Did you say traffic?

For those of you who complain about traffic in the US. If you came to Kenya; you would no longer complain. Think of dozens of vans and a few busses, do not forget the cars; not following traffic laws, all vying for the same position on the road. Then add in pedestrians that walk through every available space in between, that is traffic in Nairobi.
Compared to Nairobi, US traffic really is not that bad. Here it is often a game of inches, whether there is an accudent or not. A little different; it makes me thankful for traffic laws.

Just about gone

I am leaving in about less than 2 weeks for Africa and rather than starting a new blog site I have decided to use this one which I have not updated in a long time. I hope to update it regularly, but it is a little more difficult in Africa, because you never know when you will have electricity or for that matter internet access. I is quite a different experience; I hope to give you some idea of my journey and hopefully post a few pictures as well.

Restaurants and culture

Do you ever notice when going to some ethnic restaurants that it is Americanized? Notice that the portions are large and the ingredients are different. I have noticed this especially with Chinese restaurants; the food is not authentic Chinese, it is American Chinese. This means that it is sweeter rather than the bland acidic flavor of truly authentic Chinese food, at least as I have experienced it. That is why they add things like hot sauce to their food to make it really spicy. Of course perhaps I should ask my bro for more accurate information.

Western culture's bias

Westerners and I am talking primarily about those of us who live in the United States and Western Europe are an interesting breed. The primary interest is ourselves. Our culture is very adamant, especially in the United States about our "individual" rights and privileges. Unfortunately, this bias is carried with us like so much excess baggage when we travel to other nations. We also are not very aware of it when encountering people from a different culture here.
We tend to emphasize what we do to explain who we are; it is also important for us to have our own plans and to live our own lives which if they are interfered with in anyway cause us no end to our frustration that someone has interfered with our plans. Often times this is the very thing that we need to get over ourselves; some wrench thrown into our plans.
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is it a blessing or a curse.

Western culture's bias

Westerners and I am talking primarily about those of us who live in the United States and Western Europe are an interesting breed. The primary interest is ourselves. Our culture is very adamant, especially in the United States about our "individual" rights and privileges. Unfortunately, this bias is carried with us like so much excess baggage when we travel to other nations. We also are not very aware of it when encountering people from a different culture here.
We tend to emphasize what we do to explain who we are; it is also important for us to have our own plans and to live our own lives which if they are interfered with in anyway cause us no end to our frustration that someone has interfered with our plans. Often times this is the very thing that we need to get over ourselves; some wrench thrown into our plans.
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is it a blessing or a curse.