2.4.09--Kwanza

Jambo! Habari za asubuhi. I hope to be able to share more Kiswahili, but today, Hello! and Good Morning and numbers 1-10 are the sole product of our breakfast lesson.

We look forward to being in Eldoret this evening, after some epic traveling. Shortly after takeoff on our first flight, 8ish hours from Chicago to Amsterdam, the flight attendant made sort of a frantic plea on the loudspeaker asking for the help of any doctors on the plane. Joe valiantly responded to the call, and I played a consulting role, glad to still be a student for a couple more months. The concern was that of a younger woman with leg and later chest pain in the midst of returning to Holland from Fiji, putting her at risk for something as serious as a pulmonary embolism, or potentially a panic type reaction. We went through some scenarios in which Dr. Frank might make the decision to land the plane in Iceland or Nova Scotia, but the woman made it safely, and called Joe “the kindest doctor she had ever met.”

As for “Lucy,” (see earlier post) as a world history teacher (in NYC my first year after college), I remember my class of mostly Dominican and Puerto Rican students being floored by the idea that the first humans originated in Africa. In fact, many did not believe it, and because I didn’t do an adequate job of explaining the evolution of skin color, several refused the idea entirely.

The question that resonates with me is, how can the continent in which civilization began, be so far behind the rest of the world? Often, I use the general concept of colonialism to explain the woes of Africa. A recent book by Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion asserts otherwise (more on this book later). I think the fallacy I typically commit is to take the bits of history that I am familiar with (i.e. colonialism), and use only them to explain characteristics of place. A goal I have for this trip will be to ask more questions, to broaden my knowledge of the Kenyan story, and to maybe forgo simpler explanations for the more difficult, inexplicable, or undesired.

Lastly, at dinner last, I tried a Kenyan bia (maybe my favorite word yet) called Tusker, which was delicious.

Anne