Stranded in Nairobbery
I'm sitting on a plane at midnite sighing a deep sigh of relief that I'm finally leaving Nairobi and I haven't been robbed again. The pilot comes on the intercom and says that engine #4 won't start, and they are working on it. The attendants finally put on the BBC news hour to amuse us while we wait, and the BBC warns us that we better get home quick because British Airways is going on strike on Tuesday. The engine problem still isn't fixed, so they put on a movie. My handset doesn't work, so I'm stuck with the default movie which is a stupid propagandistic war movie. The movie is over, and they finally announce that we are not going anywhere tonite–they'll have to fly in a part from London tomorrow. The situation degenerates into an incredible chaotic mess. No information, no sense of direction. Finally we get off the plane and groups of people crowd around agents. When most are gone, I finally get a slip of paper that says '680.' I go back out thru immigration with my grey visa and they load 9 of us on a van to take us to the 680 Hotel, apparently so named because there are 680 rooms in the hotel. By 5am, I'm finally in a hotel room.
In the morning we wander around trying to find out information on what is happening. It is Saturday, and BA does not seem to have a single person on duty anywhere in the country. One traveler person calls London, and an agent there advises us to go out to the airport. No one is at the airport, and ground staff advise us to return at 5pm. Back in the 680, rumors fly whether or not the spare part is in the country. During lunch, a staff person parades through the restaurant with a sign that says "9pm British Airways Bus to Airport." We might leave at some time after midnite - and hopefully before Tuesday's strike.
So, I am back in Nairobi again, facing yet another chance to be robbed. A lot of people have been robbed during this forum. Organizers are not all that sympathetic to our whining. Njoki Njoroge says that we must realize that in Kenya people deal with those problems every single day. When we come here, we have to deal with those problems as well. That might be the case, but I do not want to live in a world like that. I want clean air, warm weather, a blue sky, soft grass, and music that touches my soul.
Everyone I talk to seems to be ready to leave Nairobi. Here I sit in the 680 waiting for the 9pm bus. It seems that I should go out and take advantage of being in Africa. I'm not sure what I would do–other than go out and get robbed or run over by a bus and breath polluted air that is hurting my throat.
Last nite I hung out in the departure lounge with Danny Glover. He said he was happy to be here at the forum. He notes that the forum is critical to our collective growth. At the Assembly of Social Movements on Wednesday, he emphasized that our voices are of fundamental importance to stopping and defeating oppression. We are the essence of those actions, he said. On Thursday at the closing rally at Uhuru Park, Danny stated:
Those who cause conflict must understand that peace is not just the absence of war. It is the presence of justice. The victory of the WSF at Kasarani is mobilizing grassroots organizations to have progressive leadership in power. The movements must resonate into the countries that commit atrocities.
In the morning we wander around trying to find out information on what is happening. It is Saturday, and BA does not seem to have a single person on duty anywhere in the country. One traveler person calls London, and an agent there advises us to go out to the airport. No one is at the airport, and ground staff advise us to return at 5pm. Back in the 680, rumors fly whether or not the spare part is in the country. During lunch, a staff person parades through the restaurant with a sign that says "9pm British Airways Bus to Airport." We might leave at some time after midnite - and hopefully before Tuesday's strike.
So, I am back in Nairobi again, facing yet another chance to be robbed. A lot of people have been robbed during this forum. Organizers are not all that sympathetic to our whining. Njoki Njoroge says that we must realize that in Kenya people deal with those problems every single day. When we come here, we have to deal with those problems as well. That might be the case, but I do not want to live in a world like that. I want clean air, warm weather, a blue sky, soft grass, and music that touches my soul.
Everyone I talk to seems to be ready to leave Nairobi. Here I sit in the 680 waiting for the 9pm bus. It seems that I should go out and take advantage of being in Africa. I'm not sure what I would do–other than go out and get robbed or run over by a bus and breath polluted air that is hurting my throat.
Last nite I hung out in the departure lounge with Danny Glover. He said he was happy to be here at the forum. He notes that the forum is critical to our collective growth. At the Assembly of Social Movements on Wednesday, he emphasized that our voices are of fundamental importance to stopping and defeating oppression. We are the essence of those actions, he said. On Thursday at the closing rally at Uhuru Park, Danny stated:
Those who cause conflict must understand that peace is not just the absence of war. It is the presence of justice. The victory of the WSF at Kasarani is mobilizing grassroots organizations to have progressive leadership in power. The movements must resonate into the countries that commit atrocities.
