Amusing and annoying happenings in Kenya

There is of course a huge cultural difference between Kenyans and Europeans and every now and again this causes misunderstandings but also laughs. There are also different ways of handling things and bureaucracy is many times very time consuming and people seem to be unable to think outside the box....unless you cash up to speed up processes of course. I have a few stories except Shakila's encounter with the Australian Embassy and the airport customs which I have recently told you about.


For example I went into a clothing store the other day and bought a dress and when paying with my new credit card the shop assistant pointed to the card and said it wasn't signed. I always forget to sign my cards so I said that it was new and I had forgotten to sign it. I was given a pen, signed my card and then the receipt...then the shop assistant carefully compared my just signed card with my just signed receipt..hello?

I almost burst into laughter but I had to keep my mouth shut or else he may have canceled the purchase. I did not have the heart to point out, that there really was no need of comparing the two since I had just signed them both there...


Another story; I had been called to an interview by the MD of an East African IT company, he had received my CV from Mats's boss and wanted to meet me. His secretary called me and asked if I could meet him at 9 am the next morning which was fine by me.

I got there in time and the secretary said he would be a little late because he had just stepped into a meeting, eh ok? I thought we had an appointment? Anyhow, I was given the today's paper and a cup of tea and sat down to wait for him. Since I had never been to a business appointment or an interview in Kenya before I didn't know what to expect in terms of people showing up in time, however it was him who had contacted me and not the other way around.

The time past and by ten o'clock I started to feel a bit pissed off especially since I had left Noah with Mats who had taken time off work so that I could attend the interview. At 10.30, an hour and a half later, I called Mats and asked him if this was common or to be expected in Kenya and he answered that he thought it was quite rude. By 10.45 I got up, went to the reception desk and just before I started speaking I realized I was really annoyed. Rather angrily I blurted out - Sorry but I cannot wait any longer, my fiance is home from work taking care of our son just so I could go to this meeting. The secretary and her friend looked shocked, I guess they could see I was furious and it was probably also a very unexpected thing to do by a woman. - If he wants to talk to me, he can call me on my mobile, I continued.

-Oh sorry Miss, he will be here soon. - Sorry but I can't wait. I stepped outside and never heard from him again. I still wonder if this was a clash of cultures or just him being rude, I mean at least he could have called me telling he was sorry and cancel the meeting or saying he had been caught up.

I am sure there will be plenty more of these encounters :)

People here are truly amazing, most of them speak 3 languages fluently even if they haven't even had a proper education! Kenyans also seem to have developed their own language when it comes to text messages :) Our fantastic driver text me on a regular basis and it always brings a smile, it could be something like: "I been toda park went fo som exacise inda forest...