The Large Gap

December the 21st

Sorry for the very large space of time which has occurred between now and the last time I wrote in this thing. This is due to a number of important reasons. First and foremost, I had university exams which, for the first time made up an extremely large portion of my final grade. This doesn’t mean, however, that I studied any more than I usually do, which isn’t very much in the first place. Nevertheless, simply thinking about these exams and pretending to myself that I was studying for them consumed a vast amount of my time these past weeks. Furthermore, I had an inordinate number of final papers to write, 5 to be exact, all due within a week of each other and from 5-15 pages long. I actually got quite into the writing of them and enjoyed myself more than I think I ever have before writing a paper, at least for the Geographies of Development final which was titled, Where is the Love?, after the Black-Eyed Peas song. Finally, my dog (katika US) alikufa, or died, somewhat unexpectedly. Many may already know this, but this event made for a few teary evenings and a fair amount of moping around. On the flip side, all of this is behind me now and I am feeling quite on top of the world at the moment. My internship is going to be quite fantastic at the GoDown I believe. I am leaving to climb the second highest mountain in Africa on Sunday, to reach the summit at sunrise on Christmas morning. The election is less than a week away now. Today I finally received my Christmas package which was sent a month ago. I am spending New Years on the coast in Mombasa. And I realized that I won’t be attending a single class until April which is the longest break I believe I’ve had since I entered preschool. The world is my oyster. Furthermore, I’ve also been reading a few travel books and have caught the bug in a big way and am planning a number of exciting excursions so long as the money holds out. Tanzania, Uganda or Rwanda with my host sister, Egypt, South Africa, Zanzibar and Lamu are all in the mix. Not that I actually have the money for all that, but at least some of it will happen.

Some exciting things that have happened in recent weeks:
I am now an official registered alien in Kenya. I have a special Pupil’s Pass in my passport and a big stamp acknowledging my alien status because I have been here for 3 months and visas run out after that time and you have to renew it, become an alien or figure something else out. They have all of my fingerprints 4 times given by me in a room full of men with huge guns and many many many papers filled out by me after a 4 hour wait. Yay Kenyan bureaucracy!

Speaking of guns, I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but they’re something I will never get used to. Soldiers and security guards walk around all the time carrying AK-47s and it freaks the hell out of me. It gives me reason enough to shut up and keep my head down though.

The weather is nothing short of amazing right now. It’s become summer, really. Not that it wasn’t great before, but in the past week or so it’s become really balmy and hot during the day, just like summer should be and I love it. Even though it’s hot, I just bask in the sunlight and think of all the shriveled-up, pale people in the Midwestern United States and smile.

We finished the OC season 2 last night…whoa, dramatic ending, and this show will forever be associated with Kenya for me even though it all occurs in California. I started up a new TV season, Weeds, courtesy of my Secret Santa who gave me the first 2 seasons.

Today we went hawker shopping to find stuff for our mountain climbing excursion. Found hiking boots, snacks, scarves, earrings, books, gloves, long underwear, a hot water bottle, a new watch. Spent a total of about $50. Expensive day in Kenya, cheap day in America.

I am so incredibly dirty all the time!! Having these braids only gives me an excuse not to shower very often since my hair doesn’t have to be washed. I realized the other day as I was standing in line at Nakumatt that in the fluorescent lighting my upper arm had a grey-tannish unnatural tinge to it because it was covered in a layer of dust. This is partially not my fault, sure, the not showering part is, but even when my skin acquires this color as it has on a few other occasions and I scrub and scrub, it sometimes refuses to come off…Joys of living in a smoggy, dusty city.

My taste for foods is changing so much. I get really excited now when we’re having rice and beans for dinner or sukuma-wiki and ugali. (Sukuma was the most disgusting thing in the world when I first came, it’s really bitter and dark green leafy stuff that looks like spinach but tastes nothing like it) I wonder if it’s going to be hard getting used to eating the usual foods I eat when I’m in the US again because I have really rich foods so rarely. I made no-bake oatmeal cookies the other day (since we don’t have a working oven), ate 1 ½ and my stomach felt like crap for the rest of the night, from all the sugar I think. Whenever I eat really rich foods now they’re more amazing than I can ever remember food tasting, but I can only eat a little bit.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE KENYA?! For some reason more than ever the past week or so I’ve really been in love with everything about it. The heat, the flowers, the people, my family, the relaxation about everything. I think it was partly finishing up classes and realizing I’m completely free and have no obligations and can do and go whatever and wherever I want

I was presented with an endearing gift from Rhoda today, a wooden statue of an African woman with her hair blowing in the wind and her head is partially chipping off. She’s had it for years but said she thought I’d like it more and said if I didn’t want it, she didn’t mind, but I love it. I named her Rhoda, after Rhoda and she stands guard at the dining room table.

Kenyans in general are a lot more blunt and upfront when they have a problem with something. I also love this quality in terms of speaking of race as well and they’ll just come out and say it. “This is this way because you’re white” For example, when I complain about not having anything to wear when we’re going out while my sisters are spending hours getting all dolled up, they say, “Seriously, don’t worry about it, you’re white, everyone will love you no matter what you wear.” In the US, we tiptoe around the subject of race so much and think we’re probably offending someone if we even mention it, and Kenyans have no problem talking about it. It seems a lot healthier to me. I get sick of political correctness.

Here’s a blip from my GoDev paper about how my perceptions of race have altered a bit:
“I grew up in a virtually racially homogenous community without a lot of direct exposure to other races and the effects of racial tension and came to Kenya in hopes of experiencing what it felt like to be in the racial minority in a place, which I certainly have felt. However, I will always be seen as privileged because of my skin color, which I am and never be seen as the economically disadvantaged racial minority, unlike racial minorities in the United States.”
This was something I didn’t really think about when I came to Kenya. I knew it would be a trip to be a white person in a black country, but didn’t really think about how the experience would be different from being a racial minority in a primarily white country. The difference is that whites are the privileged ones pretty much wherever they go. Even if I don’t fit in with everyone else, I still get preferential treatment sometimes-things like getting into clubs and not having to show my ID and begging them to let my sister in (who is 4 years older than me), or walking into the grocery store with a huge shopping bag and not having to turn it in to the bag counter (maybe they’re just sympathizing because they think I don’t know any better). Some things that might be the same though as other races experiencing being in the minority is the way you always question people’s motives for talking to you..do they want something from you or do they genuinely want to get to know you because they’re interested? Are they asking to take your picture with them because you’re their token white friend (a Somali couple asked me if I would have a picture with them yesterday while I was sitting in the park. When I asked them why, they said they wanted to send it back to their family and show them that I was one of their friends. I just laughed and thought it was kind of funny and chatted with them for a little while) I understand completely why being in the racial minority makes you paranoid about anyone who tries to talk to you. For awhile there a few months ago, I was a completely closed-off unfriendly jerk to anyone who approached me on the street and avoided making eye contact with anyone because it was always badgering you for something-money, a visa, to look in their shop. Then I started to feel bad when I realized how mean I was being even accidentally to people I knew who saw me across the street or something. It’s getting a little better now, and I’m a lot more comfortable in my surroundings to feel ok being friendly to people and not like I’m going to get ripped off if I actually smile at someone. I’ve been sharing a lot more laughs with people and a lot more random conversations with strangers because of it.