Nairobi Round 2

Hi everyone!I've made it to Nairobi and Joseph, the same driver that picked us up at the airport when we first arrived here in June, picked us up this time. It's like everything is coming full circle. We were delayed in Kisumu for 30-45 minutes but like I said before, the slight is a really short time. The second I got handed my nut packet and water, the pilot came on saying to fasten your seatbelts, pop your tray tables and prepare for landing. Whenever we were leaving the airport, a fellow mzungu was in the car behind us and waved really big and smiled at me (probably just as excited as I was every single time I saw a mzungu in Mbita) and I couldn't help but feel a touch of sadness in my heart. As excited as I was for this stranger to embark on their Kenyan journey, I was instantly reminded that my time to be "ken ya believe it" excited was coming to a close. Instead of the smiling face having no clue what to expect, I'm leaving the smiling face with so much of my heart and excitement still in Kenya. First things first, I admittedly have a love affair going on with Mbita Point, Kenya, so much so that when I stepped out of the airport into the hustle and bustle and smells of the big city of Nairobi, I felt immediately homesick. It's not like Mbita. I wonder if I could click my heels like Dorothy and go right on back. Kudos to Kenya for having a successful city and for the livelihoods and opportunities it provides for thousands of people, but the smells, the traffic, the people, seeing more people in American clothing than in traditional African apparel made me more homesick for Mbita than anything. This isn't the Africa I've come to know and love, I thought. I hope that no one comes to Africa thinking ALL of Africa looks just like this because it doesn't (I thought so too!) & quite frankly, I didn't like it, realizing that so many people will never experience Africa, or Mbita, like I did this summer. On first glance, Nairobi may seem like just another big city...a New York, a Chicago, a Detroit, a London, a Paris...but in between the tall buildings and sparatic conference centers and safari lodges there are buildings that remind me of Kisumu, of Mbita, of Uganda, of the little villages I've visited over the past two months. It's still just as worn-down and beaten as Mbita and many fail to see beyond that big picture of "oh, Nairobi is a big city". As we drove, I found myself making comparisons to Mbita on every turn. The clothes markets, the streets lined with people shopping, the piles of trash, the stands of fruit and vegetables, the yells of Swahili...except this time, there were more foreigners, more people, and the roads were packed with vehicles. It's so crazy to me how Africa has so much, yet so little, at the same time. On the same token, it's even crazier that at the beginning Africa meant so little to me and now it means SO MUCH. What two months can do, folks. I will never question the power of two months again. Looking out into Nairobi was one of the weirdest feelings. Remembering leaving the airport that first night scared to death of the possibility of getting in a near car accident at least 25 times to now where I didn't even flinch at the other cars...to not knowing what to do or how to eat meals to getting the meal and eating it because you've "had worse" before. I'm glad to be back in Nairobi and soon to be home, but Nairobi isn't Mbita and Mbita isn't here. And neither are my kids :(We got to the Guest House and for some reason I was expecting to see Franceen, the director of the Mbita Guest House, with a smiling face. Sigh. It was someone I've never met before, who was kind and welcoming, but again, didn't feel like home. I slugged to my room, carried my suitcases alone (score!), and took a nap. I haven't been feeling well all day but I think it's because I'm homesick for Mbita. I woke up and went to dinner. I can't even tell you what I ate, because I was too busy half writing my report, half daydreaming about Mbita and my kids. I then went back to my room to work on my report some more. Tomorrow, we are going to the Giraffe Center and an elephant orphanage. I am very excited and one of the perks of Nairobi is that there are an endless number of tourist attractions. I'm hopeful that I'll find something to fall in love with in Nairobi too. It's a thriving, upcoming city...don't get me wrong...it's just not the home Mbita was for me. To a new day and the second to last morning in Kenya!