At First Glimps

Day 1 –
“We landed in Nairobi after a hot plane ride and walked into the airport to the smell of Kenya! We are in Africa!”

     I had many moments like that on the trip. Moments when I thought deeply about how far I had come from the States when I said, “Oh my goodness, I am in KENYA!” Those moments never went away. After getting our visas and luggage (both guitars made it safely – Praise God!), we blocked a good part of the airport traffic to meet the 4 students from Nairobi universities that would be a part of our team. We were taught the greeting “Bwana Asifiwe (Praise God)” in New York and this was the moment we could try out our new phrase in Kiswahili. It made all of us a little nervous. You could feel it in the air. Will they be accepting or judge us at first glance? I can bet that they had the same thoughts about us. Stereotypes and assumptions about another culture never made anyone very comfortable. I first met sweet Charity. Smile? Check. Hand out to shake? Check. Swahili phrase? Not so much. I stumbled on my words as my brain tried to recover. Embarrassing. Nonetheless, she was very gracious and extended a hug to me. You learn quickly not to dwell on mistakes in a different culture; learn from it and press on. My meager attempt to be graceful was a little more successful when greeting the other three and they were so friendly despite the awkward air. Two cultures merging will create an uncomfortable atmosphere, but thank the Lord we have one big thing in common: Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord of our lives. It defines who we are as people and that common cause will unite even the biggest differences. After that encounter, I was more determined to learn Kiswahili and get to know the new additions to our team.
     We piled our luggage and bodies into buses and started off towards Ngong town. My first glimpses of Kenya made my heart beat with wonder. I love seeing a new country and its land. I compared and contrasted it to Mexico which couldn’t be helped after I have seen it many times. I fell in love with Kenya at first glance. The bus took us past the city buildings, villages, churches, and schools which my eyes struggled to stay open to behold as the scenery became greener every minute. I didn’t want to miss a thing. Looking behind me at my teammates confirmed that jetlag was getting to all of us at this point. Most of us were asleep as we reached our destination and home for the first week; Watakatifu Wote Senta. After the luggage was hulled off our buses, our team was welcomed (karibu) into the dining hall to our first cup of chai with many more to come. The hospitality I met was overwhelming – we were given the best. Chai, I would say, is the taste of Kenya.  Maybe not because of anything other than this fact: Kenyans drink it at least three times a day. I was told that Kenyans cannot say they have eaten until they have chai. Kenyan chai is more like black tea; it’s not the spicy stuff you get at coffee shops and Indian restaurants. During chai, we got to talk with the Kenyan students more and I ended up rooming with Silvia for the week – I was so blessed to have her! She was patient as I told her about my culture and informative when I asked questions about hers. But she also loved to laugh at my frequent attempts to fit in with my new culture…the one in which she grew up.
My first mosquito net experience went like this:
              Me: (lifting the net up with my fingers) So…how does this work…?
              Silvia: You don’t know how?
              Me: Well, no. I don’t have one back home.
              Silvia: Here, let me help you.
              Me: (defiant but playful tone) No, let me try to do it myself.
              Silvia: (adopts a smug smile and eagerly sits back) Okay.
              Me: (flails around with the net unsuccessfully, gets tangled up, and gives up and grins at the expert who is laughing so hard no sound escapes from her mouth).
     The dinner bell rang after I played a lovely back-and-forth game of Frisbee with some my teammates and two kids from around the area. We washed our hands, gave thanks, and started a line for our first taste of traditional Kenyan food. Ugali (maize meal), beef (with fat on it, of course), cabbage, chapatti (flour tortilla…kinda), rice, and potatoes were the bulk of what I ate in Kenya for 7 whole weeks. Believe it or not, I miss it all. The portions were too large for us to stomach, so many of the girls scouted out "lonely", "helpless", "skinny" boys from our team to finish their plates for them. In Kenya, you eat everything on your plate and everything you are given. Waste is not a word found in their dictionary – I think America could learn from that.
     With bulging bellies, my team and I headed to bed fairly early…Kenyan time. I didn’t sleep very well at all as my body was still on U.S. time which was 9 hours behind. Jetlag. Joy. I waited, with my eyes closed, to see what the morning would bring in my new country.
"Lord, change me and break me. What is Your purpose? Soften my heart and teach me Your ways. Amen."