Saturday 10 March in 10 Photos

Forgive me all for I have been busy.  It's been two weeks since my last posting.  

We are in the middle of completing 4 funding proposals at the moment, and I have been working steadily (early mornings, evenings and weekends) since my last post.

However, last Saturday I thought to myself:  Nicole, what shall we blog about this week?  And having drawn a blank, I decided to photograph my Saturday in 12 photos, one each hour from 6am - 6pm.  Well, it all started well, but around 2 in the afternoon it was hot and I was tired and I started to wane.  So I share with you here not 12 photos, but 10.  And they don't span 6am - 6pm, but rather 6am - 3pm.  Anyway, it's what I can offer you now so hope you enjoy!

Photo 1: 06:01

I usually wake up at 6:30am on Saturdays to wash my clothes.  It takes about an hour and a half  (including boiling the water, letting them soak, scrubbing and rinsing).  It's good to get the clothes done in the morning so they are hung up early to dry.  Having a busy day planned for last Saturday, I got up at 6am to wash the clothes. No alarm needed though - I wake up around 5:30am for work everyday, so even 6am is a lie-in.

Photo 2: Washing Done
Around 7:30am the washing was finished and hanging up to dry.

Photo 3: Waiyaki Way
The highway that runs next to my neighbourhood.  Looks tame here, however in order to get transport into Nairobi we have to cross these 2 lanes and the 2 lanes on the other side.  This is around 8.30am on a Saturday, but weekday mornings involve saying a small prayer before crossing as cars, lorries, matatus and buses come flying down the road.  The key is, according to my housemate Sandy, to wait.  And wait.  And wait some more. Until it is safe.  So far, knock on wood, there have been no close calls.

Photo 4: Moi
According to Andrea this is a statue of Moi, president of Kenya from 1978-2002 (who did the county no favours).  I took this picture as we were walking from one matatu stage (similar to a bus station) to another.  I don't really know why I took it - but there it is. The building in the background is the Hilton Hotel.

Photo 5: Route 46
While matatu is the most common form of transportation in Nairobi, there are several bus routes as well.  This photo is of Kencom, the name of a bus stop.  The buses don't individually have their route numbers on the outside, the conductor will hold a sign out the window indicating which route it is.  On this day, we were taking Route 46 to Yaya.  I should preface as well that this was around 9am on a Saturday morning.  Visit this same spot on a weekday, it is not quite so tranquil!!

Photo 6: Tunasoma Kiswahili
The reason we were travelling across town so early on a Saturday morning was for our monthly Swahili lesson.  Andrea and I (try to) meet with Lucy once a month for 2 hours for lessons.  Lucy is an absolutely excellent teacher and we enjoy our lessons very much.

Photo 7: Swahili Notes
My scratchy notes from lesson.

Photo 8: Toi Market
After our Swahili lesson, Andrea and I walked to Toi Market - one of the largest and best quality second-hand clothing markets in Nairobi.  It takes a lot of effort and determination to find gems and to get them at a fair price (there is a common unwritten mzungu tax of about 500% which seems to be added), but can be worth it.  On this particular trip Andrea got some great trousers and I got a lovely vintage dress from Japan.  After about an hour and a half of shopping we were very very hot and decided we had had enough success for one day.

Photo 9: Trousers
A pile of trousers at Toi Market.  Taking photos in public in Kenya is very difficult and Kenyans really dislike strangers taking their photos, so there sadly aren't more photos of the market.

Photo 10: Mint chocolate milkshake
After Swahili lessons and shopping in the market,  we decided to stop by a cafe for a treat.  This doesn't happen often - less than once a month, but is very nice when we can.  I asked for a milkshake with mint and chocolate.  The mint was fresh, and for the first few sips it tasted like chocolate and basil.  Very strange.  But I got over it and enjoyed the rest!