Obama Day Outing

Kenya's excited about Obama- so excited that when they heard he'd won, they declared a national holiday. For the next day.

Before the west coast polls even closed, my students showed up in first period asking, "Do we have school tomorrow? President Kibaki declared it a national holiday in honor of Obama!" Of course my response was, "Until I hear otherwise, we will ALL be at school tomorrow."

About 20 minutes later, I indeed heard otherwise. My principal walked in, explained to the kids that Rosslyn Academy would be closed tomorrow in keeping with Kenyan law, and we would run Thursday's schedule on Friday. They all cheered and blessed Obama for being Kenyan.

Kenyan expectations of Obama are interesting. The most sane response I've heard came from a friend in Kenya's Election Rights and Processes Forum: "We don't expect to become the 51st state, but we are pleased that the world community has a chance to see Kenya as a country that produces significant leaders." Well thought out, and in great contrast to thoughts like _all_ Kenyan visas to the US being approved, or Obama guaranteeing electricity and running water up in Kisumu, or Obama's Kenyan relatives being given positions in the US government.

There are cultural reasons for these wacky expectations- like I wrote a few posts back, relationships mean more here than systems. Kenya's perception of its relational status just skyrocketed, and many Kenyans don't see that the presidency is both supported and limited by major systems within the US. And when their own president can just say, "Hey, tomorrow's a holiday!" and it is, that reinforces the idea that powerful people can do whatever they want.

All that's intellectual and interesting. More to the point- we had an unexpected day off this week! My normal, hospitable, capable self seems to be resurfacing slowly; I was able to initiate and organize an activity.

Nine of us worked out a day hike to Hell's Gate, a national park about 2 hours away. We saw some animals, hiked around, scrambled our way through a slot canyon, and emerged on the other side. It was a great day.

Baby giraffes by the road

Hiking in the slot

Layers

Soft rock = graffiti; this seemed especially appropriate today.

Katherine and I

Paul looking at something only he sees

A dead end?

Not if you have helpful friends

Teamwork triumphs, and we arrive back at the top

A happy hiker