Ganze, Kenya

Yesterday our car broke down.
Or rather, the car we were riding in broke down. In order to reach Ganze, a small town an hour away from where we live, where many Komaza farmers live, we had to hire a car to take us. It was a 1980s BMW.
It broke down twice on the way there, but was easily fixed. The front right tire went flat, but after a half hour was changed. And on the way home, in the dark, it broke down for real.
We were stranded for a short time in the absolute middle of nowhere with all of our several hundred pounds of equipment and absolutely nothing else but sunscreen and empty water bottles.
Our driver Peter called a mechanic and a half hour later he arrived on a motorcycle. After fifteen minutes and a bit of Travis’s Gaffing Tape, the problem had been solved and we headed home.
The problem: the bumpy dirt road had bounced the car to the extent that multiple wires had come out in the engine. Once taped back in, we were good to go.
The road was that bumpy. It was so bumpy that I usually felt like my teeth were chattering, but sometimes felt like my jaw and spine were broken and just swinging and bouncing freely.
Technically in Kenya you drive on the left side of the road, but I think they just drive wherever it looks least bumpy. Sometime we were literally driving with two tires in the ditch, two feet down from the road. There were children walking to and from school during most of the day (morning-to school, lunchtime- to and then from, evening from school) and when they saw cars come by they would scream and run off the road.
Yes, I think drivers really are that bad.
After they were safely up the mound on the other side of the ditch they would stare after us wide-eyed, until we waved. Then they would wave and shout “Jambo Mzungu!” or sometimes “Sweets? Sweets?” We passed one girl, probably 8 or 9, who turned just in time to see us. I waved and she sighed “Ah, Muzungu.” It sounded the way one might sigh over a favorite pet. “Oh, Mittens, did you chase that bird again today? You mischievous cat.” Sigh…
In town, I was browsing at an outdoor market and a little girl came to stand by me. She was probably three. She smiled up at me and whispered “Jambo.” then followed me around the shop. Sometimes she would pull on my skirt and I would look down and she would jump or twirl. I would applaud politely and she would blush and look away. She would play quietly with things I was looking at, then set them down and follow me around.
She was so sweet that I wanted to pick her up and hug her, but I figured that would be bad. Especially since her mother was sitting nearby and constantly calling her back.
Occasionally the little girl would turn and shake her head at her mother, or try to wave her away. But I think the woman enjoyed watching her show off for me as much as I did.
It was a real pity Travis had my camera at the time.
You all could have seen her sweet face.