Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Culture Shock: Just the Beginning

Before I get into describing the next phase of our trip, I wanted to comment on something I found simply incredible even before we reached any of our destinations: Customs! Based on childhood experience crossing the border into Canada or flying to Thailand/Australia, etc., I was led to believe that getting through immigration is an immense pain. Now, I have developed a new theory: American immigration is an immense pain! We went through Korean, UAE, Kenyan, and Tanzanian customs 8 times, and the total amount of time we spent talking to the officers was about 12 minutes (although we did have some difficulty in Tanzania, but that's a different story).

Anyway, when we arrived at Jomo Kenyatta Airport feeling dirty, tired, and a little sick to our stomachs, we spotted Maurice waiting for us directly by the exit. Receiving his warm welcome hug and seeing his bright white smile instantly lightened our mood. Knowing that he was there to guide us lifted a huge burden and stress from our shoulders.

We threw our luggage in the “boot” of the rickety rental car Maurice's friend had rented for us. Anna originally wrote “kindly rented,” but I changed it. Not because it wasn't kind of him to help us and Maurice out, but more because of the hardship it caused Maurice. When we opened the boot of the car, we realized it was held closed by a length of wire. At first, I didn't think much of this...

I think it is telling about what state we were in when, about 50 meters out of the airport parking lot, Maurice said, “Oh hey look, there's an Elephant,” and both Anna and I responded with “WHERE?!?” There was no Elephant. It was a sculpture on the side of the road. Maurice got a pretty good laugh out of that one, and I felt significantly like my gullible younger sister Stacey.

Anyway, first impressions: well, if you ever decide to go to Kenya, and you arrive after dark and have to drive any sort of distance, DO NOT base your first impressions on that drive! The combination of our circumstances did not create in me a stable state of mind.

Circumstance 1: It was night time. In Kenya there are few, if any streetlights, to which I am apparently too accustomed.

Circumstance 2: Kenya, particularly Nairobi, has earned itself a less then glowing reputation. Please see http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_923.html It's very interesting, and this article in particular influenced our outlook on the trip.

Notice the date: 12/28/2010. Less then one month before we arrived.

Circumstance 3: There were people everywhere! Pedestrians commonly walked in front of, beside, or behind moving cars in congested traffic while yelling at Maurice to fix his boot.

Circumstance 4: We didn't know what a Matatu was. Basically, they are shared taxis (in the form of a Nissan mini-bus) that really have no rules of the road to follow. The goal of Matatu operators is to cram as many people as possible into the vehicle as quickly as possible. It is not uncommon to fit almost 30 people into a space that, in America, would be designed for 8-10 people. There are known Matatu stops, at which point the Matatu's tend to swell out into traffic as they park anywhere to get people in their bus.

Circumstance 5: The traffic was intense.

Circumstance 6: The roads in Kenya are in terrible condition. If they are paved, they are littered with potholes. It is routine for cars to simply drive off the road to avoid the massive holes in the ground. Fortunately, the government has recognized this as a problem on at least one road, and has started to remedy it. That road happened to be the one to Maurice's house, and the remedy happened to include shutting down huge sections of pavement and redirecting traffic onto windy dirt bypasses. Also, the most common enforcers of traffic laws in Kenya are the enormous speed bumps.

So hopefully you can draw a picture of the situation in your mind using this information. After 25 hours of traveling, with approximately 9 hours of sleep between the 2 of us, we were bouncing along a windy road with no light but the headlights of oncoming traffic, surrounded by crowds of Matatu's and pedestrians who, at this point, we considered perfectly capable of taking our luggage out of the unlatched boot which bounced open higher and shut harder with every pothole and speed bump. I swear there were a few times I didn't know if we would survive that car ride. I'm sure I was completely disoriented, but it seemed like cars were driving straight at us and veering away at the last second.

Luckily, Maurice knew what he was doing. After about 1:30 of this, we picked up his brother and arrived safely at his parents house (thank you Jesus!).



Maurice's parents have a nice place in the country, far away from the crowds we drove through. We couldn't see much of the surrounding area, but the stars captured our attention immediately. It's hard to remember how many stars there actually are when you live in Korea, but Kenya doesn't have that problem.



Finally arriving at their house was a great relief: we were fed an excellent meal of Nyama Choma (goat ribs), Ugali (boiled flour and water), Chapati (flat bread), Mboga (cabbage), and Karanga (beef). It was great. We were served in the family room, the only room in the house with a light bulb. There was enough seating for about 15 people, which is good because so many of their neighbors wanted to come greet us.



We felt very welcomed, but we were excited to get cleaned up and go to sleep! There was no running water, so Maurice's sister Winny heated some water for us to sponge bath ourselves. Before nodding off, we commented to each other that the lack of electricity, running water, and outdoor pit latrine for a toilet gave it the feeling of camping, albeit with a bed and four walls. With that mindset, we slept soundly.

Seth


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Seth-the-Stressed and Posh Dubai

After a full day of working with Ben at a Chojeon English camp, we rushed home, showered, tossed a few last items in our suitcases, locked the deadbolt of our cramped Korean apartment, and began our journey to Kenya not knowing what to expect. As we traveled with plenty of time to the Incheon Airport, we learned a little bit more about each other.

While I basked in the joy of being done with work and the knowledge that we were leaving Korea for the first time in a year, Seth double, triple, and quadruple checked our flight itinerary, our progress on the public transportation, and how many spare minutes we would have. His mind was consumed with worrying about all the bumps and glitches that we might face before arriving in Kenya. Because of our previous travel experiences together, I did know that he often travels like this, but I think his stress was amplified by the fact that we were traveling to Africa and not simply around America or Korea. Annoyed at himself, he explained that his family always flies standby because his dad is a pilot for United Airlines. His conclusion was that because things are never guaranteed with standby, there was always a high level of stress when traveling as a kid, and that has shaped how he travels today. Of course, in Anna-fashion, I did tease Seth quite a bit, but in reality, I was and always am glad that he takes care of the worrying while we travel. If he didn't, I'm sure I would take on that role, and I'd rather not.

We should have known that this trip was going to be challenging simply because of the way it started. Because of the popularity of Emirates and the time of year, the plane was completely sold out, and we didn't do an online check-in. Therefore, we were forced to sit apart during our 10hr. flight to Dubai. This and the fact that I hadn't eaten since lunch did not go over well. I sat stoic in my seat surrounded by Korean ajummas as Seth looked back at me with a sympathetic smile. Although I was uber-crabby at the time, I have to admit that after having some food and reflecting on how good the circumstances actually were, I was fine. I was reassured by the fact that family and friends in Korea, Kenya, the United States, and Canada were praying for our safety and protection. This was a comfort, and as the instant airline beef and noodles digested, I realized that everything was not only good but great.

Emirates is by far the best airline I have ever flown on. We had the privilege of traveling on the biggest plane in the world: the A380. The whole upper deck is first and business class; they are provided with two showers and a personal bar. Even in economy class each person has a personal touch screen TV with endless options such as Friends, Fringe, Lie to Me, Glee, etc. detailed information about tourist activities in Dubai, frequent news updates, an abundance of film options like Avatar, The American, Inception, The Other Guys, etc. They also provided each person with a personal blanket, pillow, toothbrush and toothpaste, and eye mask. I was completely taken aback when the intercom announced the vast array of languages the flight attendants spoke: Arabic, French, Korean, Mandarin, English, Tagalog, Spanish, Hungarian, Swahili, Japanese, and the list went on. The entire staff was very professional and friendly.



We were both surprised and relieved to be surrounded by so much diversity the instant we got off the plane and entered the Dubai International Airport. Korea is 98% homogeneous. We relished hearing so many different languages and seeing so many different nationalities.

While doing some quick research on my touch screen on the flight, I learned that Dubai has virtually no middle class. The increasing foreign population is slowly reviving a middle class, but as we spent the day wandering around our first Middle Eastern country, we were struck by the disparity between the lower and upper class. The residential area that we first wandered through was cramped with rundown apartment complexes and local markets; whereas, the business and tourist district was posh and meticulously clean. The airport and subway themselves were overdone. There was literally a gold shop in the airport directly across from a Rolex store.



At 7:00am in Dubai, I felt like a complete alien. 95% of people on the streets were men dressed in traditional Arabic clothing. We found a little cafeteria near the river and ate some snacks, but I couldn't quite relax and enjoy it while being the only female in sight.


Getting increasingly exhausted, we summoned enough energy to be typical tourists and take our picture by the tallest building in the world: The Burj Khalifa towering an impressive 2,717 ft. in the air. Seth rightly said it looks like something from a fantasy or sci-fi movie. For some reason, I think it belongs in Batman's city: Gotham. Always in the Burj Khalifa's shadow, we wandered around the Dubai mall. The people, buildings, and merchandise screaming, “Look at how much I'm worth!” We quickly and strongly felt our American middle class-ness. The in-mall aquarium hosts sharks, sting-rays, and other sea life that has given itself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.


With Seth pretty much dragging me, we made it back to the airport. Although still flying Emirates, this plane wasn't quite up to the same standards as the last. On our way to Nairobi, we were joined by a potent odor of B.O. and fussy children, but we also got to sit together and had extra time to sleep before experiencing Africa.

-Anna