The Clashes
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
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229
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Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Eldoret,
Kenya
Monday, July 28, 2008
My great-aunt is a missionary and has been ever since I can remember. She used to live in the Philippines, and that's where I thought she still was until Grandma told me otherwise
Family
. Her name is Marcia, and she's my grandfather's youngest sister, and my mother resembles her, especially about the nose. It's pretty much the exact same nose. Anyway, when I went to college I learned just how excellent family can be, and I was greatly looking forward to a travel respite with family. When we arrived in Eldoret, Travis and I were keen to take a gander at our surroundings, and Marcia took us on a walk to the college where she teaches. It's a small school beautifully arranged with flowers and grass and a peaceful ambience. Here and there is a grazing cow, because this is Kenya and it's totally normal to have cows just about anywhere. The college also raises rabbits, and some of the big rabbits had had little rabbits and they were mighty cute. And of course the whole time we wandered about we met people Marcia knew, and meeting friendly faces not working in the tourist industry is not common. It was fun.
At dinner we interrogated Marcia about Kenya, and this certainly aided our comprehension of the country for the rest of our visit. Naturally we were curious about the clashes that happened at election time, and Marcia told us all about them (and the tension doesn't seem to be all gone yet). Being as we were rather cut off from the world at that time, we didn't exactly know what was going on, and I don't know how much the foreign press related and in what context
Kerio View
. We were, therefore, rather surprised to hear that it had been planned. While Marcia was in town paying bills a woman called out that Kibaki (the incumbent) had won (which he hadn't and which no one had declared at that point), and Marcia told us the reaction was instantaneous. Tribalism had been called into play, and the minority tribe in Eldoret, the Kikuyu (but the majority in Kenya, and the tribe of Kibaki) was targeted with attacks and burnings. This led to some retaliatory attacks, and so the downward spiral goes. The primary antagonists were apparently the Kalenjin, a tribe famous for its distance runners. Those belonging to other tribes were sometimes asked to take a side. Many fled, many died, and many homes and shops were destroyed. At first glance it didn't seem as though anything had really happened, and we first thought that life must be back to normal; but Marcia pointed out this and that and we realized that we were quite wrong. The refugee/IDP camps lining the road here and there should really have been a clue, what with their fresh UNHCR tents and all. For our first breakfast in Eldoret Marcia made us waffles and coffee and served us breakfast in bed. I'm reasonably sure no one's ever served me breakfast in bed. And waffles! A taste of home, I tell you what. Then we went about exploring Eldoret proper. For a city of approximately 700,000 people, it feels like a small town
lawns at Kerio View
. This, combined with the copious amounts of farmland everywhere you look, makes a Midwesterner feel right at home. A jaunt through the fruit and vegetable market led to Travis's backpack getting heavier, but I kept my load light by not purchasing anything at the curio shops we visited. For lunch we visited Ampath's Cold Stream restaurant - delicious Kenyan food for the hospital folk.Would you be surprised to learn that Eldoret has the largest AIDS research facility in Africa? I was. It's run out of Indiana University, where the doctors go to research and the Africans come from all over for treatment. And every family is affected. And the idiotic myth that sleeping with a virgin will cure AIDS makes rape cases all the more distressing (as if they needed to be). The day before we arrived in Eldoret, two girls Marcia knew were raped on the street in broad daylight. There are a lot of ugly things about this beautiful country, and they made me quite sad.
Our post-lunch wandering led us to the home of another of the teachers at Marcia's college. While his young son exhuberantly showed off for us (as all six-year-olds are apt to do), we toured his garden. This garden was incredible - lush, green, and with so many beautiful flowering plants. The property also abuts a small river where weaver birds love to nest, and really the setting was magical and peaceful
view of the Great Rift Valley
. Next to this was the vegetable garden, and if my dad could have seen the broccoli plants he would have been envious. In the vegetable garden were orange trees laden with oranges. I wanted a garden, too, when I looked at this one. It would be difficult to find a more beautiful one in a more idyllic setting. A lovely outing. On our final day in Eldoret, Marcia proposed a trip to Kerio View, a lodge/restaurant perched at the edge of the Rift Valley. Her trusted freelance taxi driver, Arita (who is waiting for the right car to come along, therefore always appears with a different vehicle belonging to one of his friends) ferried us there. Although he'd taken people up to the site several times, this was the first time he'd ever been invited along for lunch and sightseeing, and he'd never before seen the beautiful view. His amazement made me feel even more fortunate - he lived an hour away and had never seen the view, and I lived half a world away and was just jaunting up for a lovely outing. The food at the lodge was delicious and the weather was extraordinary. We could see for miles and miles, and up close we could see little hyrex (which make really weird noises, we discovered). Hyrex look like groundhogs, or if you prefer, like woodchucks (they're the same animal).
To round out our lovely venture in Eldoret was the time we spent at Marcia's home
Erin and Marcia
. First, we haven't been in a home basically since we left the US. We've been invited to a couple houses for meals, and have had two homestays, but that's not quite the same. Perhaps I should say we haven't been in an American-style home. Second, no one knows American food like an American, and that was a great blessing. Breakfast food at breakfast should never be taken for granted. And Marcia makes a spectacular homemade pizza. It was rather like being at grandma's house, being all pampered. Finally, in the evening Travis would build a fire and we would all sit in front of it to wind down at the end of the day. (Yes, equatorial Kenya is cold enough at night during this season that fires are truly wonderful things.) During this part of the day rambunctious Little Bit would also calm down, and she was at her most adorable. Little Bit is the household's six-month-old puppy, and she hasn't quite got the hang of her training. She can fetch like a champ, though, and both Travis and I had some fun times playing tug-of-war with her. She's a mut, and Marcia told us she looks like a typical African dog. She was pretty sweet (when she didn't get excited and start jumping and nipping).
And so it was we had a lovely respite in the non-tourist town of Eldoret
Travis and Erin at Kerio View
. Erin
P.S. From the moment we arrived in Kenya, the Lion King of Disney fame has haunted us. First they started saying "hakuna matata," which lead to me having the song of that title being perpetually stuck in my head. Hakuna matata, does mean no worries or no problem in Kiswahili, and every now and then you'll hear it. But the most surprising thing to me was when I heard Marcia tell someone "Asante sana." I asked her what it meant, and she said it means, "Thank you very much." At one point in the Lion King, Rafiki (means "friend") starts to chant "Asante sana, squashed banana..." over and over. So what he's saying is acutally, "Thank you very much, squashed banana." This is, I suppose, gibberish equal to that spouted in the film, even if it's in a different language.
Comments
Eldoret Clashes
It was so great to read about your visit with me! YOu are a great writer! Iloved it! Great Aunt marcia