Time warp

Despite the noise, dust and general chaos, I like having an office in downtown Nairobi. It gets me out of the apartment and there's a lot of good lunch places to walk to. Our office is in Chesterhouse, along with several other media organizations, so there's a lot of newsstands on our block selling local and international publications.

But these aren't like the newsstands at home -- they basically consist of an array of a few dozen papers and magazines spread out on a blanket, with an absentminded (usually older) person keeping watch. On any given day, the newsstand may or may not have the publication you want, even if it's laid out in front of you. Ask for it and the person just shrugs his shoulders.

And for whatever reason, these newsstands also don't display current editions of the international publications, like Time and The Economist. But to show that the magazine might be available for purchase, they have an old copy lying there, so when I walk into the office every day I'm confronted with Time covers asking whether Michael Phelps will win eight gold medals and what kind of president John Kerry would make. That's not the kind of nostalgia to start your day with.