Karibu Kenya

So I've arrived at last, safe and sound. I was very lucky: the protests which were scheduled for Thursday were called off, and when we drove to the apartment things seemed to be more or less normal.

It was a rough couple of days coming over. I couldn't sleep at all on the first flight. The second flight marked the first time I have ever been sick on a plane, which I can tell you was not an experience that I'm eager to repeat. By the time I arrived in Nairobi, I was feeling pretty shaky and nauseous. Luckily George was there to meet me in the airport, and we went straight to the apartment in Buruburu.

The new place is definitely nicer than the old place in South C, though we're having a few of the same issues: we've had no water at all so far, and I'm told that we also have cockroaches, though I haven't yet seen them first-hand. Buruburu is a fairly middle-clas neighbourhood, and the apartment is above businesses like banks, cyber cafes and pharmacies, which means that the security is very good. The major drawbacks are that it's across town from work, which means that I would have to commute through downtown (which wouldn't exactly be the best idea if protests resume), and that it's right on a major road. I was exhausted last night, but kept waking up to the sound of trucks and matatu horns and music (matatus are the mini-buses which are used for public transportation, and are famous for dangerous driving, flashy lights, over-the-top paint jobs and obnoxiously loud music). We'll continue to look for a place West of town. I'm hoping for a place in Hurlingham, so that I can get to work without going through town, and might even be able to walk.

The next couple of days will be fairly laid back as I settle in, and we arrange things for the apartment. Here the only indication that things are out of the ordinary in Kenya is that politics is on everyone's lips, even more so than usual. Yesterday was the first meeting between Kibaki and Odinga, and while it's great that the two sides agreed to meet, neither has budged an inch. Most people I've spoken with so far have been quite cynical about the possibility of a power-sharing agreement, though the cover of the Nation today proclaimed 'Hope at last'.

Only time will tell, I suppose. My greatest concern is that even if peace is restored in the short-term (which is a pretty big if), the underlying causes of the violence must still be addressed. To see this conflict as simply an emergency situation without talking about economic and political inequality and land rights issues would be missing the point entirely. I can only hope that in these mediation talks, long-term issues are discussed as well as short-term conflict resolution.

I also just have to note that the cyber cafe is playing Celine Dion right now. She's everywhere.