9/28/10
Nairobi has "citified" me with running water and flushing toilets. I don't remember being this afraid of the choo. This morning as I ventured into the abyss that is my choo, I recalled the 23rd Psalm: "...though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me..." I found myself reciting this to God. I felt like I needed protection either from the lizard on the side of the wall that wouldn't take its eyes off me or from the little frogs that hide in the hinges of the door, or from anything else lurking down that dark, deep hole waiting to pounce. Needless to say, I did make it out alive.

9:30 p.m.
Another grueling day, speaking in terms of public transportation. A trip that was supposed to take no more that 30 minutes ended up taking two hours because the matatu* driver had to wait until he was 100 percent over the passenger capacity of his vehicle. For those of you who enjoy the luxury of owning your own car, let me explain transportation in Kenya for you: First, there are no set times for pick up or drop off, you just show up at a matatu stage and hope for the best (chances are you are bound to find a couple of vehicles headed in your direction). Secondly, a trip that should take 30 minutes could end up taking you 2 hours, as our time is sacrificed to the waiting matatu driver and the tout. If you ever decided to take a matatu in Kenya, just be sure that you know you are at the mercy of the driver and tout so I wouldn't draw any time limits. In the event that you actually need to get somewhere on time, my advice is to leave a couple of hours ahead of time (depending on how far it is, I would say add at least an hour to the actual time it's supposed to take you to get to where ever you are going).

For me, public transportation has proven to be one of the most frustrating adjustments I've had to make. I would suggest a dash of humor and mounds of patience to get through the typical day in the life of a matatu passenger...something I hope I'm developing more of...God knows I need it!

*Primary mode of transportation. Typically a 12-passenger van, although, I've never seen a matatu with 12 passengers. The average number of passengers at any given time would be somewhere along the lines of 20