On a lighter note, I just have to tell you how completely ridiculous the matatus have gotten since I was last in Nairobi. The music and lights on these mini-buses used for public trasportation were always a bit much, but now some matatu owners have taken it a step further by installing video as well. This can take the form of a large screen at the front of the matatu, or of a large screen plus small screens on the seat backs, like on an airplane. Now you don't have to settle for just listening to your hip hop like a sucker; you can watch the macho posturing and booty shaking in living colour. Don't get me wrong, I love hip hop when it's done well, but the kind you find in a matatu has more to do with making money and exploiting women than art or activism. Nevertheless, the video matatus are insanely popular among young people. Even if the video matatu is completely full and the next one is nearly empty, people will pile into the first one and stand in the aisle or squash themselves into an already full row just to be there.
It's time that I admitted my absolute obsession with matatus as a means of transmitting popular urban culture. I should just write a paper on it instead of constantly spamming you all with my love of absurd public transportation. My favourite matatu from Buruburu to town right now inexplicably has Osama bin Laden and Bill Gates on the side, leaning into each other as if they're about to share some great secret.
No comments:
Post a Comment