Day 2

I'm starting to get frustrated, which I realize is unfair. We started driving to the hills, but then Jay's mother decided she'd prefer to drive to a Maasai village instead to watch them dance. But when we got there, we discovered the dancing wasn't for a few more hours and so we drove all the way back in order to pick someone up from the airport. The drive was nice, and I liked watching outside, but I still felt bitterly disappointed. At least we walked around Nairobi some more. I feel ancy, worried about all the money I spent on this trip, and the lack of time we have here. But I realize that's unfair too. I realize they aren't here for me, and I'm grateful I have a place to stay and people to travel with. I just wish it was possible for me to travel by myself. Jay's mother won't let me, telling me that if I'm lost or hurt, the American embassy will destroy them. I'm not sure how much of that is just dramatics and how much is the truth. She and her children have American citizenship, so I hope they wouldn't be blamed, but what about her sisters and their children? I don't think the American embassy is that evil or that covetous of its citizens abroad, but I don't know. And just how dangerous is it here? I feel like I can protect myself, but realize that feeling is not really enough.

In any case, while waiting for them to finish more passport errands in Nairobi, I had a scary experience. As soon as they went into the building, I started locking all the doors and attempting to roll up the windows, but then a man walked up, opened the door, and got in. He told me he was a valet driver, and that our parking space had to be moved, but I wasn't sure if I could trust him, so I fretted in the back with a comb clutched in my hand, as if that could defend me if he decided to drive off. Then I made him call Jay's family, and sure enough, he had been telling the truth, thank god. So (against everyone's wishes) I decided to walk to a nearby Orange store and buy a goddamn phone for instances such as that, because what if he'd reused to let me use his phone? How would I have proven he wasn't stealing our car? So I bought the cheapest phone they had. I felt ridiculously competent for such a small task, but there had been multiple people I had to talk to and wait on line with, and it felt like a victory when I walked out with an activated phone with plenty of minutes on it. I'm glad I got to do something by myself, at least.