Wazungu Party

Friday after work I went to a party!!! Woohoo… a potluck BBQ… I didn’t bring or eat meat, but I did bring a lot of fruit, my favourite thing to buy in the markets here!! This time there were maybe fifteen wazungu (white people) and one Kenyan guy. Everyone but me work with some sort of Christian based organization working with street children or orphans (among other ventures). There is a big group of them that get together every few weeks, and I was lucky enough to get connected to them (strangely, through one of their blogs, when I was trying to figure out how safe Kitale was back in January). The first Wazungu party was three weeks ago, just after I arrived in Kitale. There were about 30 people at that one.

It is definitely interesting, and invaluable to have these contacts, and opportunities for friendships, because our similar cultural backgrounds mean we are able to analyse and process experiences more similar to eachother and differently than my Kenyan friends. I have been able to run situations by some of them to get a more experienced person’s perspective, and also have just really enjoyed having great conversations with people who are as puzzled as I am or as troubled as I am about different things we see.

We spoke about Kenyan politics, corruption, what it was actually like in Kitale in the midst of the troubles in December-February, and the many and various projects everyone is involved in. I'll see if I can't get links to some of their blogs up on my page.

The parties were both held on a beautiful compound in the rich side of town, where the streets are lined with gorgeous towering trees, and the lots are huge expanses of grass and flower beds. This is the exact opposite of the area I am staying in, both in direction and appearance. So, I stay over night so as not to travel in the dark back to my place. It is nice to be part of a 'western household' for one night every once in a while, as a surreal respite!!