Out of My Way

In Kenya, most people use public transportation in the form of buses or matatus (vans). Taking either one alone makes me nervous because they are very crowded and it's not clear where to get on and off. On Saturday, Margaret and I decided to go to town to do a bit of shopping. In order to get there, we had to take a bus. Margaret is from Sierra Leon, but has lived in Kenya for many years so she is used to riding the bus. When we got to the bus station, there were a lot of other people waiting to get on. I asked Margaret who gets on first and she said whoever gets to the door first. You have to fight to get on or you have to wait for the next one. So when we saw the bus approaching, we rushed to the door and it was a mad dash to get on. Margaret was saying "go" and in the confusion and fear of not getting on, I pushed a man and child out of the way. When we stepped on the bus, (one of the first few to get on, thank you very much), we started laughing because the bus was totally empty. We were fighting to get on and there were more than enough seats for everyone. It was so funny. It's a dog eat dog world out there!