Borat Obama: Cultural learnings of Africa
Our African sojourn was amazing. Understatement. We got initial election news from CNN when we landed in the Nairobi airport. Just the news of House victory made us jubilant! Kenyans in the airport were happy for us and for themselves. Many African countries haven’t been able to get US aid for six years if there is any mention of condoms or contraceptives in their grant proposals. And they are all excited that one day a man of Kenyan descent, Barack Obama will be president of the US. Maybe he’ll persuade them to repeal their law making homosexuality illegal. South Africa leads the way!
Shortly after we landed, we flew north into the Rift Valley, out of further internet contact, although on my birthday, we did get the news on a faint signal on my gal’s international blackberry service, that Donald Rumsfeld had resigned! What a lovely gift. I’d leave the country again if it meant that W would be put on trial before the International War Crimes Tribunal. Impeachment is too good for him.
After two days, we flew south to the Ol Pejata Conservancy and there saw some serious flora and fauna – lions, dik-diks [no not that kind], elephants, rhinos, hippos, cheetah, zebra, giraffe and gorgeous birds to make my amateur birding heart so happy! We flew to Rwanda and had the amazing opportunity to trek and see mountain gorillas in the wild. Africa is stunning and you can just see why those chilled white Europeans just had to have it. It’s a lesson in the long range effects of colonization and makes Iraq look even quaggier.
We arrived back in NYC on Wednesday afternoon and as usual the hardest part was getting from JFK to the upper West Side. After unpacking, laundry and repacking, I was off to two nights of shows in West Palm Beach. The shows started just about the time the jet lag hit, but the audiences were happy and cheered by the recent elections. Good on Arizona for defeating their draconian anti-gay initiative and South Dakota for defeating the anti-choice initiative. I look forward to that night when that gnarly little guy opens the door for the State of the Union Address and says, “Madame Speaker.”
There’s lots more work to do – cutting and running as soon as possible, for example – and even though you all are about a week ahead of me in gloating, I am catching up. We have lots to be thankful for – Britney dumped Kevin Fed-ex; TomKat got married [because they can]; we had some long-awaited electoral victories. We’ve got 25 coming over for Thanksgiving dinner, so I better go. But first I have to dig out my “Too Full to Fuck” t-shirt.
Happy Thanksgiving! I’m grateful for you and for my job!
November 20, 2006 @ 8:28 pm
Interesting. I feel homesick now. Wish I made the trip tooooo!
MK
November 28, 2006 @ 10:30 pm
Kate, you’re a birder?!
My first birding trip, someone asked where I was from. “Delaware? Like, Rehoboth?” At which point I realized that every birder in the group was queer, except for the friend who’d invited us.
What is it — the bright plumage? The campy names?
Hey, next time you’re in Southern California & can escape from the hotel, drop me a line — I’ll grab my galpal the Serious Birder and we can go birding!