Funny thing about blogs: the more interesting your life becomes, the less inclined you are to stop what you're doing and type words into a computer. I guess that goes for all writing.
The reason I'm saying this is that I'm currently in Africa (Nairobi, Kenya, to be exact.) I'm working on the Global Innovation Outlook down here, and we're exploring ways to boost Africa's socio-economic condition by way of, well, boosting Africa's socio-economic condition. I have a lot of early thoughts on Nairobi (dusty, dirty, different), but I'll hold off because all I've done at this point is drive through town on my way from the airport to my swanky country club of a hotel (The Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club.) It's definitely not as hot as I would have expected, this being the equator and all. But I did see a monkey today. So that's pretty cool.
Other than that I'm having a good time listening to the locals speak Swahili, and learning some South African slang. Yebo means yes. Sharp-sharp means good. And Jambo means hello. The pace of life is very different here. It's strange to hear so many stories of aggression and civil war and then meet so many kind and, frankly, passive Africans. There is a disconnect. But the Africans that I've met are deeply saddened by the things that happen in their home. They know how it is viewed elsewhere in the world. They are not the isolated, unworldly people we've read about in our papers and seen in documentaries. They understand their place in the world, and they desperately want it to change.
More on this trip later. We'll be in Nairobi until Friday, then a quick safari over the weekend to the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya. We fly to Dakar, Senegal, on the west coast of Africa, on Sunday.
Dan,
It sounds like an amazing trip. Just curious, who is behind the Global Innovation Outlook?
Lynda (Radosevich)
Posted by: Lyndar | June 05, 2007 at 09:45 AM
I'm a big fan of yours--I love reading your blogs. Can't wait to hear about the good strides you and the GIO will be making in Africa.
MB
Posted by: migga | June 05, 2007 at 04:02 PM
Am a Kenyan and thanks for understanding our country and continent Africa, and not what you read on papers and CNN full of negative ideas.
Thanks again for your good work at Global Innovation Outlook.
Posted by: Alex | June 09, 2007 at 08:30 AM