Alemitu's impressions of Kenya:
March 7, 2006
We were in Mombasa, Kenya for 3 days and we had a really hot and nice time. I got to go on an overnight tour that was called Tsavo safari. On that tour I got to see all the different animals like lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants, deer-like animals, water buffalo and all the different kinds of birds. The roads were very bumpy and very uncomfortable to drive on because they all had holes in them. Some of the roads were very muddy and the smell of the streets while you are driving by smells of garbage and fire smoke. There is garbage everywhere while you are driving by. The people don’t seem to know how to take care of the environment. It is very different from America. It looks like here they are living in the past and we are living in the future.
The place we stayed was a lodge that was like a hotel/motel. The rooms were really nice. The beds had mosquito nets over them so that we wouldn’t get bitten by bugs at night. We had a pretty good view of where all the animals lived from our room. The people were very nice. They all would ask me if I spoke Swahili. Some thought I was from Kenya. One other person thought I was a Jew from Ethiopia. When we went back to the room in the evening, I went to wash my hands and the sink was full of bugs, some dead and some alive. I started shrieking, then cleaned out the sink with toilet paper. Later, my roommate went into the bathroom and she started shrieking, “There are so many bugs.” Later when I went back again, there was a huge cockroach on the seat. My roommate started shrieking, “I hate bugs. Kill it, kill it. Use your sandal. Make sure you get it the first time or it will fly out at you.” I said, “It flies?” Then I took my sandals off and I whacked it on the toilet while I was shrieking. She screamed along with me. Then I took the dead body in the garbage can. She said, “Where did you put it?” I told her and she went crazy, “You need to put it in the toilet or it will come back alive.” That was our huge cockroach incident.
Before I went to bed, I put mosquito repellent on so I wouldn’t get bitten while I was asleep. I still got bitten on my legs.
Besides that I had a wonderful time on the tour. While we were returning we got to stop by a Masai village. The tribe danced for us and we got to see the way they lived. Their houses were made out of cow poop and mud mixed. It was a very different life that they live. It was shocking to me because I used to think I wanted to live like that when I was in America. I am 100% sure that this is not the way I want to live, especially when there is no water in the house, and no bathroom. The kitchen is made out of firewood next to the bed. There is no room dividing the parents, the kids and the chickens. The smell is very strong. There is garbage everywhere. It is very different. I am very grateful that I got to experience this tour. It opened my eyes to a lot of things.
Always, Alemitu
Explorations Speaker Ambassador Edward Peck
Ambassador Edward Peck served as an American diplomat for 32 years and speaks four languages: Swedish, Arabic, French and Spanish. He was the chief of mission in Iraq from 1977 to 1980. He was an also an Embassy officer in Sweden, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt and a Chief of Mission in Mauritania. His domestic assignments included Deputy Director of the Cabinet Task Force on Terrorism at the White House, Deputy Coordinator for Covert Intelligence Programs and Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the State Department, Liaison Officer to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Fellow at the Institute for Higher Defense Studies at the Pentagon. Ambassador Peck retired to become Executive Secretary of the American Academy of Diplomacy in Washington, D.C., and was later named Chairman of Political Tradecraft programs at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center in Northern Virginia. He is a member of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, a Distinguished Visitor at the National War College, and a Woodrow Wilson Foundation Visiting Fellow. The ambassador also serves on the Board of Directors of Americans for Middle East Understanding. A former paratrooper in the U.S. Army, Ambassador Peck rose from private to Captain. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from UCLA, and an M.B.A from George Washington University.
posted by Hills @ 6:43 AM
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