On love and relationships, Nairobi taxi driver style

I was sitting in the front passenger seat of a taxi driving through Nairobi today. As far as taxi trips in Nairobi go, it was pretty uneventful - only a few near misses (head-on collisions mainly). Freddie, the taxi driver, had assured me at some stage during the conversation that he had never had an accident, and that the only accidents that he had ever had was when other drivers had run into him. He explained that he liked the drive quickly whenever he had the opportunity to do so, which, let's face it, cannot be very often in Nairobi, given the sheer quantity of traffic on the poor road network. Perhaps he was lucky today, for he certainly was able to hit well over 100 kph on far too many occasions (without taking any speed humps at 140 kph, as he admitted to have done in the past - albeit accidentally, you understand), swerving to avoid pedestrians who had either completely misjudged the velocity of the taxi racing towards them, had complete confidence in said taxi's driver, or were simply tired of living. Regardless of the cause, we didn't have an accident or kill any pedestrians - even if this appeared to be more down to good luck than any talent on Freddie's behalf.

In any case, in an effort to revive a lull in the conversation, I dragged out the usual topic that is guaranteed to revive a conversation with a taxi driver: "Are you married and do you have any children?"

Freddie, matching expectation, perked up, explaining that he is married and has two children. I asked how old his children are: "My daughter is fourteen - she's a big girl now, and my son is four. And I have three girlfriends." Certain that, despite his excellent English, I had misheard him. No, Freddie said, I have three girlfriends. I asked him how his wife felt about this (it may have not been my immediate response, for I was somewhat taken aback). Freddie stated that whilst his wife didn't know for certain, she did suspect. And because he was careful, she would never find out for certain.

He stated that he is - and has always been - completely open and honest with his wife. When they first met, she was one of his girlfriends, and he had been open with her about how he is. Freddie stated that lying to one's wife is not only pointless, but it is counterproductive: he had made it clear that he likes to go out. He couldn't understand how his friends, many of whom also have girlfriends, become agitated whenever a girlfriend rings - there is no point in sneaking around, he claimed. They should instead, as he himself does, simply say that they are going out and that they will be back later - even if 'later' means tomorrow. Or the day after.

Still somewhat struggling to come to grips with Freddie's views on honesty in a marriage, I asked him how his girlfriends felt about the fact that he is married. "There's no problem. I am completely honest with them as well - I always tell a new girlfriend that I am married." He continued to explain that he tells his girlfriends not to ring him - that he would ring them. Occasionally he would receive a call from one of them whilst at home, but he deals with the calls in a relaxed manner, so that his wife would not know.

Freddie expressed concern that so many men are killed by their women, in that they cause too much stress and that they die young. He explained that he had adopted his attitude for life from his father, who had always had several girlfriends and had never let his wife (Freddie's mother, I presume) stress him too much. Whilst he is indeed married, he hasn't signed a legal contract (instead marrying under the traditional system of his tribe). He expressed the strong view that Western-style legal marriages are disastrous and that he would never consider entering into one.

In retrospect, I should have asked Freddie how he would feel if his wife had three boyfriends. I didn't, but I am pretty sure that his response would not have been a positive one. At one stage, with large smile on his face, he stated that if any of his girlfriends tried to break his marriage up, he would kill her. Laced with laughter, Freddie was joking. Wasn't he? Given that I had no way of telling how many of his girlfriends are figments of his bravado, I was certainly never going to be able to answer this one.

I suspect that, given his demeanor, Freddie's stories were not completely fictional. Either way, I couldn't engage with them, engaging as Freddie himself is. Coming from a country in which such behaviour is not acceptable, and being somewhat different in my attitude towards relationships from Freddie, there really wasn't much to say, other than to laugh along, encouraging him to reveal more about his thoughts on love and relationships.

As he dropped me off at the hotel, I wished him a good night. He thanked me, stating that he was going to have a quiet night. With his wife or one of his girlfriends, I queried him. "With my wife. I am really tired tonight."

Kuwait International Airport

In contrast to the usual announcements at airports about security and leaving baggage unattended, those at Kuwait International Airport are truly remarkable. I have been informed that the air conditioning temperature is set to 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit - one cannot forget those backwards Americans!), so as to reduce the airport's electricity bill, and that passengers should turn off all unnecessary household appliances before travelling. How one should engage in this practice having already cleared passport control is not mentioned.

I initially thought that I had misheard - that it was an announcement in Arabic and that I was simply very, very tired. I quickly realised that the voices for the Arabic and English announcements were indeed different. There has been nothing about leaving baggage unattended, arriving at the gate on time or wider security concerns. Clearly Kuwaitis are more concerned about the environment than they are about terrorist attacks. Not that one should complain about this, for it does make a refreshing change from the majority of airports at which one is scowled at, ignored, and reminded that the spectre of terrorism is omnipresent and that by merely leaving one's handbag unobserved for a few seconds, one is helping the terrorists win. I even had a lengthy conversation with the operator of an x-ray scanning machine about the tragedy of Steve Irwin's death a couple of years ago.

Having said this, given the recent history of Kuwait and its neighbours, perhaps a little more focus on security matters would be assuring. Not that anybody sitting around me seems to have noticed the announcements in the way that I have. Perhaps I am just simply very tired and am imagining them. I doubt it though - I don't think that my brain is creative enough to have concocted something of this nature so early in the morning after so little sleep. And there are still the announcements about designated smoking areas to confirm that it is not a dream.

Update: I wasn't the only person who heard it, so I'm not imagining things.