Monday, January 08, 2007

To City Center we go


Phanice needed to go to city center to take care of a few things. She had to take care of some paperwork to get her driver's license. She had already passed the necessary exams to get one, just needed to pick it up and fill some form out.

We took a Citi Hoppa, which actually costs 20ksh versus 30ksh to ride a matatu. They are quieter and obviously more spacious.

I tried using their internet, which is fairly slow compared to Minneapolis wi-fi. But I had to schedule meetings for my Green Party Meetup and check my e-mail. Getting my American Express payment out of the way also made me feel better!

I was done online around the same time as Phanice. She bought herself and me a pop. Had my first Stony Tangawizi - which is a ginger beer. ( it is nearly as good as Reed's ) It instantly became my favorite drink in Kenya.

Then we traveled to the outskirts of town, not far from the Tea Board of Kenya. I met Phanice's sisters Beatrice and Maureen. Beatrice has a baby daughter named Angel. We stayed over for dinner. They had a TV in their sitting room blasting American rap music. Not my favorite type of music, but I enjoyed the fried cabbage and ugali. Though I tried eating it differently and got a lot of weird glances.

When leaving and crossing the street, a Citi Hoppa nearly ran us over! Another interesting note is that the children in this neighborhood all stared at me. It is likely that whites rarely visit this part of town. It is something I had to get used to while there, but never fully felt comfortable with. I don't think of myself as any better or worse due to the color of my skin. I don't want better or worse service, but people treated me different anyways..

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