For the first time since I can remember I spent the entire holiday season, both Christmas and New Years in Nairobi and I discovered an interesting thing, Nairobi has changed. Most people travel out of Nairobi for the holiday season: either upcountry or to the coast. The fascinating thing about living in Nairobi is that even people like me who were born here do not consider Nairobi to be their hometown. Your hometown is usually where your grandparents live or where your parents were born; so when the holidays roll around the exodus begins, and Nairobi becomes a ghost town.
At least that's what used to happen, I was shocked during this holiday season to discover that quite a number of people remained in Nairobi. Shops like Nakumatt stayed open right through the holidays and I found a surprising number of people walking and driving in the city during this period as well. I don't know if people didn't have the money to travel out of Nairobi or if there has been a fundamental shift in how Nairobi residents spend their holidays. Of course entertainment venues in the city took advantage in higher numbers staying during the holidays to provide special programs. There were a number of large concerts held around the city celebrating the New Year.
One of the things I love about living in Kenya is seeing how things change over time, most of the time the change is positive and makes you feel great about the direction the country going towards. I am anticipating even more changes throughout 2015 and can't wait to see what happens next.
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