Riruta Satellite

My host families house is in the suburb of Riruta Satellite, about 30 minutes from the city center on the 4w bus, which we also take to school. Most of the buses are not run by the government- various private companies run regular routes all over the city. Unfortunately, this means that there are no maps or schedules for the buses. Normallythe buses come in an almost constant stream, so schedules aren't an issue. The last two days, however, have been the start of the school year, and so many of the buses have been hired to drive the children to private boarding schools. Some are quite far away- my host brother went to school in Uganda.

The roads outside the city center are all dirt, which means they are in various states of disrepair. Right near my house they are particularly bad- potholes can be several feet deep and take up half the road! They are supposed to be fixed- there are even large piles of rocks waiting to be broken up and filled in the street (of course, the piles are right next to the holes, forcing anyone driving to go THROUGH the holes). The roads aren't straight, either. They curve all over the place like they've grown up organically instead of being laid down by any sort of plan.

Nearly all the space along the roads is taken by small market stalls. Every 200 feet or so the kinds of shops repeat- You never have to go far to find food! All the food at these markets is amazingly fresh and flavorful. I may have noted that before, but it still impresses me- everything they eat is farmer's market quality or better. I can't understand why anyone would buy their produce at the supermarkets when they have better options. Even the meat is super fresh. A friend's host father told her that if the meat had been refrigerated at all he wouldn't even think of buying it.







My new favorite quote, from the Kenyan newspaper in reference to the Larry Craig scandal; "After all, samesex marriage is as American as hiphop."