expect the unexpected
When most Americans think of Africa they think Disney's Lion king or a slew of images brought upon by HIV/AIDS campaigns. To be completely honest this is where any of my pre-departure expectations came from if I could say I had any. When the group of students and I arrived in Kenya we immediately set out for Nakuru Lake National park. I was able to fulfill my expectation of seeing great wild life and the beauty of the famous rift valley. I have learned from some previous travel that the only thing you should expect from a new city or country is the unexpected. It is impossible to prepare 100% and over saturation of the brain is inevitable. Leave your expectations behind and it becomes easier to adapt and remain flexible, while not setting yourself up for disapointment.
After a week in Nakuru, we quickly left our honeymoon stage as we arrived in Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. The first few days in Nairobi were still relatively care-free while getting adjusted to our host families. I would like to sit here and easily explain the unraveling of feelings and emotions after entering Nairobi, but this will be boring and confusing for any reader. Instead, I will try and physically explain in a summarized manner.
Everyday is like a roller coaster ride. You meet people that make you day and run into people that can make you miserable. Five kenyans smile and the one who throws "the finger" in your face carries a heavy presence. Yesterday, I got into a staring contest with a matatu worker (small van transport) and was nearly kicked off the ride because I refused to pay more than all other passengers for being white. A few days earlier a random lower-class man on the city hoppa (a larger bus) offered to pay my fare, which I refused. 56% of the people in Kenya live on less than a dollar a day and Nairobi holds one of the largest slums in the world (Kibera). Oddly enough, my host family seems more American than Americans themselves, at least when it comes to entertainment. They have asked me if we put domes over cities like the Simpson's portrayal and if we get married and divorced six or seven times in a lifetime like the celebrities. Less than a five minute walk from Kibera, my home has hot running water, a house maid, a son in higher education, multiple televisions and a membership at the local health club. This living arrangement makes my awareness of the income gap fully apparent. It costs around 300 Ksh ($5) to take a cab ride and around 5000 Ksh monthly for my family's health club membership yet 1000's of families within 1 km are living on garbage heaps without clean water, no shelter, and maybe one meal a day.
I know that academic and personal goals can be summed up by my desire for new perspectives, new faces and a new language. Although it is obvious, it becomes especially noticeable when you leave the United States that the majority of people in the world live very different lives socially, morally, ethically, etc. and it is easy to forget that most people in the world live below the poverty line. Classes in Kenya are similar with a more relaxed teaching style. Jama, the development teacher has been able to offer students a feeling of reality as he shares stories of growing up in Africa under British colonialism and fighting hard for personal and professional success while losing half of his brothers and sisters along the way. Overall I have definitely not come to Africa for the books...