fumbo bumani

Nbi-Parl.jpg

Curiousity had kept me busy, wondering what’s in that Tower at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi, Kenya.

Possible answers to this serious question – which could have been an issue with Hon. Watchman – included "toilets, a secret golf range, city clerks peddaling on a bicycle that generates power for the installed clock, a Star Gate entry where the outside is all narrow but you have a whole real sized city inside" as well as the assumption that it only containes offices stuffed with paper. You know, all those files that had gone missing over at Nyayo House eventually had to be placed somewhere, kwasababu: the Kenyan bureaucrazy might depend on something also known as "Bubudiu", however, nothing is really lost. I am sure they still have those files labeled T.Mboya, J.M.Kariuki, J.Ward, J.Kaiser somewhere deep down in that pile of papers, as well as the names of thousand others that have ….well, bubudiued their way into contemporary Kenyan history.

Ory’s posting on "unveiling the mysteries of the Kenyan Parliament" today pointed me to the (old) website of the Kenyan Parliament – wapi we’ll find an unspectacular answer to the Tower Mystery:

The Tower
The Tower, from which an excellent panoramic view of Nairobi used to be seen, contains offices, archives, water tank and clock. The height of the top of Lantern frame is one hundred and fifty feet from the ground, while the view-point is one hundred and twenty-four feet. (source)

Majumba makubwa husitiri mambo.

AOB:Photographs of East African Cities & Towns :-)

If You See Kaye…

My roommate and I took these interesting weather conditions with their -11.4°C (+11.5°F) temperature & icy wind as a perfect incentive to eventually clean the unconspicuous cultural heart of this shared flat:

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Mr. Refrigerator a.k.a. kichaga bia

While outsourcing the contents of this beloved and very important beer container to the already frozen balcony, the low temperature had its share on my beer and stole the bottle with malt beer:

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Oettinger Malz Bier – EUR 0.39 / 0.5l (that’s what I call cheap!)

And then, right after that above mentioned box got its required TLC and everything else back in place, Bwana exceedingly smart JKE had this brilliant idea of opening up another deep frozen bottle of beer right in front of this computer…..with the consequence that the whole damn ******************!!!! content literally ejaculated on my pc screen, the keyboard, mouse and the rest of the table.

Good smell, though.

Mbuzitwins

Just as ministers in governments inevitably think of a self-service store once they are in power, the following picture – aptly named "mbuzi twins" – might cause my kenyan readers to think of nyama and nyama mtoto.

mbuzi twins.JPG

…whereas my german readers will think something like: "oh, look, a sheep goat. Huu…oh, is she pregnant or something?"

The conformity between both cultures, and hence the point where the story becomes interesting, is that people are eating meat in both countries and having their share of corrupt politicians while in the end of the day, nothing really changes (1, 2) (to the better).

Angîmîtuîria na ûmîrîte ndangîmîona rikiî.

an apple a day…

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Top Quality Fruit from China (yeah, right…)

…keeps the Chinese away? WRONG!

While searching for my supper in a local supermarket here in GERMANY I came across these crates full of (old) apples from CHINA.

OMG!

How ironic and insane is the world going to become with things like that? Buying imported apples from China is like telling Kenyans to buy mangoes, pawpaws and maize from China. Go figure…

trouvaille mzungu

While going through my archived bookmarks, searching for this link (in response to this entry :-), I came across some really old stuff that needs to be blogged & added to del.icio.us:

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East Africa 50 years ago (1952-62)

…as well as this interesting – yet commercial – movie & stills archive:

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“President Kenyatta opens Kenya’s new parliament in Nairobi”
(07/11/1965)

Now, what’s in that tower again?

weekisaka

Sunday afternoon, time to note down some thoughts of the week. News that left a smile on my face, and the usual, inevitable rantings that keep on coming up.

Bad news first? – O.k.:

1. The Kamusi Project – Internet Living Swahili Dictionary needs our help: “Dear Visitors: The Kamusi Project will be suspended on January 31, 2006, unless we can raise funds immediately. Please do your part – even small donations will make a big difference. Click here to help.”

Since I often use this wonderful resource online, I would like to contribute with a small donation ( kichango, kuchangizana!) and like to encourage you to do the same if you use that website on a regular basis. Asante sana!

2. So I’ve been shopping in LG yesterday – went to H&M and bought some pants…

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Which came packaged in paper and some sort of soft plastic bag. I don’t know what kind of material that foil is made out of of since it only comes with the Resin identification code (number) 07 – which includes acrylic, polycarbonate, nylon or fiberglass as the possible polymers used on this packaging.
Sure, this bag also has the Green Dot® symbol on it (some dumb marketing trick by german packaging companies to avoid the costs of taking back packaging material from customers) so I know where to dispose off this bag after purchasing the clothes sealed within. However, it still makes me feel bad. So much material / resources used for preventing underwear from becoming dirty on their way from the manufacturer to the customer. No wonder H&M buy their clothes in China – the country where they treat environmental issues like we did in the 1950’s…the only difference being that we don’t seal everything a thousand times. Don’t believe me? Then go to a shop where they sell Asian Foodstuff, buy a pack of tea (=> Lo Han Kuo tea!) and take your time to analyse the different materials they use for sealing a half inch cube of powdered tea.
Back to my pants boxer shorts: H&M – please tell your manufacturers to change this sort of packaging. Thx!

3. The living costs in Nairobi are outrageous:

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check out this recent advertisment from UCHUMI supermarkets in Nairobi, Kenya. 199/= Kshs (~ EUR 2,26) for a 500gr piece of salted butter. I think a lot of Exilkenyaner are suffering from this. Next time you’re in Kenya, your auntie at home will have to buy you a meal, ama?

4. And here’s the good news: there’s DSL (BROADBAND INTERNET!!) available in Kisumu, Western Kenya for something like 5.000/= Kshs. (~ EUR 56,-). So now there’s NO excuse anymore for hiding in Ujerumani. (Oh Lord, please buy find me a nice shamba, an interesting job and lots of health for a bright future in EAK :-)

6. Anja of mwende.de has blogged a small dictionary of Kikamba-German. Great job, Kambamoja!

7. Still thinking about this 1000tags.com nini Hash has been talking on earlier this week…

Wort Frage zum Sonntag

WER schaut sich eigentlich am Sonntag morgen um 10.30 im Fernsehen SKI-LANGLAUF an?

hä???

Ich kenne nur einen Menschen, der genügend Interesse für eine derartige Sportberichterstattung hat – und der sitzt zur Zeit in Kathmandu, Nepal.