One of the boys from ICA (the organization in Kibera that we visited and I am interning with) coaches some football teams in Kibera and invited us to go watch a game. (Well, he invited one of the girls in the program, and she took along some extra people).
We met up with Bone Face (yes, that's his real name) and he took us into Kibera. We swung by the ICA office and convinced the rest of the guys to come to the game with us.
So we walk through Kibera among the shouts of "Mzungu" and "Hi how are you?" from the hoards of children on the street. And ended up at the dirt soccer field in the heart of the slum. In no time at all, we were surrounded by dancing and laughing children, posing for our cameras.
For about 2 hours, we sat at the fields, learned sheng (local slang) from the ICA boys, and played with the kids.
After today, I am so incredibly excited to work with ICA. I had so much fun with the boys, and basically was in a continuous laughing fit the entire time. They're going to teach me how to be cool by the end of my time with them. We'll see how that goes. I do know that my cool factor increased by ten just today, so anything is possible.
you don't even know how much I love that you are updating your blog! sounds like you are having tons of fun! :) what does "mzungu" mean?
ReplyDeleteMzungu is the word for white people or "foreigners" here, since they call Chinese people that too. It's not an insult though, it's pretty much a compliment. Like it's a good thing to be European/American/Asian rather than African. It kind of makes me sad thinking about it because saying "Gringo" is almost like making fun of a person in Mexico.
ReplyDeleteSo when you walk down the streets of Kibera, kids run in hoards shouting "wazungu wazungu!" (wazungu = plural of mzungu)