Crazy Matatu Driver

Today I turned to my matatu driver and actually gave him a high five…why you might ask…to start with I knew it was going to be a fun ride because right before I got on the matatu I bought myself a half of roasted corn on the cobb for 5 shilings….yummy…I called it my corn popsicle. Next, the conductor over packed the matatu so I had to sit next to the conductor in what I like to call the butt seat. It really isn’t a seat at all, just a space to put your butt in between the conductor’s seat…space…for your butt…then your neighbor’s seat…yes, I got the butt seat. The driver drove like a mad man, which made the staying in the butt seat that much more fun and challenging…how do you stay balanced and not fall through the hole. J Next, we drove more on the sidewalks and dirt paths along the side of the road than we did on the road. We were trying to get to Karen during rush hour and apparently our driver didn’t want to wait in traffic so we drove on the side of the road…even almost ran people over once or twice. The Kenyan lady next to me kept putting her head on the bar in front of her and looked ever so much like she was going to throw up at any moment. When we weren’t driving on the side of the road we were: 1) off roading it on an actual dirt road next to our road (we were the only car on this I would like to point out) 2) riding down the middle of the road in between our lane and the lane next to us…we just made our own lane on the two lane road or 3) which happens to be my favorite…driving on the sidewalks and walking paths on the oncoming traffics side…not even our side. By this point the conductor had put me in the very front with the driver. This was exciting too because you were able to see so much more. While riding on the path on the wrong side of the road a man on a bike yelled at us and waved 4 fingers at us…don’t know what that means…A man walking on the path that we were driving on made the slit your throat or your going to die gesture…which after that I actually did say a prayer and close my eyes for awhile. Once we actually made it to our destination, I turned to the driver and said, “That was the craziest matatu ride I have had yet!” I gave him a high five, said thanks for the ride, and hopped out. I think I made his day…I think he made mine. J