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I first came to Nairobi from Meru in 2002. A friend picked me up at the bus stop near Tea Room.
Before leaving Meru, I was scared by the stories I had heard about crime, rape and all things peer pressure.
I was terrified of this town!
I held onto my friend’s hand all the way. I spent my first days in Nairobi in a Hostel in Ngara.
I was the typical village girl who stayed in the hostel for fear of being robbed or raped.
For a long time, the only places I knew was the Kenya National Archives and Afya centre.
One evening on my way from the School of Professional studies in Parklands, I got lost and found myself near the big smelly bridge in Eastleigh.
I had to ask the people around for directions back to Ngara.
I had never been to a club all my life though I was a good dancer.
My Nairobi girlfriends finally convinced me to go out. I first stuck to my guns and took Sprite. After some convincing I tried out Smirnoff Red Ice. My friends actually convinced me that it was just another brand of soda!
Indeed after tasting it, I could not differentiate it from a soda since it was sugary.
To cut the long story short, I don’t know how I woke up in my bed the next morning.
My mother will be very shocked when she reads that I consumed alcohol despite the strict instructions that she had given the hostel caretaker.
She would call him every time to tell him not to let me out of sight if I wasn’t in school.
Zubeida Kananu is a KTN News Anchor
