Today matatus, tomorrow... the world!
So I'm sitting in my office, incredibly excited that I made it to work... alive!!
Well, it's not as bad as it sounds, but my latest and I suppose, first challenge in Nairobi, was finding a way to get to work. Believe me, I did a bit of tossing and turning last night, fretting about how I was going to get here, but thankfully, it turned out to be alright.
Nairobi isn't a big city, and yet, Kenyans would probably view the 10 or so kilometres between my residence and my work as being a huge distance as they actually are on opposite ends of the town. So yesterday, after being driven from work by my flatmate, I asked how I might get myself to work from now on, and they were giving me all sorts of answers: "you'll have to take a matatu [public minibus] into town [town being downtown nairobi, or "nairobbery" - not a fun place], and from there, walk 3 blocks [through the crowds, rain, sludge, slums] to another bus stop that comes to work," alternatively, I could pay the equivalent of 1000 shillings/day ($15/day) to have someone come and pick me up and drop me off.
Not suprisingly, I wasn't keen on either option. So after work, Philip drove me around to show me the different routes, in the monsoon rain and through Nairobi rush hour (I've brought him chocolates today to thank him), - an hour and a half later, we concluded that the best thing to do would be to take the numbered matatu I had suggested in the first place (which everyone else said, "oh no" to, because it runs by a nearby slum, and of course, goes "all the way across town").
So, all that remained was to test the route this morning - hence my somewhat sleepless night. They warned me that because of my obviously foreign appearance, I would be overcharged and possibly harassed, and according to one coworker, "sure to get lost." (By the way, despite the so-called cosmopolitan nature of Nairobi, I have yet to see one non-African walking on the street - NONE take public transport or even walk around, at least in the places that I've been, - which isn't a bad thing, the Kenyans so far have been gracious and friendly, and those who might not be so friendly, have kept to themselves...)
Anyway, so this morning I prepared myself - I wore my purse under my jacket, carried my lunch in an unappealling plastic bag, swung my umbrella over my shoulder, put on my comfy walking shoes, and set out for work.
In the end, I caught the bus fairly quickly with no problems, boarded and paid with no problems, and made the 7 minute walk from the final stop to work with no problems (well, a lot of smog in my face and eyes, but little else to complain about).
Hence my present relief.
I'm looking forward to a full sleep tonight.
Hoping things are well on the other side(s) of the world,
kwaheri.
Well, it's not as bad as it sounds, but my latest and I suppose, first challenge in Nairobi, was finding a way to get to work. Believe me, I did a bit of tossing and turning last night, fretting about how I was going to get here, but thankfully, it turned out to be alright.
Nairobi isn't a big city, and yet, Kenyans would probably view the 10 or so kilometres between my residence and my work as being a huge distance as they actually are on opposite ends of the town. So yesterday, after being driven from work by my flatmate, I asked how I might get myself to work from now on, and they were giving me all sorts of answers: "you'll have to take a matatu [public minibus] into town [town being downtown nairobi, or "nairobbery" - not a fun place], and from there, walk 3 blocks [through the crowds, rain, sludge, slums] to another bus stop that comes to work," alternatively, I could pay the equivalent of 1000 shillings/day ($15/day) to have someone come and pick me up and drop me off.
Not suprisingly, I wasn't keen on either option. So after work, Philip drove me around to show me the different routes, in the monsoon rain and through Nairobi rush hour (I've brought him chocolates today to thank him), - an hour and a half later, we concluded that the best thing to do would be to take the numbered matatu I had suggested in the first place (which everyone else said, "oh no" to, because it runs by a nearby slum, and of course, goes "all the way across town").
So, all that remained was to test the route this morning - hence my somewhat sleepless night. They warned me that because of my obviously foreign appearance, I would be overcharged and possibly harassed, and according to one coworker, "sure to get lost." (By the way, despite the so-called cosmopolitan nature of Nairobi, I have yet to see one non-African walking on the street - NONE take public transport or even walk around, at least in the places that I've been, - which isn't a bad thing, the Kenyans so far have been gracious and friendly, and those who might not be so friendly, have kept to themselves...)
Anyway, so this morning I prepared myself - I wore my purse under my jacket, carried my lunch in an unappealling plastic bag, swung my umbrella over my shoulder, put on my comfy walking shoes, and set out for work.
In the end, I caught the bus fairly quickly with no problems, boarded and paid with no problems, and made the 7 minute walk from the final stop to work with no problems (well, a lot of smog in my face and eyes, but little else to complain about).
Hence my present relief.
I'm looking forward to a full sleep tonight.
Hoping things are well on the other side(s) of the world,
kwaheri.
posted by Nadia at
10:53 PM
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