Today was our matatu lesson with Duncan. We all met at the apartment around 10am to catch a matatu to downtown. First off, the bus station is very close to us since our apartment is directly behind a mall (Junction) so that makes it very easy to get on and off. The bus station was a mess. The matatus stop on the street and then a person gets off to yell the destination at you. If you look confused, then they will come up to you and try to swindle you onboard. The trick is to ask them where they are going before you tell them where you want to go. They might say yes just to get your money and then you end up in a shady part of Nairobi.
Duncan (our kind-of guide) told us which matatus and buses to take to get downtown and how much they typically cost. A normal bus downtown from our apartment is about 40-60 KSH, depending on the time of day. That comes out to about 50 cents USD. Super cheap and it is how we will be getting around in Kenya while we are here.
Once we got off the matatus we met up again with Duncan and went to go pick up the Mukuru On The Move t-shirts for those who will be working there. That was an interesting walk around downtown Nairobi. Let's just say that I prefer the suburbs and rural areas much more than downtown. I can't even describe the amount of cars and people on the streets. There are not traffic laws, at least not any that are followed. And when walking on the sidewalks you can usually just walk in the street as long as you don't get hit by a car. I had 4 very close encounters with large buses trying to run me over. There are no cross walks and traffic lights are only suggestions. I will say that Leslie told me that India is much worse. So that's something at least.
After our matatu lesson Leslie, Sara, and I got off a couple stops early to go shopping at Adam's Arcade. Another very interesting experience. The outside space is probably a couple hundred square feet and they sell everything. I mean everything. We walked to the produce area to buy some fruit for the week. I bought 6 mangos, 1 huge pineapple, and 6 green apples for less than $2. But that is definitely not my doing. I owe that to Sara and her haggling. Since we are "musungu," or "white people" they tried very hard to jack up the prices. Sara, who was born in Ethiopia, knows the ropes and wouldn't let them get away with it. The better the price, the more business they will get from us. It was exciting and I will definitely be buying from there many times.
Tomorrow we are going to try to explore more of Nairobi or go to a national game park that is close by. Wednesday Leslie and I will find out where we will be working, probably either Kibera or another informal settlement.
Stay tuned for more!
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