Nairobi Explosion

So, a day after a rather unpleasant experience, an explosion went off in downtown Nairobi.

The Nation reports the following:

“By any standards, it was a very small explosion. We are not down-playing the incident but it even did not blow up tyres of a vehicle that was just two metres away.”

So far, preliminary investigations have showed, according to police, that no combustion or high explosives have been detected from the scene.

Now, I don't know that exploding tires should be the determining factor of whether an explosion is big, but I absolutely agree it wasn't nearly as large as first reports made it out to be. One person has died and about 40 people were injured.

Some interesting things to note:

1. Suspicion falls on two groups of people: suspected Mungiki members and Somali radicals. Initial reports talked of suicide bombers with dynamite. That was clearly an over-reaction, and pure speculation.
   
   
2. Location, location, location. Yes, this is a semi-busy bus terminal. But it is far from the busiest. As a terrorist attack, the less-than luxurious Ambassadeur Hotel seems an odd choice. Furthermore, the explosion seems to have happened outside of the little-known City Gate Restaurant, an unlikely place to try to impact a maximum amount of casualties. Whatever the target was, it was not the sidewalk in front of the City Gate Restaurant.
   
   
3. I happened to be in town at the time of the explosion. I was coming from the police station, where no one seemed concerned about what was happening, walked about a half-block away from where the explosion was and boarded a bus--all without hearing a thing or seeing any panic.
   

An Open Letter

10 June 2007

Dear Guy with the Big Puffy Navy Blue Jacket, Jeans, Baseball Cap Who Kept Looking Over His Shoulder and His Three Associates,

I wondered what you thought of Anna Karenina. Not an easy read, huh? As I'm sure you'll soon discover, Tolstoy is an amazing author. The way that he can get into a person's head, and interpret their most trivial emotions is just breathtaking. His powerful command of language to accurately convey feelings, thoughts, and emotions is, I think you'll agree, pretty much incomparable.

You'll notice that I only had 90 pages of the book left to read. (wink) I've long been aware that the book ends tragically. Now I'm just not sure how it happens. Perhaps you can write me a brief explanation? Did you see it coming?

If not, I'll understand. It's a real time commitment! (LOL!) And English is probably not your first language anyway. (Nor Russian for that matter!)

K.W. Wamitila's Mayai Waziri wa Maradhi na Hadithi Nyingine may be more up your respective allies. This book of Swahili short stories is truly unique. I put in that black bag next to Anna Karenina just the other day because I wanted to read the title story by E. Kezilahabi again. “Eggs Minister of Diseases” is the literal translation. It's a bizarre title and the futuristic dystopia, of a governmental minister haunted by bad dreams, his own shady past, and the fears and paranoia inspired by his autocratic government, definitely threw me off.

Though my memory is hazy, I wouldn't quite say that it had the same effect as the choke-hold, take-the-guy's-wallet-phone-and-bag-on-a-busy-street-on-a-Sunday-morning did. (Smile!)

While it's a bit more of a political science-y kind of book, I wonder what you all might think of Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy. Is it inspirational for guys like you?

By the way, did you get to read that special on Mungiki in the Sunday Nation I had? Do you guys think Mungiki is as widespread as some people fear it is? Can the government really bring it down? Is the government being too harsh on suspected Mungiki?

As for the wallet, did you see my driver's license there? Isn't that just a ridiculous picture? The strange shadows made it look like I had a mullet! While I kinda wish I had it back, I won't mind never seeing that picture again!

You're probably slightly annoyed that I did that whole “phone lock” thing where when you switch the phone's SIM card, it asks you for the password. Probably meant you had to pay someone a couple hundred shillings to reset it. Sorry! I'll give you a hint: it starts with a 7.... Even still, the Sony Ericsson T610 will probably fetch you two or three thousand shillings.

Altogether it should mean you end up with something like 4,000/-. (Unfortunately, most Kenyans aren't big into reading so you probably won't get more than a couple hundred shillings for those books....) Divided between four people, it comes to about $15 per person.


I'd ask you if you thought it was worth it, but I'm assuming you're not all that disappointed. Sure it's a fraction of what you hoped for with a white guy, but the chances of anyone catching you are pretty slim. I went to the police station and someone told me I'd have to pay a private investigator 10,000/- ($150) for them to try to catch you. As you may have guessed by now, I'm not the kind of person who can afford that!

Oh, and by the way, you don't have to worry about returning the ATM card! Instead of troubling you all, I just decided that it'd be easier to cancel it and order a new one.


Anyway, if we do get the chance to meet up again, I hope it's under better circumstances! If you let me keep my wallet (hint, hint), I'll buy the four of you cups of chai and some light and fluffy maandazi! Otherwise, it'll have to be on you!

A Rough Week

Ugh. When it hits Friday and you find yourself saying "Ugh," you know it's been rough.

Monday I became sick with what a doctor diagnosed in about 8 seconds as pharyngitis: a nasty sore throat that left me with a fever, dizziness and a headache. I was a little worried it could have been Rift Valley Fever, which last broke out in 1997, but has claimed more than a hundred lives in the past three months. (CDC says 32 cases have been reported by MOH. Funny 'cause the local media has gone way past that figure!)

(Incidentally, RVF's been mostly centered in the far north-eastern part of the country... which is actually near Halako's home of Hola. Check out this map: Hola's half way between Garissa and Garsen.) Clarification: RVF has been mostly centered in Garissa, which is near Halako's home, Hola.

Tuesday, Halako and I found ourselves hiding under our bed, convinced that our apartment complex was being ransacked. Turned out it was a couple of thieves who stole a phone and purse. They just made so much noise, we began imagining gangsters with AK-47s.

Today I ran around town trying to get some last minute information for a web site that we're creating. Didn't really succeed in much of anything except getting my phone stolen. In the scramble to squeeze on the bus that heads down Ngong Road, I barely made it to my seat. A quick check of my pocket showed that my phone didn't.

At least it wasn't the wallet with IDs and credit cards. (I've been meaning to not carry all my valuables in my wallet, but somehow circumstances made me put them all together and I just forget to separate them all over again.)