Young Kenyan Man in the U.S.A.

A massive 3 months of blogger's block finally comes to an end. I've touched down in Obama's land, Dallas Texas to be exact. The nice people at the US Embassy decided that I've earned the right to visit my sister and in-laws during my annual leave. (Scheduling the visa interview on the day of the inauguration found the people on a good mood). So for the next 4 weeks, it will be all about gaining weight, meeting friends from way back and generally forgetting about unga and other issues back home.

So what has changed?

I have dreadlocks: Finally, parents, teachers, lecturers and management out of the way, I've done one thing that I'd wanted to for a long time. Must admit, the attention is overwhelming, but maintaining the look is demanding. Why do chics go through all that trouble for dudes who most often than not will not notice your new hairdo?
Can you spot the black worms crawling all over my head???

I'm still single: Despite all the hulabaloo of the last post, kimeumana. Nothing happening in that direction. Guess this place will provide some necessary distraction.

I can spend: It seems that my aversion to spending money on myself has been subdued. Paying for an overseas holiday is no small feat, despite booking the cheapest mid-week return flights on BA. And now, trying to figure how to go for San Diego Sevens means that tukirudi nyumbani, we'll be starting from scratch.

But life ni fupi, so let's see how the holiday goes. Anywhere far away from stress of work is good enough for me.

Death, death and near death

Death

Unfortunately the reality of the violence in Kenya has hit closer to home. Last week, a campus classmate was going to his hometown in Kisii on leave and was attacked somewhere on the road. I've been informed that his body was later found in Sotik, he'd been shot dead by arrows.

Death

My last remaining grandparent passed on last week. Almost 90 years old and with several great grand children, I believe he lived a full life. He was an inspiration and constantly encouraged me to work hard and be a success. The funeral is tomorrow.

Near Death

The highlight of my holiday in Uganda involved a 44m bungee jump into the Nile. Standing on top of the platform gives you a fright of a lifetime, and the adrenaline rush when stepping off the top lasts for several hours!!! That was the most exhilarating experience of my short life.

Young Kenyan Man in Uganda

That's right, I'm refugeeing in UG. My 24 days leave will expire on the end of March and after been held hostage indoors for the better part of the last couple of weeks, I had to come to a decision to flee the country yet be in a position to be in touch with loved ones in case of anything (read One Network/Kama Kawaida).

Took a flight via Air Uganda and since these guys are making a comeback, it means first class treatment for economy class guys. Of course, it's not cheap compared to road, but considering what happened to my cousin this past friday, I'm glad I took the upstairs route.

He informed me that between Kisumu and Busia, the road is blocked by gangs of youth and the local cops are overwhelmed by the situation, such that these guys in their Akamba bus didn't get police escort automatically but had to go searching for it. Apparently even the cops are somewhat influenced by the tribal issues and only when they got a Kikuyu OCS somewhere in Luanda, were they able to travel safely to Busia.

They got stopped by a gang who demanded money to let them pass, and just after they'd done a mini harambee and the road cleared, another gang showed up with a tractor tyre and kerosene. They wanted to burn the bus and demanded for Kikuyus in it. Fortunately the driver had his wits with him and drove off, under a hail of stones.

Otherwise Kampala is ok, save for the heat and it was refreshing to attend a catholic mass on Sunday because the prayers for peace centered on Kenya. Guys here are quite concerned about the happenings back home, especially because of its effect on prices such as fuel.

I'll try enjoy the holiday, but thoughts go out to back home and that a peaceful resolution can be found soon.

Spare time

Nice (but seemingly short) weekend saw me spend most of it watching Prison Break. Took me from 31st Dec to last saturday to finish season 1, and I'm now midway season 2. I must admit that guys said it was good and I wasn't too enthusiastic but when I got to sit down and watch the whole season through, it's a killer.

Update on the book scene, I finished Men are like Waffles - Women are like Spaghetti and the essence of the book is that jamaas keep their stuff separate i.e. work, family, relationships, money etc while chics integrate (engineering speak) kila kitu so you can't affect one without the others. This apparently shows why jamaas can't keep up with a chic's conversation, since he's unable to jump in between boxes at the speed the chic keeps switching. A summary of the book is that women seek security (yaani it's true) while men seek simplicity. As always, there's debate as to the validity of the findings, but I'll take what I like and leave the rest.


My next read is How to Grow Leaders, an interesting book by one of the top gurus in leadership, John Adair. Useful for organizations seeking to grow leaders. Interestingly, as part of the trainee program I'm in, my first assignment was to write a report on the difference between managers and leaders. The person who gave this assignment wanted to ingrain in us the fact that leaders are needed more than managers in the corporate world, since staff need people who'll get them to do what
is difficult, without being pushed and actually delight in it, stuff to do with vision and purpose as opposed to process and function. Guess no better foundation with which to start one's career ama?

That, coupled with a visit to the latest addition to my collection of nieces (welcome to the world GNW) and helping a pal to carry a water container from town to her digs, is a peek of one of my interesting weekends. How was yours???