Kenya is certainly not the most PC place in the world. There is a constant chatter of children shouting “Muzungu! Muzungu!” every time they see a white person. The N-word is thrown around like candy. Not only is it ubiquitous in music, people just use it in conversation. One of the men in town even took it on as his name. Needless to say, it makes me very uncomfortable.

The usual racial inclusiveness of the Pacific Northwest is not observed here. There are 42 ethnic groups in Kenya and they all have something to say about each other. Luo men are tall, dark, and handsome (according to a Luo man), and cocky and arrogant according to everyone else. Giriamas (the local group I'm living amongst) are seen as backwards and primitive by many other tribes, but are merely upholding long-standing traditions in their eyes. Many scholars have pointed to the ethnic divisions in Africa as the main reason so many countries are struggling--people put their tribe before their country, making nationalism nearly non-existent.