Oh, that's funny, man sitting next to me on the matatu, I have the exact same Vera Bradley wallet! WAIT A MINUTE...
Good news is me and my wallet made it home safely, but not after quite the little adventure.
I try to avoid matatus whenever possible (the combination of carsickness and sketchy characters onboard makes them a less than desirable method of transportation for me) but yesterday I got caught in the rain and hopped in one to get home without a second thought. I was in the front seat, squeezed next to my seatmate, as you tend to get packed in like sardines in matatus. The tout, the guy who collects the money and generally harasses the passengers, was sitting behind me and started messing with my seatbelt. I turned around to stop him and had a few short words with him, and in retrospect these few seconds when my attention was elsewhere is when it had to have happened, and the tout was totally in on it. I was just boppin' along to the music, having a good time and thinking, "Oh, I should totally take matatus more often! This isn't so bad at all!" when I see an adorable little Vera Bradley strap sticking out from between the legs of the guy next to me! Oh, NO YOU DIDN'T. I grabbed it back first, asked questions later. I started yelling at him, because you're supposed to make a big deal of thievery here so that the public will help you. The man's response? "Oh, that's yours?" Ugh. I turned around and loudly told the tout what had happened, thinking he would rush to my defense, but he just sat there, cause, you know, he was totally in on it. I made sure my phone and everything else were with me and said I wanted to get out, NOW. Some ladies riding in the back of the matatu were really sweet and made sure I was okay before I got out. Then I called my favorite new taxi driver, an adorable old man named James, to come pick me up on the side of the road, and thankfully all ended well for me and my wallet.
Unfortunately that's not all that happened yesterday. Around 1AM I hear these crazy demolition sounds REALLY close to my bedroom window. I looked outside, and about 15 feet away, just past the gate to our compound (which borders the Kibera slum), the rows of tin-built shops bordering us are being torn down. Bizarre, I thought, as I tried to get back to sleep. Then, a short while later, I hear all sorts of war whoops and crazy yelling. I go to wake up my host sister to find out if we're in any danger, and she explained that the city council has been wanting to get rid of those shops forever and they apparently chose the middle of the night to do it because during the day the people wouldn't have allowed it. Well, they totally got caught and a small riot was breaking out! This morning when I looked outside my window I couldn't believe the destruction. Hundreds of Nairobi's poorest people have lost their only livelihood now that their shops were destroyed, and my friend Joseph was explaining to me that almost all of them will be too poor to start over now that their things have been looted and wrecked. It looks like a tornado blazed through my neighborhood, I'm kind of in shock right now.
Good news is me and my wallet made it home safely, but not after quite the little adventure.
I try to avoid matatus whenever possible (the combination of carsickness and sketchy characters onboard makes them a less than desirable method of transportation for me) but yesterday I got caught in the rain and hopped in one to get home without a second thought. I was in the front seat, squeezed next to my seatmate, as you tend to get packed in like sardines in matatus. The tout, the guy who collects the money and generally harasses the passengers, was sitting behind me and started messing with my seatbelt. I turned around to stop him and had a few short words with him, and in retrospect these few seconds when my attention was elsewhere is when it had to have happened, and the tout was totally in on it. I was just boppin' along to the music, having a good time and thinking, "Oh, I should totally take matatus more often! This isn't so bad at all!" when I see an adorable little Vera Bradley strap sticking out from between the legs of the guy next to me! Oh, NO YOU DIDN'T. I grabbed it back first, asked questions later. I started yelling at him, because you're supposed to make a big deal of thievery here so that the public will help you. The man's response? "Oh, that's yours?" Ugh. I turned around and loudly told the tout what had happened, thinking he would rush to my defense, but he just sat there, cause, you know, he was totally in on it. I made sure my phone and everything else were with me and said I wanted to get out, NOW. Some ladies riding in the back of the matatu were really sweet and made sure I was okay before I got out. Then I called my favorite new taxi driver, an adorable old man named James, to come pick me up on the side of the road, and thankfully all ended well for me and my wallet.
Unfortunately that's not all that happened yesterday. Around 1AM I hear these crazy demolition sounds REALLY close to my bedroom window. I looked outside, and about 15 feet away, just past the gate to our compound (which borders the Kibera slum), the rows of tin-built shops bordering us are being torn down. Bizarre, I thought, as I tried to get back to sleep. Then, a short while later, I hear all sorts of war whoops and crazy yelling. I go to wake up my host sister to find out if we're in any danger, and she explained that the city council has been wanting to get rid of those shops forever and they apparently chose the middle of the night to do it because during the day the people wouldn't have allowed it. Well, they totally got caught and a small riot was breaking out! This morning when I looked outside my window I couldn't believe the destruction. Hundreds of Nairobi's poorest people have lost their only livelihood now that their shops were destroyed, and my friend Joseph was explaining to me that almost all of them will be too poor to start over now that their things have been looted and wrecked. It looks like a tornado blazed through my neighborhood, I'm kind of in shock right now.
The view from my window
Here's to hoping that today is less eventful than yesterday...
What an incredible day! Thanks for sharing a glimpse into life in Nairobi.
ReplyDeletePete