back home

Five and a half days, sixteen thousand miles, and I didn't even take any pictures!

Well, I'm back (safely) in Cleveland, and though my circadian rhythm has been scratching its figurative head for the last thirty-six hours or so, I'm feeling relatively well and more at peace than when I left Nairobi Wednesday morning. I spent Wednesday night in Brooklyn with good friends processing over lasagna and cheesecake, which was good for the soul.

But the violence continues in Kenya... the rally planned for Thursday by the ODM was eventually called off when those trying to assemble in Uhuru Park were turned back by police and other security personnel. The opposition is calling for a rerun of the election within three months, which the Kibaki government appears to be rejecting. Both, however, appear to be open to international mediation at this point, and hopefully that will help calm the situation in the upcoming days. It seems, though, that there are two distinctly different things happening in Kenya right now: one is the political upheaval and uncertainty, the other is the tribal violence. And it seems unclear to me that the resolution of one will lead to de-escalation of the other. Undercurrents of tribal tensions have been so longstanding in the country that I fear many are merely using this situation as an excuse for violence. On the other hand, everything that's going on has grieved the majority of Kenyans as much as - or, likely, more than - it has grieved the rest of the world. May God calm the restlessness and violence in the hearts of the rest...

But for me it's back to the mundane of the "frozen northlands": a foot of snow, freezing temperatures, and a research project to work on.