Girlz N The Hood

Manyatta. That is where I spent my day today. A.K.A. The slums of Kisumu. A place "mzungu's" don't go. A place where you don't carry more than 200 bob (Kenyan shillings) or a purse. And a place where my friends Natasha and Molly, along with most of the teachers and students at the Muslim Secondary school live. 

I started my day having a delicious breakfast with Ida...whom I have mentioned before, but if y'all can't remember she is Aunty Munira's personal assistant...until Tuesday. She starts a new job at an academy and I hope she enjoys it! Anyway, I wasn't sure what time Natasha would come and pick me up (if she would come pick me up at all). So I spent the morning with Ida, walking around with her. It was nice to see what she does at the hotel and how close she is to everyone here. Finally, after wondering if Natasha was even going to show up, she texted me telling me she would be at the hotel at 11. Which really meant 11:30. But that's African time for you! Natasha and I greet each other and start walking downtown. I wore an "I <3 Dance" shirt which got a lot of comments from people. But Natasha kept hold of me and made sure I wasn't swept away in the crowded streets. We walked through these narrow shacks where people sell just about anything and finally made it to a matatu! Which is basically a hippie van converted to a bus. You pay 20 bob and bam. It will take you anywhere in town. And, the one we were in blasted Swahili music! There is this one guy who is basically the marketing man for the bus. He calls out to people and if people agree he knocks on the top of the door which lets the driver know that they have a customer. And same goes for when they need to stop for a drop off or a pick up. So the ride was about 30 minutes long (with all the starting and stopping). And finally we made it to Manyatta! And Natasha took me to visit her cousin Victoria who runs a little salon on the side of the street. Here is a picture of her and two of her three daughters. 

The younger one on the left is Anali, the middle girl is Stephanie and then Victoria. Victoria wanted me to go over for lunch tomorrow but I declined due to the fact that I had plans. But I do want to go next week! Here is a picture of me with her and her kids.

The tallest child is Valerie, but they all call her Mon as a nickname. Then we took the kids and headed over to Natasha's house! And when she said slums, she wasn't kidding. They have no running water and barely any electricity. But we had a great time! We talked about all kinds of typical girl stuff. People, family, life, boys...hehe apparently Natasha has a boyfriend in Nairobi who is "veryyy stressful" to her. And Molly knows a boy named Ben who is "just a friend." Psht. At one point I asked Molly if she ever wanted to get married and she said no! She said she would rather stay single because marriage is bad. Here, in Kenya, if you marry someone who turns out to be bad (beats you or cheats), you're screwed for life. We (Natasha, Molly and I) are all the same age so it was nice to just talk. Then they insisted that I have lunch with them. And Natasha made this potato curry that tasted just like the mix soup my dad makes! 

Here is part of their house. In all the house is about as big as my living room, maybe a tiny bit bigger.  

And the yard area. (At the entrance). 

And here are pictures of Molly, Natasha and I. 

That's Natasha and me! 

And there's Molly and I! Molly and Natasha live together with Natasha's mother. Molly and Natasha are cousins. After a great lunch and meeting Molly's "friend" Ben who doesn't speak any English but is still very funny (when Natasha translated for me) we went on our way home. Back to the matatu! And this time it was filled with little students. 

And all the kids in Manyatta stared at me. Because I am "mzungu". They all follow me like flies on honey! And many people while we were finding matatu's called out to me because here in Kenya if they see that you are light skinned or white they automatically think you have money. Even when you don't. But it was a great day! I had such an amazing time! And it was cool to get out of my little bubble at the hotel and see how most Kenyans live!