{"id":4938,"date":"2008-01-03T13:00:06","date_gmt":"2008-01-03T18:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=4938"},"modified":"2008-01-03T10:08:29","modified_gmt":"2008-01-03T15:08:29","slug":"thinking_of_ken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/03\/thinking_of_ken\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking of Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"no<\/a>\nOutside, it is 15 degrees (that is what it feels like, according to Yahoo Weather) and though I thought I had bundled up successfully and strategically, walking towards the metro felt like lurching through a freezer.<\/p>\n\n

I made it three doors down from my building before a cab pulled over; he mistook my violent shivering as a gesture for his attention.<\/p>\n\n

I gratefully dove in to both the back seat and the dulcet, erudite tones of the BBC world service, which was emerging from several speakers at a volume that was on the wrong side of my comfort levels. If it hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been the Beeb, it would\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been unbearable.<\/p>\n\n

While we waited for the light to change on Connecticut Avenue NW, I noticed how he was peering at me via the rear-view mirror. I was frantically trying to remember if I had my security badge at the bottom of my boat ‘n’ tote.<\/p>\n\n

We sailed forward, in that smooth, sinking-in-to-pudding way which is unique to Town cars and he made mirror-eye-contact with me again. He smiled slightly.<\/p>\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Are you from Nairobi?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n

How odd. I am forever<\/a> getting confused for the other kind<\/a> of Sheba<\/a>. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, my parents are from India.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n

He looked at me like I was daft.<\/p>\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re Indian.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n

It was a declaration, and an odd, exasperated one at that, not a question. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like playing this variation of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where are you from?<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d game on an empty and caffeine-free stomach so I tried to deflect.<\/p>\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Um, are you from…Nairobi?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, I asked.\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No! I am Ethiopian!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n

I nodded and looked down. As I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve mentioned occasionally, there is a reason why I will never play poker; I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hide anything. My emotions display in high-def. I was confused.<\/p>\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are a lot of Indians in Nairobi,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, quietly, staring straight ahead. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You looked sad, I thought you were worried about your family. I was going to say, I hope they are safe.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n

The news correspondent wrapped up their report at that moment…on Kenya.<\/p>\n\n

I felt mortified, that I was so out of it I had not connected Kenya\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s capital and current events. My embarrassment vanished when I realized how incredibly thoughtful and sensitive this stranger had been. The moment I entered the taxi, the BBC had commenced discussing the worrisome crisis in Nairobi, which erupted over last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s questionable election process and results. He thought the news was what was affecting me.<\/p>\n\n

He was reaching out to this American-born, momentarily confused, non-Kenyandesi. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like he had to, but he did. It was a kind and sobering way to start my day.<\/p>\n\n

::<\/p>\n\n

Via the NYT<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n

Nairobi degenerated deeper into violence on Thursday<\/strong> as riot police used tear gas, batons and water cannons to turn back thousands of opposition supporters who tried to rally in the Kenyan capital. Protesters burned tires, smashed store windows and fought with the police across the city.<\/blockquote>\n\n
Some demonstrators showed restraint, yelling to the rowdier members in their ranks, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Weka mawe! Weka mawe!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which means, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Put down the stones.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/blockquote>\n\n
Other protesters torched businesses as police officers in padded suits chased them away from the downtown area.<\/blockquote>\n\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We will burn this country down!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d screamed Abdullah Mohammed, a young protester. He promptly set fire to a mountain of tires.<\/strong><\/blockquote>\n\n
One band of opposition supporters tore through a Nairobi slum, attacking residents and raping several women,<\/strong> residents said. The residents caught one of the thugs and hacked him to death.<\/strong> The man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body lay on the street for some time because police officers said it was too dangerous to wade into the slum to retrieve it.<\/blockquote>\n\n
He lay on a dirt path between shanties with his face covered by plastic bags. Someone had stolen his shoes.<\/blockquote>\n\n

Turmoil came to Kenya after Mwai Kibaki narrowly and suspiciously won a highly-contested election. Observers and his opposition allege that it was rigged.<\/p>\n\n

Frustration over this has begat violence, which has devastated the regularly “stable” and popular tourist destination. Inter-tribal enmity has exploded to the point where frightened people who were seeking refuge in a church were burned alive<\/a>. The majority of those within were women and children, fifty of them perished.<\/p>\n\n

More than 300 people have been killed in the violence and thousands of homes, shops and farms have been burned to the ground.<\/blockquote>\n\n

::<\/p>\n\n

Previous coverage of Kenya on SM:\nMoja<\/a>, Mbili<\/a>, Tatu<\/a>, Nne<\/a>, Tano<\/a>, Sita<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Outside, it is 15 degrees (that is what it feels like, according to Yahoo Weather) and though I thought I had bundled up successfully and strategically, walking towards the metro felt like lurching through a freezer. I made it three … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4938"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}