One time I went to East Africa

I went abroad and this is what happened.  Here is a summary of my East African experience abroad.  I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog and thanks to all who commented.  Sorry I'm too dysfunctional to be able to comment back on my own blog.  You guys have been super supportive of everything and i really appreciate it!  Have a great summer and the only rule is that if you go to East Africa, you must take me with you :-) Bye!!!

So many white people...

Africa has come to an end, for now.  Traveling was incredible and consisted of many good laughs, a giraffe kiss, petting an elephant, riding a camel (ostriches weren't allowed), riding in vans with way too many people, riding on a bus with chickens, going to Ngorongoro again, visiting my Rhotia munchkins, meeting up with Moses and seeing a Nairobi shopping mall which by the way are way classier than those in America.

I've never really been culture shocked before and frankly I wasn't really totally sure I would be when people were talking about it before we left.  The disorientation on how to act and dress in America before leaving was helpful.  But still...I have found myself a little, challenged, maybe?  First of all, the London airport was the most absurd thing I've seen in a while.  SO MANY WHITE PEOPLE!  Everyone was in a hurry and I felt like a complete slob (but seriously, who wears high heels on planes???).  Also everything was soooo expensive that I almost felt uncomfortable spending $7 for lunch.  The plane ride was fine except the first guy sitting next to me kept farting which only reminded me of the "no shooting on safari" rule.  Think about it: you're the driver and everybody standing through the hatches in back is shooting (farting in Africa).  Your life would suck.  Then the lady on the second flight kept taking pictures of herself and then telling me she was going out after we landed at midnight which first of all made me a little uncomfortable although I so badly wanted to grab the camera out of her hand and ask to see like all the munchkins do.  I also thought she was crazy for even being awake past 10 pm (bedtime in Africa).  But eventually I made it home...

Things I've realized/done since being home include:

-> my bed is far too comfortable...when the bed is that comfortable of course you aren't going to want to get out of it! 

-> I took a cold shower, okay, not ice cold, but mildly chilly so that I could close my eyes and pretend that there might be a black mamba about to crawl in the shower...I miss the danger factor :-)

-> when you get back from being abroad it's like you haven't eaten since you were last in America.  Dunkin donuts, popcorn, cereal, ice cream and pizza is on the way...it's kind of gross.

-> I gave my brother his spear so that I could pretend he was a Maasai warrior.

-> I braided my sisters hair and made her put on the dress and jewelry I bought her so that I could have a constant reminder.

-> The internet is far too fast here.  No wonder we are always on it, you can never get bored.  In Africa you need to find other things to occupy yourself between loading pages...sounds horrible but is actually pretty nice.  

-> I refuse to turn on lights anytime before 6 pm.  I'm sticking to the 6-11 "generator schedule".

-Still a little baffled by the cell phone, but I now remember what it looks like and have even managed to text a few people.  

-> Ice cubes should not be this readily available.  It leads to dangerous consumption.

-> I just realized I have had both earrings in the same ear all day....being classy is difficult.

-> I'm scared to do laundry because I don't think that I will recognize/like my clothes when they are clean. 

-> I can't stop looking through pictures and watching videos and I apologize for all the people I'm going to make go through them with me.  You must pretend to be interested for at least 20 minutes, then you can do that thing where you try and change the subject without me noticing. It will probably work.

But, this probably doesn't make sense and so I'll try and write again and post some of the videos and pictures that the internet is now capable of loading.  And I think I've gone crazy cuz I just looked up if there were any restaurants that serve ugali in America...yikes.    

Family

My 38 page paper is finally finished and the only schoolwork left is our community presentation which I used to think was a big deal, but now not so much.  I can’t seem to wrap my mind around the fact that the program is ending so quickly.  I’ve been spending endless hours with my favorite munchkins, and watching cartoons in the house down the street with my new family.  I’ve been staying up way past my bedtime and doing ridiculous things like hiking up hills for sunrises in order to try and postpone leaving.  It’s like the second to last day of camp where you are super excited for trip day but never want the last day to come.  I’m going to miss the people here so much.  I feel like I have a whole new family of love and support between my SFS students and staff in both Kenya and Tanzania as well as my family here in Rhotia.  I’ve been giving out my email but I’m scared that keeping in touch will only be a saying.  I have this feeling of trying to not think about it, but at the same time being the thing I base all of my actions off of…leaving.  I don’t want to go but it comforts me to know that I will back, probably sooner than I imagine.  I can’t go too long without seeing these people again, breathing this air, being embraced into this culture, or called a mzungu everywhere I go.  I can’t do it, so I’m hoping some of you will join me next time I come back.  So you can see the beauty of this place, understand the simplicity and joy, and yet feel empowered to do just about anything.  I don’t know how you did it Africa, but you did.  You made me the person I’ve always wanted to be and I can certainly say that I will never ever forget you.  And to my new family, I hope we can keep in touch forever!