Jambo Bwana!

Jambo Bwana! (Kiswahili for “Hello Mister!” and the title of a fun kid’s song our class learned to help us practice Swahili)

Today was another good day; we had Swahili this morning for 2 hours, followed by lunch at the Kenya National Club (where we also have class, it is kind of like a country club) and then our human rights seminar. The topic today was the interaction between human rights, Kenyan national law and international law. We read a case about burial rights for a prominent Kenyan attorney, which was fascinating because it outlined the differences between customary, common and African cultural laws in Kenya, and the interactions between these various systems, as well as when which framework has jurisdiction. As always, our class engaged in an exciting discussion.

Our course content and just the virtue of our human rights work, internship, navigating a new culture and constantly being alert is challenging. I think all of us constantly feel a certain amount of tension. But as I mentioned before, I see this tension as a positive thing, and that it is teaching us all important lessons.

I must say that I am very impressed with the Kenyan human rights movement, especially my colleagues at the Kenya Human Rights Commission. The movement is (for the most part) finely tuned, well-organized and effective. There are differences in approach and key issues between here and the US, but also many parallels as well as best practices that can inform human rights in both countries.

After class we were fortunate to have the rest of the day to ourselves. We stocked up on groceries, went to Java House (Kenyan equivalent of Starbucks, but with better food – sandwiches, quiche, salads, even milk shakes!). Then, following a nice workout via a Jillian Michaels workout DVD, some of us headed out for Indian food. The meal was great – Kenya has a fairly good-sized Indian population, so there are a lot of Indian restaurants. Really excellent food, some of the best Indian food I have ever had.

What was interesting about dinner was…half way through we experienced our first Kenyan power outage! Of course, the staff at the restaurant handled it quite deftly, just brining over candle lanterns immediately. My roommates and I actually found it to be quite a fun adventure. What can you do?

Things definitely operate at a slower pace here, but I am getting used to it. In fact, it will be a good thing in teaching me greater patience. Traffic definitely slows thing down, and you just can’t count on getting things done within a certain period of time as you can in the States. Just for example, our afternoon coffee took like 2 hours vs. the 3 minute SBUX stop at home. I definitely try my best ot view this as an interesting cultural experience. We will see if I can succeed with that.

Looking forward to more to come, but savoring every moment.

Hey, have a great weekend!