Job Hunting: Kenya Style

(The above small huts are examples of roadside stands. Click on the picture to see it closer. Sorry it's not a great shot but taking a solid photo would require buying something)

So while M has a bit of a plan while we’re here, I am without anything specific to do. I was excited to find something to do but wasn’t really certain how this whole process should go. I put this concern out of my mind until we arrived but with the arrival of Monday morning, M and Mungai drove off to the lab and left me to my own devices.

I knew that waiting wasn’t going to make this any easier, I showered up and set off on foot towards town. Town is a 25-30 minute walk from our apartment and the road is punctuated by hotels to the left and makeshift homes of boards and tin to the right. The inhabitants of the homes are waiting for the hotel guests to come out so they can sell them something from their roadside stands. Since I wanted to walk against traffic, walking toward town means running the gauntlet of these folks. Dealing with them is unavoidable since they will cross the road to speak to you and withholding a greeting would be considered horribly offensive in Kenya. Since I’d rather be annoyed that offend anyone, the gauntlet it is!

These interactions usually go like this:

Man: Jambo, mama

Me: Sijambo

Man: Karibu (welcome) to my shop! Take a look around, find something you like!

Me: Hapana, asante. (No, thank you)

Man: Maybe tomorrow?

Me: Maybe.

These are occasionally punctuated by questions about my origins and mentioning the US always results in “Ahhh…Barack Obama” who is revered here since he has Kenyan roots. I always smile and tell them that I’ll say hello for them if I ever see Mr. President and they seem to appreciate this attempt at a joke. Or they’re taking me seriously. Who knows. Tough to tell with Kenyans. They are(typically) an extremely light-hearted and friendly people so they laugh during about 90% of conversations.

So, back to my mission. I walked about 25 minutes until I came to the local Christian school. Although there are several local schools, I targeted this particular one because it’s pretty large and I had seen some local students earlier in the week so I knew they were in session. I walked into the tiny “Administration Building” and asked at the only occupied office for the “Head Teacher”. If the man seemed surprised at this random mzungu asking for the Head Teacher he didn’t show it but simply walked off to find him.

The Deputy Head Teacher came back and introduced himself as Munga. I explained my situation, he asked about my training, I said I had none, and he said to come back September 6^th and I could help with kindergarten. Huh, that seemed easy. So, I guess I shouldn’t have been worried.

I’m going to confirm with him next week since I don’t want to stop looking if he’s not serious but I think I have a spot when school re-opens. Things are sometimes lost in translation; on our first night when we asked if breakfast was included and they said yes, they meant “yes, we can include it on your bill” and we meant “we don’t have to pay extra, right?”.

What I’ll do for the next 3 weeks is rather unclear but it’ll probably all work out.