Marradas de Poesia e Prosa: Latino (Sentir-se bem)
October 20th, 2008 by adminArray-ne The matatus are on suddenly on strike. The most common of matatu is an old Nissan mini-van, normally meant to seat fourteen plus the driver. However, Iâve seen a matatu with well over 20 people crammed inside. The other type of matatu, less popular on paved roads, is the âLunch Box.â They usually run routes on the myriad red dirt roads that criss-cross the countryside throughout Kenya, linking the heartlands together. So, when the matatu first made its debut on the Kenyan road, legend has that it cost only three Kenyan shillings to travel anywhere or âshilingi matatuâ. Although now the price of a matatu ride has risen and varies on how far you want to go, itâs still the cheapest way to travel. For example, when I travel to Nairobi on business or to meet up with other PCVs, I take a matatu to Narok for 150/= and then switch to another matatu direct to Nairobi for another 200/=. Buses can take hours to fill their 60 seats, whereas a matatu usually fills its 15 seats in about 20 minutes. When in town, matatus flock at the loading area, known as a stage. In Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya located on the edge of Lake Victoria, the stage is an enormous sprawl of parking lot with matatus that travel across the entire country. Each route has a numbering system to help the traveler know what the matatu destination is. For example, matatu number 31 travels from the Westlands (the Western edge of Nairobi) into the city center and back. Finding the correct stage and then the correct matatu is always an adventure in Nairobi, however potentially dangerous it can be. Westerners are no unusual sight in Nairobiâevery other car in the city is driven by a mzungu and has red diplomatic tagsâbut a mzungu searching for a stage and taking a matatu is a rarity indeed. Most small town and village matatus travel only to larger towns where you pick up a connecting matatu at the larger stage. Touts are hired by the owners of the matatus to yell out the destination of the matatu and to harass people to board the vehicle. The tout usually stays in town once the matatu leaves for its destination, but he gets a cut of money from the conductor for facilitating the process of filling the vehicle. On a tarmac road outside a town, matatus barrel down at fairly regular intervals, coming and going in both directions. The coming matatu will invariably pull over and the conductor will jump out and motion for the mamas and men already seated to move over, encourage small children to stand two deep and indicate for you to jump on. I will not sit in the back seat of a matatu. One of the first times I rode a matatu, I climbed in the backseat and before I knew it, there were eight people crowded back thereâfive seated and three standing children. The rule of thumb among PCVs is to either ask a mama (women seem to rarely cheat foreigners on matatus) or try to figure out what others are paying by intent observation. There are about five to six privately-owned matatus that run the thirty kilometers between the towns. Often, when I walk up to the stage, Iâm greeted with shouts of âChepkemoi, today Chebole?â The owners and the men that work the matatus are intensely proud of their vans. They drive the matatu right down to the waterâs edge to clean both the outside and the inside of the dried brown Kenyan mud that seems to coat everything during the rainy season.
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-ne Chen Hsin-an had 16 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists as Yulon beat SINA 88-81 in the opening game of the inaugural SBL season. Chen had 14 of his 16 points in the second half.Yulon’s tenacious defense forced experienced SINA to 20 turnovers.
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rmattoo123 (4:25:37 PM): you should’ve rejected him rmattoo123 (4:25:42 PM): that would’ve been funny elphaba00 (4:26:17 PM): haha elphaba00 (4:26:20 PM): he’s not my ex elphaba00 (4:26:22 PM): eeeeeeeeeeeeeew rmattoo123 (4:27:09 PM): oh rmattoo123 (4:27:13 PM): who’s your ex then?
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-ne I heard two interesting verb tenses tonight:1.glew (v)- the past tense of glowWhen I was at Destinations tonight, the MC was talking about toys that we had when we were younger that used to glow in the dark.
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Da tuba no céu brota etéreo som De tango e dança e sol e nada. Soube bem sentar-me de novo nos bancos pequenos, de novo beber um óptimo cocktail, voltar a jogar bilhar naquele pequeno espaço, de tecto baixo e paredes em pedra.
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