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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

This is Kenya

There are many things that I will miss when we go to America - and I will share some of those in the next few days - but there are many things that I will not miss about living in the country, this country that I do love. Still it can be a frustrating place to live at times. 


While in America, I will not miss.....


* Boiling water to wash dishes,
* Days when there is no water coming from the tap,
* Matatus,
* Faces of abandonment - everyday, 
* Government officials giving directions to write in false info in official documents,
* Using pad locks to lock my doors,
* Seeing absolute desperation every time I leave my house,
* Power outages,
* Nakuru dust covered floors every afternoon,
* Being swarmed & followed down the street by people begging for money,
* Waiting for cows,
* Waiting for goats,
* "Mzungu! Mzungu!"
* Seeing glue boys,
* Drought caused starvation,
* Poverty cause starvation,
* "Tax Collector" stops (aka: police road checks)
* Boiling water to take a bath,
* Death, 
* People nodding and saying "yes" when they really have no clue what you are saying,
* Pit latrines for public restrooms,
* Traffic jams - and, no, the ones in Houston do NOT even compare!
* Bad roads - and, no, west Texas country roads do NOT come close to comparing!
* Smells,
* Officials hinting for bribes,
* Milk in a box or bag,
* hard-to-crack eggs,
* Picking up the pieces & dealing with unrealistic expectations of Kenyans due to foreign visitors who think they are doing the right thing by giving money, giving things, putting Band-Aids on bigger problems.


Many real things. Many superficial things. That is life. That is a glimpse into my life. Though I love my life and love what I do, there are things I will not miss about it. There are reasons why I need to take a break, to go home, to refresh, regenerate, and regain perspective.


I hope you read this as a glimpse into the reality of my daily life, not as a complaining list of negatives in my life. 


Because at the same time, I still count my many blessings in the wonderful life.....

286. Chasing a sunset.
287. Sending Little Girl off on her first game drive without mama.
288. Jully & Julia and Lizzy & Elizabeth out on an adventure.
289. First box to America PACKED!!
290. Days in single digits!!
291. Elizabeth singing & playing guitar for the boys.
292. Fun new shawls made by CH ladies.
293. One of the CH lady’s small bonus, big impact.
294. A line of blue backed birds on a wire.
295. Fresh baked brownies for the boys.
296. Boys acting silly.
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1 comments:

swonch said...

shawls! fun! i want to see them! can't wait for you to be able to enjoy the little things of the US again.

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