I've been many places, and I have many stories and experiences I would love to share. But there is never time to sit down and put them all in a book or a document. But there are so many things I want to share about the experiences I lived and the things that have changed my world view, and the way I move now. This is, I guess, a travel journal, but a few years late. Kenya was my first big move, so I will begin with that.
you will have culture shock.
you will be confused.
it will be hard.
are you crazy?
I decided to move to Kenya for 6 months, and this is all anyone could say.
It is a whole different world. It is completely the opposite of everything we live in our first-world-highly-developed-skyscraper-and-sports-car world.
But when you have your eyes open and your heart willing, walls down, expectations high for new things, it is not hard at all.
These lands have more history than all our countries combined, and moving to a place is different than just visiting for a week or two. The mindset going in cannot be to bring everything from your own culture and move the same way as always. The key is to bring nothing actually, and just learn as you go.
Rolling plains, thorny trees, dry grass, open skies, big cities, tiny villages, warm people.
It is stunning. These lands are more than just safari parks, more than just a one-week-vacation spot, more than just a tourist attraction. It is a home, an upbringing, a way of life.
I could go on for weeks about the diversity of the Kenyan landscape. I had the pleasure of experiencing the spring and summer of the south western part of Kenya, including the rainy season. There are so many sunsets and landscapes and cloud formations that I could never describe, and could never have captured with a photo. Sometimes it rains, but the sun is till behind the wall of clouds, and it makes all the air around you a dusky orange color that tints everything it touches. There are the kind of rain clouds that are so dark they are blue and purple like a big bruise on the sky, bursting with the fattest rain drops I've ever felt. The trees change in a matter of days from a brittle brown flaking sprout, to mighty flourishing beasts, along with the grass that is suddenly knee high when just last weeks it was poking through your skirt as you sat outside for lunch. The water tank can be anywhere from flooding the area to bone dry in the span of a few days. In the rainy season, on the rare days it does not rain, the air is so heavy with moisture, and the sky is dotted with so many termites that you catch them and fry them up for dinner without even breaking a sweat. The ground is too heavy and moist, so they have to take to the air, and you can't walk without getting a few in your face, and a thousand everywhere else. But more than the termites is when all the animals come to feed on the grass. If you wake up with the sunrise, you can catch a glimpse of the giraffes feeding from the tops of the trees while the zebras munch on the grass below. And sometimes, if you are really lucky, the elephants will be out wandering around. It is magical. I wish I didn't have to use that word to describe it, but it is the best word I can find. I saw everything from desert land and dried river bed, to flourishing terraced farms of banana trees and coffee plants, to the stunning costal cities with white beaches and coconut trees everywhere. The diversity in such a small country is mind-blowing. And there is so much history. Each area has their own generations and stories and wars and reformations. And this has built stronger communities.
Rolling plains, thorny trees, dry grass, open skies, big cities, tiny villages, warm people.
It is stunning. These lands are more than just safari parks, more than just a one-week-vacation spot, more than just a tourist attraction. It is a home, an upbringing, a way of life.
I could go on for weeks about the diversity of the Kenyan landscape. I had the pleasure of experiencing the spring and summer of the south western part of Kenya, including the rainy season. There are so many sunsets and landscapes and cloud formations that I could never describe, and could never have captured with a photo. Sometimes it rains, but the sun is till behind the wall of clouds, and it makes all the air around you a dusky orange color that tints everything it touches. There are the kind of rain clouds that are so dark they are blue and purple like a big bruise on the sky, bursting with the fattest rain drops I've ever felt. The trees change in a matter of days from a brittle brown flaking sprout, to mighty flourishing beasts, along with the grass that is suddenly knee high when just last weeks it was poking through your skirt as you sat outside for lunch. The water tank can be anywhere from flooding the area to bone dry in the span of a few days. In the rainy season, on the rare days it does not rain, the air is so heavy with moisture, and the sky is dotted with so many termites that you catch them and fry them up for dinner without even breaking a sweat. The ground is too heavy and moist, so they have to take to the air, and you can't walk without getting a few in your face, and a thousand everywhere else. But more than the termites is when all the animals come to feed on the grass. If you wake up with the sunrise, you can catch a glimpse of the giraffes feeding from the tops of the trees while the zebras munch on the grass below. And sometimes, if you are really lucky, the elephants will be out wandering around. It is magical. I wish I didn't have to use that word to describe it, but it is the best word I can find. I saw everything from desert land and dried river bed, to flourishing terraced farms of banana trees and coffee plants, to the stunning costal cities with white beaches and coconut trees everywhere. The diversity in such a small country is mind-blowing. And there is so much history. Each area has their own generations and stories and wars and reformations. And this has built stronger communities.
In our first world mindset, we see Africa as a continent to be saved, that needs developing, that needs government overthrows. Well, to be honest, I think Africa could teach us a few things. In Kenya, there is a culture that is so close, so comfortable, that you share a table with total strangers in a restaurant, no problem, and even pick up conversation. It is a culture so respectful and trusting, that you can ask someone to move to a different table if you need the space and they are able to sit somewhere else. And they do it! Smiling, nonetheless. Kenyan people are so ready to serve and help. If you call a friend at 2am, there is no doubt that they will pick up their phone and rush over to your home. Or if they are in the middle of church, they will pick up. Or in the middle of anything really. It is a culture about and for people. It is a culture not complicated by things. It is such a simple life. Where I lived, there was no showers or toilets, just buckets of water, and a hole in the ground. Of course that is not everywhere, but we didn't live in the city, or in nice homes. But most of Kenya is villages, not big metropolises. And this is true Kenya living, for me. The beauty of a home you built yourself, of food you grow or take care of yourself, water that you collect yourself. It is a culture that teaches the value of working hard, and working for the benefit of all, not just for one. It is a culture that takes time. There is no hurry, ever. Things will happen when they will happen, and if you want to go somewhere, then take yourself. There is no social pressure to be on time, to look fantastic, to have the most or the best. Everyone just is, and just lives. And everything they have is yours as well. It is a culture of openness and community, that gives freely, and assumes no greed when people take when they are in need. In the deep deep villages, they have plenty, because they do not know what they "lack". They are living complete because no one has told them they are missing things. It is a whole different world. Because in our minds, we need education, jobs, cars, money, excellent food, fancy coffee, and all that crap to live happy lives and feel successful. And we try to impose that on every other culture we come across. But we can't fit everything into our little box of "what should be". It is such a simple life they live, something so uncomplicated, that it makes me cry to remember living that way. We put so much pressure on ourselves in this culture, and we compare, and we say conform. It is such a different world, but no less beautiful for it.
It is a land of wonder, that just puts you in awe. For me, in awe of my Creator, the one who made the heavens and the earth. It makes you feel so small, and so insignificant, but at the same time so blessed to be able to see and experience all the amazing things that He put there for us to enjoy, and to see Him in all His glory. It taught me so much, living in Kenya. It taught me that there is so much more than my way of living and being in the world, my ideas and concepts, and my mindset. And that is something I wish everyone could experience in this lifetime.
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