Nairobi (November-December)

I was in the kitchen making some tea the other day. Our nanny was at the sink washing dishes when she received a call. The ring tone wasn’t some sort of annoying song as seems to be the norm here but rather the sound of a man’s deep voice with a Kenyan accent. He said, “Life is too short to be with people who suck…” As she answered the call I continued to dip my tea bag in the cup without turning around. But I couldn’t help but crack up. Our rather pious, extremely polite nanny with such a ring tone? Does she have another, cheekier side to her?

I took my tea into the living room and about a half hour later she received another call. This time she was a bit longer in getting to the phone. “Life is too short to be with people who suck the joy out of your life…” and so it went. Apparently the previous time she’d picked up before I’d heard the full sentence. Though both messages are similar, I found the longer statement to have a bit less bite to it.

Priya and a falls in Karura forest

Flipping back and forth between two countries can be a challenge. I know lots of people have done this sort of thing so I shouldn’t complain. I have a wonderful family. I like what I do. It won’t last forever. So I just need to suck it up for now and make the best of it.

But for now the family is based in Nairobi. I should start off by saying that there are lots of things to like about the city. But you do have the haters out there – and with good reason. Traffic is usually the first thing that comes up. It is a nightmare. It limits what you do. I suspect that it’s having horrible consequences on the economy as well as the environment. There is some work on roads but to be honest, without a proper public transportation system, bike paths, etc., new roads won’t ease the pain. But if you can structure your life to limit (not “avoid” since that’s impossible) the impact, you can at least make things bearable.

the girls frosting Christmas cookies

On the positive side, there are large forested areas adjacent to the city. Lots of good restaurants. Lots of interesting people from all over Kenya and all over the world. It's adjacent to a cool national park. It’s also situated in a fascinating country with endless things to see and do. The climate is close to perfect. Unfortunately, unless someone takes charge and rights the ship, the city could lose what luster it has.

Building, for example, is going on more or less unchecked. Beautiful, historic architecture is being destroyed, replaced by shining glass and concrete structures that all look the same. Emphasis is on the rich rather than the poor. Green spaces and trees are disappearing. We saw a few trees go down just the other day on the lot next to us. Other than the forest, almost no attention is being paid to creating parks. Not only are there no bike paths but construction is being allowed without providing sidewalks. Nothing is disabled access. Crime is high. Our building was broken into three times in the first six months that we lived there. Litter is bad. Streams running through the city smell horrible and are full of garbage and sewage.

I tend to think this is mostly fostered by greed. Which breeds corruption. There seems to be little commitment to fix things. And the divide between rich and poor is accelerating. Though I consider it a privilege to have this opportunity to live here now, and I definitely do like it, I dare say that I may not want to be in the city ten years from now unless there is a change in the trajectory of things now. Hopefully soon.