day sixty one

Two months ago I arrived in Kakamega. Whilst it certainly doesn't feel like I arrived just yesterday, it also doesn't feel like I've been here for ages, and there are definitely things that I experience for the first time each day. 

Like last week I experienced for the first time being blatantly overcharged because I am mzungu. Normally to take the matatu at night from Kakamega town to my home costs about 100Ksh (about $1.50 AUD) and takes about 40 minutes depending on the conditions of the weather, the roads, the driver, the conductor, the number of people the conductor has managed to squeeze into the matatu, any luggage/parcels/giant bags of stuff strapped to the roof and any random police stops. 

However last Thursday night not only did my matatu take almost three hours to get me home by taking a huge detour to avoid a crash on the main road, the conductor also tried to charge me 150Ksh for no clear reason. This is how the transaction roughly how it played out (condensed version, there was a lot of repetition of lines 3 and 4):

Me: *handing over 100Ksh note* Going to Iguhu

Conductor: For Iguhu it's 150 bob (bob is slang for shillings)

Me: No, it's 100 bob

Conductor: No madam, for you it is 150 bob

Me: Um, no, I've been catching this matatu every day for three months now and I pay 100 bob and today is no different, I am paying you 100 bob, I don't pay mzungu prices.

Conductor: *yelling something at the driver in Swahili with the word mzungu thrown around*

Me: Jina langu situ mzungu (my name is not white person). I won't pay mzungu price -  only 100 bob!

Rest of matatu passengers: *laughing a lot*

Sure I told a small white lie in order to prove my point, but I got away with paying my 100 bob, so all is well in the world. Most of my matatu trips involve small white lies - I'm married, my husband is back in Australia, I am just visiting friends, my name is Mary/Jane/Agnes/whatever other name I come up with on the spot... my age changes and so does my occupation. Taking the matatu is almost like reading one of those "choose your own adventure" novels. Why would I do that? Because there are some not so nice people in the world, and it's mostly those seedy smelly men who try to chat me up in the matatu, so by lying I'm only protecting myself. 

On Saturday I went to Nairobi to go to the ANZAC ceremony at the Nairobi War Cemetery. It was so good to hear Aussie accents and eat anzac bickies and lamingtons... mmmm. Just what the doctor ordered. I then headed to the shops to find me some hairspray... not one of the four supermarkets in Kakamega stocks hairspray and dry shampoo without hairspray doesn't last as long; I'm trying to reduce my water consumption so by washing my hair less often (i.e. dry shampoo) I use less water. 

The rest of the weekend was spent binge watching "Royal Pains" with Lynne and Roderick (my adopted cousins) and making fried chicken. Sure, nothing exciting or extraordinary, but it's these times of chilling with friends that make the rest of the time doable. 

If there was one piece of advice I could give to people living overseas, especially volunteering, it's that looking after your mental health is vitally important - a person who is run down, irritated, sad and stressed is no use to anyone. For me it's binge watching tv during my time off and taking photographs and writing in this blog, for you it might be reading or cooking or taking walks or whatever. Just keep check of your stress levels, anxiety and depression can creep up on anyone. 

This bloke is just chillin' roadside eating the rubbish tossed by passing people.
Taking trips and photographs so I can tell y'all about it keep me sane.