In the ghetto

On the subject of welcoming Nairobians, I was invited to lunch over the weekend by a friend at work called Joash. Joash is a clerk in the Ministry, one of the lowest possible ranks. I don't know exactly how much he earns there, but it can't be more than £100 a month. When I first met him, I assumed he was 18 or so - it turns out he's 28, married, with a kid of his own, and a girl he adopted when his sister died 2 years ago.

We met up in town on Saturday morning, and headed back to his place. Traffic on a Saturday morning is pretty light, so it took about 40 minutes, but Joash says in rush-hour it can easily take him 3 hours each way. He gets up at 4, to leave the house by 5 and arrive at work around 6. He lives in a district called Dandora, which wikipedia tells me is a slum in Eastern Nairobi, although my Kenyan friend assures me it's more ghetto than slum, per se.

His place is a room in a ground-floor complex, with a curtain separating the bed from the living area. I sat with Joash and another friend of his; we took tea and talked about work, politics, football and women - the standard discussion topics in Kenya. The place is small, but there's enough room for people to sit, a tv and dvd player attached to a pretty sweet pair of speakers. After tea, his wife came in with lunch: beef stew, rice, ugali, chapatis, cabbage and a fish dish which is the specialty of Nyanza province, near Lake Victoria, where they're from. I admit, I'd prepared myself for the prospect of some slightly gristly meat, that I would just have to chew and swallow so as not to be rude. But the meal was fantastic. No cutlery - you get stuck in with your fingers - but everything was freshly prepared and properly tasty. I assume, although obviously this can be dangerous, that this was not their normal weekend fare. I really think they went all out.

After the meal we talked some more and listened to some music from their home province. I kept them amused by trying to talk to the 3 year-old daughter in Swahili. We seemed to have a similar grasp of the language.

Not only was this a reasonably eye-opening experience, and a chance to visit a part of the city I would never normally go to, but it was also one of the most enjoyable days I've had for a while. There are many spectacular things to do in Kenya - big-game safaris, beautiful beaches, stunning scenery - but most of my favourite times have normally centred around hanging out with friends, eating, drinking and swapping stories, whether it's with Joash in Dandora or, as I had done the previous night, playing pool in a bar with some NGO friends.

I do, however, now feel very guilty for complaining about my own traffic frustrations.