Food and Transport

Ok, let me tell you a little about the topics mentioned in the title. Cause hey, it's interesting!

I talked in an earlier blog about what i eat, but that's not what the locals eat and what i eat when i'm at someone's house or an event. The locals eat the most carb heavy diet you can imagine. And they eat a lot of it. Rice, pasta, matoke (smashed up plantains), posho (maize bread), wita (millet bread), cassava, sweet potatoes, irish potatoes, beans, and random bitter greens. They grow so many vegetables in this country, but people hardly eat it unless they are put into a broth for meat. Part of it is that they are expensive, and also because they are not as filling as other food. The meats consist of mainly chicken, beef and goat and are served like a stew in broth. The food is good and not scary, but however, there is also not a lot of variety and flavor. People usually just eat a small combo of above listed items every day for lunch and dinner. Coming from a place where I can have any style of food any day, it's a bit of an adjustment.

Transport is a huge problem here. The roads are dilapidated or dirt and dilapidated and with the high price of vehicles and fuel, getting around is not easy. There are 4 main options:
Taxi, called a Matatu is the main source on busy routes. What they are is a minivan, usually a Toyota Hiace, that is licensed to carry 14 passengers (4 rows of 3 plus 2 up front with the driver). However, this never happens. They always cram at least 20 people in there. The most I've had is about 25, but one volunteer had 28 plus a guy on the roof! They will not leave the station until it is completely full. So sometimes you can be sitting in a hot crammed taxi for an hour before you even start driving. These taxis also transport chickens and other animals. On the ride in today a chicken went the bathroom on the lady next to me. I gave her some water to clean up. I'm such a hero! :) Getting from my place, there is about 1 taxi every 2 hours. More in the morning and evening hours when everyone travels. there are no set stops, just whoever is on the side of the road. These can be, and often are extremely unsafe and frightening. The drivers drive like maniacs down these potholed filled dirt roads. It is also kinda fun!
There are also buses and private hire cars. Buses just run from the main cities and are usually more comfortable...barely, than taxis. Private hires are just some guy with a toyota sedan that you pay to drive you places. Pretty expensive but useful.
Third and Fourth option is the Boda Boda's. The bicycle boda consists of a guy on a bike with a pad on a rack in the back that you sit on. Women have to sit side-saddle because of the skirt issue (clothes on another blog). As PCV's we can only ride on bike bodas if we wear our bike helmets. Because of safty issues, we are not allowed to ride motorcycle bodas at all. Sitting on the back of some guys motorcycle is dangerous even in the US so they don't want us doing it here. We get sent home if we do.
Of course there is walking and personal bikes which is utilized quite a bit. The thing about transport here is that everyone has to cram into these packed taxis unless you own a car. Guys with suits and women with nice dresses on get smashed in with the rest of us. If it rains, often times, the dirt roads (which is most of them), get muddy and you can't travel down them.