A rainy day in Nairobi

So here's a good story of my day yesterday... After teaching my computer class I walked back with some kids to their house and waited out the rain a bit.  Then once it stopped, I headed to town to see if I'd have bball practice.  So I left at 3:30, stopped along the way to eat a little when I had to change vehicles, and then reached town around 5 in the midst of a torrential downpour.  Nothing here is meant for rain, so I had to bob and weave my way through traffic and massive rivers which had taken over the roads to get to my friends who sell books under an overhang.  I was feeling silly walking in my soaked jeans and no umbrella, although I had my nice northface rain jacket on.  This feeling was confirmed as I approached looking for a bit of a laugh, and heard coming out of the crowd that had gathered around their books "you look like shit!!".  I love good friends : )  It was cute as the crowd parted to let the soaking wet white girl who apparently knows the booksellers in.  We hung out a bit as I tried to get warm and thought maybe the storm might subside, then I waded and jumped my way to my bus.  Got on the bus and sat in a soaking wet seat (which I decided was better for me to do than anyone else as I was already soaked though) and then the bus took off.  This was at 6pm.  Roughly 45 seconds later, the bus stopped, still within sight of the bus station we'd left, and we sat there in traffic for the next 2 hours.  I just kept laughing through this whole situation and am not sure I can describe it fully, but here goes- I'm wedged into a three seater so that I'm by the window, the guy next to me keeps talking to me and kind of hitting on me (which is weird cause he's old, but I play along cause I'm bored and its more fun to talk when stuck on a bus), and the bus leaks.  So I had to keep my rain coat on and zipped as there was a spot above me that allowed the rain to pass through every so often.  The radio had some cool mixes on, and it was just a very silly situation stuck, contemplating the fact that the traffic might never move, rocking out in the rain, on the bus.  Got to a friend's house who lives on the way to my house at 9pm, and took a hot shower and drank some hot chocolate.  Very silly, very Kenya, night.  2 days ago it rained for 30 minutes in town and it took me 4.5 hours to get home.  It's amazing to me how a small storm can literally shut down the economic hub of East Africa.  A good parallel of life here though, as most people make enough money to pay the regular bills and eat, until one thing like a funeral, or medical bill comes up- then with minimal safety nets , the savings are used up and then life gets difficult.  Its been 2 days between this incident and now that I’m actually ready to post it, and another humorous story should probably be added here.  Today I got off my matatu in the rain and was so proud of myself for carrying my umbrella and having it accessible enough to use right away.  So then as I walked my way to where I was going I stepped in some mud and sunk in up to my mid calf.  As I pulled upwards against the suction of the mud to get my leg out, my flipflop came off and stayed in the mud.  So then I was in the middle of this muddy road trying to balance my umbrella with one hand, and digging in the mud with the other arm.  It took me a full 2 minutes to locate my shoe and pull it out.  Some guy saw my struggles and offered to help me while we both shared a laugh, but I was able to proudly hold up my arm/show which were both covered in mud in success and continue on my way.  Well I’ll try my best to stay dry moving forward, although the rain seems to bring more funny stories with it… : )