Furniture Expedition

Today’s objective: Make a dent in the long list of odds ‘n’ ends needed for our unfurnished apartment. A youth and friend at the church, Andrew, met Will and I to show us around town. We walked across town and caught a matatu to another part of town to where the furniture workers are located. Not finding what we wanted, we walked back along the road. I recognized one of the office buildings as my host father’s, and we stopped by to say hello. By the time we made it back into town, it was almost 5 PM and we had nothing but a few bolts for a squeaky bed. We got a quick bite to eat, then did some more shopping without any results. So I did what any frustrated man might do: I bought some tools (a wrench and hammer, to be exact), more out of making myself feel better than necessity. We then tried to catch a matatu back home during rush hour. Just imagine a crowd of Africans standing by the roadside, mobbing any small van or bus that slows down or comes within a few meters. We walked a few more kilometers before we found a promising roadside stop with few people and eventually caught a packed matatu going within 2 kilometers of our house. On our walk back I stopped by a furniture worker I’d met earlier, Daniel, and bought two short stools/tables for the living room for a little over 8 dollars apiece. With stools on our heads and the sun setting to our left, we bought some watermelon slices for twelve cents before trudging home. Never was watermelon so sweet.

In the states, I could have hopped in a car and gone to one or two places, gotten all I could ever want for my apartment, and been back in time for an early lunch. The pace of life here is just very different, and I think I’m slowly adjusting. “Patience is a virtue,” as my Aunt Dee reminded me long ago. I’m still in training.