Took a shower (and I use that term loosely) last night. I meant to take one yesterday morning, but was unsure how to ask Yambura (the house help who does not speak well) slash didn't want to make her do more work when she already had to get Steph ready for school. Usually I just use one bucket with water in it and sort of bathe over it, dunking my head in to wash my hair (there's a vision you didn't need, huh?). But this time I had one bucket of water, stood in another bucket, and used a smaller one to pour the water over me. It worked pretty well but took a long time 'cause I didn't want to spill everywhere. I also scrubbed the hell out of my feet (as in, they stung afterward). Wearing sandals every day, especially with feet prone to sweating, in a place this dusty makes my feet get REAL dirty REAL fast. They are mostly clean now though, and I'm already getting quite the tan line. The pedicure I got with my mom the day I left the States held up pretty well for a while, but now is a bit chipped, and all the paint on two toenails just mysteriously disappeared. It looks kinda silly, but I figure I can hardly stand out anymore than I already do as mzungu, so who cares? As such, I may also be getting my hair braided--hopefully not with extensions like two of the girls in my group have already done. One of them pulls it off well, the other, not so much. If I get my hair done and pull it off, I'll try to get pictures up. If I don't pull it off, y'all will never know.
Friday night a relatively large group of us went into Nairobi and had a wonderful time. It took us a while to find the restaurant, so we walked around like complete tourists--worst feeling in the world. Even though anywhere we go peoploe know we're not from there, generally knowing some of the language and where we are going is enough to not feel horribly out of place. There's a difference between tourists and vistors or travelers (though no different words in Swahili, which bothers me). I hate being a tourist.
Buyt once we found the restaurant, the night was great. I had a ham and cheese and pinapple panini and a salad (I never thought I'd miss salad, but boy, do I) & stole some fries from other kids (with REAL ketchup!, not the strangely sweet tomato sauce they usually serve). Plus a Redd's, which is basically carbonated apple juice that is apparently alcoholic, but I'm not sure I believe them. It tastes like a children's drink.
Dinner was good, and afterward Natalie--who has already had a Kenyan proclaim love to her on her way to school--literally got a plate of meat sent to her. After seeing other people taste it and react, I refused to. Alex and I were a little afraid it was sent as a joke to see what the wazungu would do, but it was amusing anyway.
Afterward we went to a bar called Tacos and all swuished into one corner table. It blasted American music, mostly old hiphop songs, which was rather fun. After about half an hour, Lila and Alex saw two men make out and realized there was a conspicuous lack of women around. We were certain it was a gay bar. When Alex asked someone in the bathroom she got a rather offended, "No!", but there sure were a lot of men around. Later we danced--more between tables than on a dance floor--and probably looked completely ridiculous, but had a great time.
To get home, we all piled into one cab, SEVEN in the back and two in the front, but there was too much weight for the tires, so we climbed out. We tried another one, only five in the back this time, with two in the hatchback trunk, but the driver apparently was not licensed to pick up passengers in that area, so we had to get out again. We ended up taking two cabs and etting a bit lost, but the drivers were kind, and the fare had been decided on before getting in the car, so it wasn't a problem.
I enjoyed the night so much because I missed just hanging out with friends. The group is getting close and class is fun, doing homework together is nice, but it was great just to get to ahng out for a night.
I then spent most of the weekend sleeping and doing homework. Went to church, which is interesting and sometimes beautiful, even if I don't understand.
Yesterday we had a field trip! Nairobi Museum of Natural History and then the University of Nairobi. The museum was interesting but small and we had too much time, ended up sitting around. It was awesome to see exhibits on animals that we're going to see in REAL LIFE, though. They also had a scale that you could stand on and it would tell you how much you weighed in terms of which animal shared your weight. No matter how many people we piled on the scale, we never made it to hippo, just to zebra (whihc weighs more than a lion!). While walking around Rachel Y and Alex and I described our Museum of Natural Wazungu that we should make. There would need to be a whole wing on Chacos and sunscreen, of course.
At the University of Nairobi, we met about six students, talked a bit, and then they each took a small group on a tour. It wasn't too interesting, but was nice to talk to the students, who were fun. Our group got ice cream after our tour too, which was of course wonderful.
At the university, med students get a cadaver (six students per cadaver) in the THIRD WEEK! Pretty amazing. I might have to go into medicine after all, since to me, that was by far the coolest part of the school.
We took matatus to and from the field trip; they're privately owned buses, but are more like VW buses with 12 seats in the back. Kenyans tend to pack about 30 people in each, often with doors open and people stanidng on the outside. We fit the normal amount of peple and thus took two. The vans are decked out with stickers and graffiti, mostly about reggae, Bob Marley, and weed. But on ours there was also one that said, "Easy Skanking". Classy.
The matatus also generally blare American music, sometimes with videos. We were dancing and singing most of the time. ON the way back, our matatu stoppped and someone opened the hatchback and put something in. It was a littler nervewracking: the back of the van open and none of us knowing what was happening. Plus somet guys were hassling a few girls in the van. But soon enough they were gotten rid of, the back was closed, and we were on again. Turns out we literally stopped to get a subwoofer put under the backseat. The rest of the ride we freakin' jammed.
Though let me tell you, being a bunch of wazungu in a matatu blasting music while stuck in traffic--it gives you a new appreciation for animals in zoos.
Only a few more days with homestay families, then onto the coast! I am quite excited. Today after school a bunch of us are going to Nakumatt, the grocery store, to buy gifts for our families. Baba and Steph will just get T-shirts or the book of sand dunes that I brought, but I will buy Yambura nail polish or a Swahili-English dictionary, and mama will get a set of pots or something similarly useful.
Maybe one more update from Nairobi/Riruta before TRAVELLING! (I will spell it the British way if I damn well please.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment