Kenyans

At church a few weeks ago, we met a couple of Regent grad students from Kenya, and eventually got arround to inviting them over for dinner. Brian is from Nairobi, and Victor from Malindi, on the coast a bit north of Mombasa; they're studying business, with the intent of forming a full service travel agency so that you know exactly what to expect. They have at least some idea of the cultural differences; for example, in Kenya, a good might have someone armed and in camouflage on each floor; those are police, not soldiers, and they're there so you know there's good security and you don't have to worry. The tourist, however, is likely to say to himself, "They feel a need to station a soldier on every floor; it must be dangerous!" I'm not sure to what extent it's possible to say "This hotel is rated as a 5 but it's really a 4, so expect that", across all the different hotels and restaurants and safari tours and such that a tourist might want, and further to what extent they will be able to anticipate that sort of cultural difference. But that's what they're trying for. Very respectful, and willing to ask questions and accept the advice, so quite different from Americans...or at least "Americans who haven't tried every other possibility first."