My first impressions as a physics exchange
student in Nairobi
December 2005
Landing in a new World
I left Germany at a normal, cool day in October, made a stop at an
incredible hot place called Dubai and arrived some hours later in East
Africa. Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is placed at an altitude of 1500
metres and because of that it has an amazing climate, comparable to
that of German summer days.
When I got off the airplane, I expected a year full of impressions. A
year, which will provide insights, which I can not even imagine at this
moment. I was the last of the group of Berlin-Nairobi Exchange students
this year. Malte and Jochen arrived 3 weeks earlier and Atreju has been
in Nairobi since August. I was very happy when Malte came straight
towards me at the airport, only to ask, if I want to go home by taxi or
if I want to choose the more interesting way by bus. Of course, I went
for the second option and experienced the strange public services,
which consists mainly of buses and matatus. The latter are small
Mitsubishi vans with 14 seats and are equipped mostly with fancy neon
lights and play very loud reggae or hip hop music.
Because of the fact that Jochen and Malte already experienced many
things before I came, I was in a special situation. Guided by them, I
felt like in a big fairground. In only one day they showed more things
then I could digest. The streets, the houses, everything seemed so
similar, that it was not easy to get the view for the detail. For me,
and I think for the most Western tourists, the maneuvering through the
traffic jungle is the most different and sometimes shocking experience.
The streets are crowded by pedestrians, the sidewalks are mostly in a
bad shape. When you don't watch out you might fall in deep hole. When
you are lucky, you find traffic lights, but no car will care about it.
Probably a consequence of that is that you find roundabouts everywhere.
Additionally, it is very noisy, the air is polluted and often you can
smell burned waste. This is probably the reason why all Kenyan guides
look at Nairobi as a station just to pass through, a place where it is
not worth to stay long. For most tourists, who visited Nairobi, the
impressions were limited to the aspects, mentioned above. After some
weeks now, I started to like this side of town more and more. Between
all the people you feel like swimming in a living town and you can try
many interesting shops and restaurants. But when you leave the main
busy places, you can discover a complete different world.
My new Home
I was very surprised by the city centre, expecting a historical,
colonial influenced centre. However, I found a place, made up by many
skyscrapers. I felt like in a small version of an American town. In
contrast to many places in the city, everything in the centre is in
very good condition. A twenty-minute walk from the city centre towards
the North West leads to the Chiromo Campus. There is the student hall
located, in which we live.
A sweet little 8-square-meter room will be my private territory for the
next two semesters: One bed, one desk, one chair and a wardrobe. It's
all what you need. A thin wooden wall is separating my room from that
of my neighbour's. The wall does not extend all the way up to the
ceiling, so we share every conversation or radio broadcast. In the
beginning, that was somewhat difficult but now it is very normal to me.
Everything is very simple in the student halls, but I am really happy
to live here and enjoy the great atmosphere among the students. We
three are the only "mzungos" on campus. This is the Swahili expression
for a white person. So we are attracting a lot of attention and it is
easy to get in touch with all the students. For me is the life among
all the African students very important. In my opinion that is giving
me a complete different view on Nairobi than, for example, many United
Nations employees have. They are living mostly in a different, separate
world. Also, the location of our place is very great, all important
places, like city centre, German embassy, Goethe Institute and Alliance
Francaise, are in reach on foot.
Physics in Kenya?
After two weeks, I really settled in well in this part of the world,
far away from Germany. At that time, the first lectures started at
university and I began to concentrate on my physics studies. In the
beginning, it may be difficult to give a complete picture of the way of
teaching, but I will give my first impression.
In Nairobi you have the possibility to meet many people working
temporarily, which come from Western countries. Telling them that you
are a physics student in Nairobi always causes a surprise. To go to
Kenya for studying physics might be really unusual, but the teaching is
not so bad at all. Actually, it is hard to judge the quality. Some
aspects are better and some are not so good compared to a German
university. I really appreciate the opening hours of the library. Until
ten at night during the week and until five on Saturday. Especially the
small classes and the very close contact to the professors are amazing.
I have the feeling that the professors are teaching very seriously and
things run very smoothly. Only the health problems of one professor do
not allow a good, constant teaching in the very important subject of
quantum mechanics. Additionally, the Department of Physics is placed on
an incredible green and nice campus. The amount of assignments is less
than in Germany, which are very important for developing your skills
for solving problems. Also, there are no tutorials for our subjects and
on average a physics student has 19 hours of lessons, which is less
than in Germany. To sum it up, I have the possibility to improve my
physics knowledge and I am glad to be here.
It is a good Challenge
Nairobi met not all my expectations. The street traffic is more of an
adventure than I could have imagined before I arrived and seeing the
city centre, you do not feel to be in Africa. I also expected greater
difference especially in the type of food. You can see the Western
influence everywhere and sometimes the similarity surprises you. For
example, when you see young people with tuned-up cars and you ask
yourself, how they can drive on those bad roads. The gap between rich
and poor is more shocking, then I was expecting. You just have to cross
a few roads and you see a world, which is not human.
In general, here in Kenya everything is different, the way of living,
the thinking and the teaching. I am glad that I can be here to discover
that difference. To study one year in Kenya is a very good challenge to
broaden your view of the world.
Robert Bierkandt,
December 2005