandan and Burundian places in Nairobi and introduced me to human rights activists from Rwanda or businessmen from Burundi, as well as single women. They all have the same habits. They work mostly for money, and they talk much about money. Then they live mostly in the evening and during the night. Life really begins after darkness and it begins with a beer. They like to meet up in regular places where they know they can meet theirs folks, meaning men from their country, speaking their language, Kirundi, or at least Kinyarwanda, which is almost identical from what they told me, and they manage to understand each other without effort. So when we go out to have dinner in a Great Lakes style restaurant, we say hello in English to the waiters, we order in Kirundi and / or in Swahili, we chat in French and in Kinyarwanda, with a bit of expressions coming back in English, because basically I would say it doesn’t translate. Men drinks Tusker, the local Kenyan lager beer. Women including me drink bad house wine or South African wine when there is, but most of the time we don’t know what we are served, it doesn’t really matter.
My colleague’s favourite restaurant in Parkland; it’s named the Capricorn (my astrological sign, by the way). Their specialty is grilled goat meat on barbecue, and the tasty ones are ‘zingaro’, meaning intestines, and heart meat. I’ve tasted both and I definitely dislike zingaro… It’s usually served with ‘matoke’, grilled bananas or manioc. It all takes ages to be served and even if there is a menu, there is no need to check it, there is high risk for they won’t have what’s offered there. And when they don’t have the drink or the side dish you order, it’s embarrassing because they won’t tell you; they will just bring something else. That’s just how it is, no need to make a fuss about it.
From Wednesday night on, the weekend fun is beginning. Bars get full, people get out and nightclubs take over the activity instead of restaurant. My colleague told me, he doesn’t care so much about food at night, he needs to drink and to dance. I’ve tried a bunch of clubs in town, in Westland, the wealthy neighbourhood where live and go out most expats, and in town, where I was most of the time the only White person around. I noticed that most African women like to dance together, and men move around and watch them. It’s a big show: Congolese women wear their traditional colourful skirts; Kenyan ones go for tiny skinny shorts to colourful sexy dresses. There is always a mix of nationalities in Nairobi’s clubs. Downtown, it’s mostly Kenyans and neighbouring nations, Congolese, Burundian, Rwandan, and Ugandan. Dolce plays only African music, mostly Congolese; Congo is widely known for its musicians, as you may know. In Westland, you will find a mix of R’n’B and modern African rhythms.
Crazy nights, busy days
What local people like so much about nighttime is the cooler weather and the absence of traffic jam, because during the day, Nairobi can get pretty hot, and the traffic can be horrible. I remember spending an hour and a half to come back to the office, near the Norfolk Hotel, from Upper Hill, where are a few conference centres. It normally takes 40 minutes to drive there. And there are very few public transportation systems. Nairobi has a few national bus lines and the famous matatus. Matatus are small buses taking about 20 seated people know for their crazy and very inventive way of driving. They can take the road on the other side of traffic if the path is free. They don’t stop at crossroads or traffic lights. They don’t know about priorities and other rules usually admitted by drivers. They make everyone crazy on the roads. Most people drive their own 4x4 car. Rare people like me use cabs or drivers. Everyone wants to have a car. It’s easier to have a car in Nairobi than in other African cities apparently, because the banks give credit loan to a lot of people.
And Friday is the worst day. People go to work later and most of them then leave the city for the country for the weekend, in the middle of the afternoon, so from 7am to 8pm the traffic gets absolutely horrible on the main highways and in the city centre.
Here is an idea of people’s life in Nairobi, a first overlook from a newcomer. As I mentioned earlier, tomorrow I’ll see another part of the country for the first time since I moved here. In the Masai country… My knowledge on Kenya might seriously increase. Talk to you when I’m back.
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