WEBVTT
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The catch is, and what I would tell people, you know, I would tell my younger self, don't wait until you retire.
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Figure it out now.
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Close your eyes and imagine living a life you love, unapologetic and unbothered, free from daily microaggressions from Karen's and Ken's, free from the fear of police brutality and systemic racism.
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Wouldn't that feel amazing?
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Now open your eyes.
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What if I told you that it's possible?
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Hear inspiring stories and get the actual blueprints from brothers and sisters of the diaspora who are living out their wildest dreams abroad.
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You've heard the term, now be inspired by the movement.
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I'm Krishan Wright, and this is Black Sit Global.
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Y'all, I am so excited for this episode of the Black Sit Global podcast.
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I get to talk to someone who you first may have heard on our YouTube channel a few months back, and who I just got to party with in Portugal during our five-year anniversary celebrations.
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I am so delighted to welcome Jeff Walker to the podcast who is joining us from Kenya.
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Welcome to the podcast.
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Hey, hello everyone.
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Glad to be here.
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Glad to have you here.
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Oh my goodness.
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It was a vibe seeing you in person.
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Thank you.
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Fantastic, fantastic time had for sure.
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Gotta keep this party going.
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And so I'm glad that we can share your remarkable journey to Kenya with our audience.
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Every time I have an opportunity to talk to someone who's made the leap, I always like to start with their origin story because I'm convinced that there are nuggets from their early life that are the through lines to where they are today.
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So, what's your origin story?
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So I'm gonna go back to four years old.
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I was the youngest of four, two boys, my sister, Terry, and myself.
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And uh we were living in East Baltimore, which is the nicknamed The Bottom.
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Not saying that we were, you know, overly poor and whatnot.
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We had everything we needed.
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But my mom wanted to get us out of that neighborhood because she knew she already grew up there.
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She was like, I'm not raising my kids in this part of town.
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So when I was four, we moved up to northeast Baltimore.
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It was probably a little more white than black, so mixed neighborhood.
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And um, I had never been around white people.
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I believe our next door neighbor, white and white not.
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And I got in my first fight for the white boy.
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I mean, I might have been five at the time, I'm not sure.
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And he beat me up.
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I had no idea how to fight, but I quickly learned and eventually I went back and beat him up.
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During that time, you know, this civil rights era, civil rights was hot.
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Uh I don't want to say the years, but it was hot.
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And uh there were times where Carlo's uh white dudes chased me.
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I'm five years old running from Carlo to white boys.
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Like, get that little nigger, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know.
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So that's my real first experience with you know racist America.
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And you know, but I ran and led them into a pool party full of black people.
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There was uh an apartment complex behind our house, and they had a swimming pool, and they just happened to be having a pool party that day.
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So I I lured them into a corner, went through the pool and yelled, white boys, and they just brothers black people.
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We just came from everywhere, surrounded them, flipped the car over.
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We weren't scared of them in Baltimore, not at all.
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And there had been other times growing up in Baltimore, experienced you know this stuff.
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So I had my little leather beret and my little leather jacket, my fake rifle, because I wanted to be a Black Panther.
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You know, we were proud.
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And then then James Brown came out with that song.
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I guess this is giving away my age.
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Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud.
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I remember marching down the street, mad crowds singing that song, you know, and so that pride was always always instilled in me.
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Uh, I joined the Navy when I was 22 and started traveling the world.
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And then in 1986, we went on a world tour.
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We were gone for eight months, and pretty much we had Hawaii, Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, came around to Cape of Good Hope, went through the Suez Canal, ended up in France, Europe, and Spain, and a bunch of other places, and then went on back around.
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I felt much more welcomed in the world than I had ever felt in America.
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And when we got back to California, it was so evident.
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I mean, even from my own people, I'm like, I just went around the world for eight months and felt love everywhere.
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I still have friends in different countries that I met in 1986, and they're not black, you know.
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But when I got back to America, I became depressed.
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I was like, this is how I'm treated in my own country.
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Everywhere I go seemed to be a pariah, but you know, like I say, I don't care.
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They can't stop me from doing anything.
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At that point, is like, when I retire, I'm leaving America.
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The catch is, and what I would tell people, you know, I would tell my younger self, don't wait until you retire.
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Figure it out now.
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You know, I mean, because like just say in Europe, you know, they they get a whole lot of time off from work.
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Each year they live in small studio apartments, they don't care, they ride scooters or bicycles, but they vacation like crazy, you know, and they just live life.
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Then, you know, I mean, yeah, some places are stressful, like Naples, Italy.
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Everybody's stressed out.
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I still was planning to retire.
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Based on American standards, you need a lot of money to retire, right?
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But you don't really, outside of America.
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I had a buddy, he lives in Thailand.
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He retired at 54.
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He was the first person in my age range that just pulled the trigger early.
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And he was like, Man, my money's right.
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I'm gonna lhess and pay one-fourth the cost of living in America, and I'm good for the rest of my life.
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And that's when I started thinking, I need to follow in those footsteps.
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So I started planning different locations where I wanted to go, but everywhere I went, there was always a certain amount of subtle racism or not so subtle racism that you had to accept.
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And you know, like Colombia was the top of my list before Kenya.
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You know, Colombia has a lot of blacks there, and you know, and then they have Carnival, which is the second in Barranquilla, Columbia, second largest carnival in the world, next to Rio.
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During Carnival, all the teenage boys, black, white, or whatever, paint their whole bodies in blackface, black paint.
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They wear tattered shorts, tattered hats, have their red lips painted, and they just run around making monkey noises and twisting their lips and yes, and I'm like, I'm like, let me catch one of them in a inn ain't nobody around.
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That is wild.
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It is wild, and all of you know, the black Columnians are like, well, that's just tradition.
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I like that that is so insulting, and they got you guys convinced.
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So I still it was the better choice than America.
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You know, there was enough black people for me to feel comfortable around, but you know, I probably would have gotten into involved in their politics trying to remove that stigma and got myself in trouble, you know, until I saw this couple on YouTube that were in Kenya.
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They were from Atlanta, and I started following them on YouTube, and I'm like, Kenya look like a straight by.
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And I had never been to Africa.
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I tried to go, I was in Spain and uh when yeah, I think we were in one of those Middle East wars or something, and they wouldn't let Americans fly over to Africa, so I didn't get there.
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And as I said before, I never really had a desire to go to the uh west coast of Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, and those places because years ago, I was like, I am not listening to another slave narrative as long as I live.
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If you haven't read the book Black AF History by Michael Harriet, that book, and I haven't even finished it.
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The one first third of that book propelled me to speed up my mood.
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Because there's some truths in there about black history in America that are just mind-blowing, you know, that okay, they definitely didn't want us to know these things.
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So then when Kenya popped up, I was like, well, let me go visit Kenya.
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I was gonna retire a year from when I actually did.
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But once I got to Kenya, I thought, well, I'm pulling the trigger now.
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This is it.
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And to this day, you know, I'm I'm upset that I didn't do this 20 years sooner.
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I missed so much of a full life of being black, comfortable in my own skin, that I'm like, I could have done this 20 years ago and been so, so happy by now.
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Since I've been here, I really actually forget that I'm not Kenyan.
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So, what about it is like made you feel that way?
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Is it because there are so many black people?
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Is it because of how Kenyans have embraced you in their their culture?
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Like, kind of paint a picture.
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All of that.
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So Kenyans, they're the nicest people I've ever met.
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Condé Nas, the Travel Magazine, named Kenyans the nicest people in the entire world.
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And they actually are, you know, you gotta know people to get things done.
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But you meet people who introduce you to other people, introduce you to other people.
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So anything you want done, you can get it done.
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It is gonna cost you, you know, but it's a fair price.
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Like right now, I have a residency permit approved for a retirement visa, but I haven't exercised it because if I exercise that, I can't invest here.
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And businesses are so easy to start up here that I want to do that.
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And I don't need any residency to start a business.
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I can start a business.
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And you know, for Americans, they give you a five-year multi-entry visa, and that's what I want.
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But now, you know, they just embrace you, they welcome you, they love you.
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Kenya's 98% black, but there are, you know, Indians, there are Italians here, the Swahili are kind of Arabic type people, they all speak English, and that's that's a big plus, you know.
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Everybody speaks English, so you don't have to learn a language.
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I mean, if you want to learn Swahili, go ahead.
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I got a buddy that's just retired, he got his wife to retire early.
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He's got the same mindset I am about America.
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When we go back, like I went for London's day, I rented a car.
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My whole thought process was don't speed, don't get stopped by the police because you might not make it back to Kenya.
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I literally had a fear of not getting back to Kenya the entire week I was in America.
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Yes, I didn't go out.
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I told one of my buddies I was there, you know.
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I saw my daughter and my grandkids and my family, but outside of that, I stayed in the house because I was afraid I might not get back to Kenya for some reason.
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You know, I realized it's a fear that black Americans, you always live it.
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Police get behind you when you're driving.
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We all get anxiety, right?
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Right, and white people don't understand it because they just don't have that fear.
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We gotta pull over, you know, you gotta teach your kids what to do if they're stopped by cops, keep your head on the swivel.
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Don't have to do that here at all.
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The only thing you gotta worry about is walking down the sidewalk with your cell phone too close to the curve.
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It is mob justice.
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Oh wow, that now that's different.
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Now that's different.
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They do not like thieves here.
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I go, you know, to the gym or wherever you go, you don't have to put a lock on your locker because nobody's gonna take anything.
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You know, I take my golf clubs when I finish, I say just put it in the parking lot, I'll get it on my way out, it's gonna be there.
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If I don't get it, it'll be there the next day.
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They will have put it away for you.
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You know, it's just so comfortable and so sweet.
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They do their little crimes and they protest anything.
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And when they protest, they get results.
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They protest until they get results, and nobody's operating.
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And that's something that's very different.
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Like you said two important things, and I want to make sure we kind of circle back a little bit on it.
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Is one, the emotional and psychological labor that we expend in energy in the United States, even when we are law-abiding citizens, minding our own black business, you know, the back of our mind, we are eyes behind our heads, head on a swivel, because you don't know, and you know that the consequences of not knowing or not anticipating what could happen are great.
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So it is all with good reason because we have so many examples.
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And so being outside of the US, you know, you have said it, I have said it.
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Like when I go back to the states, my world is smaller.
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And when I'm outside of the United States, my life is so expansive.
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And that's reflected in, you know, the people that I, you know, spend my time with, and I hear it in your story and your experiences in Kenya.
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You know, you know that just being able to walk around with peace of mind and inhabit your black body isn't a crime, right?
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By virtue of your existence is not a crime, and we can't say that from the country of our birth.
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When I ride my motorcycle, I see warthogs, I see zebra, I see giraffes.
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You know, just like wow, just just wandering about.
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Baboons, baboons.
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I usually stop if it's a trooper baboon.
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I kind of stop and and near them, not in the middle, because you know, the the dominant male be on alert.
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But they don't buy even on the golf course.
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You you be gazelle and zebra on the on the greens.
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I got a golf membership,$500 roughly for five years.
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I have reciprocal use at over 30 golf courses throughout Kenya.
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One, you know, one in Tanzania, one in Rwanda, one in Uganda.
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And when I play these courses, literally 18 holes is either free or five or seven dollars.
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And these courses are absolutely beautiful.
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You know, in America, it cost me 100 to 200 to play one course one day.
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So definitely being in Kenya has allowed you not only to retire, but what I'm hearing is retire with confidence, peace of mind.
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You have established community, it sounds, and lower cost of living.
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Definitely.
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Like my two-bedroom condo, penthouse, 17th floor, cost me 55k.
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My monthly maintenance condo association fee is roughly$35 a month.
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That is wild.
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And if you wanted to rent, like I'm in a one-bedroom now, it's pretty good size, but I paid$540 a month.
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I'm in the areas called Westlands, Ken Lamani, Kilaleshua, Ladington, and Parkman.
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They're all right next to each other, but those are the highest rental in Nairobi.
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For people who are listening to this conversation and their curiosity has been piqued, because the United States, for most of our lifetimes, and probably our parents' lifetime, has done a really great job at spoon feeding us propaganda about the continent, so much so that a lot of us either we don't know or have misperceptions about what Africa is.
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You know, we think about Africa in its totality as if it's one country and not an actual continent, that it's comprised of millions of people in many countries and different languages and dialects and what have you.
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And now I feel like, especially during this Black Sit movement, that it's our opportunity in conversations like this to showcase what life is really like there.
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So for somebody who's listening to this and you know, you piqued their curiosity, what is it that they need to know that they that you haven't shared already?
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When you say spoon-fed about Africa, we've been spoon-fed about America, about the American dream of having a big home and expensive cars, and that is your measure of success.
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And you spend your whole life working to spend it to show people that you have it like that, right?
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That is the ultimate goal.
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Here, me having an apartment in a high-rise building, I am the top of the food chain, you know, and people aspire to get there.
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But like in America, I in Florida, I had a four-bedroom house, three bathrooms, swimming pool, hot tub, living by myself.
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And and I swear to the as soon as I got the kenya, I was like, why in the fuck am I living like that?
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It is totally unnecessary.
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I was sold that dream that that was a success in life, and it is not.
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But you know, that's what we do.
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We want six figures, and you know, we want to we want all these luxurious things.
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I am 75% happier here than I've ever been in America.
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Ever.
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And it's a simple like I don't really have to do anything, and it's just daily.
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It's got all the modern, like, I'm going to see a movie after this.
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My movie ticket was five dollars.
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My popcorn's gonna be a dollar fifty, my soda's gonna be another dollar if that 75 cents, you know.
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I'm gonna get a soda, popcorn, and a hot dog, and I'm not gonna spend$15 total.
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And I've got you know, reserve seats that recline, IMAX screen, you know, 3D, you know, that that kind of that's the kind of stuff you get here.
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And you know, for locals, yeah, that might be expensive and extravagant for them, but they have it, and it's always crowded.
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But uh the fact that you can go to a movie with two people and not spend$20 and get popcorn sodas, hot dog, and movie tickets and reserve seats is just you know amazing, right?
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Yeah, we haven't.
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I mean, I don't even I would have to think real hard and long, maybe when I was a kid.
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When's the last time I could do all that?
00:20:24.089 --> 00:20:28.729
Right for under 20, they definitely and not in my adulthood, right?
00:20:28.809 --> 00:20:31.209
And if I go out, I drink scotch.
00:20:31.369 --> 00:20:33.369
Most of the people here drink Johnny Walker.
00:20:33.449 --> 00:20:40.169
I can't stand Johnny Walker, but I drink scotch, you know, and a double of scotch is like seven dollars.
00:20:41.929 --> 00:20:46.249
A double of scotch would cost me$40 in America, at least.
00:20:46.489 --> 00:20:48.649
Of Glenn Limit$12 or$15.
00:20:49.369 --> 00:20:58.329
You get a double here, and and it's like, you know, a thousand shillings, which is like seven dollars and fifty cents.
00:21:02.169 --> 00:21:03.849
You know, eating here.
00:21:04.009 --> 00:21:08.729
I buy my I cook daily for the most part, or I'll I'll go get something.
00:21:08.809 --> 00:21:12.729
They got really, really good restaurants, really, really good food, except the beef.
00:21:12.809 --> 00:21:15.129
I ain't I'm not too crazy about the beef here.
00:21:15.369 --> 00:21:24.649
However, somebody hooked me up with a South African beef company that delivers, and now my ribeys are right, my fillets are right.
00:21:25.049 --> 00:21:33.049
I can get wagu beef, uh a ribeye wagu beef for for like what's that for like$14.
00:21:34.809 --> 00:21:36.649
Have it delivered, grill it up.
00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:37.929
So that's all.
00:21:38.089 --> 00:21:43.529
I got a great seafood restaurant that I go to, even uh they got a little Chinatown.
00:21:43.609 --> 00:21:44.489
Um I go there.
00:21:44.809 --> 00:21:46.969
There's one spot, I got some really good Chinese foods.
00:21:47.289 --> 00:21:48.409
So I I get that.
00:21:48.489 --> 00:21:56.009
But but dinner for two, bottle of wine, cook uh appetizer, main course, dessert.
00:21:56.489 --> 00:22:02.329
If you spend$70, you're probably at the most expensive, one of the most expensive restaurants here.
00:22:03.209 --> 00:22:03.769
It's time.
00:22:04.169 --> 00:22:05.609
Anything you want is here.
00:22:05.769 --> 00:22:09.609
And then I've gotten to the point where I crave their staple Bugali.
00:22:09.849 --> 00:22:17.689
It's just some flour and water that they mix up, heat up, and beat up, and and they just eat it with everything, right?
00:22:17.849 --> 00:22:20.249
But I have gotten to the point where I crave it now.
00:22:20.329 --> 00:22:23.369
So once a week I go to this mall, this Wahili place.
00:22:24.009 --> 00:22:30.409
With the pace of life in the United States, it's easy to let life move on and you miss things.
00:22:30.569 --> 00:22:40.249
And so now with this slower pace, like you're able to observe these different nuances, you're able to appreciate, you know, a gazelle on the golf course when you're playing, right?
00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:45.449
The only thing that Kenya probably doesn't have is uh because it's on the equator, is ski.
00:22:45.769 --> 00:22:54.249
Outside of skiing, you got mountains, you got hiking, of course, you got wild animals and like the kind of you know, and lions do get out.
00:22:55.449 --> 00:22:57.929
They do they do get out of the national parks.
00:22:58.729 --> 00:23:03.129
All right, Jeff, you had me till you said that our the lions are not contained.
00:23:03.529 --> 00:23:09.209
I haven't come across any, but 20 minutes from where I live, they uh they do have lions on cameras taking.
00:23:09.849 --> 00:23:10.729
Dogs and whatnot.
00:23:10.889 --> 00:23:12.089
But the coastline.
00:23:12.169 --> 00:23:13.529
And this is what I'll emphasize.
00:23:13.609 --> 00:23:17.209
I don't know if Kenya needs to step up their tourism game.
00:23:17.449 --> 00:23:19.529
Cause I've been to Zanzibar.
00:23:19.769 --> 00:23:22.329
I've got Deionni beating Zanzibar all day.
00:23:22.489 --> 00:23:23.849
You can swim with the dolphins.
00:23:23.929 --> 00:23:25.449
The water's crystal clear.
00:23:25.609 --> 00:23:26.969
You can go snorkeling.
00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:30.089
But the difference is Kenya, Deion has nightlife.
00:23:30.249 --> 00:23:31.369
Zanzibar doesn't.
00:23:31.449 --> 00:23:35.209
And there are no major hotels or anything on their beaches.
00:23:35.529 --> 00:23:44.649
You know, a few Italians got some restaurants, a bunch of little shacks of local businesses, hustlers, what they call them, set up a lot all along the beaches and stuff.
00:23:44.729 --> 00:23:46.409
There are no major chains.
00:23:46.969 --> 00:23:48.649
Every beach is open to the public.
00:23:48.809 --> 00:23:49.609
It's just beautiful.
00:23:49.689 --> 00:23:53.209
Now Deani is cool, but my favorite beach is Watambu.
00:23:53.529 --> 00:23:55.929
They have a beach called Seven Island Beach.
00:23:56.089 --> 00:24:01.449
And they have a beach called Gorota, which is for people who kite surf, windsurf.
00:24:01.609 --> 00:24:07.849
But I like the body surf, so the waves are just right enough to just dive in and carry yourself forward.
00:24:08.009 --> 00:24:12.649
But the water's crystal clear and you can walk for miles and miles and miles and miles.
00:24:12.729 --> 00:24:16.089
And then the tide goes way out at Parch of the Day.
00:24:30.489 --> 00:24:31.529
It is so chill.
00:24:31.689 --> 00:24:36.729
And an Airbnb down there, you know, I kind of like my accommodation is pretty decent.
00:24:36.889 --> 00:24:40.329
But if I spend$40 a knife on Airbnb, I've splurged.
00:24:40.569 --> 00:24:43.289
I know people are gonna be booking their plane tickets now.
00:24:45.609 --> 00:24:47.209
Exactly, exactly.
00:24:47.369 --> 00:24:55.529
It is uh, and then down there, I've I've you know I've gone to uh Malindi, there's a just about 40 minutes north of Malindi.
00:24:55.849 --> 00:25:01.929
They've got sand dunes, and you know, you put your little Arab wrap on and you ride four-wheel vehicles.
00:25:02.249 --> 00:25:05.289
People might think you're in Dubai, but no, you're in Kenya.
00:25:05.529 --> 00:25:08.969
They got balloon rise, they got parasailing.
00:25:09.209 --> 00:25:12.489
Only thing I don't see uh pleasure boats here.
00:25:12.729 --> 00:25:15.449
There are a lot more uh Americans moving here.
00:25:15.529 --> 00:25:18.489
Of course, we have an expat group, they're doing a friends giving thing.
00:25:18.649 --> 00:25:22.089
I will go every now and again, but I got my own people here.
00:25:23.529 --> 00:25:26.569
It's nice to get out of the expat bubble.
00:25:26.729 --> 00:25:26.889
Right.
00:25:27.129 --> 00:25:34.569
It's good to have some level of familiarity, you know, especially in the beginning, because you know, you're going to somewhere unfamiliar.
00:25:34.729 --> 00:25:49.689
But you're right, like the longer you live in a place and you make those local connections and you, you know, you vibe with the people that you vibe with, you become less dependent on getting to know more people in the expat bubble.
00:25:49.769 --> 00:25:51.529
You start to not interact as much.
00:25:51.769 --> 00:25:58.809
And you know, don't get me wrong, some people they need that support, especially single women that come here, and it's a it's a great, great support group.
00:25:58.889 --> 00:25:59.529
Don't get me wrong.
00:25:59.609 --> 00:26:03.209
I I pay attention to their WhatsApp channels, I see what's going on.
00:26:03.289 --> 00:26:14.969
Sometimes I show up and all, but you know, I've always been an independent traveler, so I you know, I go somewhere, I merge into the culture, and you know, I eat what they eat and places like that.
00:26:15.049 --> 00:26:16.889
Like I went to Pakistan one time now.
00:26:16.969 --> 00:26:19.849
I'm not eating street food in Pakistan, nor India.
00:26:19.929 --> 00:26:21.449
But I'll eat street food here.
00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:28.889
You know, there's some boiled eggs, some sausages, and their favorite, they call Yoman Choma, which is barbecue goat.
00:26:29.129 --> 00:26:30.409
Oh, that sounds good.
00:26:30.649 --> 00:26:34.009
Oh, and about MPSA, which they should have that in America.
00:26:34.089 --> 00:26:35.529
I do everything from my phone.
00:26:35.689 --> 00:26:38.329
There's an app that's tied to my Kenyan phone number.
00:26:38.489 --> 00:26:40.249
I pay for everything through that app.
00:26:40.409 --> 00:26:46.969
Go to the grocery store, they put my number in, it prompts me with the amount to pay, and I put in my pen, amount is paid.
00:26:47.049 --> 00:26:49.369
I haven't had cash in my hand in a year.
00:26:49.529 --> 00:26:50.009
Don't need it.
00:26:50.089 --> 00:26:51.609
No debit card, no nothing.
00:26:51.689 --> 00:26:53.049
Because you know, I bank in America.
00:26:53.129 --> 00:26:58.969
I do have a bank account here, and they got a I got a savings account that pays 10% annual interest rate.
00:26:59.209 --> 00:27:04.969
Minimum 100,000 shillings, which is about 700 some odd dollars, but it pays 10% annual.
00:27:05.529 --> 00:27:05.929
10%?
00:27:06.649 --> 00:27:13.289
Yeah, so I put that$700, whatever dollars in there every month religiously, and I don't touch it.
00:27:13.449 --> 00:27:15.369
I use this app called Remitly.
00:27:15.449 --> 00:27:19.769
There's a couple other ones to transfer money into my MPESA account.
00:27:19.849 --> 00:27:30.409
And I can put up to what is it, like$450,000 shillings, which is about$3,000 a day you can transact maximum, but then the next day you you write back to square one.
00:27:30.809 --> 00:27:39.369
So, you know, to pay for my condo, I've been putting money into that 10% saves account until it's time to pay the whole thing.
00:27:39.689 --> 00:27:44.809
So I'm sure Visa, MasterCard, and all of them do not want that in America.
00:27:44.969 --> 00:27:49.769
It is a genius app, and and all of Africa is going on board.
00:27:49.849 --> 00:27:55.289
They have it in Tanzania, and I think West Africa is finally getting wind of it.
00:27:55.529 --> 00:28:04.969
But yeah, it is, you know, I don't even leave here with a wallet because I got a picture of my passport and my visa and my phone, so I don't even carry a wallet or cash.
00:28:05.129 --> 00:28:11.609
And what I really like here, people, children, kids every day are outside.
00:28:11.849 --> 00:28:18.569
It is so many people outside in the neighborhood, everybody's outside until business is done.
00:28:18.729 --> 00:28:21.449
I mean, outside, little kids just playing.
00:28:21.529 --> 00:28:24.409
And I be like, that boy can't be more than two.
00:28:24.489 --> 00:28:25.689
Who is he with?
00:28:27.289 --> 00:28:28.889
But nobody's messing with the kid.
00:28:28.969 --> 00:28:34.009
Even in my building, you go downstairs to the playground area, kids down there getting elevated by themselves.
00:28:34.169 --> 00:28:36.249
I say, you know, they can't do this in America.
00:28:36.489 --> 00:28:38.889
No, come on, come on, missing.
00:28:39.449 --> 00:28:40.089
Missing.
00:28:40.489 --> 00:28:43.849
They'll be, you know, getting themselves into trouble.
00:28:44.089 --> 00:28:50.089
It's a shame that our kids have lost their ability to be children, especially black children.
00:28:50.249 --> 00:28:55.209
They get adultified much earlier than any other ethnicity.
00:28:55.449 --> 00:28:59.609
I see the same thing here and in other countries that I've traveled to where kids are kids.
00:28:59.689 --> 00:29:08.889
You know, they're playing on playgrounds, they're not in their phones, they're interacting not just with themselves, but they'll have you know intergenerational relationships.
00:29:08.969 --> 00:29:24.409
They'll be playing with their grandparents, aunt and uncles, it warms the heart because it helps me remember that the way we live in America, one, it's not normal, and that not everybody is like this.
00:29:24.569 --> 00:29:27.929
Everybody in America is just struggling.
00:29:28.169 --> 00:29:33.609
They want to look as if they're not, but living paycheck to paycheck.
00:29:33.769 --> 00:29:34.249
Yeah.
00:29:34.489 --> 00:29:35.289
Right, right.
00:29:35.449 --> 00:29:36.809
Oh, I got a chance.
00:29:37.049 --> 00:29:44.329
So someone who met me, I don't know, through Blackit or some online deal, this woman in uh California.
00:29:44.489 --> 00:29:46.969
Her son is marrying a Kenyan woman.
00:29:47.129 --> 00:29:51.529
And so there's a dowry ceremony process or whatever.
00:29:51.769 --> 00:29:53.049
And she reached out to me.
00:29:53.129 --> 00:29:55.689
She was like, I don't know any older men over there.
00:29:55.769 --> 00:30:00.409
And I need my son needs an older guy to represent him for this dowry thing.
00:30:00.569 --> 00:30:05.849
Before she could finish, I'd be like, Oh yeah, I'll be glad to do that because I want to see what it's like.
00:30:06.489 --> 00:30:12.569
So a young man comes here, they pick me up, and we go probably two and a half hour ride to meet the girl's family.
00:30:12.649 --> 00:30:15.049
And I, you know, I don't know how it's gonna happen.
00:30:15.209 --> 00:30:22.889
But as we're driving, she was like, So my family's property starts here, and then we're driving and driving and driving.
00:30:23.129 --> 00:30:24.809
She's like, and it is here.
00:30:24.969 --> 00:30:25.689
I was like, What?
00:30:25.849 --> 00:30:27.129
This is all your land?
00:30:27.449 --> 00:30:29.529
I was like, You got a sister.
00:30:30.169 --> 00:30:36.169
I get to the house, the house is probably 60 years old, corrugated, walls, and roof.
00:30:36.409 --> 00:30:43.449
It is nothing fancy at all, you know, and they cook the traditional dinner and I had to eat it, you know.
00:30:43.929 --> 00:30:54.329
And then the two of the older gentlemen come into the room with me and the young man, and they start discussing what's how this diary thing works and so on and so forth.
00:30:54.649 --> 00:30:57.529
I didn't record it because I didn't, you know, that's a lot of respect.
00:30:57.609 --> 00:30:58.329
I didn't ask.
00:30:58.409 --> 00:31:01.129
I was like, okay, but I'm like all ears.
00:31:01.209 --> 00:31:03.129
I'm like, this is so interesting.
00:31:03.209 --> 00:31:05.449
And I'm like, what is the dowry?
00:31:05.609 --> 00:31:08.649
Because I'm still not getting what they needed for the diary.
00:31:08.969 --> 00:31:18.569
And you know, and he's like, Well, what I did for my wife, I just paid what I could afford over a certain amount of time until it was enough.
00:31:18.809 --> 00:31:20.489
And you know, they have a sense of humor.
00:31:20.569 --> 00:31:23.609
I'm like, so you say he could be paying you forever.
00:31:23.849 --> 00:31:26.489
And it was like, I said, so what's the initial thing?
00:31:26.649 --> 00:31:30.809
And they they had a list and uh, you know, they had it written out and everything.
00:31:30.969 --> 00:31:37.209
You gotta bring uh a cow, two sheep, a ram, some particular type of goat.
00:31:37.369 --> 00:31:40.969
So they're getting married in September, and I gotta go back to do the actual sermon.
00:31:41.129 --> 00:31:44.969
I said, So do I need to roll up in here with the cows and shit?
00:31:45.049 --> 00:31:45.849
Because I will.
00:31:59.369 --> 00:32:04.649
It probably 2,000 out of his pocket for all of that.
00:32:04.809 --> 00:32:07.689
And I was like, well, you know, that's up to you.
00:32:07.769 --> 00:32:10.729
But if you want to bring the cow shit, I'm with that.
00:32:11.049 --> 00:32:15.209
I would love to walk up in that in that party with some cow.
00:32:15.449 --> 00:32:19.449
And then there's a party, he has to pay for the neighbors and stuff come.
00:32:19.769 --> 00:32:25.609
So he's gonna buy the food, you know, and they wear costumes and they do traditional dances and stuff.
00:32:25.769 --> 00:32:31.049
I can't wait to September when he gets married, because I'm gonna be all up in there, you know.
00:32:31.289 --> 00:32:35.049
But you know, I got to experience that traditional thing, you know.
00:32:35.209 --> 00:32:37.449
It was all so, so cool, so cool.
00:32:37.609 --> 00:32:41.129
I'm always into, you know, just like that time I went to the Massai Mar.
00:32:41.529 --> 00:32:44.809
I went on uh to Massai Village and got a tour.
00:32:45.049 --> 00:32:46.489
And dude had me in tears, man.
00:32:46.569 --> 00:33:04.329
I was like, man, you know, I would give anything to live as my ancestors live, my indigenous ancestors live, you know, if it was in a TP in America, I would have rather, much rather grown up that way, living off the land, living one with nature, you know, versus that shit I grew up in.
00:33:05.209 --> 00:33:13.849
You know, and I was like, so at night, the eldest son sleeps in the hut with the goats, and he took me into a hut.
00:33:14.009 --> 00:33:17.529
And I was like, he said, you want to come, you can spend the night.
00:33:17.609 --> 00:33:24.169
I was like, Yeah, I'm not at that point yet, but a little too real, a little too real.
00:33:25.129 --> 00:33:27.609
I'll keep that invitation in thought.
00:33:27.769 --> 00:33:30.249
Yeah, I might do it, I might do it one day, though.
00:33:30.329 --> 00:33:33.369
I just might go spend a weekend at a massive village.
00:33:33.529 --> 00:33:43.289
The women build their homes if they take sticks and cow dung and they mud the wall until they all smoothed out and and there's a solid structure.
00:33:43.529 --> 00:33:51.769
The beds are made of sticks and they just lay on the sticks and they're like, you know, man, I say, y'all living like y'all lived 10,000 years ago.
00:33:51.849 --> 00:33:55.609
I'm like, this white man came down here and messed it all up.
00:33:55.769 --> 00:34:11.049
They need for nothing, they don't have electricity, they don't have running water, you know, they they have their livestock, and you know, if they got it, if they can afford it, they got two, three wives, you know, and and uh yeah, it's just that's that's life, man.
00:34:11.210 --> 00:34:16.090
Living as one with the earth, you know, they have land that nobody's taken from them.
00:34:16.250 --> 00:34:21.130
So unlike our people in America, they just took our land and gave it to Europeans.
00:34:21.449 --> 00:34:24.809
They keep taking from us, they want us to have nothing.
00:34:25.049 --> 00:34:39.210
We come from a strong people, we have strong DNA, and I think one of the beautiful things about this movement is that we are finding and making home wherever we are in this world.
00:34:39.529 --> 00:34:40.570
Right, right, right.
00:34:40.889 --> 00:34:43.210
Building those tides or rebuilding.
00:34:43.369 --> 00:34:48.570
At the top of the conversation, you said you wish you had done it 20 years earlier.
00:34:48.809 --> 00:34:54.329
So, for someone who's listening, what piece of advice would you give them?
00:34:54.650 --> 00:34:55.210
Visit.
00:34:55.369 --> 00:35:00.969
Go and visit, come visit Kenya, come visit Tanzania, come visit Rwanda.
00:35:01.210 --> 00:35:02.730
Each has a different flavor.
00:35:02.809 --> 00:35:04.969
Now, I have a buddy in America from Nigeria.
00:35:05.049 --> 00:35:08.809
He said, before you settle in Kenya, you should visit Rwanda.
00:35:08.969 --> 00:35:11.449
Fine, but I visited Kenya first.
00:35:11.610 --> 00:35:16.009
I got here and I just knew I was home, so I didn't really need to go anywhere else.
00:35:16.090 --> 00:35:18.730
I went to uh Tanzania about two months ago.
00:35:18.889 --> 00:35:25.530
I could do Tanzania, it's a little slower pace than Kenya, but I could surely do Tanzania.
00:35:25.849 --> 00:35:28.250
It's a more laid-back version of Kenya.
00:35:28.329 --> 00:35:29.849
They don't speak as much English.
00:35:29.929 --> 00:35:34.809
You probably have to learn Swahili, but they're very relaxed, chill people.
00:35:35.130 --> 00:35:36.570
Cost of limb is a little lower.
00:35:36.889 --> 00:35:40.490
And in Dar Islam, it's a little lower than it is in Nairobi.
00:35:40.730 --> 00:35:47.450
You're on the coast, beachfront restaurants, beachfront bars and clubs, and the people there are just as nice as they are here.
00:35:47.610 --> 00:35:50.250
I heard Rwanda is probably the most modern.
00:35:50.409 --> 00:35:51.130
I haven't been.
00:35:51.289 --> 00:35:55.849
I'll probably go in January when I need to travel again and I'll check it out.
00:35:56.010 --> 00:36:01.289
But uh for me, Rwanda, smaller population, and it's more of a quiet life.
00:36:01.369 --> 00:36:05.369
But if a quiet life is what you want, I wanted to be somewhere coastal.
00:36:05.530 --> 00:36:11.769
I need to go to the beach and just you know, meditate and unwind on occasion.
00:36:11.849 --> 00:36:15.530
And it's a$14 train ride from here to the coast.
00:36:16.329 --> 00:36:23.450
So, or if you want to do kind of like a luxury first-class train ride, that's about$80.
00:36:23.929 --> 00:36:25.929
Visit any place you think you want to live.
00:36:26.010 --> 00:36:34.170
You know, me, Kenya being my first African country, I feel a little remorse that I didn't visit Africa a lot sooner.
00:36:34.490 --> 00:36:40.730
But I will tell you, if you're coming, if you come in East Africa, you might as well do at least Kenya and Tanzania.
00:36:40.970 --> 00:36:48.090
Nairobi, Dar Asalaam, or if you come to Kenya, do Nairobi and you do Mam Diani, which is next to Mombasa, basically.
00:36:48.250 --> 00:36:50.490
Kenya has a spirit that captures you.
00:36:50.650 --> 00:36:53.130
You don't know how to put your finger on it.
00:36:53.289 --> 00:36:56.170
But the first visit here, I decided to move.
00:36:56.329 --> 00:36:57.369
That's where I wanted to be.
00:36:57.530 --> 00:37:05.929
And so I say just visit with no expectations, and then you see how you feel about this Wakanda that I live in.
00:37:06.170 --> 00:37:09.289
Well, I'm coming to Wakanda in September.
00:37:09.450 --> 00:37:10.889
I already told you so.
00:37:12.090 --> 00:37:13.289
That's a done deal.
00:37:13.369 --> 00:37:14.970
That is a done deal.
00:37:15.289 --> 00:37:17.610
Where can people find you?
00:37:17.929 --> 00:37:28.409
I have a YouTube channel, moves underscore black, Facebook, Jeffrey Walker, and see my picture, Instagram, J D U B404.
00:37:28.490 --> 00:37:29.929
J.404.
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Thank you, Jeff, for being a guest on the Black Sick Global Podcast.
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This conversation has been inspiring on so many levels.
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I appreciate your candor.
00:37:41.530 --> 00:37:45.530
You know, I look forward to, like I said, getting there myself in a few months.
00:37:46.090 --> 00:37:52.170
Come visit Kenya and be 100% totally comfortably black.
00:37:53.690 --> 00:37:57.289
Thank you for listening to the Blackseat Global podcast.
00:37:57.450 --> 00:38:03.610
For more information on today's episode, be sure to visit our website at blacksickglobal.com.
00:38:03.769 --> 00:38:10.809
It's not only possible to live out your dreams unbothered and in full color, it is your birthright.
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The catch is, and what I would tell people, you know, I would tell my younger self, don't wait until you retire.
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Figure it out now.
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Close your eyes and imagine living a life you love, unapologetic and unbothered, free from daily microaggressions from Karen's and Ken's, free from the fear of police brutality and systemic racism.
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Wouldn't that feel amazing?
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Now open your eyes.
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What if I told you that it's possible?
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Hear inspiring stories and get the actual blueprints from brothers and sisters of the diaspora who are living out their wildest dreams abroad.
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You've heard the term, now be inspired by the movement.
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I'm Krishan Wright, and this is Black Sit Global.
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Y'all, I am so excited for this episode of the Black Sit Global podcast.
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I get to talk to someone who you first may have heard on our YouTube channel a few months back, and who I just got to party with in Portugal during our five-year anniversary celebrations.
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I am so delighted to welcome Jeff Walker to the podcast who is joining us from Kenya.
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Welcome to the podcast.
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Hey, hello everyone.
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Glad to be here.
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Glad to have you here.
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Oh my goodness.
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It was a vibe seeing you in person.
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Thank you.
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Fantastic, fantastic time had for sure.
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Gotta keep this party going.
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And so I'm glad that we can share your remarkable journey to Kenya with our audience.
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Every time I have an opportunity to talk to someone who's made the leap, I always like to start with their origin story because I'm convinced that there are nuggets from their early life that are the through lines to where they are today.
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So, what's your origin story?
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So I'm gonna go back to four years old.
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I was the youngest of four, two boys, my sister, Terry, and myself.
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And uh we were living in East Baltimore, which is the nicknamed The Bottom.
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Not saying that we were, you know, overly poor and whatnot.
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We had everything we needed.
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But my mom wanted to get us out of that neighborhood because she knew she already grew up there.
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She was like, I'm not raising my kids in this part of town.
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So when I was four, we moved up to northeast Baltimore.
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It was probably a little more white than black, so mixed neighborhood.
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And um, I had never been around white people.
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I believe our next door neighbor, white and white not.
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And I got in my first fight for the white boy.
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I mean, I might have been five at the time, I'm not sure.
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And he beat me up.
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I had no idea how to fight, but I quickly learned and eventually I went back and beat him up.
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During that time, you know, this civil rights era, civil rights was hot.
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Uh I don't want to say the years, but it was hot.
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And uh there were times where Carlo's uh white dudes chased me.
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I'm five years old running from Carlo to white boys.
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Like, get that little nigger, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know.
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So that's my real first experience with you know racist America.
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And you know, but I ran and led them into a pool party full of black people.
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There was uh an apartment complex behind our house, and they had a swimming pool, and they just happened to be having a pool party that day.
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So I I lured them into a corner, went through the pool and yelled, white boys, and they just brothers black people.
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We just came from everywhere, surrounded them, flipped the car over.
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We weren't scared of them in Baltimore, not at all.
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And there had been other times growing up in Baltimore, experienced you know this stuff.
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So I had my little leather beret and my little leather jacket, my fake rifle, because I wanted to be a Black Panther.
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You know, we were proud.
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And then then James Brown came out with that song.
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I guess this is giving away my age.
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Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud.
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I remember marching down the street, mad crowds singing that song, you know, and so that pride was always always instilled in me.
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Uh, I joined the Navy when I was 22 and started traveling the world.
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And then in 1986, we went on a world tour.
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We were gone for eight months, and pretty much we had Hawaii, Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, came around to Cape of Good Hope, went through the Suez Canal, ended up in France, Europe, and Spain, and a bunch of other places, and then went on back around.
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I felt much more welcomed in the world than I had ever felt in America.
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And when we got back to California, it was so evident.
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I mean, even from my own people, I'm like, I just went around the world for eight months and felt love everywhere.
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I still have friends in different countries that I met in 1986, and they're not black, you know.
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But when I got back to America, I became depressed.
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I was like, this is how I'm treated in my own country.
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Everywhere I go seemed to be a pariah, but you know, like I say, I don't care.
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They can't stop me from doing anything.
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At that point, is like, when I retire, I'm leaving America.
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The catch is, and what I would tell people, you know, I would tell my younger self, don't wait until you retire.
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Figure it out now.
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You know, I mean, because like just say in Europe, you know, they they get a whole lot of time off from work.
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Each year they live in small studio apartments, they don't care, they ride scooters or bicycles, but they vacation like crazy, you know, and they just live life.
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Then, you know, I mean, yeah, some places are stressful, like Naples, Italy.
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Everybody's stressed out.
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I still was planning to retire.
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Based on American standards, you need a lot of money to retire, right?
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But you don't really, outside of America.
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I had a buddy, he lives in Thailand.
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He retired at 54.
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He was the first person in my age range that just pulled the trigger early.
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And he was like, Man, my money's right.
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I'm gonna lhess and pay one-fourth the cost of living in America, and I'm good for the rest of my life.
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And that's when I started thinking, I need to follow in those footsteps.
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So I started planning different locations where I wanted to go, but everywhere I went, there was always a certain amount of subtle racism or not so subtle racism that you had to accept.
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And you know, like Colombia was the top of my list before Kenya.
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You know, Colombia has a lot of blacks there, and you know, and then they have Carnival, which is the second in Barranquilla, Columbia, second largest carnival in the world, next to Rio.
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During Carnival, all the teenage boys, black, white, or whatever, paint their whole bodies in blackface, black paint.
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They wear tattered shorts, tattered hats, have their red lips painted, and they just run around making monkey noises and twisting their lips and yes, and I'm like, I'm like, let me catch one of them in a inn ain't nobody around.
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That is wild.
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It is wild, and all of you know, the black Columnians are like, well, that's just tradition.
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I like that that is so insulting, and they got you guys convinced.
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So I still it was the better choice than America.
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You know, there was enough black people for me to feel comfortable around, but you know, I probably would have gotten into involved in their politics trying to remove that stigma and got myself in trouble, you know, until I saw this couple on YouTube that were in Kenya.
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They were from Atlanta, and I started following them on YouTube, and I'm like, Kenya look like a straight by.
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And I had never been to Africa.
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I tried to go, I was in Spain and uh when yeah, I think we were in one of those Middle East wars or something, and they wouldn't let Americans fly over to Africa, so I didn't get there.
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And as I said before, I never really had a desire to go to the uh west coast of Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, and those places because years ago, I was like, I am not listening to another slave narrative as long as I live.
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If you haven't read the book Black AF History by Michael Harriet, that book, and I haven't even finished it.
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The one first third of that book propelled me to speed up my mood.
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Because there's some truths in there about black history in America that are just mind-blowing, you know, that okay, they definitely didn't want us to know these things.
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So then when Kenya popped up, I was like, well, let me go visit Kenya.
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I was gonna retire a year from when I actually did.
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But once I got to Kenya, I thought, well, I'm pulling the trigger now.
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This is it.
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And to this day, you know, I'm I'm upset that I didn't do this 20 years sooner.
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I missed so much of a full life of being black, comfortable in my own skin, that I'm like, I could have done this 20 years ago and been so, so happy by now.
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Since I've been here, I really actually forget that I'm not Kenyan.
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So, what about it is like made you feel that way?
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Is it because there are so many black people?
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Is it because of how Kenyans have embraced you in their their culture?
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Like, kind of paint a picture.
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All of that.
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So Kenyans, they're the nicest people I've ever met.
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Condé Nas, the Travel Magazine, named Kenyans the nicest people in the entire world.
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And they actually are, you know, you gotta know people to get things done.
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But you meet people who introduce you to other people, introduce you to other people.
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So anything you want done, you can get it done.
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It is gonna cost you, you know, but it's a fair price.
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Like right now, I have a residency permit approved for a retirement visa, but I haven't exercised it because if I exercise that, I can't invest here.
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And businesses are so easy to start up here that I want to do that.
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And I don't need any residency to start a business.
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I can start a business.
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And you know, for Americans, they give you a five-year multi-entry visa, and that's what I want.
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But now, you know, they just embrace you, they welcome you, they love you.
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Kenya's 98% black, but there are, you know, Indians, there are Italians here, the Swahili are kind of Arabic type people, they all speak English, and that's that's a big plus, you know.
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Everybody speaks English, so you don't have to learn a language.
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I mean, if you want to learn Swahili, go ahead.
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I got a buddy that's just retired, he got his wife to retire early.
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He's got the same mindset I am about America.
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When we go back, like I went for London's day, I rented a car.
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My whole thought process was don't speed, don't get stopped by the police because you might not make it back to Kenya.
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I literally had a fear of not getting back to Kenya the entire week I was in America.
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Yes, I didn't go out.
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I told one of my buddies I was there, you know.
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I saw my daughter and my grandkids and my family, but outside of that, I stayed in the house because I was afraid I might not get back to Kenya for some reason.
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You know, I realized it's a fear that black Americans, you always live it.
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Police get behind you when you're driving.
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We all get anxiety, right?
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Right, and white people don't understand it because they just don't have that fear.
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We gotta pull over, you know, you gotta teach your kids what to do if they're stopped by cops, keep your head on the swivel.
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Don't have to do that here at all.
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The only thing you gotta worry about is walking down the sidewalk with your cell phone too close to the curve.
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It is mob justice.
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Oh wow, that now that's different.
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Now that's different.
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They do not like thieves here.
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I go, you know, to the gym or wherever you go, you don't have to put a lock on your locker because nobody's gonna take anything.
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You know, I take my golf clubs when I finish, I say just put it in the parking lot, I'll get it on my way out, it's gonna be there.
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If I don't get it, it'll be there the next day.
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They will have put it away for you.
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You know, it's just so comfortable and so sweet.
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They do their little crimes and they protest anything.
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And when they protest, they get results.
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They protest until they get results, and nobody's operating.
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And that's something that's very different.
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Like you said two important things, and I want to make sure we kind of circle back a little bit on it.
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Is one, the emotional and psychological labor that we expend in energy in the United States, even when we are law-abiding citizens, minding our own black business, you know, the back of our mind, we are eyes behind our heads, head on a swivel, because you don't know, and you know that the consequences of not knowing or not anticipating what could happen are great.
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So it is all with good reason because we have so many examples.
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And so being outside of the US, you know, you have said it, I have said it.
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Like when I go back to the states, my world is smaller.
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And when I'm outside of the United States, my life is so expansive.
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And that's reflected in, you know, the people that I, you know, spend my time with, and I hear it in your story and your experiences in Kenya.
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You know, you know that just being able to walk around with peace of mind and inhabit your black body isn't a crime, right?
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By virtue of your existence is not a crime, and we can't say that from the country of our birth.
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When I ride my motorcycle, I see warthogs, I see zebra, I see giraffes.
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You know, just like wow, just just wandering about.
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Baboons, baboons.
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I usually stop if it's a trooper baboon.
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I kind of stop and and near them, not in the middle, because you know, the the dominant male be on alert.
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But they don't buy even on the golf course.
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You you be gazelle and zebra on the on the greens.
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I got a golf membership,$500 roughly for five years.
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I have reciprocal use at over 30 golf courses throughout Kenya.
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One, you know, one in Tanzania, one in Rwanda, one in Uganda.
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And when I play these courses, literally 18 holes is either free or five or seven dollars.
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And these courses are absolutely beautiful.
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You know, in America, it cost me 100 to 200 to play one course one day.
00:16:10.970 --> 00:16:20.810
So definitely being in Kenya has allowed you not only to retire, but what I'm hearing is retire with confidence, peace of mind.
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You have established community, it sounds, and lower cost of living.
00:16:26.650 --> 00:16:27.130
Definitely.
00:16:27.210 --> 00:16:32.410
Like my two-bedroom condo, penthouse, 17th floor, cost me 55k.
00:16:32.730 --> 00:16:38.250
My monthly maintenance condo association fee is roughly$35 a month.
00:16:40.330 --> 00:16:41.930
That is wild.
00:16:42.410 --> 00:16:48.490
And if you wanted to rent, like I'm in a one-bedroom now, it's pretty good size, but I paid$540 a month.
00:16:48.650 --> 00:16:54.570
I'm in the areas called Westlands, Ken Lamani, Kilaleshua, Ladington, and Parkman.
00:16:54.650 --> 00:16:58.250
They're all right next to each other, but those are the highest rental in Nairobi.
00:16:59.050 --> 00:17:26.089
For people who are listening to this conversation and their curiosity has been piqued, because the United States, for most of our lifetimes, and probably our parents' lifetime, has done a really great job at spoon feeding us propaganda about the continent, so much so that a lot of us either we don't know or have misperceptions about what Africa is.
00:17:26.250 --> 00:17:39.209
You know, we think about Africa in its totality as if it's one country and not an actual continent, that it's comprised of millions of people in many countries and different languages and dialects and what have you.
00:17:39.449 --> 00:17:50.809
And now I feel like, especially during this Black Sit movement, that it's our opportunity in conversations like this to showcase what life is really like there.
00:17:51.129 --> 00:18:00.009
So for somebody who's listening to this and you know, you piqued their curiosity, what is it that they need to know that they that you haven't shared already?
00:18:00.329 --> 00:18:12.969
When you say spoon-fed about Africa, we've been spoon-fed about America, about the American dream of having a big home and expensive cars, and that is your measure of success.
00:18:13.129 --> 00:18:18.969
And you spend your whole life working to spend it to show people that you have it like that, right?
00:18:19.129 --> 00:18:20.969
That is the ultimate goal.
00:18:21.289 --> 00:18:31.609
Here, me having an apartment in a high-rise building, I am the top of the food chain, you know, and people aspire to get there.
00:18:32.169 --> 00:18:41.769
But like in America, I in Florida, I had a four-bedroom house, three bathrooms, swimming pool, hot tub, living by myself.
00:18:42.329 --> 00:18:48.969
And and I swear to the as soon as I got the kenya, I was like, why in the fuck am I living like that?
00:18:49.769 --> 00:18:52.569
It is totally unnecessary.
00:18:53.209 --> 00:18:58.409
I was sold that dream that that was a success in life, and it is not.
00:18:59.209 --> 00:19:00.729
But you know, that's what we do.
00:19:00.809 --> 00:19:06.329
We want six figures, and you know, we want to we want all these luxurious things.
00:19:06.729 --> 00:19:10.889
I am 75% happier here than I've ever been in America.
00:19:11.529 --> 00:19:11.769
Ever.
00:19:11.929 --> 00:19:16.889
And it's a simple like I don't really have to do anything, and it's just daily.
00:19:17.049 --> 00:19:21.369
It's got all the modern, like, I'm going to see a movie after this.
00:19:21.849 --> 00:19:25.209
My movie ticket was five dollars.
00:19:25.529 --> 00:19:32.649
My popcorn's gonna be a dollar fifty, my soda's gonna be another dollar if that 75 cents, you know.
00:19:32.729 --> 00:19:38.489
I'm gonna get a soda, popcorn, and a hot dog, and I'm not gonna spend$15 total.
00:19:38.649 --> 00:19:51.209
And I've got you know, reserve seats that recline, IMAX screen, you know, 3D, you know, that that kind of that's the kind of stuff you get here.
00:19:51.529 --> 00:19:58.889
And you know, for locals, yeah, that might be expensive and extravagant for them, but they have it, and it's always crowded.
00:19:59.289 --> 00:20:11.689
But uh the fact that you can go to a movie with two people and not spend$20 and get popcorn sodas, hot dog, and movie tickets and reserve seats is just you know amazing, right?
00:20:12.089 --> 00:20:13.129
Yeah, we haven't.
00:20:13.209 --> 00:20:21.049
I mean, I don't even I would have to think real hard and long, maybe when I was a kid.
00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:23.769
When's the last time I could do all that?
00:20:24.089 --> 00:20:28.729
Right for under 20, they definitely and not in my adulthood, right?
00:20:28.809 --> 00:20:31.209
And if I go out, I drink scotch.
00:20:31.369 --> 00:20:33.369
Most of the people here drink Johnny Walker.
00:20:33.449 --> 00:20:40.169
I can't stand Johnny Walker, but I drink scotch, you know, and a double of scotch is like seven dollars.
00:20:41.929 --> 00:20:46.249
A double of scotch would cost me$40 in America, at least.
00:20:46.489 --> 00:20:48.649
Of Glenn Limit$12 or$15.
00:20:49.369 --> 00:20:58.329
You get a double here, and and it's like, you know, a thousand shillings, which is like seven dollars and fifty cents.
00:21:02.169 --> 00:21:03.849
You know, eating here.
00:21:04.009 --> 00:21:08.729
I buy my I cook daily for the most part, or I'll I'll go get something.
00:21:08.809 --> 00:21:12.729
They got really, really good restaurants, really, really good food, except the beef.
00:21:12.809 --> 00:21:15.129
I ain't I'm not too crazy about the beef here.
00:21:15.369 --> 00:21:24.649
However, somebody hooked me up with a South African beef company that delivers, and now my ribeys are right, my fillets are right.
00:21:25.049 --> 00:21:33.049
I can get wagu beef, uh a ribeye wagu beef for for like what's that for like$14.
00:21:34.809 --> 00:21:36.649
Have it delivered, grill it up.
00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:37.929
So that's all.
00:21:38.089 --> 00:21:43.529
I got a great seafood restaurant that I go to, even uh they got a little Chinatown.
00:21:43.609 --> 00:21:44.489
Um I go there.
00:21:44.809 --> 00:21:46.969
There's one spot, I got some really good Chinese foods.
00:21:47.289 --> 00:21:48.409
So I I get that.
00:21:48.489 --> 00:21:56.009
But but dinner for two, bottle of wine, cook uh appetizer, main course, dessert.
00:21:56.489 --> 00:22:02.329
If you spend$70, you're probably at the most expensive, one of the most expensive restaurants here.
00:22:03.209 --> 00:22:03.769
It's time.
00:22:04.169 --> 00:22:05.609
Anything you want is here.
00:22:05.769 --> 00:22:09.609
And then I've gotten to the point where I crave their staple Bugali.
00:22:09.849 --> 00:22:17.689
It's just some flour and water that they mix up, heat up, and beat up, and and they just eat it with everything, right?
00:22:17.849 --> 00:22:20.249
But I have gotten to the point where I crave it now.
00:22:20.329 --> 00:22:23.369
So once a week I go to this mall, this Wahili place.
00:22:24.009 --> 00:22:30.409
With the pace of life in the United States, it's easy to let life move on and you miss things.
00:22:30.569 --> 00:22:40.249
And so now with this slower pace, like you're able to observe these different nuances, you're able to appreciate, you know, a gazelle on the golf course when you're playing, right?
00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:45.449
The only thing that Kenya probably doesn't have is uh because it's on the equator, is ski.
00:22:45.769 --> 00:22:54.249
Outside of skiing, you got mountains, you got hiking, of course, you got wild animals and like the kind of you know, and lions do get out.
00:22:55.449 --> 00:22:57.929
They do they do get out of the national parks.
00:22:58.729 --> 00:23:03.129
All right, Jeff, you had me till you said that our the lions are not contained.
00:23:03.529 --> 00:23:09.209
I haven't come across any, but 20 minutes from where I live, they uh they do have lions on cameras taking.
00:23:09.849 --> 00:23:10.729
Dogs and whatnot.
00:23:10.889 --> 00:23:12.089
But the coastline.
00:23:12.169 --> 00:23:13.529
And this is what I'll emphasize.
00:23:13.609 --> 00:23:17.209
I don't know if Kenya needs to step up their tourism game.
00:23:17.449 --> 00:23:19.529
Cause I've been to Zanzibar.
00:23:19.769 --> 00:23:22.329
I've got Deionni beating Zanzibar all day.
00:23:22.489 --> 00:23:23.849
You can swim with the dolphins.
00:23:23.929 --> 00:23:25.449
The water's crystal clear.
00:23:25.609 --> 00:23:26.969
You can go snorkeling.
00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:30.089
But the difference is Kenya, Deion has nightlife.
00:23:30.249 --> 00:23:31.369
Zanzibar doesn't.
00:23:31.449 --> 00:23:35.209
And there are no major hotels or anything on their beaches.
00:23:35.529 --> 00:23:44.649
You know, a few Italians got some restaurants, a bunch of little shacks of local businesses, hustlers, what they call them, set up a lot all along the beaches and stuff.
00:23:44.729 --> 00:23:46.409
There are no major chains.
00:23:46.969 --> 00:23:48.649
Every beach is open to the public.
00:23:48.809 --> 00:23:49.609
It's just beautiful.
00:23:49.689 --> 00:23:53.209
Now Deani is cool, but my favorite beach is Watambu.
00:23:53.529 --> 00:23:55.929
They have a beach called Seven Island Beach.
00:23:56.089 --> 00:24:01.449
And they have a beach called Gorota, which is for people who kite surf, windsurf.
00:24:01.609 --> 00:24:07.849
But I like the body surf, so the waves are just right enough to just dive in and carry yourself forward.
00:24:08.009 --> 00:24:12.649
But the water's crystal clear and you can walk for miles and miles and miles and miles.
00:24:12.729 --> 00:24:16.089
And then the tide goes way out at Parch of the Day.
00:24:30.489 --> 00:24:31.529
It is so chill.
00:24:31.689 --> 00:24:36.729
And an Airbnb down there, you know, I kind of like my accommodation is pretty decent.
00:24:36.889 --> 00:24:40.329
But if I spend$40 a knife on Airbnb, I've splurged.
00:24:40.569 --> 00:24:43.289
I know people are gonna be booking their plane tickets now.
00:24:45.609 --> 00:24:47.209
Exactly, exactly.
00:24:47.369 --> 00:24:55.529
It is uh, and then down there, I've I've you know I've gone to uh Malindi, there's a just about 40 minutes north of Malindi.
00:24:55.849 --> 00:25:01.929
They've got sand dunes, and you know, you put your little Arab wrap on and you ride four-wheel vehicles.
00:25:02.249 --> 00:25:05.289
People might think you're in Dubai, but no, you're in Kenya.
00:25:05.529 --> 00:25:08.969
They got balloon rise, they got parasailing.
00:25:09.209 --> 00:25:12.489
Only thing I don't see uh pleasure boats here.
00:25:12.729 --> 00:25:15.449
There are a lot more uh Americans moving here.
00:25:15.529 --> 00:25:18.489
Of course, we have an expat group, they're doing a friends giving thing.
00:25:18.649 --> 00:25:22.089
I will go every now and again, but I got my own people here.
00:25:23.529 --> 00:25:26.569
It's nice to get out of the expat bubble.
00:25:26.729 --> 00:25:26.889
Right.
00:25:27.129 --> 00:25:34.569
It's good to have some level of familiarity, you know, especially in the beginning, because you know, you're going to somewhere unfamiliar.
00:25:34.729 --> 00:25:49.689
But you're right, like the longer you live in a place and you make those local connections and you, you know, you vibe with the people that you vibe with, you become less dependent on getting to know more people in the expat bubble.
00:25:49.769 --> 00:25:51.529
You start to not interact as much.
00:25:51.769 --> 00:25:58.809
And you know, don't get me wrong, some people they need that support, especially single women that come here, and it's a it's a great, great support group.
00:25:58.889 --> 00:25:59.529
Don't get me wrong.
00:25:59.609 --> 00:26:03.209
I I pay attention to their WhatsApp channels, I see what's going on.
00:26:03.289 --> 00:26:14.969
Sometimes I show up and all, but you know, I've always been an independent traveler, so I you know, I go somewhere, I merge into the culture, and you know, I eat what they eat and places like that.
00:26:15.049 --> 00:26:16.889
Like I went to Pakistan one time now.
00:26:16.969 --> 00:26:19.849
I'm not eating street food in Pakistan, nor India.
00:26:19.929 --> 00:26:21.449
But I'll eat street food here.
00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:28.889
You know, there's some boiled eggs, some sausages, and their favorite, they call Yoman Choma, which is barbecue goat.
00:26:29.129 --> 00:26:30.409
Oh, that sounds good.
00:26:30.649 --> 00:26:34.009
Oh, and about MPSA, which they should have that in America.
00:26:34.089 --> 00:26:35.529
I do everything from my phone.
00:26:35.689 --> 00:26:38.329
There's an app that's tied to my Kenyan phone number.
00:26:38.489 --> 00:26:40.249
I pay for everything through that app.
00:26:40.409 --> 00:26:46.969
Go to the grocery store, they put my number in, it prompts me with the amount to pay, and I put in my pen, amount is paid.
00:26:47.049 --> 00:26:49.369
I haven't had cash in my hand in a year.
00:26:49.529 --> 00:26:50.009
Don't need it.
00:26:50.089 --> 00:26:51.609
No debit card, no nothing.
00:26:51.689 --> 00:26:53.049
Because you know, I bank in America.
00:26:53.129 --> 00:26:58.969
I do have a bank account here, and they got a I got a savings account that pays 10% annual interest rate.
00:26:59.209 --> 00:27:04.969
Minimum 100,000 shillings, which is about 700 some odd dollars, but it pays 10% annual.
00:27:05.529 --> 00:27:05.929
10%?
00:27:06.649 --> 00:27:13.289
Yeah, so I put that$700, whatever dollars in there every month religiously, and I don't touch it.
00:27:13.449 --> 00:27:15.369
I use this app called Remitly.
00:27:15.449 --> 00:27:19.769
There's a couple other ones to transfer money into my MPESA account.
00:27:19.849 --> 00:27:30.409
And I can put up to what is it, like$450,000 shillings, which is about$3,000 a day you can transact maximum, but then the next day you you write back to square one.
00:27:30.809 --> 00:27:39.369
So, you know, to pay for my condo, I've been putting money into that 10% saves account until it's time to pay the whole thing.
00:27:39.689 --> 00:27:44.809
So I'm sure Visa, MasterCard, and all of them do not want that in America.
00:27:44.969 --> 00:27:49.769
It is a genius app, and and all of Africa is going on board.
00:27:49.849 --> 00:27:55.289
They have it in Tanzania, and I think West Africa is finally getting wind of it.
00:27:55.529 --> 00:28:04.969
But yeah, it is, you know, I don't even leave here with a wallet because I got a picture of my passport and my visa and my phone, so I don't even carry a wallet or cash.
00:28:05.129 --> 00:28:11.609
And what I really like here, people, children, kids every day are outside.
00:28:11.849 --> 00:28:18.569
It is so many people outside in the neighborhood, everybody's outside until business is done.
00:28:18.729 --> 00:28:21.449
I mean, outside, little kids just playing.
00:28:21.529 --> 00:28:24.409
And I be like, that boy can't be more than two.
00:28:24.489 --> 00:28:25.689
Who is he with?
00:28:27.289 --> 00:28:28.889
But nobody's messing with the kid.
00:28:28.969 --> 00:28:34.009
Even in my building, you go downstairs to the playground area, kids down there getting elevated by themselves.
00:28:34.169 --> 00:28:36.249
I say, you know, they can't do this in America.
00:28:36.489 --> 00:28:38.889
No, come on, come on, missing.
00:28:39.449 --> 00:28:40.089
Missing.
00:28:40.489 --> 00:28:43.849
They'll be, you know, getting themselves into trouble.
00:28:44.089 --> 00:28:50.089
It's a shame that our kids have lost their ability to be children, especially black children.
00:28:50.249 --> 00:28:55.209
They get adultified much earlier than any other ethnicity.
00:28:55.449 --> 00:28:59.609
I see the same thing here and in other countries that I've traveled to where kids are kids.
00:28:59.689 --> 00:29:08.889
You know, they're playing on playgrounds, they're not in their phones, they're interacting not just with themselves, but they'll have you know intergenerational relationships.
00:29:08.969 --> 00:29:24.409
They'll be playing with their grandparents, aunt and uncles, it warms the heart because it helps me remember that the way we live in America, one, it's not normal, and that not everybody is like this.
00:29:24.569 --> 00:29:27.929
Everybody in America is just struggling.
00:29:28.169 --> 00:29:33.609
They want to look as if they're not, but living paycheck to paycheck.
00:29:33.769 --> 00:29:34.249
Yeah.
00:29:34.489 --> 00:29:35.289
Right, right.
00:29:35.449 --> 00:29:36.809
Oh, I got a chance.
00:29:37.049 --> 00:29:44.329
So someone who met me, I don't know, through Blackit or some online deal, this woman in uh California.
00:29:44.489 --> 00:29:46.969
Her son is marrying a Kenyan woman.
00:29:47.129 --> 00:29:51.529
And so there's a dowry ceremony process or whatever.
00:29:51.769 --> 00:29:53.049
And she reached out to me.
00:29:53.129 --> 00:29:55.689
She was like, I don't know any older men over there.
00:29:55.769 --> 00:30:00.409
And I need my son needs an older guy to represent him for this dowry thing.
00:30:00.569 --> 00:30:05.849
Before she could finish, I'd be like, Oh yeah, I'll be glad to do that because I want to see what it's like.
00:30:06.489 --> 00:30:12.569
So a young man comes here, they pick me up, and we go probably two and a half hour ride to meet the girl's family.
00:30:12.649 --> 00:30:15.049
And I, you know, I don't know how it's gonna happen.
00:30:15.209 --> 00:30:22.889
But as we're driving, she was like, So my family's property starts here, and then we're driving and driving and driving.
00:30:23.129 --> 00:30:24.809
She's like, and it is here.
00:30:24.969 --> 00:30:25.689
I was like, What?
00:30:25.849 --> 00:30:27.129
This is all your land?
00:30:27.449 --> 00:30:29.529
I was like, You got a sister.
00:30:30.169 --> 00:30:36.169
I get to the house, the house is probably 60 years old, corrugated, walls, and roof.
00:30:36.409 --> 00:30:43.449
It is nothing fancy at all, you know, and they cook the traditional dinner and I had to eat it, you know.
00:30:43.929 --> 00:30:54.329
And then the two of the older gentlemen come into the room with me and the young man, and they start discussing what's how this diary thing works and so on and so forth.
00:30:54.649 --> 00:30:57.529
I didn't record it because I didn't, you know, that's a lot of respect.
00:30:57.609 --> 00:30:58.329
I didn't ask.
00:30:58.409 --> 00:31:01.129
I was like, okay, but I'm like all ears.
00:31:01.209 --> 00:31:03.129
I'm like, this is so interesting.
00:31:03.209 --> 00:31:05.449
And I'm like, what is the dowry?
00:31:05.609 --> 00:31:08.649
Because I'm still not getting what they needed for the diary.
00:31:08.969 --> 00:31:18.569
And you know, and he's like, Well, what I did for my wife, I just paid what I could afford over a certain amount of time until it was enough.
00:31:18.809 --> 00:31:20.489
And you know, they have a sense of humor.
00:31:20.569 --> 00:31:23.609
I'm like, so you say he could be paying you forever.
00:31:23.849 --> 00:31:26.489
And it was like, I said, so what's the initial thing?
00:31:26.649 --> 00:31:30.809
And they they had a list and uh, you know, they had it written out and everything.
00:31:30.969 --> 00:31:37.209
You gotta bring uh a cow, two sheep, a ram, some particular type of goat.
00:31:37.369 --> 00:31:40.969
So they're getting married in September, and I gotta go back to do the actual sermon.
00:31:41.129 --> 00:31:44.969
I said, So do I need to roll up in here with the cows and shit?
00:31:45.049 --> 00:31:45.849
Because I will.
00:31:59.369 --> 00:32:04.649
It probably 2,000 out of his pocket for all of that.
00:32:04.809 --> 00:32:07.689
And I was like, well, you know, that's up to you.
00:32:07.769 --> 00:32:10.729
But if you want to bring the cow shit, I'm with that.
00:32:11.049 --> 00:32:15.209
I would love to walk up in that in that party with some cow.
00:32:15.449 --> 00:32:19.449
And then there's a party, he has to pay for the neighbors and stuff come.
00:32:19.769 --> 00:32:25.609
So he's gonna buy the food, you know, and they wear costumes and they do traditional dances and stuff.
00:32:25.769 --> 00:32:31.049
I can't wait to September when he gets married, because I'm gonna be all up in there, you know.
00:32:31.289 --> 00:32:35.049
But you know, I got to experience that traditional thing, you know.
00:32:35.209 --> 00:32:37.449
It was all so, so cool, so cool.
00:32:37.609 --> 00:32:41.129
I'm always into, you know, just like that time I went to the Massai Mar.
00:32:41.529 --> 00:32:44.809
I went on uh to Massai Village and got a tour.
00:32:45.049 --> 00:32:46.489
And dude had me in tears, man.
00:32:46.569 --> 00:33:04.329
I was like, man, you know, I would give anything to live as my ancestors live, my indigenous ancestors live, you know, if it was in a TP in America, I would have rather, much rather grown up that way, living off the land, living one with nature, you know, versus that shit I grew up in.
00:33:05.209 --> 00:33:13.849
You know, and I was like, so at night, the eldest son sleeps in the hut with the goats, and he took me into a hut.
00:33:14.009 --> 00:33:17.529
And I was like, he said, you want to come, you can spend the night.
00:33:17.609 --> 00:33:24.169
I was like, Yeah, I'm not at that point yet, but a little too real, a little too real.
00:33:25.129 --> 00:33:27.609
I'll keep that invitation in thought.
00:33:27.769 --> 00:33:30.249
Yeah, I might do it, I might do it one day, though.
00:33:30.329 --> 00:33:33.369
I just might go spend a weekend at a massive village.
00:33:33.529 --> 00:33:43.289
The women build their homes if they take sticks and cow dung and they mud the wall until they all smoothed out and and there's a solid structure.
00:33:43.529 --> 00:33:51.769
The beds are made of sticks and they just lay on the sticks and they're like, you know, man, I say, y'all living like y'all lived 10,000 years ago.
00:33:51.849 --> 00:33:55.609
I'm like, this white man came down here and messed it all up.
00:33:55.769 --> 00:34:11.049
They need for nothing, they don't have electricity, they don't have running water, you know, they they have their livestock, and you know, if they got it, if they can afford it, they got two, three wives, you know, and and uh yeah, it's just that's that's life, man.
00:34:11.210 --> 00:34:16.090
Living as one with the earth, you know, they have land that nobody's taken from them.
00:34:16.250 --> 00:34:21.130
So unlike our people in America, they just took our land and gave it to Europeans.
00:34:21.449 --> 00:34:24.809
They keep taking from us, they want us to have nothing.
00:34:25.049 --> 00:34:39.210
We come from a strong people, we have strong DNA, and I think one of the beautiful things about this movement is that we are finding and making home wherever we are in this world.
00:34:39.529 --> 00:34:40.570
Right, right, right.
00:34:40.889 --> 00:34:43.210
Building those tides or rebuilding.
00:34:43.369 --> 00:34:48.570
At the top of the conversation, you said you wish you had done it 20 years earlier.
00:34:48.809 --> 00:34:54.329
So, for someone who's listening, what piece of advice would you give them?
00:34:54.650 --> 00:34:55.210
Visit.
00:34:55.369 --> 00:35:00.969
Go and visit, come visit Kenya, come visit Tanzania, come visit Rwanda.
00:35:01.210 --> 00:35:02.730
Each has a different flavor.
00:35:02.809 --> 00:35:04.969
Now, I have a buddy in America from Nigeria.
00:35:05.049 --> 00:35:08.809
He said, before you settle in Kenya, you should visit Rwanda.
00:35:08.969 --> 00:35:11.449
Fine, but I visited Kenya first.
00:35:11.610 --> 00:35:16.009
I got here and I just knew I was home, so I didn't really need to go anywhere else.
00:35:16.090 --> 00:35:18.730
I went to uh Tanzania about two months ago.
00:35:18.889 --> 00:35:25.530
I could do Tanzania, it's a little slower pace than Kenya, but I could surely do Tanzania.
00:35:25.849 --> 00:35:28.250
It's a more laid-back version of Kenya.
00:35:28.329 --> 00:35:29.849
They don't speak as much English.
00:35:29.929 --> 00:35:34.809
You probably have to learn Swahili, but they're very relaxed, chill people.
00:35:35.130 --> 00:35:36.570
Cost of limb is a little lower.
00:35:36.889 --> 00:35:40.490
And in Dar Islam, it's a little lower than it is in Nairobi.
00:35:40.730 --> 00:35:47.450
You're on the coast, beachfront restaurants, beachfront bars and clubs, and the people there are just as nice as they are here.
00:35:47.610 --> 00:35:50.250
I heard Rwanda is probably the most modern.
00:35:50.409 --> 00:35:51.130
I haven't been.
00:35:51.289 --> 00:35:55.849
I'll probably go in January when I need to travel again and I'll check it out.
00:35:56.010 --> 00:36:01.289
But uh for me, Rwanda, smaller population, and it's more of a quiet life.
00:36:01.369 --> 00:36:05.369
But if a quiet life is what you want, I wanted to be somewhere coastal.
00:36:05.530 --> 00:36:11.769
I need to go to the beach and just you know, meditate and unwind on occasion.
00:36:11.849 --> 00:36:15.530
And it's a$14 train ride from here to the coast.
00:36:16.329 --> 00:36:23.450
So, or if you want to do kind of like a luxury first-class train ride, that's about$80.
00:36:23.929 --> 00:36:25.929
Visit any place you think you want to live.
00:36:26.010 --> 00:36:34.170
You know, me, Kenya being my first African country, I feel a little remorse that I didn't visit Africa a lot sooner.
00:36:34.490 --> 00:36:40.730
But I will tell you, if you're coming, if you come in East Africa, you might as well do at least Kenya and Tanzania.
00:36:40.970 --> 00:36:48.090
Nairobi, Dar Asalaam, or if you come to Kenya, do Nairobi and you do Mam Diani, which is next to Mombasa, basically.
00:36:48.250 --> 00:36:50.490
Kenya has a spirit that captures you.
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You don't know how to put your finger on it.
00:36:53.289 --> 00:36:56.170
But the first visit here, I decided to move.
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That's where I wanted to be.
00:36:57.530 --> 00:37:05.929
And so I say just visit with no expectations, and then you see how you feel about this Wakanda that I live in.
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Well, I'm coming to Wakanda in September.
00:37:09.450 --> 00:37:10.889
I already told you so.
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That's a done deal.
00:37:13.369 --> 00:37:14.970
That is a done deal.
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Where can people find you?
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I have a YouTube channel, moves underscore black, Facebook, Jeffrey Walker, and see my picture, Instagram, J D U B404.
00:37:28.490 --> 00:37:29.929
J.404.
00:37:30.490 --> 00:37:34.570
Thank you, Jeff, for being a guest on the Black Sick Global Podcast.
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This conversation has been inspiring on so many levels.
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I appreciate your candor.
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You know, I look forward to, like I said, getting there myself in a few months.
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Come visit Kenya and be 100% totally comfortably black.
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Thank you for listening to the Blackseat Global podcast.
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For more information on today's episode, be sure to visit our website at blacksickglobal.com.
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It's not only possible to live out your dreams unbothered and in full color, it is your birthright.
