1. Good idea: Bringing baby wipes with me.
2. Bad idea: Bringing anything white.
3. When driving to Kisumu keep your eyes peeled, you may just see baboons on the side of the road eating trash, so weird.
4. When you are showering and you think you feel your hair on your legs it may not actually be your hair but a gecko... just thought you should know.
5. Sitting in the back of a bus from Nairobi to Kisumu is never a good idea. Not even the seat belt can hold you down with all the pot holes you'll encounter.
6. and finally, "How are you?" may not actually be a question but rather code for "hey look, a white person!"
Also for those who were wondering... here is the inside of a lower end Matatu... some actually have TV's with music videos... so crazy! This is a 14-seater that was holding 18 people, one guy was hanging out the door.
7 comments:
Give it a few weeks, you're going to start saying "how are you" too. I still do it. That, and pointing with my lips. I miss the lizards, goats, chickens, and random primates. They can be quite entertaining. Just be glad it was a gecko and not a spider or some other insect.
I had a friend, we'll call him Jon, who had a run-in with a gecko. He was using a pit toilet in the bush, when in the midst of doing his business, a gecko ran up his pant leg. Funniest thing ever, tall skinny white guy running out of a drop hole, yelling and hauling up his pants! Still makes me laugh two years later. Ahh Africa...you've stolen my heart.
That's hilarious Nate, it cracked me up! Katie, that is so funny that you see random bamboos on the side of the road! Take a picture:-) And I would think sitting in the back of a bus on those roads would be bad for the car sickness alone. Man I would be hurling the whole way there! Thanks for the updates. I've missed hearing from you! Love you.
i too carry baby wipes with me everywhere i go, a habit i couldn't shake even when in the states. i always have toilet paper and baby wipes. you never know when you're gonna need to drop the kids off in some random squat toilet!
Katie! It's The Retreatables...minus you! So, we were talking today & we're really thinking that Africa '08 is a go...so get ready for us! We miss you, love you & can't wait to have you as our guest speaker @ the next retreat :)
Very funny story Nate!!... being here and experiencing the little bit that I have makes me appreciate that story even more! And you are right, I am so incrediably thankful it was a gecko and not one of the spiders that could eat me whole. I actually think the gecko was more scared then I was, poor little guy. I think I'll name him fred...
and to my Retreatables!!!!!! I miss you guys tons!! Don't have too much fun with out me and if Africa '08 is anything like Europe '07 then I won't plan on packing my bags too soon :)! Also, would you guys consider Fred as our new mascot?? He is so cute and is a very good listener. I heart fred.
Gina, I am sorry but the bus was moving at warp speed and it was so bumpy I couldn't hold the camera straight. So there was no pictures taken expect for the mental one that unfortunately only takes up residency in my head. Hopefully I will see them again and snap a picture for you... not just for my head. :)
And Joce...baby wipes and toilet paper is a must. I think they may became a staple item for me in the states too... I have experienced some pretty nasty toilets there also.
So many fun facts, Kath. I think that the funnest to conjure up in my mind's eye would have to be either fun fact three or four. Baboons eating trash, eh? I am wondering if the people at the Detroit Zoo realize that they can stop with the fancy shmancy food they are buying their baboons and stick with trash like the wild Baboons eat. You may want to send that fun fact their way. I can just hear the scream from your gecko run-in! So funny!:-) If you bested the Brown Recluse that dared enter your shower, that gecko is no match for you!
Keep Matatuing. Thanks for the picture, it cleared up a few things in my mind. I was picturing like, say, a Honda Civic brimming with people...:-) I am totally looking into starting Milford Matatu. What do you think? Are you in on this business venture? Sure, Milford wasn't ready for Moss or the Hooka Lounge, but I think Milfor Matatu might be just the ticket.
Could you be any more of a baby about the Matatu? Seriously! I feel like thats what you would say to me. Good to know your sense of humor is still in full effect! Miss you and love you and can't wait for your return...
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