Neha on Nairobi

A post from our PA, Neha, about our first day of filming in Nairobi:

Discovering Nairobi

Filming: Day 1

Today, our day began at 11 am. At least, it was supposed to. But like anything else
in Kenya, it’s wise to allow for delays or slight changes in plans. It wasn’t until
about 3 pm that we left to shoot. First, we were reintroduced to our driver, Bonnie,
who doubles as a safari driver (only the best in Kenya, of course). We’re trying
to convince him to take us on a safari during one of our rest days. We were also
introduced to our Kenya liaison, effectively (who will take on a variety of roles while
we’re here): a young, petite woman named Bea (short for Beatrice). After a quick
introduction to both, we packed up the equipment in the car, and we were on our
way to the first stop.

The day’s shooting consisted mostly of landscape material to serve as bookends and
transitions in the documentary. We were to capture the Nairobi skyline, and to get
some stills downtown. Truthfully, it was the perfect opener for our shoot in Kenya,
giving us a feel for the vibe and energy of the place before diving into personal
stories.

Our first stop was an elevated position from which we could clearly see the Nairobi
skyline. A hill, it sloped down into a grassy parkland which opened up into the city.
Groups of Kenyans enjoyed the lazy Friday afternoon in the shade of trees in the
grass. The sun was bright and energizing, and the skyline looked like it was cut and
pasted from any US city. Frankly, Nairobi did not look like what I had expected. And
to an extent, I was overcome with guilt that I hadn’t given Nairobi enough credit
as one of the most rapidly urbanizing cosmopolitan centers in Africa. The city had
taken us by surprise.

The bigger surprise was waiting for us downtown. As we took stills and video on
the streets in the city—of pedestrians, of cars, of roundabouts, of billboards and
buildings—one particular expression came to mind: yuppie. Something about
the demographics downtown was exceedingly business casual, professional, and
young. Women and men dressed in skirts, slacks, blouses, long shirts, blazers,
dress shoes. I felt like a slob compared to everyone else. We snatched stills of
women on cell phones, women in business clothes (which was all of them), women
working, women driving cars—all pertinent to the film. Nairobi felt no different
from any urban center in America—as Americans, we may have expected it to. The
streets were cleaner than many Western cities. Homelessness was hidden, if not
nonexistent. Really, the only difference between Nairobi and New York, for example,
is the color of everyone’s skin. At one point, Megan turned to Bea and noted, “I feel
surprisingly at home here.” Bea turned to us and replied, “Nairobi is that way. This
city is easy.”

One of the first things that struck me as interesting about Nairobi, however, is the
people. Unlike in India, in Costa Rica, in any other country of the world, really, in
Kenya it is difficult to distinguish the tourist from the resident. For one, there are so
many immigrant groups living in Kenya: Indians, Europeans, Asians, etc. That makes
it nearly impossible for one to guess at a person’s nationality—whether Kenyan or
something else. I suppose that’s the most comforting part of Nairobi so far. In a way,
I blend in; we all do. That comfort level is going to make it a lot easier when we find
ourselves interpreting Kenya from behind a camera, at an inescapable distance from
the people here.

Lessons of the day:

1. Dress to impress.
2. Kenyan mangoes are actually otherworldly.
3. “Edible rocks” bought off the streets are never edible. They’re just rocks.

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