Fashionably Late

Things I've learned: 

Jambo- Hello
Habari sana- How are you.
Ndiyo- yes
Hapana- no
Hatari- Danger
Twende- Let's go!
Asante- Thank you.
Karibu- (Your) Welcome
Kwa heri- Good bye

A couple tricks I have learned from my travels, if you don't know the language you really only need to know greetings and thank you, our atrocious language skills shall be easily pardoned by a smile and by being American. Other countries already perceive Americans to be arrogant and incompetent, and there is really nothing we can do about it. This reputation has taken years to develop and pretending to know a language will do nothing for you. You might as well relish the moment and as my mother would say, "play dumb." That way the native will most likely be more inclined to help the "dumb American."

Prior to my trip to France this summer I had heard the most ghastly rumors of the French (specifically Parisian) hospitality. I have absolutely no knowledge of the French language, and this really wasn't an issue for me. For one, the rest of the world speaks English rather well. They begin intensive English courses in primary school, and continue their education into high school and college. And second, I can't recall a time in my month long travel where I had a savage encountered.

After a successful month in Europe I decided to try these tricks in Kenya. Success. Some people are better at this game than others. Example, Police officers in Kenya are a bit corrupt. You can basically pay to get out of anything, one offense, being white. If you are a white person(/group) in a car you are more than likely to get pulled over and they will find some reason to fine you. Our last day in Nairobi, a traffic cop decided to approach the car when we were at a stop light. JJ asked David (our drive) if he should talk to him, "yes, do not ignore him." As the stern police officer began to approach the car JJ rolled down the window.

JJ- "Jambo!"
Officer- "Jambo." (maintains stern face)
JJ- "Habari sana?"
Officer- "Asante. Jina lako ni nani?" (still looking quite angry)
JJ- He begins to laugh, "Uhh I don't know that one."
Officer- breaks into laughter and waves us through the traffic.

We all begin to laugh because no one saw that coming. David is laughing hysterically, we ask him what the officer said. "He asked what his name was."

Our last days in Kenya were spent in Nairobi shopping for last minute presents and eating well. We had been eating so healthy in Kasigua and Mombassa the only thing to do was indulge. First stop, we all got milkshakes, for dinner, Italian carbo loading (Osteria, one of the best ITalian restaurants I have ever been to), and after dinner we ran to the ice cream shop next door. No shame.

And twenty-two hours of flying I finally made it back to sunny Southern California.