Third week

It's our third week here and I feel like we are really settling in. Like culture shock is gone and things seem fairly normal. I see a lot of ex pats here and feel like one of them, though I know our time is coming to an end quite soon. I've also learned a good handful of Kiswahili words and could see myself getting conversational if I was here about a year. There are some things I am going to really miss and others I will not for sure haha. Like washing laundry by hand- so much work to get water, scrub, change water, ring out, hang then some dirt still isn't out. And then sometimes it rains. I'm going to look at the washer and dryer differently when I get home ( and I already felt shafted as we don't have an in unit set haha).

The traffic here is just nuts. I've seen one traffic light my whole time here and not even sure it works. Every day is survival of the traffic. I'm really not joking. No place is safe. I feel like frogger every day. People drive wherever they want ... Especially the motorcycles who make their own lanes and weave in and out. No one yields to pedestrians. Which would be fine if like in England there  was crosswalks. But no everyone walks everywhere. People drive on sidewalks. If you think it's safe to cross it's like the eye of the tornado..: all of a sudden a daladala will come out of nowhere and barrel towards you ( true story). Cars whip around corners without looking so it's literally never safe to cross. Look as much as you can and pray. Already had lots of close calls. I worry about Matt when he's gone at work. We've already technically gotten into a car accident here lol ( don't worry it was so minor at least for us a daladala whipped into the front side of our jeep bc no one looks and our fender metal protector thing crushed their headlight area lol no damage for us...and no one did anything bc no one has insurance or wants to pay out of pocket)

The weather here has been hit or miss. Sometimes a decent amount of rain ( always a downpour while driving on the highway back from safari once w a broken wiper and no defrost :() but other days like today are sunny and nice. In the sun it is fairly hot but shade is pretty cool as we are at a higher altitude and we also usually have a frequent cool breeze . So a lot of times it feels like San Diego weather! ( although Matt in a different part of town doing backbreaking labor in the sun might beg to differ). All I'll say is, glad I'm missing out on winter!

Today we sat in the front of the daladala for the second time. It's always the best spot bc no one can squeeze into you or crawl over you as there are exactly two spots next to the driver. But then there is the fear factor, as you gaze out of the giant cracked ( yes always cracked) windshield. You see all the ditches and dips in the dirt road that we try to avoid and the bouncing ( Matt says that means suspension is shot) is so intense. Also you see all the near misses( literally driving 2 inches from side of a sewer pit, slamming on the breaks near a car or person that I would have bet money we hit). The daladalas still fascinate me. From the guy in the back ( always skinny w a tattered blue uniform) who simultaneously holds coins in one hand dollars in the next while opening the side van door and collecting money from people, half the time running after the thing as it takes off and hanging off the open side door if it is too crowded ( I'm waiting for one to hit something in the street or fall off) . I found out from Iddi ( one of the guys in our house) that the reason they are so aggressive to get everyone on and squeeze in is that they only account for seats and they pocket all the cash for the people that stand and lean into other people ( no wonder they are annoyed when we wait for seats lol) . Yesterday I swear our blue uniform guy was drunk he was acting weird and then at one point jumped off and left. A girl I just met here told me that her driver was drunk ( reeked of it) and everyone was scared as he swerved and at one point he pulled over and let someone else drive. This was at noon. Yikes. They will stop at random times like my driver got off to go to the pharmacy and Matt says his stopped to deliver veggies  to the market ( police pulled them over as this is illegal and pulled Matt off to question why he is on there bc he stuck out as a mzungu)

Anyways I once saw a hedgehog roadkill here and after feeling sad was excited they live here. Iddi says we have some in our yard but haven't seen them yet. So today saw one wander into a sewer.. I wanted to grab a pic but he disappeared. People on street probably wondering why I was so fascinated. That guy sells for like 250$ in the US glad there isn't a black market here that I know about!
Still feeding "our cat" i named Rafiki ( friend). She's so tiny and Iddi says lives on our roof w her kittens. She sometimes wanders into our house and has a loud cry. Don't worry I'm refraining from petting. I hear them, but haven't seen the babies so I wandered around and saw her, then a tiny black and white kitten poked it's head off the roof and I was in love. Will keep looking for glimpses. Funny as I was buying the food the cashier asked if i had cats and i felt silly telling her i was feeding the stray cats :)
The stray dogs are a different story. I think it would be harder to feed them as they might get aggressive. Most in our neighborhood seem to get enough to eat ( Matt says not true for the village dogs so sad). I try not to think about it or think about them as the dogs we know and love bc I'll get too sad. One was covered in mud and lying in a ditch and looked sick. I don't think he made it. Also heard another get killed by other dogs as I slept. One of the American girls that lives here and rescued a bunch ( from the street as there are not really shelters here) says the police control the population by picking a day and shooting all they see ( not caring if they are pets but Iddi says pet dogs are rare here) whoops now I got into a sad spot.

Ok that's it for today! Until next time.