I had missed my flight out of Egypt and had to wait two days before I could move on to Kenya. This turned out to be a lucky accident for two reasons. I had two more days to explore Cairo and my later arrival would lead to some wonderful experiences I would have missed had I caught my original flight. Americans have a tragic history with Africa. For two hundred and forty two years we held Africans as slaves. We are still dealing with the residue of that sin to this day. I had flown into Kenyatta International Airport and caught a Matatu into Nairobi, headed for the Iqbal Hotel. Matatus are small Japanese pickup trucks fitted with camper shells and benches. There was one other white person on the trip. Marlene was a school teacher from Canada traveling through Africa on her own. So here I was, a white American in Black Africa. Would the people be friendly or would they see me as someone from a country that had persecuted their ancestors? One of the many racist stereotypes that have been ascribed to African Americans is that they all enjoy their fried chicken and watermelon. The fact that many of them do is beside the point. Traveling down the airport road, the Matatu made a left turn towards downtown Nairobi. And there it was, the first building I would see on the outskirts of Nairobi. The colorful sign above the entrance identified it as a fast food restaurant, Kentucky Fried Chicken. I could not contain my laughter. Everyone looked at me as though I had lost my mind. Soon enough Marlene and I had checked into the Iqbal Hotel. The staff was nice and our shared room was comfortable. But the bathrooms were positively medieval. The Iqbal had become the Iq. We explored Nairobi that afternoon and the next morning we moved to a place Marlene had heard about, Mrs. Roche's. The picture is of the Kenyatta International Conference Center, a 30-storey building located in the central business district of Nairobi. Built between 1966-1973, it was meant as a symbol of the new, independent, Kenya.