Jomo Kenyatta Fairgrounds, Kisumu

Second straight day in Kisumu, my laptop is in the shop for "repairs," which makes me really nervous considering that the dude told me, "Our copy of Windows XP is pirated." I'm not used to the heat here, so I fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon trying to keep cool under the fan in my hotel room. Woke up at 4:30 sweating even more than before. Was really in need of some ball-point pen therapy.

Walked with my sketchpad and ball-point pen to Jomo Kenyatta Fairgrounds in the middle of town. It was a bit depressing at first; not as scenic as the parks in Bangkok or Boston, and mostly full of drunks and idlers sleeping in the grass. Sat there for almost two hours drawing, an easy mzungu target, but not a single person asked me for money. A street kid even came over, after rummaging through the garbage cans behind me, and watched me draw.

"Good," he said. "Good, good." He seemed content to be impressed with my drawing, and went away. Wow, how cynical am I?