I want to talk about a few more cultural things or just random stuff I've noticed about the Kenyans. One is the liquids they drink. Most Kenyans like warm milk, warm beer, or warm soda pop with their warm meals after a hot day. Peter told us that when he was in America, he drank cold beverages but once he tried them back in Kenya, he felt like he was getting a cold. Everything's hot here (except for July). Second is traffic laws. They are mainly obselete here. If someone's going slow, you pass them into oncoming traffic. We were driving one time and we saw two matatus driving at us, blocking the entire street. One pushed the other out of the way so that they wouldn't hit us and Peter had to partially swerve out of the way to avoid getting hit (I got the whole thing on video to show you Mzungus what its like). Third, which I find very interesting is the "second" names of Kenyans. They have last names, but also a second (similair to a middle name). So for example, when I was given the name Kajairo, that is just another name that people can call me, Olynyk isn't usually mentioned unless it's under official circumstances. The second names for Kenyans usually have something to do with the way they were born (time, place, etc.). Another thing which is a little more serious is the treatment of women here. From what I've seen, women are taught to be a little more submissive here and they are degraded fairly often. The dancing at times, especially in the clubs, can be very degrading towards the women but they always look like they're enjoying it (if an independent American women was brought here and treated like that, I would get out of the way).
Finally, I'd like to tell you a little bit about Peter. He's grown pretty close to Paul and I the past few weeks and has told us a lot about his life and family. His dad left his family when Peter was very young because he was looking for a job outside of Kibera and Peter's mom died when he was 11. Peter was left with his siblings to try to survive in the slums. The older siblings didn't want to take care of the younger ones so they left Peter's home to find jobs for themselves. Peter found a church that supplied lunch for him and he also met a woman who basically became his new mother. She fed him dinner almost every night and he would sometimes sleep at her house because he and her eldest son became good friends. Peter also doesn't know his actual birthday but he guessed the year and date one day in school when all the kids were telling the teacher their birthdays. He assumed it was around the same year that all the children were saying. Over the years, some of his siblings have passed away; one story we heard was about his brother 15 years ago who was shot with an arrow by some tribesman who were trying to rob him. He never went to the hospital for it because he felt fine but he died a few days later. Peter's father returned into his life once he was an adult and they spent a little time together but Peter was never very close with him. He died a few years after returning. I am always learning more about Peter Ndungu and his life story and it amazes me as to what he has achieved over all these years. He made it out of the slums when most are born, live, and die there.
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