… has become a favorite phrase of ours. For those of you who don’t know Kiswahili, the literal translation is, “I am not a tourist”. From negotiating matatu fares to haggling for clothing, food, etc. I think we’ve used that phrase more than any other. However, I think the phrase means more to us than it does to Kenyans. Matatus are still scary and we count our blessings before getting into one, and haggling is still difficult and tiring, although we’re getting better.
Most of our practice comes during our weekend visits to Nairobi. Because we have lots of volunteer friends and we’ve needed several big-ticket items, we’ve spent a lot of time in the city lately. Last weekend we made a feast with some of the Nairobi-based volunteers and took a trip to Nairobi’s National Park “Safari Walk” (it’s really just a zoo… San Diego’s is better).
This weekend was awesome! The rain and the mud were pretty lame, but a few of our friends came from Nairobi to visit us. I suppose I should get used to the weather because one of the rainy seasons is coming
soon — maybe I’ll even buy some “gum boots.” This wet dirt road leads from the college to the highway, which runs through Tala and eventually to Kangundo a few kilometers down the road. As we were waiting for a matatu (like a taxi) by the highway I stopped to take a picture with this cow. Yeah, I know I’m not very close to him, but he had big horns and I’ve seen too many videos of stupid tourists getting eaten by lions and stomped by elephants. No thank you! We spent Saturday in a Nairobi suburb where one student wanted us to meet her family, see her neighborhood, and eat some African food.
