First Timer: Daniel 'Churchill' Ndambuki - I learnt to pretend that two pieces of ugali were enough

I came to Nairobi in 1990 with my uncle. Before leaving Masaku, my uncle, who then was working for Mbuni Dry Cleaners in Industrial Area, had spoken highly of his neighbourhood in Nairobi. He lived in Dandora, but he spoke about it like it was Lavington or Runda.

We arrived at the country bus station in the famous Hodi Hodi bus which was emblazoned with the Kamba words: ‘Etina wa isaa yimwi ni leloni’ (I will be back on the road after an hour).

I had never seen so many people in the same place before, apart from the pastor Reinhard Bonnke’s crusades of course, which I watched on TV. We walked from the bus station to Luthuli Avenue for lunch. I would bend whenever we passed near tall buildings. They looked like they were going to fall on me.

At Luthuli, we ate chips and sausage. At the time, that was the best meal I had tasted.  But I was shocked at the speed with which people ate and that there were no seats. I was so impressed by the way people mixed tomato sauce with vinegar and chilli. I had not used any of these before, so I decided not to embarrass myself.

On leaving Luthuli, we squeezed into a matatu to Dandora Phase Three. Only the driver could breathe in that contraption since he was the only one who did not share his seat in the vehicle and had the luxury of an open window. And God, wasn’t the music loud! You couldn’t complain as that will be a sure way to get kicked off the matatu by the very rude tout.

I went to my uncle’s house first before moving to my aunt’s, where I really suffered. These people sliced ugali to be shared by the whole family; It was also too soft and two pieces were never enough. However, since everyone got ‘satisfied’ after two pieces, I also learnt to pretend that I had enough.

I was also amazed by how little children spoke fluent English. They sounded like cartoons on TV. That was so intimidating. I was in college but could not speak English. I had to resort to sign language!

I also could not understand how a man could just stop a girl and hit on her. Back home, all it took is chase girls to the river and if you managed to catch one, that would be your girlfriend!