Comments for Always Something New

Comment on Meanwhile, back in Kenya… by erick

erick — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:15:21 +0000

im compeled to express my adoration to mr. dan ogola, he’s a living example to man other young kenyans who are hustling in the shadows af a better life. my self i look upon dan as my hero and mentor,yes, he’s demonstrated that life is a long journey of valleys, mountains,and that has many pitfalls.i too,have this deep conviction that i’ll be a great inspirational and a transformational leader to the community,strange enough if not by sheer coincidence i too come from a humble background in ugenya, so dan lets keep up the spirit of community service and be the next great people just like our mentor US president Barrack Obama.

Comment on A word about prices (and life in Nairobi) by Eymoy

Eymoy — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:42:04 +0000

Hmm what a discussion, Nairobi’s lifestyle and standards are unmatched in Africa albeit its often chaotic traffic ( especially if it rains), i miss my it, I work in Luanda (Angola), Unplanned, narrow lanes, heavy traffic and extremely costly place in Africa. a 2 bedroom furnished house can easily cost you 3000 USD, more if you don’t speak a word of Portuguese or you are white. an average meal at the restaurants goes for min 20 USD. Back to Nairobi, my city, the life is free flowing, pple courteous, cost depends on your taste. The Mzungus concentrate in Westlands, Lavington, Karen etc and never likes to live elsewhere for the stereotyped reason ” Nairobi is dangerous”. thus they pay the price. weekend is fantastic – Park, drive in the maasai land for nyama choma, or magnificent rift valley await etc. For the food maniacs they will be spoil of choice just be more explorative and curiousyou will love it.

Comment on A word about prices (and life in Nairobi) by cathy

cathy — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:14:21 +0000

I second the response. For the ugali, i don’t remember oil and fat at all. May be you are talking of something different?

Nairobi is certainly a pedestrian city, and that’s how it’s always been. The matatus and buses are most certainly ‘useful’ at all times for most people who work in Nairobi depend on them…we are talking 3 million of them.

Food ’street food’ is what makes Nairobi. There is plenty of it everywhere, fast food, boiled, roasted and fried. It’s all healthy and cheaper, just check the sanitation first.

Nairobi, like any other major city has it’s bad sides, but it’s considered better than 95% of all other African cities.

Comment on Indy’s return by Jesse

Jesse — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 04:24:17 +0000

I forgot to mention how perfectly, and typically, charming this post was.

Comment on Election time by Mzalendo

Mzalendo — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:29:13 +0000

Raila will end tribalism in Kenya. HA HA HA HA HA!!!! Good one.

Comment on A word about prices (and life in Nairobi) by Mzalendo

Mzalendo — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:03:43 +0000

I think your assessment of Nairobi while mostly accurate contains some errors.

Having been a part of the middle class all my life, I don’t know of anyone who eats ugali every day. Even those in the lower classes whom we think eat lots of ugali will mix in the odd rice or githeri. I didn’t realise that you needed oil to make ugali and vats of it at that….

As for street food, I think most people prefer to sit down for a meal. Most Kenyan street food proper comprises of fruit or roasted maize, roasted cassava or yams etc. In Kenya we don’t really consider both fast food and street food to be ‘real food’. There are a lot of local spots selling traditional Kenyan foods (real food) not just the deep fried fast foods you mentioned. Ask around.

Nairobi is the most certainly a pedestrian town. Most people that I know off would drop the car off once they are in the city especially, the city center and take public transportation of hoof it the rest of the day. Beats constantly looking for parking or worse being stuck in traffic. I was certainly leaner in my Nairobi days.

Comment on All about the music by Aliza

Aliza — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:06:31 +0000

I do recall reading about Beyonce’s concert in Addis Ababa in 2007. So some big stars do make it to Africa! But I’m sure they are few and far between.

Comment on All about the music by marc h.

marc h. — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:26:42 +0000

hey, i know white hipsters who would be excited about nofx playing brooklyn! (not me so much, but this guy i know…)

and one of my favorite albums of last year, by this swedish duo called the tough alliance– i’ll play ‘em for you when you get back– actually has a moment or two that remind me, embarrasingly enough, of UB40, so i’m totally interested in what they’d be like live. in kampala!

Comment on Writing elsewhere by marc h.

marc h. — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:20:44 +0000

Saw the Slate piece, congrats on Fortune and the Christian Science Monitor, too! Great to see what you’ve been up to.

…I think the whole point of having a blog is so we can be unforgivably lax in posting to them.

Comment on About by porter

porter — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:09:44 +0000

Alex – Nice work on the Slate article.