Day Four

I’m a bit tired from dancing salsa the night before and consuming moskohijtos which are amazing because instead of rum it’s vodka with just mint mint and sprite. Today I head back to NY INGO to meet a colleague from this summer and try to find the education manager again. No education manager but lunch with my friend who splits her work between Uganda and Kenya is nice and encouraging. After eating a deep friend veggie patty which is really just fried mash potatoes, maize, and maybe chick peas, I decide it’s time to try the local transportation system.

Taxi rides in Nairobi are expensive alone and if I’m going to live here full time for the next 6 months, I must take the bus. To get across town back to where I live, I find out you must take a city bus down town and transfer to a small minibus to get back to my neighborhood, Westland. The city bus is fast and very cheap but once downtown I have no clue where to find the minibus I need. I ask the older gentleman sitting across from me where I can get the Westland minibus and the one clutching a beautiful red pepper kindly tells me he’ll show me where. After crossing through downtown, the red pepper gentleman pounds on the side of the bus indicating he wants to get off. Quickly he grabs a few folded boxes and mumbles to me to follow him. At least that’s what I thought he said. So I jump out in the middle of traffic and chase the man with the pepper who is moving surprisingly fast. Note – this is not meant to be offensive but East Africans move as fast as Minnesotans in the summer. SLOW. When I finally catch up to him a few blocks later and ask where my minibus is, he smiles and says, “Oh, You still here.” Uh yes I am. He points at a few minibuses and heads back into the crowd of people. The minibuses there are not the ones I need but bystanders guide me in the right direction. A block later, I find the minibus and 5 minutes later we are hauling ass through Nairobi, missing several other minibuses by inches. Once out of the minibus, I feel more relaxed and confidently pick my way to the malls near my house.