Hello Toronto! I'm home... safe and sound... for actually almost a week! The word I am looking for to describe my trip home is "rushed". Rushed? you ask. YES. Rushed! I got to the Nairobi Airport late and I waited in a massive line to put my luggage through the x-rays. When I was finally out and had some glimmer of hope of catching my flight, I approached a woman for help who then told me that "my flight had left yesterday".
So naturally, I started freaking out. In between the time of running to the counter to get a second opinion on my ticket, where they told me my flight was perfectly on-time, I had managed to wake my mother up in Canada on the telephone to tell her that my flight left.... and then proceed to run out of credit, leaving her to believe that I possibly was stuck in Kenya for another day. All was well when I made it out of the lobby, to my gate where I purchased more safaricom credit and remedied the situation.
THEN. My flight was delayed getting into Amsterdam and I narrowly made my connecting flight thanks to my leopard-fast agility. Unfortunately, my bag didn't make it...Not that I expected it to. After all the rushing was finally over, I was HOME :)!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Time to go home...
Tech savy Sheena realized that "blogspot" had this handy-dandy trick where you can make your blogs post at specific set times. Right now, although this post has just posted, I am actually sitting in the airport, waiting to catch my flight home, anticipating my 18 hour journey ahead of me.
Can anyone REALLY believe that I've been in East Africa for 4 months? I have to say, I'm really sad to leave. 4 months man. That's a long time. I've become comfortable here. Aside from the odd moment, I've adjusted to a "Kenyan" way of life... I've compiled a list of all things that make me Kenyan/things I now known about Kenya and East Africa to prove just how integrated, to finish this long blogging journey off!
1. I eat like a Kenyan and I grocery shop like a Kenyan, complete with road side purchases of bananas and the Nakumatt as my one stop shop where I feel comfortable purchasing sketchy looking Kenyan snacks (but trust me they are yummy).
2. I can speak kidogo kiswahili - even though I may have forgotten a lot of what I learned from my classes last semester, the stuff I can say is a careful distillation of the most useful everyday phrases for everyday encounters.
3. I automatically brush my teeth with bottled water.
4. I can name you at least 5 stores/restaurants located in every mall in Nairobi, from memory (just to prove it to myself they are: "Kazuri Beads", "textbooks", "Nakumatt", "Kikoy", "Artcafe" and "Nairobi Java House".
5. I adore my mosquito net and I am so appreciative of it. It makes me feel like a princess and its ability to keep a mosquito out of my ear is something I will never forget.
6. I've lived out of one backpack for 4 months (jaws should be dropping) and I have become very, VERY good at packing it, swinging the huge thing onto my back and carrying it up and down staircases.
7. I've worn the same few pieces of clothing for four months which have grown a few sizes due to my handwashing abilities and clothes line drying. (I will be opening a laundry service soon). TIP: Make sure to calculate how taught your clothes line needs to be with WET laundry hanging on it. Expect re-enforcements to be necessary.
In these past four months, I drank the equivalent of all the chai I have ever drank in my life pre-East Africa. I've camped for a month on end and I am totally not fazed by squat toilets, toilets with pee all over them, or having to use no toilet at all.
Can anyone REALLY believe that I've been in East Africa for 4 months? I have to say, I'm really sad to leave. 4 months man. That's a long time. I've become comfortable here. Aside from the odd moment, I've adjusted to a "Kenyan" way of life... I've compiled a list of all things that make me Kenyan/things I now known about Kenya and East Africa to prove just how integrated, to finish this long blogging journey off!
1. I eat like a Kenyan and I grocery shop like a Kenyan, complete with road side purchases of bananas and the Nakumatt as my one stop shop where I feel comfortable purchasing sketchy looking Kenyan snacks (but trust me they are yummy).
2. I can speak kidogo kiswahili - even though I may have forgotten a lot of what I learned from my classes last semester, the stuff I can say is a careful distillation of the most useful everyday phrases for everyday encounters.
3. I automatically brush my teeth with bottled water.
4. I can name you at least 5 stores/restaurants located in every mall in Nairobi, from memory (just to prove it to myself they are: "Kazuri Beads", "textbooks", "Nakumatt", "Kikoy", "Artcafe" and "Nairobi Java House".
5. I adore my mosquito net and I am so appreciative of it. It makes me feel like a princess and its ability to keep a mosquito out of my ear is something I will never forget.
6. I've lived out of one backpack for 4 months (jaws should be dropping) and I have become very, VERY good at packing it, swinging the huge thing onto my back and carrying it up and down staircases.
7. I've worn the same few pieces of clothing for four months which have grown a few sizes due to my handwashing abilities and clothes line drying. (I will be opening a laundry service soon). TIP: Make sure to calculate how taught your clothes line needs to be with WET laundry hanging on it. Expect re-enforcements to be necessary.
In these past four months, I drank the equivalent of all the chai I have ever drank in my life pre-East Africa. I've camped for a month on end and I am totally not fazed by squat toilets, toilets with pee all over them, or having to use no toilet at all.
 |
| The day I left home (Jan. 15th, 2011) |
I’ve learned a lot these past 4 months in terms of my academics, my living abilities, my ability to take risks/do things that I may not be comfortable with at first. My trip to east Africa has been an experience I will never forget and one that has taught me a lot about myself.
I'm going to miss my Kenyan friends. My Maasai mama - Suzanne, our Bunduz Chef - Dan, my kids and friends at First love, my friends from Kibera that showed myself and my parents around and a random splattering of Indian friends :)
I barely stayed in one place longer than 1 week. Waking up at 8 am was a sleep-in, and when I don’t have ATLEAST 3 field trips a day, I feel like I’m wasting my time. Home life will sure be different.
I barely stayed in one place longer than 1 week. Waking up at 8 am was a sleep-in, and when I don’t have ATLEAST 3 field trips a day, I feel like I’m wasting my time. Home life will sure be different.
I’m sad to leave but happy to know that I have a home in East Africa. Wish me a safe flight! Kwaheri kuonana, East Africa (Good bye until we meet again, East Africa)
Love,
Sheena
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