blast from the past

this happened all the way back in mbita, but the power cut out just as i was posting it.

one night, as we sat in daniel's hut waiting for supper, a knock came at the door. it was two strangers, one of whom carried a flashlight, and the other an assault rifle. the unarmed one very politely requested to speak to one of us, and then pointed to daniel, saying "you". while daniel was outside speaking in luo to the men, erika and i considered our options. should we run? what do they want? are they here b/c of us? i was still pretty sick at the time, so i was in favor of the sit still and hope option. i think she was afraid that they'd kidnap us. in a bit, they came in to search all the rooms, going through some of them multiple times, obviously not finding what they wanted. where they looking for our bags? it wasn't until they left to search the other huts that daniel told us, "don't look so worried, they're the police. they're just doing their jobs". apparently they were searching for moonshiners. i guess an AK47 is badge and warrant enough in these parts. i was still worried though. when they left, we went to make sure that our bags hadn't been tampered with. and what if the police were corrupt? what if they sent ppl to rob us after they saw that americans were staying here (not an unlikely scenario in some chinese villages)? but never fear dear reader, we are alive, well, and still possessing of our earthly possessions. if i ever run a police force, i'll make them wear uniforms when they sneak up to ppl's huts in the dark.

the next day, as we did laundry at the lake, two helicopters passed overhead--the only air traffic we'd seen here. turns out it was the prime minister (raila odinga) come to open a branch of equity bank. we missed him, but when we got to town, we enjoyed seeing everyone in their sunday best who had come to hear the pm speak. black ppl are lucky. they can wear absolutely any bright color and look amazing.