My brother came to town for a conference last night. I wanted to see him before he got caught up in his meetings so I decided to drive to his hotel after work. For some reason, I didn't google the address before I hit the road at 8:30pm. Now anybody with half a brain will tell you one shouldn't do that in this town. Actually, what I was told was to not go somewhere you don't know at night if you absolutely don't have to. But I've got this cocky last child immortality complex so I wanted to see my big bro and hell, I was not going to wait until tomorrow. I asked my husband to call me with the directions. He's great at many things, but map reading and navigating ain't one of them. So he told me to make a left when I should have taken a right . After driving for 15 min a little voice inside my head started whispering something about not being in KS anymore (I've never even been). The road kept getting worse and worse, the bonfires by the road were more frequent, there was a noticeable spike in the number of people around and it was all corrugated iron shack as far as my eyes could see through the darkness. Finally it occurred to me that I had driven into one of the biggest slum areas in Nairobi. I made a U turn when the narrow roads would allow and eventually met and enjoyed my brother's company for a few hours.
But I can't get that image out of my head. That 15 mins away from the uber modern malls selling frapuccinos at $4.0 a cup and designer jeans (+$400) exists such squalor. I knew the reality here but I had subconsciously decided to ignore it and been floating through life here . I need to do a little inventory of my conscience. anyway, I'm feeling like i grabbed this branch that I saw last week.
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