Six and seven and eight and BUNCH

My desk--you can see the bananas on the left

I left the CDC campus today for lunch. I ventured outside of the gate in search of food. After one week, I am already tired of the menu options inside the compound. Actually, I think they just don’t use enough oil and salt when they cook, and truly, when you’re eating beans and rice, those are two ingredients that are needed in excess.

Immediately outside of the gate there are a few stands set up by entrepreneurs who sell breakfast, lunch, soda, phone cards, fruit and other incidentals. These people are collectively referred to as “Jua Kali” which means “fierce sun” and is slang for informal employment. I had been eyeing one of the stands on my way into work in the CDC special transport morning van for non-Kenyans, temporarily working in Kisumu and living on the right side of town. I am actually surprised it took me this long to eat there.

CDC van at the compound

My restaurant, or “guesti,” is called “Researchers Favorite Café.” How could I go wrong? And I didn’t. The best beans and rice I have had since coming to Kenya and for $0.50 we’re talking my price range too. But I was still hungry. Thankfully, there is always someone around who is able to help you out with what you need, when you need it. And there was a mama sitting in the shade, right by the CDC gate, selling bananas and some type of root. I chose banana.

But I only had a 50KSH ($0.65) bill and she, of course, had no change. “Why not buy 50 shillings worth?” she asked me. Now, sometimes this is a little of a trick, and sometimes the person doesn’t really have the change. I asked her how many bananas I would get for my 50KSH and she pointed to a whole bunch of bananas, like 10. Now, what’s going through my head is I paid 20KSH per banana last week and was expecting to get maybe three bananas for my money—I got screwed. So I bought 50KSH of bananas from her, ate one and handed them out to people I knew as I walked back to my office—I still have some to bring home.