Haircuts and Handshakes - Kenya Update 8/27/09

For the past two days I have been working with various CS students who have come early to work/volunteer at ANU to run maintenance on the computer labs - we take them apart, vacuum them, wipe them down and reformat all the hard drives. It is fun enough and I met a few folks that are good to be around - they gave me an African name so I would feel more welcome - it helps. Mwangi is a Kikuyu word which means "light"...I wonder why thats my name (not really). I've been doing my best to learn some Swahili from the old "Teach Yourself Swahili" book I found in my flat. I was reminded of Sr. Das and those terrible years in Spanish IV and V as I make little flash cards to learn new words every night. I'm not sure who enjoys it more when I get a word right, me or my Kenyan friends.

I'm learning some very interesting things about Kenyan culture. It is proper, when entering a room, to shake every one's hand. Grasping your right forearm with your left hand while you shake is a signal of respect, you use this when you shake the hand of someone who has a higher rank than yourself (student, teacher...driver, administrator etc.) ... this emphasis on class is very surreal especially as I observe it from my perspective. You see I am also learning what it means to be a minority. I am still processing some of the cultural and social racial constructs I have observed, whether it be between tribes or between Africans and Mzungus (white/Europeans), it is complex and systemic - its a lot to process.

Anyway I had some of my new friends take me into Rongai (a townish place 10 minutes from ANU) to get a haircut! It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life, I am so glad that Mikey and Xavier came with me. I ended up paying 200 shillings (sh200 = $2.56), which is a great deal if you're in the States, but its more than twice the barber would have charged a Kenyan. What is crazy is that the original price the barber said was 500 shillings! Anyway the haircut itself was so different than any I've had in the past. They were meticulous with my side burns and the fade on the edges, gave me nice smelling aftershave things, then a stinking head message! The gal you did the message told me if I brought her back to NY with me she would be my personal barber - definitely shady - I avoided eye contact with her after that. My friends said they never got treatment like that, and Mikey said he thought the gal had the hots for me. I told him she probably has the hots for every Mzungu that comes into the shop, and he laughingly agreed.

I am starting to forget what I have written about in these entries, so if I repeat anything I apologize. The internet is very poor on wireless, but better here in the computer lab. I will have to find someway to monopolize on the consistancy of the lab while being able to access all my personal stuff on the laptop.

They teach a course on Java here, I might buy the textbook and software and work through it. There has been a crazy pentecostal group here all week - my window is right by the chapel. It is very strange hearing them go nuts all night (till midnight) casting out demons and screaming their heads off, but its awesome waking up to the sound of 200 voices singing Swahili worship songs at 6 am.

God has been faithful in providing for me encouragement - whether it be through the goodness of the missionaries here, the faithfulness of family, the patience and goodness of my girlfriend, or the mischievousness and kindness of the Kenyans I have met. I know the prayers of God's people are making a difference, and that they are what is actualizing Isaiah 58:11 for my life in Kenya.

"The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail."

Isaiah 58:11