Yesterday was fun-filled and exciting. As a kid I used to love holidays from school, but now that I’m older I seem to be getting bored with nothing to do. It was a well timed adventure with Ezekia I had yesterday, I was getting very bored only going out for an hour or two and staying at home the rest of the days.
I met Ezekia at school so he could take me to town where we were to start our day. Mama Edith doesn’t like to have me wandering around alone, so she makes sure I always have an escort when leaving home. Abby walked me to school, Ezekia was waiting for me there, and off we went. It was very nice of him to meet me because it’s about an hour from his home, and he was planning on making the full round trip twice (picking me up and dropping me off).
To get to town we took a daladala—or a bus—which is exactly like the small school bus we were using a few weeks ago at school. They call it “public transport” but it’s very different from the American system. It’s a privately owned and operated vehicle, I think it’s called public just because anyone can use it—that is, if they pay. The ride was fine, it wasn’t my first time using it, but I was happy that we had a good driver. I remember last time I used daladala with Pamela, the driver was pretty crazy and tossed us around, taking roundabouts nearly on two wheels, making us bounce off the walls like a pinball. So this ride was uneventful and peaceful compared to that.
Our first destination in town was the bank so I could get some money. I always mean to get some trinkets and gifts for bringing home when traveling , but I don’t carry much cash with me, so with a week left it’s high time I start collecting some memorabilia. After the bank we were wandering around town for a bit when I pointed out a place that I had visited before. Ezekia said that his father had a shop there, so we went to visit. His dad owns the stall in this market with all the buckets you see in the picture. It’s so easy to romanticize all of the things I see and feel disconnected (like a tourist—which I guess I am), so it’s grounding and pulls me back to reality when I make connections here; rather than just floating along through the experience, I enjoy feeling like a local and meeting people who actually have an impact on my life or the life of those around me. So, it was nice to feel like a member of the community, being welcomed by Ezekia’s dad and not heckled by hustlers.
Next we went to the “charity” Ezekia works at. Every week he spends a day or two at an orphanage teaching the kids music.
We took another daladala from town to the orphanage site, but no roads had direct access from where we were coming from, so we had to walk about a mile or so to get to the area.
We had to cross this nice bridge that the donors of the orphanage funded.
The environment surrounding the home was so lush and I would refer to it as the bush. It was really out of the way, tucked back in the trees and greenery. You can see the red roof peeking through a little bit from this picture I took while standing on the bridge. The area and property of the orphanage were really nice once we got there. We had to hike a bit further past the bridge, through a neighborhood with some other homes.
While at the orphanage, we taught some instruments and songs. I mostly sat back and enjoyed the show—the kids didn’t speak much English so I was a bit worthless.
Next on our agenda was going to Ezekia’s business. He has a stationary near to his home. We traveled from the charity to his business with by bajaji (or tuk-tuk).
We spent a while here. He has an order of greeting cards he’s making for a big wedding this coming week and needed to work on it a bit. It seems like everyone has a side hustle or business just to survive. With all the work Ezekia does he says he makes around 800,000 to 1 million tsh a month, or about $400 USD, which is the highest incomes I’ve heard of from the teachers I’ve talked to. But he definitely works for it.
Next up was Ezekia’s home for a late, late lunch. I got to meet his wife, Violet, and newborn, Elyon. He’s currently building his house piece by piece, room by room as he gets the money for it. It was good to see and learn about how other people live, because living with Lucas I’m definitely only exposed to the upper class life.
Ezekia’s house was pretty far from home. Each place we stopped throughout the day was a little bit further from home and a bit closer to Ezekia’s place and by the time we got to his it was an hour journey to get home. I had to go myself because Ezekia had another commitment, so I had my first adventure totally by myself without an escort. I hopped on a motorcycle and off we went. When we got close to home I had to use my limited Swahili to help navigate. I’m actually really proud that I got us to where we needed to go.
I showed up pretty late and dinner was just being served. I spent a little time with the family, but by 8:30 I was struggling to keep my eyes open and decided it best if I just take an early night. This morning we’re up early to go for church in a little bit. I’m excited to be going once more before I leave—to be honest I’ve been missing my time for a bit of quiet and meditation.