Posted on Friday, July 21, 2006 1:19 PM
Think we all have these days that every thing you try seems to fail. Today it started with a traffic jam near Globe Roundabout in Nairobi, where you can expect it on Friday. Was going to town to buy tickets for the bus to Kampala - Uganda tomorrow evening. Later then I expected I queued at the ATM of Barclays's Bank on Moi Avenue. 'We are unable to process your request', prompted the machine with its friendly green letters. That happens often, and it has nothing to do with your balance. It's just that the connections to banks outside Kenya are jammed.
Plan-B was to go to the cyber in order to do the usual uploads to my server. It took ten minutes before the connection collapsed. There you go; no money, no bus tickets, no work. Plan-C was to join the people in the queue for the mini bus back to Westlands where I came from. Just a matter of staying calm, and forget about any plans or targets for today. Was dozing in the mini bus, the matatu.
In the shopping mall Sarit Centre I know there is a new ATM that also allows foreign bank draws. Never any queues there, and magically it worked! With the bus fare in my pocket, I allowed some more delay by having a coffee at Fresh Bakers. Ah, that's good, and outside the matatu driver waves his hand at me. A seat appears available, and when departing the song Africa man. You take the pace of a Rastafarian started playing, performed by some Lucky Dube clone (who is a clone of Peter Tosh btw).
Combined with the generous smile of the conductor that restored my fainting mood. Proceeded to the Scandinavia bus station and got me the tickets to Kampala. This is what I learned living some years in Africa. There are no bad days, it's a matter of accepting delays, and eventually achieving what you want. Today, or any good day after.
Have a good Friday.