My daughter goes to a very interesting school. For one thing, her teacher – lovely woman – routinely says things like “Chudren, A B C…follow me back.”
It took me quite a while to correctly decipher ‘follow me back.’
For another, the school has four separate campuses, and since the primary campus is overloaded, my daughter, a Grade 1 student, has her lessons at ——- Girls Secondary School. The huge campus is pink from head to toes, literally, and contains Grade 1A, 1B, 2A, and a bunch of teenage girls. Teenage girls who, btw, have their boarding facilities in the nursery campus after the baby-class has gone home…
But best of all is the schoolbus. Apparently, there are two schoolbuses on our route, and they’re not quite sure which bus picks which student. So some days, she’s picked by bus A, some days by bus B, some days by both…and some days by none! I had a minor stroke the other day when fifteen minutes after putting her on Bus B, I got a call at work asking where my daughter was.
“Si you guys came and took her?”
“Which guys?”
“You guys, with the bus.”
Shocked voice “Which bus?”
My heart froze for a second – my daughter had been kidnapped, and I didn’t even know the number plate!
“Si the brown bus…with the skinny guy.” As opposed to the blue bus with the unskinny lady. Sigh. Thank God that ended well.
Anyway, today was one of those days when neither bus came. I got tired of waiting and called Bus A, who told me Bus B had picked her. Then I called Bus B, who claimed Bus A had picked her!! Then they both suggested I take her to school myself.
Now my house is about ten minutes from the bus stop [five if you walk briskly] and the bust stop is ten, fifteen minutes from the school – by car – bila jam. On foot, well, it’s a lot further, and dustier. But at 8.00 a.m, there’s a very bad jam, and I don’t have a car. PLUS, while I know the primary and the nursery, I have NO IDEA where the Girls’ Secondary Campus is!!
I grabbed my baby’s hand and we started the ten-minute walk to the bus stop. There’s a bunch of cabs that hangs out there. I tried calling my on-call cab driver, but he was deep asleep. I called another cab driver who claimed to be in Mwenge [though I suspect he was asleep too.] Muttering curses at the schoolbus, we got to the taxi-stand to find…nothing! Not a vehicle in sight. Well, there was one car, but it had yellow plates.
Let me explain. In Dar, there’s a terribly complex number-plate system. The usual plates are T 123 ABC on a yellow background. Diplomatic plates are CD, on green. NGO plates are DP, on red. Zanzibari plates are ZNZ 123456 on white. Government plates are anything from SU, ST, W, WJ and goodness knows what else. CID have no plates at all.
PSVs and rentals have white plates. That includes dala-dalas (matatus) and cabs. I was pissed, PMSing, and half high on coldrex [or rather it’s local equivalent] so I was in no mood to get into a strange car with a strange man with no white plates.
A few dala-dalas zoomed by, packed solid even by Dar standards. Dar is strictly pre-Michuki, and dala-dalas look like sardine cans on wheels. Besides, the Daughter had made it quite clear that the school was veeeeeeery faaaaaar from the stage.
In the end, we hailed a red bajaji to get us where we wanted to go. When I say hailed, I mean we stood in the traffic jam, scrutinized the drivers for an empty car, and waved frantically till it stopped. A bajaji, btw, is Kenyanly known as a tuktuk.
The trip to school was quite eventful, almost like a field trip. All flying skirts and wind-in-the-dreads and flying over bumps and following my six-year-old’s directions. She, fortunately, is a far better ‘director’ than her mother. We found the school in five minutes flat, deposited her in class, ignored the curious teenage stares, bonded with her teacher, and went back to my ride. Now to get to work.
The bajaji, apparently, is more stable with babies in it. Either that, or my baby girl is heavier than I thought. Because all of a sudden, I was being thrown six ways south of north in the name of driving. And no safety belts. I was clinging to anything I could, which generally meant the driver’s seat, and possibly the driver, if he hadn’t been leaning so far forward. The thing was tilting at insane[ingly] angles, and I half thought I’d fly out the …doors? More like entry spaces.
And the driver suddenly decided to make conversation (why, now?! He was stone silent when my baby was here), his topic of choice being why a classy lady like me, in fancy hair like mine, with my kid in a fancy school like that, living in fancy uzunguni neighbourhood like this, would be riding to work in a bajaji. I half expected him to double the fares!
I made it, in one piece, at 8.30 sharp, just as the register was marking me punishably ‘late’. And since I usually report between 7 and 7.30, they just had to know where I’d been…!
In other news, the sound on my laptop is dead. I fear I may have burst its eardrums. Everyone I ask goes on and on about soundcards and drivers hardware and software and things that cache and things that run…kwani ni hide-and-seek? When it comes to technology, me blonde, and not in the ‘have all the fun’ kinda way. Just call me BC for Blonde-and-Clueless in all matters [finance and] IT. A dear friend tried to walk me through computer parts, online, and after ten minutes of ‘software = MS Word, hardware = C drive’ on my part, the poor dear pulled his hair out, gave up, and sought comfort food.
But one boy did help me out. He couldn’t fix the problem, but he did explain patiently till I got it. I can now say that a sound card is the green, chippy thingamajig with grey pointy dots that converts electrical signals into sound. Kind of like a translator. There’s one for video too. Yay! Now, why can’t everyone talk like that? How I love this boy. He couldn’t fix my fried card, but he sure did make my day. Thank you dear! **Hugs**
Awesome write-up. I am a normal visitor of your web site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I’ll be a frequent visitor for a really long time.
Keep this going please, great job!
Hello there. I discovered your site via Google even as looking for a comparable matter, your website got here up. It seems to be good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossip and net stuff and this is actually annoying. A good web site with interesting content, that is what I need. Thanks for making this website, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hey there. I discovered your website by way of Google whilst looking for a similar matter, your web site came up. It appears good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hello there. I discovered your website via Google while searching for a related subject, your website came up. It appears great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hi there. I discovered your blog by means of Google while looking for a related topic, your site got here up. It seems to be good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hi there. I discovered your blog by means of Google while looking for a similar topic, your site got here up. It appears to be good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this information. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is actually annoying. A good web site with exciting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this website, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
I’ve been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s lovely value enough for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content material as you probably did, the net might be much more useful than ever before. “Oh, that way madness lies let me shun that.” by William Shakespeare.
Awesome post. I’m a regular visitor of your website and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Awesome post. I am a normal visitor of your website and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is actually frustrating. A good site with interesting content, that’s what I need. Thank you for making this web-site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this info. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and internet stuff and this is really irritating. A good web site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thank you for making this website, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this information. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and internet stuff and this is actually frustrating. A good web site with exciting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Can I simply just say what a relief to uncover someone that truly understands what they are discussing over the internet.
You actually know how to bring a problem to light and make it
important. More and more people must read this and understand this side of the story.
I was surprised that you are not more popular given that you most certainly possess the gift.
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this information. Today bloggers publish only about gossip and net stuff and this is actually irritating. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thank you for making this site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hey there. I discovered your web site by means of Google even as looking for a similar subject, your website came up. It looks great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Awesome write-up. I am a normal visitor of your web site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I’ll be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Hello there. I discovered your web site by means of Google while looking for a similar matter, your site got here up. It seems to be great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hiya, I am really glad I have found this information. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and net stuff and this is actually irritating. A good site with exciting content, that is what I need. Thanks for making this web-site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hello there. I found your site by way of Google while searching for a related topic, your web site came up. It appears to be good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Awesome write-up. I am a normal visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I’ll be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your web site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I’ll be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Hey there. I discovered your site via Google while looking for a similar matter, your website got here up. It seems to be good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hello there. I discovered your website by means of Google whilst searching for a comparable matter, your web site got here up. It seems great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hey there. I found your site via Google while searching for a similar topic, your site came up. It seems to be great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Wow, marvelous weblog layout! How long have you been running a blog for? you make running a blog look easy. The whole glance of your site is great, as well as the content material!
Awesome write-up. I am a regular visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I’ll be a frequent visitor for a long time.
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and net stuff and this is really frustrating. A good blog with interesting content, that’s what I need. Thank you for making this site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
I have been surfing online greater than three hours nowadays, but I never found any attention-grabbing article like yours. It¡¦s lovely price enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content as you probably did, the net will be much more helpful than ever before.
Awesome write-up. I am a regular visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I will be a regular visitor for a long time.
Hello there. I found your site via Google at the same time as looking for a related topic, your web site came up. It appears good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hiya, I am really glad I have found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and net stuff and this is actually frustrating. A good blog with exciting content, this is what I need. Thank you for making this web site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
I like this website very much, Its a very nice place to read and find info . “One man’s religion is another man’s belly laugh.” by Robert Anson Heinlein.
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Today bloggers publish only about gossip and web stuff and this is actually annoying. A good blog with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and internet stuff and this is actually irritating. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thank you for making this website, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hiya, I am really glad I have found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and web stuff and this is really annoying. A good blog with exciting content, this is what I need. Thank you for making this site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Awesome write-up. I am a normal visitor of your website and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a frequent visitor for a long time.
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Today bloggers publish only about gossip and net stuff and this is actually irritating. A good site with exciting content, this is what I need. Thank you for making this web site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Awesome write-up. I am a normal visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I’ll be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and net stuff and this is really annoying. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this web site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a frequent visitor for a long time.
Hey there. I found your blog by way of Google at the same time as looking for a similar matter, your website came up. It seems great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Thanks for these guidelines. One thing I also believe is the fact credit cards providing a 0% interest rate often appeal to consumers with zero monthly interest, instant authorization and easy on the web balance transfers, nevertheless beware of the main factor that is going to void your current 0% easy neighborhood annual percentage rate and as well as throw anybody out into the very poor house fast.
Awesome write-up. I am a regular visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I will be a frequent visitor for a long time.
Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this info. Today bloggers publish only about gossip and web stuff and this is really irritating. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this web-site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hello there. I discovered your site via Google while looking for a related matter, your web site came up. It seems to be great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a regular visitor for a really long time.