Incident at the Curio Market

I have refrained from sharing this incident since it happened last weekend.

In front of the Sarit Center, there is a roundabout. On the far side of this roundabout the main road toward downtown is split into a "Y" and rejoining into a two-lane a little beyond the roundabout. Within the arms of the "Y" sits a triangular shaped white building.

I had seen the building and Toni passes it every day on her way to and from town. Initially, we both saw the outer edge covered in stalls, each about the size of a broom cupboard, and had assumed that the interior was storage. We were wrong.

Last Saturday, 28 July 2007, was a beautiful day. One of the prettiest and warmest in a month. After lunch, we took the kids out to the Curio Market near Sarit Center. We had a good time looking at all the goods, Toni would haggle with the merchants and we bought several things that will probably appear wrapped around Yuletide.

We discovered that the interior of the building is not storage, but the whole place is filled with more stalls, some large as a dining area, some the size of a coat closet.

We had finished our shopping and had only one more stall to visit, since we promised we would before we left. The stall was near the intersection of a "Y" arm and the roundabout along the sidewalk. We were lined up along the sidewalk: Toni, River, Forest, and me.

We had seen several security guards walking around in their blue shirts and caps throughout the visit. Now they were collecting behind us and speaking with some of the merchants. Suddenly, a scuffle broke out in the stall where I stood. I was shoved, jostled, and kicked in the legs a few times. I started yelling at them, "Hey, HEY, HEY!! Get off me!"

Toni moved back to where I was and we switched places, she having seen the scuffle more clearly from her position. We shuffled forward, trying to move away from the fray.  There were 2-3 security guards attempting to subdue another man with black whips. We figure the other man was on something because he was not going down. We also don't know if he was stealing, or perhaps going after someone when the scuffle started.

Toni and I are shuffling the kids forward and Toni has her back to the guards. One of them swung their whip at the man, but caught Toni on the backswing, leaving a bruise on her back like a reversed question mark from her neck, across her left shoulder blade and down her back. At the assault, Toni yelled out in pain. River bolted forward, Forest and I followed. Toni sprinted past us to catch River before he darted out into roundabout traffic.

We rounded the corner to escape the fight, Toni expressed her outrage at the attack with a few choice words, and we were instantly surrounded by people. I thought, at first, that these were onlookers, but when they began herding others away from us, I knew that this was a protective circle formed by the other merchants. We explained what happened and after catching our breath for a moment, a nice merchant named Purity escorted us across the street, for which we all thanked her.

With our kids, our purchases, and quite a story to tell, we headed for home. We can laugh about it now, but at the time it was very scary, painful, and confusing.

I bet you don't know anyone else that can you say,
"I was beaten with a whip at a Curio Market in Nairobi, Kenya."