after 49 hours of travel i arrived in nairobi, kenya. it was an surprisingly enjoyable journey. i left charlotte at 1130 am had a 5-hour layover in minneapolis before boarding a KLM flight to amsterdam. the flight was late to leave because of security. because there were lots of muslim-sounding names on the flight, we went through 3 lines of US customs and security. the flight had to circumnavigate the volcanic ash in iceland which sent us over greenland. the engines seemed to stall near reykjavik, which kept things interesting. my seatmates were christian missionaries to norway (who knew norwegians needed saving). the woman asked me to pray with her, which was awkward. but we arrived safely in netherlands and immediately jumped on a plane to kampala, uganda. upon arrival i asked a muslim woman from the minneapolis flight about taxis to the bus station. she said that she would give me a ride to a hostel. i paid the visa and passed through ugandan customs. she and her son, though US citizens, were held with all somalis for interrogation. i waited in the baggage claim and met her husband, a huge somali, who had come to pick them up. after waiting a bit he walks backwards through customs, pays a bribe, and they come through without questioning. we loaded up in his lexus suv and headed into town. apparently he is an american citizen but enjoys living in uganda more than the states. they invited me to come over and watch the nba finals and play basketball with his friends, when i come back through kampala. i got the impression that they were well off, but it was confirmed when they dropped me off at the hostel and someone recognized him as the owner of several gas companies, auto parts distributors, tire shops, and they mentioned, 'this man doesnt have to wait to meet the president'. i'm a good judge of character huh.
anyway i slept for a couple hours and got a bus to kampala. 15 hours later i arrived in nairobi, caught a taxi to the hostel, and meet up with john and his friend russ. we headed to the club, renowned for its female companions, and i received an abrupt welcome to kenya. because of my intellect and sparklingly personality, i'm sure, the hookers really liked me. although i had some really interesting conversations on quantum physics and string theory, i came home alone. john woke me at noon. we had lunch and bought overnight tickets to mombossa, another 8 hours in a bus, where we'll stay for a couple days and then on to tanzania. sorry for the long letter. i promise to be more witty, provide more pictures, and be less sleep-deprived in the next post.
doors are really cool (betsy moyer would love it). the story goes that there are indian and arab doors. the indian ones have these metal spikes sticking out, which are remnants from india where elephants were used to ram their way into compounds. as the indian spice merchants settled in zanzibar they brought this with them as a reminder of home and also as a status symbol, as metal was precious and ornamental.
