May 23
Today was my first day off in mbita. I was really looking forward to
sleeping in past 8. Sleeping in sounded, like waaay bettaaa' after the
night out that I was trying to recover from.
Yesterday, at the hotel, I met a military police officer on leave. His
name was wycleff and he was visiting here in mbita to see his family.
When he found out that I was here from the states he was adimit that
he take me out to see the city at night. Normally I wouldn't want to
do mbita after dark, but with and mp? Does it get safer than that? I
agreed and he said he'd come back later to get me.
Wycleff returned around 9 with his older brother. He made a quick call
and a motor bike showed up soon after. 'just one?' I asked. The
question answered it's self as he started scooting the driver up. So
four grown men ( if I fit into that catagory ) squeezed onto a one
cylender bike. He took us to a local spot where I instantly got a lot
of attention. Not the good kind.
As soon as we sat down a really large woman approached me and wrapped
her sizeable upper body around my face. She had really nice things to
say like 'I love you', 'I want to kiss you', 'marry me white man.' you
know, good stuff. As soon as I wiggled my way out of her bosom, she
aggresivley kissed me square on mouth. So, yeah, yesterday I kissed a
Kenyan prostitute.
She left after a little persuading. Then I turned to wycleff and asked
'so, that was a prostitute, right?' to which he replied 'yes. She is
my sister.' so that happened.
We left that bar after a drink or two and made our way, through the
slum village, to another local dive. It's pitch black. No light but
the stars. All of a sudden I hear stampedeing foot steps and orange
ciggarette butts charging at us. I of course thought that we were
getting bum rushed and robbed. I yelled 'this is bullshit!' and
corutched down with my hands over my head. To my surprise the clammer
raged right past us and down the road. Then, another wave of noise
followed right behind. So now I'm thinking 'oh, I should have ran with
the first group. This IS bullshit.' around the corner came flashlights
and automatic weapons. 'stop! Police!' they shouted. They were chasing
theives. Ok.
Wycleff called the driver to take us home after the 2nd stop. The
driver pulls up on the same bike and whips us through the slum. Just
as I thought about how crazy everything was, the driver hits a huge
pothole, crashes and throws us all off of the bike. Ok, I'm fine.
Everyone is fine. Dirty, but fine. The bike, on the other hand, won't
start. Sweet. Again, it's pitch black, we have no lights and we're in
a maze of a slum.
Aparently, the the bike dispatch isn't far, so we decided to walk the
bike there with the driver and get another ride. When we got there the
manager came out with a rock and successfully fixed the kickstart. Ok.
We all get on and he gets us most of the way home until the bike just
dies. Wycleff and his brother walked me home and made sure I got into
my room safely.
So that's why I wanted to rest. Warrented, by my standards. but the
locals had other plans. At 8:30 shem started knocking on my metal
door. 'brother matthew? You take your breakfast now?'. 'no!' I
replied. 'Are you sick? What's happened? Shall I call a doctor?'. I
really felt fine, it's just Saturday, you know?
This was followed by a series of phone calls from my local posse. They
all just wanted to see how I'm doing on my day off, ect. But then I
really got a wake up call. Another motor bike.
Bennett is a 22 year old primary school teacher who's affiated with
jackton's widow group. He showed up early in the morning with a motor
bike he borrowed from a friend. Obviously, I was kind of over bikes
right then, but he was on a mission. He wanted to show me more of
mbita. I hopped on and he took me all over. He doesn't have a driver's
liscence, but apparently, not a big deal around here.
Honestly, it was awesome. I got to see some of the tiny fishing
villages and scenery I never would have gotten to otherwise. We sat by
the shore, had drinks and talked to the locals for hours. It was one
of the better days I've had.
So after revisiting all of this, I can't even believe what I'm doing.
-cheers
Wycleffeotuoma@aol.conntiny
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