Sunday, November 14, 2010

Nairobi-More questions than answers!

Why is SHE carrying the load, and the donkey has the day off?


If you could hear this picture!



Donkeys by the hundreds, yet this very loaded donkey cart was being pulled by ONE guy...why??

I always love going to Nairobi! It's extrovert land at its best.  I get to watch everyone living their lives.  People in Kenya live their lives outside.  They cook outside, they play outside, fight outside, and even sleep outside-(tho I think the latter is accidental sometimes).  I get to see it as I ride in the safe capsule of the Land Rover - driven by Jon.  I get to see the roadside dramas as he deals with the dramas IN the road!

 There are a lot of tremendous juxtapositions going on.  Here are a few of the things I saw and the questions I had...unanswered of course.
A man in a black suit, shiny shoes and terrific tie in deep conversation with a man sitting in the sewage drainage ditch. The man in the ditch was wearing ragged clothes, had wild angry hair and both men were laughing and having a great time.  My question?  What did they find in common, and can I talk too?

A lady walking down hill to a water kiosk, wearing a beautiful silk dress and high heels. She was carrying in EACH hand two, not one, plastic 5 gallon water containers.  My unanswered question: Why are you dressed like that to get water, and HOW are you going to get 20 gallons of water back up hill in heels?

Other questions I had: "Why are you even ON a bike in this traffic?"
"Why is the goat on the bike and you are not?"
"Where can I get a shirt like that?" (Body by Ben and Jerry's)
"What circumstances would ever prevail that one would let their 4 year old walk home along a heavily trafficked four lane highway?"
"Who told you that avoiding a pot hole on your side of the road and driving into mine was okay?"
"Is it really acceptable that you swerved to keep from hitting a dog and almost hit me?"
"How can you keep from going out of your mind every day knowing you have to cross that dangerous road at the end of ever working day?"
"Why do people beat donkeys with baseball bat sized sticks, don't you know donkeys are made to be LED or ridden, not driven?"
"Why are you staring at me pushing a stroller on the sidewalk, when you are carrying a live turkey in downtown Nairobi?" (this is very old question-as you see, I stock up on them)
"Did you know its really not nice to tell me its out of stock just because you don't want to go get it for me?"
"I know you know this, but did you know you can't fool someone by putting jelly on a hot dog and saying its ketsup even if both ARE red?"

So, there it is.  Unanswered questions. Thats why I like Nairobi.  Always the potential for more things that mystify me, and make me want to come back ...only to visit tho.  Going home  always brings a great sigh of relief.  Not that home doesn't bring its own form of unanswered questions, but that's another post, another day.






3 comments:

  1. Love it! I laughed as I read your list - if you can't see the humor in it all, then you really need to get your glasses cleaned! Thanks! - Doug

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  2. I have ONE answer: I saw that t-shirt at the Ben and Jerry's factory in VT and thought it was great! If only I got to blame THEM!

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  3. The first one is 'easy' --- it's not her donkey!

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