Keeping Cool

Fridge Issues:
So our fridge broke again. To get it fixed we needed to do the following: invite people over to eat all our leftovers before they went bad, hire a truck, make a 2.5 hour trip each way into Nairobi with the fridge, pay a visit to the police station, negotiate a fair (?) price with the truck driver, and then make a second trip to Nairobi, pick up the fridge and drive it home.
The first problem we encountered was deciding who would drive into Nairobi with the fridge. Neither of us like traveling to Nairobi, it is a dusty, long, and usually frustrating trip. We both had things we wanted to do at home, so there was no easy way to decide who would go. Steph drew the short straw.
The trip was uneventful and easy, we dropped the fridge off at the repair place with no complications. I was on my way back to Ngong for some light shopping and an early return to Najile when the cops intervened. They flagged over the truck to the side of the road, asking for registration and the drivers’ license. It was a mistake to hand the license over to the cops. They started quizzing the driver on any possible problem with the truck, and found the broken hand-brake as an excuse to direct us to the station since we were on the road with an “unsafe vehicle.” With the drivers’ license in hand, the cop walked away, beckoning us to follow.
Two hours later, we were still at the station. The police were asking for Ksh 5,000 cash “bail” and a court date. Meanwhile, I called the MCC office, and Wambui our super-secretary told me to call a taxi, since the cops just wanted money from the “muzungu.” The moment I called the taxi, the “bail” price dropped. I told the driver to not pay any bribe and that I’d meet him in Ngong. The police held out for Ksh 1,500 and eventually the driver gave in because he needed his license. A week later, we’ve had no more run-ins with the police, but the fridge still isn’t fixed.