[thechat] Big stupid plea... Kenya

Luther, Ron Ron.Luther at hp.com
Thu May 9 12:40:00 CDT 2002


Hi Ashok,


I'm also glad we have a Kenyan on the list.  ;-)  {Sometimes I think we're a little under-represented from some corners of the world!}

When I was an undergraduate I had a friend who claimed that his father had abdicated as king of Togo.  {The story was that his father had quite a few wives and he had multiple dozens of siblings - so it wasn't like he was the 'crown prince' or anything ... but it was still kinda cool.}

He already had a degree from Patrice Lamumba University, (which I thought was pretty neat at the time), so I'm really not sure what he was doing attending classes in a hotbed of radicalism like Cleveland, Ohio.   ;-)

Anyway ... he also had many stories about life and politics from back home that I found fascinating and sometimes very disturbing.  {He seemed, for one thing, to have a more cavalier attitude about making fun of deceased family members  that I remember didn't go over to big with me at the time.} I guess sometimes the cultural differences and life experiences were too big to allow me to really appreciate his point of view.

Soooooo it's payback time! ... What 'normal' things about everyday 'Western' life cause Kenyans to shake their heads in disbelief? Our whining about paying $1.30 a gallon for gasoline?  The amount of garbage that we generate?  Our spending a month's pay for an art object to hang on the wall?  What do we do that seems silly or offensive from your local perspective?

Have Fun,

RonL.
[Who, back in his 'political days' was a big fan of Julius Nyere.]

-----Original Message-----
From: ashok at magicalkenya.com [mailto:ashok at magicalkenya.com]

...., somehow its always worked .  I dont particularly like doing this ,
but its saved me a truckload of change.




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