Well we made it through our first few days in Pakistan. Jane and I have rooms across from each other in one of the guest houses, and Laurent is a block away in guest house #2. So this morning we got up and got ready and the chef made us some breakfast. Over fruit and juice and eggs and toast our chef told us some stories about how he used to be an expedition chef on K2 and a bunch of the other huge 8000+ meter peaks that reside in northern Pakistan. He was really excited to tell us about it, and said that if we ever want to come back he can help us find a weeklong trek high up with guides and a cook and all, but with no technical climbing. It’s stuff like that, that maybe I would dream about, but never seriously considered, until this trip, then all of the sudden Kilimanjaro doesn’t sound so crazy, and either does northern Pakistan.

So anyways, we started off meeting some of the clients and touring the campus, which was pretty cool. It’s hotter than haites over in Karachi, and the architecture is built to try to cool things off as much as possible. For example, there is a wind coming off the Arabic Sea, and they slant walls to funnel the wind through courtyards, and they actually have some towers that the winds blow into, and then out the bottom into a courtyard, and they actually work, you could feel a wind when you walked through an enclosed area. They also recess the windows to avoid direct sunlight on them, and use a textured finish on exterior walls so half of the wall is shaded from it’s own texture. Finally, they have a lot of fountains and water elements, along with lots of plants, that are both decorative, and reduce the temperature of those areas by as much as 5 degrees. It was really cool to see architecture that is functional first, when often cases in the US we screw up buildings by trying to make them look cool, and then something will clash with the environment, like a huge bank of windows that make a room too hot, or something like that. Additionally, there isn’t much rain, and it’s hot, so most houses have flat roofs so people can relax outside in the breeze, and even sleep out there at night.

So after our tour we met with a few of the people that we would be touring the city with, and they are pretty outstanding. It seems like no matter their job or title we have been paired with people who have an interest in the visual art of Pakistan. Almost everything you see has a pattern in it here, from railings to gates to doors, and they all have some kind of meaning, so we are getting a crash course in islamic design and tradition. After that we went to tour a clinic that was located in one of the slums. The slums are not looking good. It is basically a bunch of people living in a garbage dump, and from what we were told, about 70% of Pakistan lives like this. Everything was covered with flies, people and food and donkeys and the entire clinic, and everything stunk. The clinic focused on women and children and tried to cure illnesses and also taught basic stuff like hand washing. It was pretty crazy, and most of these are super traditional communities where the women aren’t allowed to make decisions, and the men are often gone on long fishing trips, so often times sick children are denied medical care too. The traditions are so ingrained in some of these places that they wouldn’t necessarily leave even if they could. It’s a pretty difficult situation, and the only real clear thing that might make a difference is by educating these people. This was mainly a fishing village so we got the see the waterfront, where they actually build the boats. Amazingly, the shipyard and port area was also the main garbage dump. I don’t know what garbage they actually decide to put in the dump, because every street was littered with trash, but there were mountains of trash right at the waterfront. Then when the tide comes in it goes over the walls and into the dump and just carries all the garbage right into the water. It is totally unbelievable. These people have one income source and they are literally dumping their garbage on it. It was a bad deal.

After the slums we had two more meetings and then got dropped off at our guest houses to clean up for dinner and then went to a BBQ place, that was Pakistani style, so kabobs and hummus and babaganoush, and it was all incredible. Our second day started out meeting some of the team and then heading out for a driving city tour, stopping at the port and checking out some tourist boats, and then also driving past the huge industrial seaport. It’s pretty crazy seeing the nice hotels in town hidden behind huge barricades and barbed wire. So eventually we drove out of town, and Karachi is huge and sprawling, so it took awhile, but we visited some 600 or 700 year old tombs made from sandstone and completely covered in intricate carvings. After that first stop we made our way to some of the flood affected areas that just so happened to be the site of some more tombs and mausoleums again covered in pattern. After that we met with some of the people in charge of the flood relief in that particular area. We passed tent cities everywhere, but at this one we got out of the van to see the medical center and the school that was set up there. Also, we are super white, so everyone has been staring at us everywhere, but the tent people immediately started to surround us, probably just from curiosity, and our client started getting nervous and pushed us back to the van. They kept telling us to go ahead and take pictures, but I felt like such an ass just going and touring these places, I really wish they would have let us help out somehow, which I don’t even know what we would do, load or unload a supply truck or something, but just touring these kinds of areas was kind of a drag.

Afterwards we visited more tombs and mausoleums at a place called Makli Hill, which is said to house 1 million bodies. Again we saw some incredible carvings from the 1600′s and got to walk into the different areas. On the way out we were greeted by a little girl holding a snake… it wasn’t very big but it was pretty long. The guides told her to go away, and jane and one of the clients went back to the van. Then when we stepped towards the road I saw her walking towards a man seated in front of a basket with a flute, and then something started rising from the basket. When we got closer it was indeed a snake charmer with a legit cobra in a basket. And right next to them was a mongoose who had a small rope around his neck that was tied to a rock, and he was eating a smaller snake. While the charmer played and the cobra stood up and waved back and forth, the girl picked up the dead snake the mongoose was eating and he hung from it by his mouth like a dog hanging from a tug toy. Every now and then the cobra would coil back into the basket and the man would tap the top of it and it would start coming back up and standing up. It was a pretty wild scene, and the client gave him a tip that he said would take care of them for a few days anyways. So by now we were about two hours outside of karachi, and it was pretty hot, and we had the air blasting in the van and then slowly we noticed that it was really hot in the van, and the air was not working. No one really thought much of this until we saw the smoke start coming up from under the front seats, which was where the engine was. So we were still about 15 minutes outside of Karachi, and just hanging out on the side of the road. We had 5 in our group along with 2 tour guides, the driver and an armed guard, and we were able to take a few pictures of the buses going by while they tried to service the van and call for a new ride, but then people walking by started stopping and staring at us and the guard made us move back from the road near some trees and some concrete walls in case we needed to take cover I guess. I think the fear was just that someone would see us broke down and make a phone call to some bad dudes or something that they saw some americans that were sitting ducks. So the client got some new vehicle headed in our direction while the van guy got the radiator filled up with water and they got the thing running again. We decided that Laurent and Jane and the guard would go in the van with one of the clients, and the tour guides and the other client would wait for the backup vehicle, in case we ran into further trouble. So we made it into Karachi before we broke down again. This time we were on a busy street next to a bus stop, so lots of people were coming by getting on and off buses, and pulling up in cars and motorcycles and dropping others off for the bus. Our guard put us behind a 4 foot tall concrete tree planter that was probably 10 feet off the road, and I’m sure we were really safe, but the way he was looking around and the way every single person would stare at us made me a little nervous. I think we were all trying to keep an eye on people as they were pulling up, and we were glad to cram into a tiny a mini van when the backup vehicle arrived. We were a few hours late for lunch and showed up at the restaurant where we were planning on meeting our main client contact at 5pm. It was a nice modern air conditioned place though and we had some good food. It was also connected to a little art gallery and gift shop, so we looked around after dinner and I almost bought a sweet islamic shirt, but then chickened out. We hit one more gallery after dinner, which was all local artists, and it was pretty awesome. Surprisingly contemporary and a large range of styles and subjects. I’ll put up some photos of some of my favorite pieces. So that was our day, it ended up being pretty hot and exhausting. Tomorrow we have meetings in the morning and then some more city activities in the afternoon, so it should be good.

Hey Folks, how are things? I know it’s been a while since I’ve written, but we’ve been working it to the bone, or something like that, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open when I sat down at the computer. It’s going good over in Africa though. We left off back in Nairobi when we got up early and were starting our city tour by 8AM… the client arranged for a city tour with a kid who was in architecture school or had just graduated or something, and he took us around and did his best to explain how the city was built and which buildings were from which period and what-not. From what I gathered, there wasn’t much of a city until 1950 or so, and then about half of it was built in the 80′s as well, so it’s all very new. The city was great, and it was really like any other busy city, full of people and traffic, and it seemed perfectly safe. We tried to take notice of the architecture and look for any interesting patterns or textures that we could use in our project with the client, and we tried to take note of signage in the city as well.

After the walking tour ended, our driver picked us up and took us to a fabric store downtown. The store ended up being pretty incredible and was stocked with bolts of colorful fabric and cool patterns. We bought lots of samples of different things by the meter from general colorful fabric to more traditional patterns and finished wrap-like pieces. The store was located on a busy street, surrounded by other clothing and fabric places, so it was a pretty cool experience. Also, Olivia, the contact from the Kiko Romeo design store happened to call while we were there… she had offered to gather a few fabric samples from their supplier and wanted to drop them off with us, and it turned out we were both in the same area, so she stopped in and talked to us and helped us pick out some great stuff as well. By the way, this girl is probably the most interesting dresser I’ve ever seen, and she wears the craziest mix of stuff, but just looks awesome.

So after that we headed out to an artist community type place called the Go Down, which basically owns a bunch of studio spaces in little compound and rents them out to various artists. They were really cool in that they looked for a diverse mix of artists, from musicians to dancers to designers to video production and then painters and screenprinters… etc. The owner/manager took us around and introduced us to most of the people and we saw some great stuff. Most of the artists had some connection to the community as well, whether they were volunteering with children in their spare time or working with poor people for production work to give them jobs, so it was a cool deal.

After we got done with our tour they had a restaurant with traditional african food as well. I don’t have all the names of what we ate on me at the moment, but the main thing I remember was called ugali. Ugali is made from corn meal, and basically looks and tastes like mashed potatoes, and you eat it with your hands. We also had another item similar to that which is made from potatoes and mixed with some kind of green leafy, so it’s a green pile of potatoes with some corn mixed in. So we washed up and our client ordered a bunch of food for us all to share, we had some fried fish and roasted chicken and some steamed kale and then some kind of green, baked bananas and carrots. Basically you load your plate up with everything and then pour some type of gravy sauce on it if you want, and then pick up some ugali or green mashers and mold it into a little bowl in your hands, then you just scoop up a bite with some meat and veggies in it and pop it in your mouth. It was awesome… I don’t know what the hell I’ve been doing eating with silverware all these years, because this is where it’s at. Instead of struggling to spoon up some sauce or something, you just mop it up with ugali or potatoes! Genius! The bananas were awesome too, she said they were cooked green bananas, so maybe because they weren’t ripe they weren’t sweet yet, but they were almost like another meat. We had ordered a lot of food though, so we invited our driver to join us and after everyone else had enough, he and I finished it off. With all that heavy ugali and potatoes I was stuffed, and then almost fell asleep driving to our next spot.

Our next place was another artist commune with studios made from giant metal shipping containers, like you would see on a barge… it was a really creative space and we looked through the gallery and found some awesome work, then met with some of the artists outside. I found a piece inside that I really liked and then talked to an artist outside that was doing a lot of collage in his paintings and had nice rich warm colors going on, and they were both piece I would love to have for myself. I have been to a few art festivals in my day and it has been a long time since I have been so excited by new work, and I think Laurent and Jane were feeling the same way. Unfortunately we had scheduled this place last minute after talking to the Mom from Kitengela Glass the other day, so we didn’t have much time, but we left feeling refreshed and inspired.

Next we hit RAMOMA, the Nairobi modern art museum. We talked to a kid who seemed like he was the director, though I am not sure of his title. He took us through and talked about some exhibits they were doing, and he was an artist himself, but they are really just starting out… they didn’t have any money to have a permanent collection, so aside from exhibits they were operating a lot like a gallery, showing local work on consignment. It was interesting to hear the struggles, which were probably similar to what a new museum would encounter anywhere, but add that to a developing city and economy and this dude probably has an uphill battle coming his way. We saw some nice work though, and he talked a lot about trying to get people to make thought-provoking artwork instead of just focusing on selling, and it is interesting to think about artwork as a way for local people to discuss some of the issues in Nairobi and East Africa.

Afterwards we took a quick tour of some client facilities nearby and then went back to the hotel. I had been up late the night before sorting through pictures and didn’t get much sleep, so I took an hour nap before we headed out for dinner. We ended up going to a hotel near downtown that we were originally supposed to stay in, but it was booked. It had a much more authentic feel than the modern place we had been staying in, and it was filled with artwork, and even the architecture had cool patterns and just felt like what you would expect to see in Nairobi. They had a big indian buffet for dinner and I had some turkey and duck stir fry, which was outstanding. We said goodbye to our first client contact, as she works mainly in Nairobi, and then headed back home.

The next day was another early morning as we left for the airport around 5:45 to head to Zanzibar and then said goodbye to our driver Phillip, who by now seems like a good friend. Yesterday I was up front in the van and Phillip was telling me about how his tribe still has traditions when a boy starts maturing where a group of boys around 11 head into the bush with other boys and their fathers for 2 months, dressed in traditional tribal wear and they hunt with spears and bow and arrows that they make themselves. He told me stories of dancing every night around the fire and killing antelope with his homemade bow, and also about having no tv or shower for 2 months. It is so crazy to think about a culture that is so modern, but so closely removed from a primitive lifestyle, and it’s awesome that they choose to continue those traditions. Phillip said things are changing and the government is placing limits on what they can hunt now, and I just wonder how this is going to play out in the future. You have to hope it won’t go down similar to the way things went for American Indians, and I guess it’s different as the tribes are becoming modernized on their own instead of having it forced on them, but it’s still crazy to think about. I ended up getting Phillip’s contact info and he said he has some good pictures of them before heading into the bush up on facebook, so I’ll have to check that out. That kind of thing makes it so crazy to me that I was able to just show up from halfway around the world and be able to understand this guy, and he understood me as well. Just talking to him to, made me realize that we’re all really the same, at least as far as his desire to watch sports and eat BBQ on the weekends… yeah it’s the feel good story of the year I know, but it’s crazy.

So anyways, we got to the airport and took a twin propeller plane down into  Tanzania and passed Kilimanjaro in the plane and all that… and I’m telling you now, Alyssa and I are coming back for it, so if anyone wants in just let me know and we’ll start planning it for a couple years or so. We got off the plane and got a cab to take us to another client location, and we got to see what they were doing, then we went to another location to see what they were doing, then we went and checked into our hotel. It turned out there was some mix up with our stuff though, so they only had us for one night and we and Jane and I would have to move to a hotel across the street the next night, but whatever. Our rooms actually weren’t even ready for us though, so we had an awesome lunch at the hotel. By the way, the hotel is right on the Indian Ocean, and they have all kinds of fish on the menu. I ordered some kind of coconut curry fish for lunch and I forgot I had ordered fish for the first few bites, it was so firm and meat-like and not fishy that I thought I was eating chicken. So after lunch we got into our rooms and had an hour or so before our city tour guide would arrive, so we just relaxed and I took a little nap after our early morning. Our tour guide Muhammad showed up and we started out on our stone town tour. Our hotel is right on the ocean in stone town too, so it worked out well. He basically took us around stone town and pointed out architecture and told us history and stories. The doors in stone town are pretty awesome, whether they are doors for Indians, Muslims, Chinese, etc, they are all intricately carved on the door and around the frame.

Zanzibar used to be in the middle of a huge trading route, and was known for the spice trade, but this also brought a diverse group of people which can still be found today. The differences in architecture can be seen everywhere, but Muhammad said 99% of people in Zanzibar are Muslim. So after seeing a bunch of different doors and churches and mosques and then taking a tour of the former slave trade market area, we went to the actual market place, which was awesome. Tons of fresh spices that are grown on the island like vanilla beans and different bright colored curries, like I saw some red curry that was magenta in color. Then there was a fish market and people selling rice and other grains in big bushels, huge fruit stands… it was just a busy, colorful mess. Then we moved into an area of clothing shops and we bought a few more pieces of fabric before we finished the tour on the waterfront. Just within the past few years the waterfront has been renovated to include a park and boardwalk that runs down the beach a ways. Vendors set up there every night selling fresh seafood and people were just out relaxing and eating. We watched a group of boys having a diving contest into the ocean off a tall pier, and then Laurent had to get some sugar cane. A day or two ago we had stopped for some fresh squeezed sugar cane juice with lime and it was pretty good, but we were also told you could skin off the hard outside and then chew on the pulp to suck the juice out. Now Laurent is basically like a kid that has discovered candy… he can’t get enough of it. We found a juice vendor that cut up some stalks for us and squeezed lime over them, so we hung out and chewed up some of the pulp, and then we got a couple more stalks to take back with us. Finally we had a use for my authentic Maasai knife!

So that was pretty much it, we had a nice dinner of some more fish at the hotel and listened to a Taarab band playing all kinds crazy instruments and then sat by the pool and watched laurent skin up some sugar cane with the dullest knife ever made. I would saw Zanzibar is a pretty cool place.

So we’re finally back to today when we got up and met with a historian who has writen several books on zanzibar history, and he told us all about the trade routes and how india is actually connected to Zanzibar because that was a distance you could get to and back in a monsoon season. He also talked about how Zanzibar is a very tolerant place and people generally accept differences, and how he thought that stemmed from the old trading days, where maybe you didn’t like someone’s beliefs, but if you were going to sell them something you better at least get along with them. It seems like that could be a lesson that could be applied today somehow.

Our schedule was pretty light today, so we just tried to look for a couple of books the historian dude mentioned, and then saw a couple more sights. I had a good lunch of BBQ swordfish, and some juice… juice is huge in Africa, and it’s super good and fresh and flavorful and they have all kinds of exotic fruit, so that’s probably why. Anyways, we walked around till 4 or so and then our host and Jane went back to the hotel to rest and Laurent and I went to rent a boat to take us snorkeling. We went with the first boat man that jumped on us… I’m not sure if I mentioned it yet, but this is a tourist town and everyone just comes up and tries to sell you everything, and at ridiculous prices, so you have to haggle about everything you want.
So we thought we were ready for the boat guy, but probably got hosed pretty good. We paid $20 apiece to get taken out near a little island and snorkel for a couple of hours, but it could have been worse. Also the boat man we were dealing with said he had the best grass and hash and at very good price my friends… also, he offered to load up the boat with girls so we could go to the island and jiggy jiggy, then come back… but we informed him this was a work trip, and we would just be going to snorkel off the main island of Zanzibar thank you. The snorkeling was pretty sweet, some stoned guy took us in the worlds slowest boat out to a small island and threw out the anchor and we just swam around for awhile. There were some small colorful fish and some coral, and a lot of star fish in different colors, so it was pretty cool. We stayed out for about an hour and then came back as the sun was starting to set. It was a very romantic time for Laurent and I.

So back on the Island we met up with the women folk and went down to the park area again for dinner. We haggled over various kabobs of fish and meat and naan and other stuff, and then ate some pretty good food. We washed it down with some sugar cane juice at the insistence of Laurent, and then for dessert he bought us a couple of sugar cane sticks and we used my authentic Maasai knife to carve them up. We just sat on the boardwalk and talked to some local kids that were there, and one of them taught us how to peel the sugar cane, though I am still terrible at it, and tried to teach me some Swahili, but I didn’t do to good at that either. I told him I was from Canada in order to save the US some embarrassment.

And that was that… We have to leave for our flight out of here at 1 tomorrow, so I am calling up Muhammad from the Stone Town tour and he is picking me up on his scooter to go get an islamic hat, and then Laurent and I are going spice shopping. If I don’t make it back from my scooter ride, I want you to know that I love you all.

Well we did it. We made it to Kenya. For those of you that haven’t heard, my office called me a few days before I was supposed to go back to work and asked if I would be interested in visiting Africa and Pakistan with a couple of my coworkers to meet with a client and explore the local culture. So we got some yellow fever vaccinations and a week later we were on a plane.

We left last saturday from Denver to LAX to Dubai and after about 24 hours of traveling and a 16 hour flight we staggered to our hotel in Dubai. We didn’t get to see much, and amazingly I didn’t even take any photos in Dubai, but it had a Vegas feel to it in the airport at least, like it was a city for entertainment. It is also a hub if you’re going anywhere on the other side of the world, so we got to see a lot of different people hanging around the airport.

The folks at Emirates know how to run an airline too, the plane was outfitted with an awesome entertainment system where everyone had a touch screen and could choose from hundreds of movies, tv shows, games, and see real time on a gps of where the plane was and info on how fast it was going, etc, as well as cameras on the front and bottom of the plane. So anyways, we were only in Dubai overnight, but we were ready for some rest and it probably helped us get back on track a lot faster. The next morning we flew out to Nairobi and got to see the crazy world and palm islands as we flew over.

So we got into Nairobi and made it through customs and the client we’re here for had sent a driver to take us to our hotel. We got out of the airport right around rush hour though and it took us a good 2 hours to drive the 12 kilometers to the hotel. The streets are pretty nuts here, and can’t seem to support all of the traffic. It is loaded with cars and these crazy public transportation buses called matatus that are covered in graffiti and bumping hip hop from big stereo systems in order to attract customers. Our drivers have been outstanding and even though we thought we were going to die several times each day in traffic, they have managed to narrowly avoid fiery death. The streets are lined with people selling food and plants and carved signs and everything else you could think of, and on our first ride to the hotel we even saw a guy riding a camel down a side street!

So the hotel is fairly ridiculous. It’s in a safe, gated and guarded area that houses a mall and a bunch of restaurants and then the hotel. Most nice places seem to be guarded as well, and that makes sense as we have heard that Nairobi is nicknamed, “Nairobbery.” The hotel is super modern and awesome, and loaded with african sculpture and art, and they are taking great care of us here. Amazing breakfast in the morning and all the staff is very friendly. They’ve got a great looking pool and lots of little spots to sit and meet or talk. I’ll post a few pictures soon.

So we explored the little village market mall the first night and had some indian food for dinner… we’re not especially sure what kenyan food even is, though we’ve heard each different tribe has their specialties, and there are over 50. Then we just went back and explored the hotel a bit before bed.

This morning our driver picked us up and took us to meet the client and conduct a few staff  interviews, and then we headed back out with our guide, who had arranged for several cultural trips in Nairobi to help us better understand the local culture. Our first stop was at a mall, which was pretty much just like a mall in any other big city, full of stores and restaurants. We went outside though to see the Masai Market. This is a market that operates 5 days a week and vendors sell goods made by the Masai tribe, who you may have heard of from their famous warriors.

Man did they see us coming too… Laurent and I looked like two white suckers in a sea of salesmen, and we were dressed in suits still from our morning meetings, and that didn’t do us any favors. I was able to snap one picture from the outside before we were surrounded by the best salesmen the world has ever seen. The very first booth jumped all over us, introducing themselves and shaking our hands and putting their spears in our hands and telling us they would make a very low price for us. I think my dad would have been okay here, with his long history of driving car salesmen insane, but I was not prepared. I had to promise the first few booths I would come back just to get away from them, and was told that they trusted me, because we were both men of honor, and our word was our bond. It was difficult to even get a good look at things because any time I even turned my head, they were on me and shoving their crafts into my hands. Everyone wanted to sell me a spear, and they had all kinds of them. They are made for tourists in 3 pieces, for easy transport in luggage, and I have to admit, it would make a good addition to the normal axe and knife throwing at the campground, but I somehow avoided the spear. What I did not avoid however is a crazy carved wooden piece with a knife hidden inside and a couple of masks that look quite a bit like Alyssa and I. I don’t even know how it happened. The guy just shoved them into my hands and the next thing I know I was giving him all my shillings.

When I started looking at some cool bracelets made out of dried seeds for the ladies in my life, at least 10 bracelet salesmen surrounded me and started filling my hands with bracelets. Jane stopped by and tried to look with me but then got claustrophobic and left me alone. Before it was all over I had some seed bracelets, some bead bracelets and some bracelets apparently made out of elephant tail, and some crazy piece of art made out of banana leaves and tree bark depicting a water buffalo. Jane bought a couple pieces of art and then Laurent waited for our guide to help him haggle with a vendor for some blankets and fabric. When it was all over we met for lunch at a little cafe in the mall and our guide laughed at Jane and I for the outrageous prices we paid for items. It was a pretty funny experience and even though they really took it to us we had a good time.

Next we went to visit the shop of one of the leading fashion designers in Nairobi, called Kiko Romeo. We met with the owners assistant and she talked to us about what influences the designs they come up with and talked about some interesting traditional fabrics. For some of their latest pieces they were mixing traditional african patterns with “english punk” so they were really doing some edgy stuff. We saw lots of bright colors and some cool patterns.

That was it for our day today, we were feeling some jet lag setting in, so we headed back to the hotel to rest up and then regrouped in the evening for dinner and to reflect on the day. We have another couple of full days here and should be able to see much more of the city and a couple of museum and gallery visits, so it should be great. Then it off to Zanzibar for a few days and then a week in Karachi, Pakistan. I’ll keep you updated.