Wow. I'm leaving for home tonight.
As I was packing, my days in Kenya replayed in my mind. I remember rushing to get to my second flight, losing my luggage at the airport, going to the market the first time and bargaining, all my trips, my days at New Franeli. I know I have to come back in the future. There's so much I didn't get to see due to the lack of time. I want to climb Mt. Longonot, Mt. Kenya, and Mt. Kili. I want to visit the IDP refugee camp next to Naivasha, Lake Nakuru, see some waterfalls, go to the giraffe museum, go to Eldoret to the running camp. I want to go to Uganda and white water raft, I want to go to Rwanda and see the genocide museum. My roomie, Meghan, is traveling all of East Africa after volunteering and going to the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania.
I friggin can't believe I spent 33 days in AFRICA. The way people make Africa sound sometimes, is like they are still an untouched community. In reality, they're not all loin-cloth-wearing-humans-climbing-banana-trees-complete-with-cone-shaped-heads-and-stretched-ears. Many places are decently westernized. Besides the Massai, Kenyans wear jeans and tshirts, they even wear the typical GAP or Old Navy sweater. I've even seen a little kid wear at University of Wisconsin Osh-Kosh sweater, probably donated and sold off the street. But yes, I've been in AFRICA. I remember I used to be so nervous about Nairobi and all the countries I previously mentioned, but my perspective has changed. There is always chance of political unrest in Africa, especially times around elections. We have to keep in mind though, that this is normal in most of the world. I have the luxury of not even feeling the effects of war even though my country has been in a major one for a good chunk of my life. I take for granted that my best friend's parents won't be ready to kill my parents because we are from a different tribe or what not. It's all a slew of damn luxuries I didn't realize that I had. I am not afraid of traveling these places at all any more. To be honest, I felt safer in Nairobi than inner city Chicago. You hear of muggings and such, but you hardly ever hear of people getting shot or even killed. It's a whole different ball game here. I have just learned to be smart. After being here for almost 5 weeks, I haven't gotten anything stolen or hurt. Praise God.
In one sense, I feel much more prepared working with people from the inner city. The urban feel is different, but still more prepatory than living in the a corn field located in Central Illinois. Or white washed North Shore. Even if I never end up working for inner inner city Chicago, I know I can make it in the city.
In any case, my last days in Kenya have been such a blur.
Yesterday, I went to Wema Clinic to make sure I'm completely free of malaria, went to town for lunch and last minute souvenir shopping, went to the Yaya center to look at a used book store, and picked up the new volunteer staying at Sharon's flat. It was quite a busy day, but I loved getting my last look around the city that I have grown to know and become comfortable in. My favorite part was meeting the new volunteer, which has become one of my favorite things to do here. I've become really close, really fast to most of the volunteers that I have met here. There's a certain type of people that will come to a far away continent like Africa, a kind that doesn't care if you don't shower twice a day, the kind that will fight for world peace and social welfare, the kind that has brimming aspirations and goals not for oneself but for others as well. The volunteers that I have met are all so different in personality, but together in passion. I have met the greatest people on this trip, some that are luckily not too far from wher my home is. And some live so far away, that it gives an excuse to go traveling there. I've become inspired to keep travling and seeing new things. I've had recurring dreams to go to South Korea either for study abroad or teach for one year after graduation. I want to walk the great wall of China, to see Maachu Pichu in Peru, to see Southeast Asia and the middle East. I want to see everything. There's always the problem of money, but it's something that I will always be saving for from now on.
I don't know, as I boarded a matatu yesterday, I couldn't stop thinking about how much I was going to miss these dangerous, crowded, and bumpy rides around Kenya. I will actually miss squishing 25-30 people in a 13 seater van, the blaring music, keeping a keen awareness to make sure no one is pickpocketing, bargaining with the driver about paying 10 shillings instead of 15. I will never forget the matatu ride from Naivasha when a tire busted, a door fell off, and the money collector insisted on giving me his address, his promise that he'd find me in China. And I'll miss walking down the street with Meghan and hearing little kids scream "wa-wa-ru!" instead of "How are you?", or getting a marriage proposal. I'll miss getting the MZUNGU price for souvenirs and having to wittling it down to 10 percent of what they originally wanted. All these things have annoyed me at one point or another, but I know I can laugh back at it now.
Everyday has been a stir of emotions, especially getting home on Saturay and watching "Sometimes In April" with Sharon an Meghan. My horrifying and hurtful experience with the "ching chang chongs" in Kisumu melted away when I saw the genocide unfold in Rwanda. All the politicians talked about was the meaning of genocide, when they could get the white people out of there. You see UN trucks grabbing white people out of the crowd and leave all Rwandans in the dust, later to lie in piles of dead bodies swimming in pools of blood. They leave behind men to be hacked up with machetes, woman to be raped, children to be slaughtered in front of their own mothers. I burn with passion and wonder what I can do to stop this from happening. Why else have we learned about the holocaust? Wasn't it the purpose of the holocaust units in social studies, to educate us about not letting this happen again? I know those politicians know about the holocaust. Why do we act like children who don't understand the concept of object permanence yet? Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.
I pray that the rift between tribes lessen as well. You see Kikuyus talking bad about one tribe or Kalenjins putting down Luos, generalizing the different tribes with stark stereotypes. There's almost a deep hatred between certain groups. That's why in 2007, Sharon had to hide in the bushes for 3 weeks fearing for her life. No one could leave home, everybody praying that they weren't on a Kill List. That's why some of Melissa Bailey's friends from Kenya got killed, innocent victims caught up in ridiculous tribal hatred. I pray with all my might.
In exactly 12 hours from now, I will be on a plane ride back home. I cant' wait to see everybody, but I honestly don't know how I'm going to handle it. But I guess I have to come back to my own life right?
See you sometime soon, everybody!
Becky
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