Thursday, June 29, 2006
CULTURAL NOTE
You may be wondering, what are some cultural highlights of Kenya? Perhaps one of the most widely shared cultural experiences within Kenya, uniting tribes and bringing together men and women alike, is the Spanish language soap opera. There are two: Secrete dia Amor (or something like that) and Cuantos est Mia (or something vaguely resembling that - it’s “When You Were Mine” in English). They both play at 8pm on Saturdays and Sundays, opposite each other on the two main channels (one is owned by the Nation, which also puts out the main daily newspaper and Easy FM; I’m not sure who owns the other one, I think the Standard, which is the other daily newspaper). Secrete is from Venezuala, and Cuantos is from Mexico. They are both dubbed into English, although for some reason some of the Secrete character’s dubbed voices have really strong accents, while others sound US American.
I watch Cuantos because that is the channel that has good reception, but when I was in Eldoret staying with a Kenyan family I got to see Secrete. The plots of the two are remarkably similar (okay, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised). Cuantos centers around a young woman, Paloma, who is from humble origins but has worked her way up to a position in the national Coffee Committee (or something like that) and has had a torrid affair with Diego, who is from the main coffee family of Mexico. Diego broke up with her because he couldn’t psychologically handle loving her SO MUCH and he would occasionally go crazy. This has made Paloma go a little crazy herself. Oh, Diego is married but his wife is having an affair with Diego’s sister’s husband (Miguel), and their baby is actually Miguel’s. I think. Um, lots of other side plots involving all of the women of Diego’s family wanting to DESTROY Paloma, and coffee politic stuff, and Paloma’s boss is in love with her in a whiny sort of way. Whereas Secrete centers around a young woman who is from humble origins but has worked her way up in life as well. She has had a torrid affair with this dude, who is also rich, and i think she had a baby with him, but she is now married to some other dude, and the torrid affair guy is also married to someone else. but they still harbor a deep passion for each other, that she is trying to deny. And her husband was bit by a snake (?) and lots of evil women want to destroy the heroine also. Other side plots involving stuff I really didn’t understand from the one time I saw it.
To say that everyone watches either Cuantos or Secrete is not an exaggeration. I’ve stopped asking whether people watch one and started asking which one they watch. In Eldoret I stayed with Hellen Yego, a wonderful woman who has worked with small scale farmers for many years, doing organizing. Sunday night the two of us, a niece, two adult sons, the 9 year old grandson, the daughter of a cousin, and someone whose relationship to the family I never quite figured out ALL sat down to watch Secrete and declare over the plot advancements. I’ve had a couple experiences of walking down the street and hearing a group of people talking about Diego and Paloma. While studying Swahili I stayed in Nairobi at a place without a TV, so I got a month behind on Cuantos, but Esther Bett (another great Kenyan woman who works with small scale farmers, prisoners, women in Northern Kenya, etc) also watches Cuantos so she could get me up to date on what’s happening. Bethany Ropp (former Kenyan MCCer) told me that out in rural Kenya a 1 ½ year old would pretend to cry when his mother would say “Diego! Diego! Yuko Paloma wapi?” (where is Paloma?).
I don’t have any great explanation for what it is about Mexican and Venezualan soaps that capture the attention and devotion of Kenya. But I’m grateful for it. It gives me an opportunity to share in an experience in which it doesn’t matter that I’m a mzungu (white foreigner). There’s not really anything else that I can participate in with others without a huge gap because I’m American. For example, everyone is watching the World Cup, and I am too. And I’m cheering for the African teams of course (GHANA TOTALLY WON YESTERDAY!!!), but there’s still a big gap between me and the Kenyans watching because I’m white and not African.
So hooray for Spanish language soaps. I, for one, am looking forward to tonight. For a while it looked like Paloma might be Diego’s aunt (!) but now it appears not, and Diego declared his renewed love to Paloma over the phone. They are supposed to meet tonight. I predict Trauma and Horror or Family Obligations will prevent one of them from showing up.
(PS - i wrote this two or three weeks ago. Indeed, Paloma's mother was hit by a car, so she didn't show up, but Diego's psychiatrist didn't tell him that Paloma was in the hospital, so he thought she _just_didn't_care. intense stuff, folks.)
I watch Cuantos because that is the channel that has good reception, but when I was in Eldoret staying with a Kenyan family I got to see Secrete. The plots of the two are remarkably similar (okay, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised). Cuantos centers around a young woman, Paloma, who is from humble origins but has worked her way up to a position in the national Coffee Committee (or something like that) and has had a torrid affair with Diego, who is from the main coffee family of Mexico. Diego broke up with her because he couldn’t psychologically handle loving her SO MUCH and he would occasionally go crazy. This has made Paloma go a little crazy herself. Oh, Diego is married but his wife is having an affair with Diego’s sister’s husband (Miguel), and their baby is actually Miguel’s. I think. Um, lots of other side plots involving all of the women of Diego’s family wanting to DESTROY Paloma, and coffee politic stuff, and Paloma’s boss is in love with her in a whiny sort of way. Whereas Secrete centers around a young woman who is from humble origins but has worked her way up in life as well. She has had a torrid affair with this dude, who is also rich, and i think she had a baby with him, but she is now married to some other dude, and the torrid affair guy is also married to someone else. but they still harbor a deep passion for each other, that she is trying to deny. And her husband was bit by a snake (?) and lots of evil women want to destroy the heroine also. Other side plots involving stuff I really didn’t understand from the one time I saw it.
To say that everyone watches either Cuantos or Secrete is not an exaggeration. I’ve stopped asking whether people watch one and started asking which one they watch. In Eldoret I stayed with Hellen Yego, a wonderful woman who has worked with small scale farmers for many years, doing organizing. Sunday night the two of us, a niece, two adult sons, the 9 year old grandson, the daughter of a cousin, and someone whose relationship to the family I never quite figured out ALL sat down to watch Secrete and declare over the plot advancements. I’ve had a couple experiences of walking down the street and hearing a group of people talking about Diego and Paloma. While studying Swahili I stayed in Nairobi at a place without a TV, so I got a month behind on Cuantos, but Esther Bett (another great Kenyan woman who works with small scale farmers, prisoners, women in Northern Kenya, etc) also watches Cuantos so she could get me up to date on what’s happening. Bethany Ropp (former Kenyan MCCer) told me that out in rural Kenya a 1 ½ year old would pretend to cry when his mother would say “Diego! Diego! Yuko Paloma wapi?” (where is Paloma?).
I don’t have any great explanation for what it is about Mexican and Venezualan soaps that capture the attention and devotion of Kenya. But I’m grateful for it. It gives me an opportunity to share in an experience in which it doesn’t matter that I’m a mzungu (white foreigner). There’s not really anything else that I can participate in with others without a huge gap because I’m American. For example, everyone is watching the World Cup, and I am too. And I’m cheering for the African teams of course (GHANA TOTALLY WON YESTERDAY!!!), but there’s still a big gap between me and the Kenyans watching because I’m white and not African.
So hooray for Spanish language soaps. I, for one, am looking forward to tonight. For a while it looked like Paloma might be Diego’s aunt (!) but now it appears not, and Diego declared his renewed love to Paloma over the phone. They are supposed to meet tonight. I predict Trauma and Horror or Family Obligations will prevent one of them from showing up.
(PS - i wrote this two or three weeks ago. Indeed, Paloma's mother was hit by a car, so she didn't show up, but Diego's psychiatrist didn't tell him that Paloma was in the hospital, so he thought she _just_didn't_care. intense stuff, folks.)
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