Summary

In Chapter 18, once he is in Nairobi, Wainaina indicates that the people there have become creative in bettering themselves. He notes even the city center is grimy and full of potholes. Since he has been in South Africa, the duality of the people who live in Kenya is more apparent. He notes that the people there live different lives in different languages.

He watches as soldiers run away a group of women street traders because they are selling goods illegally. Even though these women pay city taxes to the same council that employs the soldiers, they are still run away. Despite the ugliness he sees in Nairobi he moves forward toward his family.

In Chapter 19 at home, Wainaina thinks that his mother looks frail but decides it is only because he has changed. His mother realizes that he has begun smoking, but she...