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May 1st We got into Nairobi in the wee hours of the morning, around 5am if I remember correctly, but the downtown was still lively with people coming out of the clubs and heading to the suburbs of Nairobi.
We jumped on one of the mini buses to Umoja and looked forward to home sweet home. After getting there we unpacked and had some tea and a bit of breakfast. I took a nap for a bit before starting the day.
The plan was to get to the football stadium to watch Mathare United play a lesser known team that had just been promoted to the top league in the Kenyan Football League. We ended up getting to the match late, which meant I wasn’t able to get a picture with the team as was organized by Maureen’s boyfriend, Benson. The traffic on a Saturday afternoon in Nairobi is atrocious and it took us about an hour and a half to get to the stadium after a couple different changes.
Benson, Victor and I got there about half way into the 1st half and luckily the game was still 0-0. There weren’t many fans in the stadium,
I’m not sure the full reason, the tickets were cheap, 50 shillings (less than a dollar) to sit in the uncovered terrace stand. Half way into the 2nd half it started to rain and so everyone on the terrace squeezed under the fence to sit in the covered main stand. We followed suit.
The game was quite good for a country not known for it’s footballing abilities, (Kenya has never been to a World Cup). In the 2nd half Mathare United were charged with a penalty and went down 0-1. With 10 minutes to go they equalized though and with the rain it made it an interesting last 10 minutes. The game ended 1-1 but Mathare United were still unbeaten in the league.
After the game I did get a couple photos with some players. One of them named Titus if I remember correctly, he saw I was wearing a Villa top and mentioned that the club were donated some kits in the 90’s from the Claret and Blue. I also met another player named Austin, who was rated and voted the best player the season before. He has had trials in Sweden and Europe and hopes to
get a move soon. It was a really cool experience to meet them and get a photo-op.
After the game we hurried back to Umoja to watch the Villa play Manchester City, because of the time difference and time at the internet café we didn’t get to the pub until 2nd half. Villa were down 2-1 and ended up losing 3-1. Not the result I wanted and it brought me down a bit.
Villa had lost but that didn't ruin the day. We got on the internet for a bit a then headed to the apartment, had some dinner and then listened to music for a bit. It was nice to chill out with them and just chat, after a while we decided to head back out and watch the Barcelona match. We went to a pub called Amsterdam Pub, which I thought was kinda ironic, seeing I was just in Amsterdam the week before! We had a good time there, (Paul, Victor and I), then we went back to the house and found our pillows.
Was a great day out and about in Nairobi and for football, apart from Villa losing of course!
Until next
time...Pura Vida!
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Julia
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Braids
Love the hair! Looks like you are having a blast! Those kids sound like a ton of fun and I'm glad that it only cost you about 6 bucks. Take care of yourself cousin!