Streets,Alleys and Lanes

Salutations Salutations!!! :-)
It's been quite a while since my last post. I'd feign lack of time,writers' block,lots of work and all those things people usually say but to be honest,it's just been laziness. Yes. Laziness. Pure and simple.
Now,you'll have to forgive me. My lazy streak has been at it for a while now. One day of not blogging turned into a week,a month and now this. But fear not. This is my return.
Before I go far,you must be wondering what went on during the past days I've been gone. I'll rest your curiosity. It has been A LOT. Exams,My nine day Kampala trip,my birthday (yes,the calendar dictated that I turned a little older),theft on the streets and many other things (mostly happy). But those are stories for the following days...today we shall dwell on what happened a few hours ago.
Since this semester begun,we have had a compulsory course unit on HIV/AIDS. It's Law related of course,so quell your questions on why we even study it. Not to mention it's a world wide problem,so we all have to know about it. It's actually turning out to be worth the early morning awakenings I go through once a week. Today was extra fun since we had a guest speaker whose accent conjured up some memories of a TV show (Mind Your Language) I used to watch. She was African but had a surprisingly thick Chinese accent when she spoke English. It brought quite a few laughs when her pronunciation tended to have a negative curve if put in the graph context. To this day,I've never laughed so hard at anything so early in the day.
Class was as brief as possible and a bunch of my friends and I decided to head to town for lunch. Now,the previous Saturday, they'd gone to some nice restaurant and I was unable to go with due to important commitments. This Saturday,I was definitely a part of the mix.
Now,most East Africans know Nairobi to be a busy city. Bustling with the most activity,boasting the best infrastructure and general "city feel" in East Africa. Nairobi is also known for its crime. In Uganda and Rwanda,we nicknamed it "Nai-robbery". Today,this nickname felt more like reality than a joke.
Very near the restaurant,located on a lane between a mall and another big building,my friends and I were almost robbed in broad daylight. Yes. Borad daylight. These thieves have no shame,I tell you! Though I must hand it to them,they have some good brains.
My three friends and I were walking on the Lane in pairs of two towards the restaurant when suddenly one approached us seemingly begging for money. As always,we walked on without a slightest clue as to his actual plan. Shortly after we noticed there were three others,each adjacent to us,making us eight in total. It was at this point that one of them said in Swahili "Mbona hamtaki ku co-operate?" (Why is it that you don't want to co-operate?) Not THAT'S when my instincts came running back to my system.
One thing my mother has emphasised time and again is,"Alex,if there are ever thieves attacking you,RUN. Do not think of your reputation. Run and scream at the top of your voice!!" Mummy's words rung clear in my head at that moment. Luckily one of my friends was thinking the exact same thing.
In less than a second we were both running to the street and not looking back...we did not scream though. Come to think of it,we must have been quite a sight. Two skinny young men with long legs running peculiarly fast on a the street with no obvious sign of alarm.
When we took off,the robbers dispersed to a nearby alley and my friends walked over to where we were,unharmed. I sincerely do not understand HOW they did not even break a sweat. I don't think some people value their lives...and their phones and wallets.
Of course they laughed at us for running but hey! I'd rather run and live than stand and lose my BlackBerry. NO!! I need my BB. Let's be clear on that one.
Anyway,we went back to the lane (yes,we were brave enough to) on the basis of "lightning doesn't strike the same place twice" and had lunch at the restaurant. That food was ENOUGH.
For an African like myself to say food was enough,means a lot. A lot. A lot.
I'll leave you with part of my meal (I failed to clear my plate.)
Until next time,these are the thoughts in a script :-)