Lightly Dusted

Before I start this blip, a brief update from yesterday. Apparently the billboard was the one I blipped on the 5th of October! When I drove past the enormous pile of steel yesterday, it looked as if the pipes had been sawed off so there was speculation that iron mongers were the culprits. But this morning the government made an announcement that they were the ones who brought down the structure. They had started at night and had hoped it would be out of the way before rush hour.

What prompted the government to allow the advertisers erect the structure over the course of the past month only to have it brought down upon completion is now where I am at a loss.

Today, however, let's talk about dust. I parked next to this car in the morning on the way to the gym. The windscreen (windshield?) had a fine coating of dust which is something found all over the city. I am not sure this dust comes from but it is everywhere. And rather than embracing it, people take drastic measures to do away with it. And the two best examples of this are shoes and cars.

In most offices, there is a shoe brush found for those who walk to work. Our shoe brush is either found at the gate (so you can polish before coming into the compound) or in the kitchen (for those who forgot to do it at the gate). The shoe brush is actually an old paint brush without a handle. But it works well. People are always shocked when they go to Europe or the States, "I didn't have to polish my shoes the whole time I was away!" Walking around with dusty shoes is for country folk and foreigners...for Nairobians, you better shine them shoes!

On cars, the dust isn't allowed to settle for even one day. Everyone who has a car gets someone to wash it on more or less a daily basis. Cars of wealthy people are washed by gardeners, guards or nannies. If you are less wealthy and live in a flat or compound with many others, the guards are usually given a few extra shillings to wash the cars in the morning. But to drive a car which is lightly dusted is just not done! It took me a while to realise this but now the car is washed religiously....

And car washing when at times there are water shortages in the city boggles my mind. In some neighbourhoods there are car wash 'stations' located strategically to bars. The guys tap into the water mains and then wash the cars while people drink beer and eat roasted meat. When the city council comes around to close up these illegal car wash joints, there is quite an uproar.

Or you find that there are car wash guys near the rivers or murky pools of water. Lorries, dump trucks and saloon cars are all treated to a wash. As the weather man tells us to brace for a drought, I shall keep you posted about how people find just enough water to wash their car...

Have a dust-less day