and the phone makes 7

Last nite i was sitting in a dalla at posta, texting my pal Jean paul, ( an american) who i met at the festival. when a hand reached in thru the window and poof, sarah no longer has a phone. i punched the window, cried and somehow half expected the dude to come walking back and saying tricked ya then to give it back. that makes 7 robberies and one lost watch in cape maclear, malawi. I have no concept of time, only by the sun do i knwo night from day. I am spening another week at janes house, in silence, reading and drinkng chai from iringa. then heading north to wonder around kenya for a month before i fly home.

1- one camera borrorwed to a arab girl- kismat balala. i met her on a matatu, she was wearing a bui-bui (ninja outfit for muslim womer) and had a small boy on her lap. later, i went out drinking with her and her cousin brothers, and that is when she became a multi-faceted person to me. also she asked to borrow my camera for 2 days, so like a dumb mzungu i handed it over.
2- by a family i was staying with, lend 5000ksh and lost 5000ksh
3-on a matatu, the good old, quick hands, distract gig.
4- dudes who change money on the street 100usd for 16oootsh
5-in malawi by my canadain bank, no money out of the maching but $300 plus fees withdrawn from my account
6- on the beach at dawn by my so called friends in zanzibar
7 posta dalla phone swip.... perhaps the oldest trick in the book.

on the walk to the interent cafe, some kids ran up to me, snotty noses and grabby hands, one of them had a safety pin in her ear.... that was a fashion statement i used to sport around ottawa (it mad my mother confused). the mom asked me in swahili, which i didn't understand, why i don't have kids, i said kazi ingi. many work. i guess i dont hate everything..... (pictured is shuku and me practicing for the circus)