A coffee drinking, treadmill running, paranoid American, clearly not on her honeymoon

1.  Doctors make me paranoid

I have always felt like I was a somewhat adventurous traveler – willing to try new things and experiences. This trip my “toughness” has been tested  - one of my traveling companions is a fellow MBA student who is simultaneously getting her MD (aka crazy).  She clearly knows too much based on her medical studies and her traveling habits have made me nervous about almost everything...

• She proclaimed that I should not be washing my face with the tap water because it might get into my eyes.  She brought 12 huge bottles of water from the US for the sole purpose of washing her face and brushing her teeth.  My eyes have felt dry and itchy all day.
• Water got on her lips during a shower and she immediately doused them with hand sanitizer – I thought this was silly but I must confess that when a little water got in my mouth during my shower this morning I jumped out and gargled with Listerine.
•  Last night at dinner I had a glass of passion juice with my meal, when I told her this I thought she might fall on the floor.  Apparently I am not supposed to have any fruit, including juice.  My stomach felt uneasy most of the night.
• Today was the first day that we have actually seen mosquitoes flying around.  Despite the fact that I have been taking malaria pills and I have no bites (yet), I have been strangely itchy all day (and so has she).
• Bottles for beer and soda are reused here in Kenya – I had no idea until last night.  Today, I used a straw to drink my bottled Coca Cola.

I pride myself on being very self-aware and I know that I am just being a paranoid American – so far my health is fine.  Hopefully this paranoia will go away soon because the irrationality of it all disappoints me.

 2.  I am no coffee snob

I was quite pleased to see two 30-minute tea breaks on the agenda each day but as an avid coffee drinker, I was hopeful that there might also be a coffee option.  What I have found is instant, powdered coffee.  Delicious, it is not, but it seems to do the trick.  I’ll take it.

On the topic of coffee, what is somewhat puzzling is that the Kenyans seem to associate coffee with all things Latin.  The instant coffee today was called “Mexicana” although it was manufactured in Kenya.  The coffee shop at the hotel is called “Amigo Coffee Shop.”  Seeing as how coffee is grown throughout Africa, I don’t get it.

3. Exercising is silly

Yesterday, I was running on the treadmill in the gym at our hotel.  The security guard came in at one point and watched me for a little while, looking quite amused.  While driving to our training site today his amusement seemed somehow appropriate as we got our first real look at Nairobi.  In route, we drove by hundreds of pedestrians who were making their way to work. Our Africa-experienced colleague informed us that many of them wake up as early as 4am to begin their walking commute into the city for work.  After hearing this, a 30-minute run on the treadmill seems pretty silly to me too.

4.  You can call me a crime against nature

In each room at the Olive Gardens hotel there is a “Guest Guide” (printed on a bubble jet color printer and glued together).  At the bottom of the “Guidelines” section there is a statement that proclaims, “People of the same sex are not allowed to share rooms with one bed.”  One of my colleagues shared with me that, in fact, homosexuality is outlawed in Kenya and upon further investigation I discovered that it is regarded as a “crime against nature.”  This fact was not altogether surprising but finding such a statement in the hotel literature was a little shocking.  I guess there aren’t many people taking a big gay honeymoon to Kenya - although I cannot say I would recommend the Olive Gardens to honeymooners of any sexuality.  I think I will be keeping my lesbian card in my pocket for the next couple weeks.

More tomorrow.