Late Tuesday afternoon, May 26

Today was a day to get "settled in" (still had no Kenyan money, local phone or food for my apartment)... so did lots of errands with Charlene today. I'll just write some short miscellaneous notes:

• I am absolutely intrigued by the little village below my window. It's kind of like "Room With A View"... I find myself drawn to the window, just to see what's going on! I have named one man "Mr Clean"... he lives in a tiny house that is completely made of corrugated tin - tin sides & tin roof - with an opening cut out of the front (no door) - all on a concrete slab. I think his is probably the nicest home in this little settlement. Today he swept his slab & dirt yard with a broom - tied reeds, but no handle, so he was bent almost completely over as he swept. Then he washed his car - a small white car, no hubcaps. I am guessing he may be a taxi driver. While he was busy working, another group of men sat around a table - once they looked like they were playing a game... but ususally they just appear to sit & talk. There is a woman who looks like she may be shelling peas or beans every morning... and the tiny market is quite a busy spot - bikes or motorscooters drive up with small deliveries... people go in & come out with food items - one man came out with a single banana, another with a small bag of flour or meal... some people go in & I don't see them come out - perhaps there is a place to sit for tea or coffee. There is a new sign out today (hand-lettered on wood): Fruit Salad, Porridge, Good, Available. I am wondering how out of place I'd look if I went there to buy bananas...
• Got a Kenyan cell phone today...had to make sure I got a model in English & not in Kiswahili! You purchase a phone, then get a sim card (you get to pick your phone #), then you purchase your minutes via "scratch cards". Scratch cards look like little lottery cards - you scratch off a silver backing which reveals a # which you calll - & minutes are automatically added to your phone - you are always paying in advance, so no unexpectedly huge phone bills (which most of us who are teen parents experience before deciding on unlimited everything!). Scratch cards are available in kiosks all over the city - from modern storefronts, tin-roofed shacks, converted shipping containers - saw one just outside a parking lot today, painted red, selling scratch cards.
• People are fascinating... I could watch for hours & make up stories all kinds. One story I am still trying to figure out is for a trio of men I saw today as I waited on the sidewalk in front of my apartment. Three men - one in a pink/orange jumpsuit - were all pushing a wheelbarrow down the side of the road in quite a hurry. The wheelbarrow had 3 large black trash bags in it - from their speed & enthusiasm, it looked they must have found some real treasures. They turned off the road right in from of my apartment into a "park" across the street & I could see they stopped and were opening their loot... but I couldn't ever see what it was. To be so excited about trash... there surely is a story.
• Went to the Nakumatt today grocery shopping... so many interesting experiences. Absolutely no idea of brand names... several things that seemed like they should be refrigerated weren't (eggs were on an endcap in the center of the store). Fruit & vegetables were beautiful - a section of fresh shelled beans, peas & corn (so many bins, so many colors) made a beautiful checkerboard display... mangos, pineapples, papayas... and I bought 3 avocados for 22 schillings (less than 50 cents total!!). Tomorrow I start at Dandora & will need to bring my lunch - there is no refrigerator there, so I was trying to think through a "safe" lunch - I bought peanut butter & jelly for sandwiches... also think avocado, tomato & bread could make a good lunch.
• Birds are everywhere.... massive black storks in the trees along the boulevard (a little creepy) to birds that look like sea gulls but are black with a white ring around their necks... to colorful , tiny birds - I thought one was a large insect until I saw it more closely this afternoon.

Well, I am trying my kitchen out tonight & cooking dinner! I very carefully washed a number of kitchen items in boiling water earlier today, so I could use them tonight. I think the hotel staff thought they were left out dirty, so they unfortunately rewashed them all... I did buy clorox at the Nakumatt today, so think I use the old camping trick of washing everything with large amounts of bleach. Who would have known that the Tidal River camping days would have taught me things that would come in handy in Africa!?