Kenya's new neighbor

In three days, Kenya will get a new neighbor on it's northeastern border as the Republic of South Sudan officially becomes the world's newest country. I'm excited to be here for this historic event, though it appears to be a bit of a nonevent for most people here.

I can't find any stories about South Sudan in the printed press here. Now that I'm online, however, I did see a couple stories in the online version of the Daily Nation. This may only be a bias of the newspapers I've been able to find, but most of the news stories are much more local in nature.

For most people here, I think the major news is what has come before July 9th and, more importantly, what will come after independence. All of the Kenyans that I've talked to have repeated the sentiment that stability in the region is crucial for Kenya, economically and politically. Beyond that, I get the sense that this official change is a bit academic to them.

I suppose that's fair, if anticlimactic for me.