Sunday in Nairobi

Reading one of the Nairobi papers front to back is now a morning ritual, along with my bowl of fresh fruit and two boiled eggs.  The staff in the breakfast room know me and my cup of black coffee (which they find strange without milk) is poured before I even sit down.

The Kenya papers are consumed, understandably, with the first appearance of the “Ocampo Six” at the Hague earlier this week – William Ruto, Uhuru Kenyatta, Henry Kosgey, Francis Muthaura, Hussein Ali and Joshua Sang.  They are charged with crimes against humanity related to the post election violence in Kenya in 2007 and 2008 in which 1300 people died, hundreds of women were savaged, and hundreds of thousands lost their homes.  They are accused of inciting and encouraging the tribal conflicts that resulted in beheadings, rape, torture, arson and other violence.

As I paged through the paper, with each article more serious than the last, I smiled when I got to the sports page and saw a picture of LaMarcus Aldridge and a big article on the Blazers’ win against the Lakers on Friday (yay‼).   Something I already knew about, of course, but fun just the same to see in the Nairobi newspaper.

The articles in the paper describe situations and perspectives that are very different from those at home; however, the similarities of the human concerns and interactions are surprisingly similar.  To illustrate that point, and to take a lighter moment on this incredibly beautiful Sunday morning, here are excerpts from the “Jokes” column in today’s Daily Nation describing misstatements in the media:

·         A great Captain must win the toss before anyone else.

·         The bowler’s ball went nowhere near where it was going.

·         The slow-motion replay does not show how fast Sachin was actually moving.

·         Andrew Strauss decided to chance his arm and it came off.

·         Cricket must not be used as a political bat.

·         The suspicious white powder found n Herman’s laundry has been analyzed as useful for washing.

·         Competitors for the spelling contest must syne up before Thursday.

·         The Judiciary is compiling fresh safety measures for criminals on their way to be hanged.

·         Teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a litmus test.

And finally:

            Why are you so exhausted?

            The computer broke down at work, so all of had to do our own thinking.



Sunday in Nairobi