Pictures from April

I took a few pictures on my phone last month as I was around Tala and Nairobi. I don’t have any pictures of Tala because I’m a bit embarrassed to walk around with a camera. I’m sure it would draw a lot of attention if I were to take some pictures of my favorite cafes, the streets, where I buy my vegetables, the bus station, etc. Everyone knows me and is used to me by now, but I’d still feel uncomfortable. I guess that’s why it’s nice to have a camera on the phone that I can just whip out and take a picture real quick. At least it’s a common thing, because even the local guys do that stuff.

This guy is Jaffeth. He is a tailor who works in Tala market. His little booth sits outside of the barber shop where I get my beard trimmed. I always sit and chat with him about stuff, he’s a lively character and he never asks me for tea or to sponsor anyone, but I make sure if I need any tailoring I bring it to him. I’ve been visiting the kinyozi for a year now ever since I came back to Kenya in March, 2008 without my own beard trimmer. Mine broke while I was in California. I think it’s better this way because I get to sit around and chat to the dudes, talk about the weather, gossip about people walking by, etc. It costs 20 Kenyan shillings to get a beard trim (less than half a US dollar).

Next to the barber shop there is a store which sells stuff for the farm/garden. I’ve never gone in there, but I’ve always noticed the sign above the door which says “Monsanto.” Those bastards are a huge, multi-national agriculture biotechnology company (they genetically modify stuff). They are responsible for wonderful technology such as Roundup and suicide seeds (also known as Terminator Seeds), and the famous Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser case (where they sued, and won, a seventy-year-old farmer for “patent infringement” when their genetically-modified canola crop blew, in the wind, over to his farm). Bah humbug.

To finish on a cute note, this is Jessica. She’s the daughter of the house help at my friend’s place. She comes every Sunday when her mom comes to wash clothes, cook lunch, and clean up around the house. It’s not uncommon, by the way, for families to have domestic help. People work long hours in Nairobi so they don’t have time to come home and do all the chores. There’s no such thing as a “9-5″ in Kenya, because commuting the 10 miles to work takes an hour or more both ways, and you usually don’t even get off at 5, more like 6! Anyways, I was practicing my Swahili with her. She was a sweet little girl.

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