Julio Santos

Before last night, the last time I had been in a mosh pit was in 92 (or was it in 91?) at a Metallica concert in Belgium. Since then I grew up and the closest I got to a mosh pit has been my watching nirvana’s smells like teen spirit, so not very much.

Maybe that’s the way it ought to be. I’m sure it’s way it ought to be, but last night I just couldn’t resist, it was a perfect storm. We got there early when there wasn’t still many people so we were right in front, the band and the crowd were excellent, and I had to jump in the pit.

It was like I remembered, with the adrenaline rush and everything. Having to stay alert to avoid having my nose broken (or breaking someone else’s) is one of the funniest things. I guess it’s a little like being in a melee or driving at 150 mphs, except there’s great music in the background and you’re unlikely to die.

Oh yeah, the music. Manu Chao and his band played all the good stuff, including Mano Negra stuff. The crowd was interesting: young punks, latino gangs, middle age French people, rastas. I guess that’s the typical manu chao audience.

Also, if you’re reading this and you lost your glasses in the pit last night, let me know, I found them. They’re still intact also :p

I’ve been following Manu Chao and his Mano Negra, like this picture from the early nineties suggests (the t-shirt!! :-) but never had the chance to see him play live.

Looks like it’s going to be tonight!

His music is a fabulous mix of reggae, punk (Clash style), ska and salsa.

Official site

The development team went on a trip to Kenya to see microfinance in action. The idea was that learning microfinance from reading about it is great, but there’s nothing like seeing a person go from beggar to entrepreneur to really get the power of micro-credit.

There are many, many places in the world where microfinance is alive and well, so the choice was pretty much ours. We went with Kenya. Since I grew up in Africa and had not been there in 20 years, Kenya is a great choice as far as I’m concerned.

I had been looking forward to spending some time there, but the trip itself was not something I was going to enjoy. It took a good 24 hours to go from San Francisco to Nairobi. Definitely the longest trip I have ever taken.

The Nairobi airport was a pleasant surprise. It makes the Kinshasa airport (at least from 20 years ago) look like a small aerodrome.

Visas can be applied for at the airport itself, upon arrival. The line was huge though, but since we had been smart enough to come prepared, with our passports properly stamped, it was a breeze to get in. Another difference with 20-year-ago Kinshasa airport, where getting in the country was an adventure in itself.

Joseph, our cabby dropped us off at the Hilton hotel in Nairobi and recommended that if we were going to go for a walk in the area to “just make sure we don’t cross that street over there”. It’s true that the security searches and the metal detectors to get in the hotel, tipped me off, but still. With all this security checks going on, I feel like having dropped in the green zone in Baghdad, and frankly I would not be surprised to see McCain walking around the perimeter.

Anyway that’s not cool, and now I need to know what’s so bad about crossing the said street (Moi Avenue as it turns out). I will find out tomorrow.

For now, and since the damn cabby freaked us out, we are having dinner at the fine restaurant in the hotel. Great food (I picked from the African menu) and fine beer (not Belgian beer, but does the job).

Kenya being 10 hours ahead of my internal clock was kind of tough. I woke up at 4 AM and watched Amytiville 2 on the telly.

It’s 6 AM now and looking through the window I see that Nairobi is already pretty much alive. There are people everywhere! I can’t wait to cross that infamous Moi Avenue.

I’ll go sit outside and try to have a chat with some Nairobians if I can. Then we will go visit our first Microfinance Institution (mfi from now on), the Kenya Women Finance Trust or KWFT. An MFI whose mission is to empower women entrepreneurs.

Can’t wait.

pictures on flickr