Hujambo, Habari?

Another country, another beautiful and fresh African air! I can't still believe it that I actually am out of Ethiopia. I have so many mixed feelings about this. to begin with I was so nervous to be leaving home for the first time. this has nothing to do with kenya, I would have felt almost the same way going any where in the world. It is just the feeling that I was going to leave my dear Ethiopia, to meet different people with different cultural backgrounds and a different language. Many people think that this is Africa and I will be fine. but it is a different story. Ethiopia has been like an island surrounded by so many countries but much detached from them. It has had a totaly different people with different cultures, customs, language, religion and a unique social structure. So I had a good reason to be uncertain as to whether or not this was the right thing to do for me and to my worst frustration, everyone I told about my plans to travel to Kenya-Mum, Dad, my sister and her husband and all my friends-they all thought that I was crazy and out of my mind. Please do not blame them as they will never understand why people in the world spend so much money "Just to travel". They have never had ithchy feet and were never tempted to try something different than what they have. Any ways, it has been quite a while since I started dreaming of getting out of the country, travel around the world and experience the world as it is than as it looks in the media. I wanted to see the world no body shows us on TV and no one tells us about in their journals and books. It took me quite a long time to finally decide to give it a go and see if that was what I wanted to do or not, so here I am!

I left Addis at around 10:00 in the morning arriving in Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta International Air port at noon. I thought the immigration process will be heavy and a bit bureaucratic specially for someone coming from "Ethiopia" for the obvious reason that everybody thinks that my country is a place where people walk in their skeletons and who would believe me if I said I was here to Visit! But the Kenyans proved me wrong and I had the simplest and the most direct clearance at the East African citizens' desk. However, I was not spared from the suspicion, given the big size of my bag, that I might be a drug dealler of some sort. The lady, whose name I forgot to ask, at the security place asked me tons of questions- where are you from, why are you here, how long are you gonna stay, whre will you be staying, is anyone meeting you outside the terminal to pick you up, do you know anybody in Kenya........ Guess what? my answers were a smiling but firm "NO!". it is now then that they decided to search my bag for a potential drug! I told them it was only my clothes and my sleeping bag with a few other not very imprtant things, they found nothing, well obviously!!! but at the end the lady was so nice to me that she called a very gentle taxi owner who gave me a good deal to take me to the place I was planning to stay. I had a very safe transfer into my hotel, received with a broad smile from the fromt desk and met the nicest Kenyans so far. Trust me, Kenyans must be one of the nicest people in the world but the problem is that the bad seeds are spoiling the name of the whole country, they have been very nice for me at least!!!!

At the reception, the lady asked me where I was from and I said Ethiopia and added that I probably was the first Ethiopian she had ever. But fortunately for me she said there was another Ethiopian staying at the hotel at that moment. How exciting is it to find an Ethiopian on my first day in another country? We had a very nice talk and a more than two hours walk around the city center of Nairobi. I heard people calling Nairobi "the east african London", I haven't been to London or to the slums of Nairobi but I can confidently tell you that it is a lovely city. Well structured, streets properly marked, beautiful work on the gardens on the side of the roads.......it is so much different and better than Addis Ababa. I think the city administration of A.A should come here and learn some skills from the Kenyans!

That was all yesterday.Today was another brilliant day in Nairobi. I organized my city tour with the hotel with two other people one from England and one from France. It was great to meet other people to talk to and have a company. We visited the baby elephant sanctuary at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, the giraffe center and a beautiful bead factory which is supposed to help out single mothers. They produce very beautiful beads and some of the finest pottery I have seen so far. They call the place "Kazuri" which means, we were told "Small and Beautiful"! The baby elephant sanctuary and the giraffe center were OK but they could be better and it is not the same as seeing them in the wild.

We finished our day with a late lunch at an Ethiopian Restaurant (Red Sea Restaurant). We had a very good fasting food and assorted non fasting national dish. It was delicious except the fact that the Injera was made from some wheat flour and rice instead of 'Teff' which made it artificially so white. But it is understandable when you think of the high price of the grain anywhere else outside Ethiopia, I don't mean it is cheap there either!!!!!!! The funny thing was, it was a whole bunch of Kenyans working at the so called "Ethiopian Restaurant" and I haven't seen a single Ethiopian working in the property but I was told Ethiopians own the place!

The adventure continues! Am hoping to see the National and the railway museums tomorrow. Talk soon!

Tutaonana!