Matatus

Today i went into downtown Nairobi via matatu (ma-ta-too). this is a typical way of transportation here, yet an adventure in itself. it is about the size of a 16 passenger van only it holds a lot more people because the seats are smaller and there is someone who collects the money hanging off the side so he doesn't take up valuable room. it only costs about 20 shillings, which is about 35 cents or so to ride it. it sure isn't worth much more. they pack in the people, blare the music, and then i held on for dear life! they are used over the city buses because they are faster, but their goal is to get back and forth as much as they can during the day to make the most money. this provides for a scary ride. my head almost hit the ceiling, but i have to say i did enjoy the song pounding loudly throughout: gwen stefani's "rich girl". at that i laughed a bit. after we arrived surprisingly safely to the 'station" where most of the matatu's congregate, i was right outside of town. this is because they are not allowed into the downtown area. i can see why-they drive crazy like! but you know, everyone seems too. there isn't really a speed limit or and sort of traffic laws. (so you better take a good look before you cross the street) anyway, once we got there i couldn't beleive the amount of people out! the best way to picture it is imagine yourself standing in downtown st. paul, and then put the amount of people you have to navigate through at the state fair on a saturday afternoon. i felt like a small child who is desperatly trying to cling to her mom so she doesn't get lost in the see of legs. (i secretly wished i could hang on to th hand of the woman who was taking me on this adventure!) once we got further into the city it cleared out a bit. it looks like what a city normally would, but there were palm trees lining the streets, with big fat trunks. the greenery is preplaces with redish dirt on the ground and contrasted with plants that seem to find life within it. we went to an outside market that sells all sorts of things; jewelry, scarfs, picture frames, sculptures, etc laid out in a colorful display on the ground for each person or family's things. as i wound through the rows and rows people invited me to come and look at there things, claiming they had the best prices. i loved it. i wanted to buy a lot of course, but held off for later. i got to walk around the city a little longer and then, thank the lord, we took a citi hoppa (a city bus) back. the stop was a 10 minute walk or so back to mayfeild. everyone walks here! i love it. past the curb of the street the sidewalks are bumpy red dirt. it gets greener in the rainy season, but other than that the landscape is a struggling green amidst a dusty canvas. i am anxious for the six hour drive up to kabarnet away from the city, interested to see the landscape. today someone told be it was beautiful with perfect weather. again he said the weather was perfect. perfect. so that excites me! i am having a lot of down time here, which i don't mind at home because i can play the piano or play with hannah! but here...not so much. but i'll be on my way soon. :) love!