I feel I’ve been away for months, and have neglected my reports on the neighborhood, that is Upper Hill Nairobi.  My favorite walk is to turn left out of the centre, walk up the dirt road and walk along a pretty quiet road called Kiambere. Kiambere has been VERY quiet for some months now, mostly due to the fact that on the south end, it is a dead end, and the north end was closed for road works. So, the only place you really had traffic was where cars crossed Kiambere from one dirt road to another.
 
Well, first let me report on the BIG DIG! The Kenya Women’s Financial Trust decided to build a large structure just across from our centre. They hired the “supposedly” top engineering firm to build it. The contractors started digging the BIG DIG in October 2014 and finally finished the 70’ (yes, foot) hole, mostly through solid rock. They hauled out rock by the truckload, finally finishing that job in August 2015. There were a few diggers shoving dirt around, and trucks seemed to be bringing in many loads of dirt to replace the rock. I have no idea WHY!
 
The rains lasted longer than normal, and that really disturbed the progress in the BIG DIG. Apparently, having spent nine months digging the hole, they now realize they don’t know how to drain the water out of the bottom of their hole. All work has now stopped, and been stopped for weeks while they try to think of a solution. So, the Women’s Financial Trust not only owns a large hole in the ground, but probably has a big hole in their purses as well.
 
The end of Kiambere has been blocked by a large pile of dirt for weeks. The Bunyala Road was finally completed, but the intersection at Kiambere had not been paved. The drop off from Bunyala was about a foot. However, this week, when I walked up there, I found that the paving has been done, and the dirt removed. The only way to go from Kiambere is up, but it is a great help when coming up Bunyala to be able to turn onto Kiambere, and then a quick trip across a decent road, down the dirt road and home.
 
On the way back home, I pass another building that is quite high, but I’m sure it didn’t go down as deep. It is getting closer to finishing. When I drove by on Sunday, I noticed part of the metal “wall” was down. Later, I saw they had moved the entry gate to the other side of the building. I’m not sure what that means, but am keeping watch. Meanwhile, the entrance to Cassia Court (where a number of colleagues used to live) is suffering. Their gate wouldn’t keep out anything smaller than a herd of cows!
 
And finally, on Masaba, the dreaded triangle is almost finished. I see there are signs up now, one an innocent street sign, but the other looks like a NO RIGHT TURN sign. So, watch out or your week may turn very unpleasant with policemen ready to nab you and send you off to the local police station and later to traffic court for doing what we have been doing for years. You have been warned!

As weekends go, this has been a good one. I got to sleep late which meant I could stay up the night before reading a good book. A late breakfast of eggie bread (English), also known as French toast (American). After a bit of sorting out, Margaret and I decided to head out to do our shopping.
 
I had to pick up a pair of shoes I had taken in for repair. Margaret needed a few more gifts to take to friends she is visiting in the US next week. We also needed fuel and food.
 
So, off we went to the Yaya Centre (one of the older but closer shopping malls in Nairobi). As I rounded the corner to head for the parking lot entrance at the mall, it seemed cars were coming at me in all directions. Cars were turning every which direction at the intersection, so I kept a close eye on them to see which lane they were in and whether I could move forward or not. Then there were cars coming out of another parking garage, and some of them were choosing to cross traffic. A car stopped on my left seemed uncertain of what he should do. I paused to let him in, he didn’t go; so I started to go just as he also started to move, so I stopped again. Finally we worked out our dance and he pulled out and straight across three lanes of traffic to turn right! In the midst of all of that, some poor Asian man had decided to cross the street on foot! After nearly being run over by five vehicles, he managed to get to a safe spot.
 
Having run the hazards of the road, we finally got to the parking garage entrance. The security people have lost interest in us, so it was just a cursory look in the car to see if we were carry a bomb. We did have a box of plastic, glass and metal for recycling, but that didn’t seem to create a problem.
 
Upon entering the parking garage, a large SUV was trying to shoehorn itself into a parking place by reversing in. It looked more like a 12-point turn. As soon as he seemed to be settled, out he would come again to readjust the angle. The car in front of me was looking somewhat impatient and I was also eager to move on. Finally the SUV got settled satisfactorily, and the rest of us could look for a place to park. The spaces in underground parking here are tricky at best. There are many large columns holding up the building, and the person who laid out the parking spaces seemed to have used a tiny car for his measurements. I can get my 1994 RAV4 into most of them, but it’s tight.
 
All was well as we headed for the metal detector screening, on the far side of the garage. However, on a small flight of steps up, I suddenly tripped and fell. I caught myself with my hands, but my toes, especially my right big toe, banged fairly forcefully into the riser of the step. I picked myself up and went on, but within a few minutes, my right toe was telling me all was NOT well.
 
My first task was to get some cash from the ATM. I was limping by that time as my toe did not want ANY pressure or weight put on it. I continued to walk, albeit with limited mobility, in hopes my toe would straighten up and stop hurting. It didn’t.
 
I picked up my shoes, wandered through the health food store, helped Margaret find her gifts. By this time, I was really in pain, so I limped to the elevator to go to the car. A little girl had just gotten a pink bicycle with trainer wheels and she was riding the bike on to the elevator. I kept my toes well out of her way. She was so proud of that bike, she probably sat on it in the car, plastic still attached.
 
With great relief, I finally made it to the car. Once I was sitting down, my toe felt better. Margaret had a look at it to make sure it wasn’t broken. It seemed just badly bruised. I was able to drive to the grocery store (Nakumatt Mega), but there was no way I could do the shopping. I gave the money and the list to Margaret, while I dealt with the recycles, and then found a bench near a pile of empty boxes where I could sit down.
 
A Kenyan lady joined me for a little while. She was reading a newspaper about how to grow healthy red bell peppers. After some time, her husband finished their shopping and she went to join him. People-watching is fascinating from that vantage point. As the English would say, the world and his wife come by.
 
Once Margaret had completed the shopping, we headed back to the car. Thankfully the drive home was fairly quick. We hauled our purchases up to the flat, and I haven’t left it since, but there is a reason for that besides my toe.
 
Elevation and ice and not walking have helped reduce the swelling, but it has a lovely purple bruise. It will likely be the colors of the rainbow by the time it finishes. I was glad Margaret was here to help with meals and things so I could stay off of it as much as possible. She leaves on Tuesday night, so I need to make sure not to come down with anything while she is away.
 
Sunday morning the First Lady (of the country) held a half marathon. The roads all around our area were closed from 2:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. for this event. We had already decided that we were going to stay home today since getting out of the area is nearly impossible. Some visitors from Tanzania had to leave on Sunday morning, and had to get a hotel room near the airport in order to be able to get to the airport for their flight.
 
So, my Sunday has largely consisted of therapeutic cooking. After my trip to South Africa, I was feeling a lack of vegetables in my diet. So, when I went shopping last week, I had purchased a lot of vegetables, which I had not yet had time to cook. Most of them got cooked today. Besides, we are having a guest for dinner tomorrow, and need something to offer her.
 
I made chilli on Saturday, using some Indian chilli powder. I’m usually quite cautious with peppery things, but on this occasion, I threw caution to the wind and put in what the recipe called for. Let’s just say, even with lots of yogurt added to it as well as cornbread, it still cleared the sinuses and brought tears to our eyes.
 
On Sunday, I looked up what to do when one’s chilli is TOO spicy. I did those things with what I had available and it was almost edible, not pleasant, but edible. I’ve now put two lots of it in the freezer labeled HOT chilli. When I get it out again, I’ll need to add more tomatoes, beans and orange juice. At this rate, we may have a 6-month supply!
 
I also wanted to give Margaret some lessons on using our food processor. It works on 220v so I can’t take it to the US. So, we blended soup and made coleslaw. After jumping back as if it were going to bite her on the first few goes, she has become more confident. We will need further lessons. Now she is learning to take it apart in order to wash it.
 
For the moment, I’m trying to decide what color to paint my toenails – to match the large emerging bruise. I think purple or blue would do…
 
Hope you had a nice weekend!

My flat (apartment) faces a valley, and so noise bounces around from every direction. On the weekends, there are various clubs around, so we get noise from the “music”. There is a rail line just outside the wall of the compound, so we get regular noise from the train. I’ve noticed about 10:00 pm each night, there is a loud motorcycle with a muffler issue that speeds along the road. I’m guessing he has just gotten off from work. One gets used to these noises, and on the whole, one can ignore them.
 
Well the other night, we got a new noise. A car alarm in the form of a car horn went off and continued to go off ALL night. It was very loud and not regular enough to tune out. I decided that I either had to use earplugs and try to sleep or I was going to go out and kill someone. I don’t know how many hundreds of people were disturbed by that continuous noise. By the time I got up in the morning, the battery had mercifully died, and the alarm with it.
 
That incident made me a bit more sensitive to noise, and not long after, it rained. When it rains, something (I had assumed the rain) seemed to short out the electric wires that are on top of the wall to try to keep out thieves. On this particular night, it sounded like a small firecracker going off at one-second intervals all night.
 
After a rather disturbed night, Margaret and I were talking to Julie, the wife of the guy in charge of maintenance. We wanted to know if they had heard the noise and been disturbed by it. (I suspect the implication was, if you were why didn’t you DO something!) Julie told us that usually when it rains, the slugs crawl up the walls to get out of the wet. They keep crawling until they get to the electric wires. Perhaps they are expecting a flood. Anyway, once they get there, they keep going until they touch two wires at the same time, and their bodies short out the wires. They are hanging there, dead, while the electricity cracks and pops because of them. UGH! The only way to stop the noise is to get a stick and knock them off. From the third floor, we would need a VERY long stick with a flashlight (torch) on the end.
 
A few nights later, it was raining once again, and the wires started popping loudly! Margaret, my flat mate, phoned Andre, Julie’s husband, to tell him there was a slug! I guess she thought he was hearing it and she wanted him to go knock it off the wires. Instead, he came rushing up to the flat with a stick, assuming we had slug in the flat! Margaret soon corrected that misconception and Andre dutifully went down and knocked a millipede off the wires. We had a good laugh about having the slug that slimed Nairobi! Many thanks, Andre!

For my Nairobi friends, I want to update you on the latest changes in Bunyala road. The roundabout is no better, and is possibly worse, but that is not my topic today.

As I walked out of the compound for my afternoon exercise of playing in the traffic, I was surprised to find that there wasn't any! For weeks there have been more cars trying to get down the hill in the afternoon than most could shake a stick at. By the time you dodged the ones coming down, you nearly got hit by the ones trying to come up. All traffic had been diverted from Bunyala Road onto two dirt roads leading into Masaba. Masaba Road was utter chaos after 4:00 pm until about 8:00 or 9:00 as cars exited Masaba turning right onto Bunyala to go on to the main road through Nairobi, Uhuru Highway.

So, where were all the cars on Friday? I walked along Kiambere Road, where there was still no traffic. So, I guessed that Bunyala must be open, but Kiambere was still blocked. I was right. Both sides of Bunyala were functioning, two lanes in each direction. The equipment, the piles of dirt, everything had been cleared away and traffic was all there. It was coming UP Bunyala quite well, but going down was two to three lanes deep, trying to cross the bridge over the railway line and get past the roundabout.

Then today, Saturday, I decided to try to go do my shopping about 3:30 in the afternoon. That isn't the best time, but that's another story. I decided to head down Masaba and turn right on Bunyala. I've been doing that for 30 years. As I made the turn, I noticed the dreaded triangle! 

For some time now, the traffic department has been trying to stop people turning right across oncoming traffic. The latest plan for that is to put in a triangle that forces you to turn left. Today, that would have meant driving to the top of the hill, trying to get around the roundabout at the top (where there were already double lines of traffic in parking mode) and then inching my way all the way back down the hill. Beware, fellow-Nairobiites, if you make that right turn, you will likely end up in traffic court. I escaped that fate today, but will not be making that little move in the future, God willing.

Getting to church in the morning is going to require some strategic planning. If I go up the hill, I will get into the Catholic church traffic. If I go down the hill, the police may catch me turning right. So, if I go down the hill, then up the hill, round the roundabout and back down the hill, maybe I can finally get on the road to get to church. Life is certainly getting more complicated in Nairobi.

I’ve been living in Kenya for the past three years, and was about to begin my fourth and final year.  During my 30+ years in Africa, I have normally used medications that could be purchased locally, and have not had any serious problems with that, until a few years ago. Although I purchase my cholesterol medicine from a reputable source, the results have not been encouraging. After taking these medications for the better part of a year, my US doctor’s eyes were bulging when he saw the numbers on my cholesterol test. So, I started getting my medications from the US while I was home and bringing a large supply back with me.
 
In 2014, I was home in the US rather often due to some family issues, and so was able to get my medications during my visits home. However, during 2015, I was rarely in the US. By some miscalculation on my part, I didn’t have enough of my medications to last out the year, but once again, my reliable source provided me with some locally. When I got home to the US at the end of 2015, I discovered that my numbers were up again, and the doctor was concerned.
 
So, I began the process of getting my medications ordered. I had counted what I had in Africa, and how much I would need before I return to the US. I gave those numbers to the doctor, and his office sent the request to my mail order pharmacy. That process happened on December 11. I had needed some medications as soon as I arrived in the US as well. So, those had been filled locally. (Unbeknownst to me, that was the beginning of my undoing!)
 
As Christmas came and went, and there was no word on a package headed my way, I contacted the mail order pharmacy, and they had no record of any requests having been made.
 
I immediately phoned my doctor’s office, and they discovered that the FAX number had changed. So, the request had not gone through. They called it in again, and then the real hassle started.
 
Since I had already had some medications filled when I arrived home, it was “too soon” to get another refill. It didn’t seem to register with these folks that I was there in the same country (at least until January 5), and needed these medications before I took that 27 hours trip back to my other home. Nothing arrived.
 
Numerous phone calls made no impact. They couldn’t start the process until January 28, and then it would take the better part of 10 days to get the medications to me. The fact that I was already in Africa, and a colleague was traveling from the US to Kenya on February 2 and could bring them, didn’t make a bit of difference.
 
I finally phoned them from Kenya and after speaking with several helpful but powerless persons for several hours, I finally said, “How are you going to get these medications to me? You have two choices: DHL them to Africa or send them to my colleague before February 2.”
 
At one point, they wanted to know when I was leaving for Africa. I replied, “I’m here now!” I think they were hoping to use the “vacation” clause to get out of the “too early” issue. However, it was too late for that. Another time, a lady said, “There are no refills on these medications!” I said, “No, there won’t be. I told the doctor how many I needed, and that is what they asked for.” She seemed to study those numbers for a few minutes, and said, “Oh, okay.”
 
In the end, they checked with my company only to find that a provision exists for me to get my medications a year at a time. Shouldn’t that be on my record somewhere? Anyway, it wasn’t. Once they had established this fact, at least it became possible.
 
I’m grateful there are reasonable rates to call the US from Kenya or I could have spent a fortune as I was on the phone for another two hours before a “senior team” figured out a workaround that would enable them to send the medicines to my colleague before he traveled. REALLY?! What possible difference can it make to them if they send me pills every 90 days or once for 9 months. Maybe they are afraid I will die off before I take them all, and that would be a real shame! I know they want to save money, but this is ridiculous!
 
It all goes to show, bureaucracy is alive and well, not only in Africa but also in the USA. It also shows that patience, time and perseverance can overcome the most obstinate of obstacles.
 

​I’ve been back in Nairobi for three days after a six week absence. There have been some changes, and some things that haven’t changed.
 
Roads: As the driver took me home from the airport about 9:00 p.m., he started to turn on to Masaba Road I cautioned him not to go that way as it is not particularly safe at night. He turned up Bunyala, but at the top of the hill, we ran into some serious construction. When I left six weeks before, the upper side of the road was nearly finished. It has now been finished, and they have started working on the lower side of the road. There was a large machine banging away and it continued to do that all night. We had to drive around rubble, but managed to find our way all the way up to Don Bosco and came in over the two dirt roads that have now become a major thoroughfare in the area.
 
On Friday, I went for a walk down Kiambere to try to see what was going on. As I got to the end, I noticed the lady who runs a rather informal “fast food” place has acquired a new yellow tent. Apparently business is good. However, the road itself was piled high with dirt, about 15 feet of it! There was a footpath over one lower side and a large digger was moving the dirt around.
 
On Saturday, I went shopping via Masaba Road. As I returned from my outing, I noticed Bunyala had been closed off completely. Men were scurrying around doing various jobs. Today, Sunday, I walked up to Kiambere once more. The dirt had been put back on the road and it was smooth, hardened and ready for the tarmac to be put down. I wondered how it had gone from rubble to ready for paving so quickly. Then one of my colleagues told me that President Uhuru is planning to attend the opening of the new Radisson hotel just up the road. That occasion is coming up in the next week or so. Apparently the last time the President went to an opening, the road had not been finished. He pitched a fit. The same company is working on the Bunyala Road. If they don’t have it ready for him to ride smoothly and easily to the opening, they will lose the contract and maybe a lot more of them in the future. So, I expect we will have a nice road to drive on in the next week!
 
This has nothing to do with road construction, but during my shopping on Saturday, a young woman was pushing the trolley in front of me as I was going to check out. I was glad I was behind her because it gave me time to stare at her without being observed. The reason for my interest was her hair. It was braided in very thick braids that hung almost to her waist. This would not have been so remarkable except that the color of the braids from scalp to end was electric purple! I thought about asking her if she was enjoying her purple hair, but couldn’t quite work out how to word the question without seeming odd.