Things I will Miss (and Happy to Leave Behind)

The beach. The daily runs or walks on while feeling the strong sun rays on my skin, the deep blue colors of the ocean, the overall exotic feeling of being here and eating sea food every night. The laid-back attitude of any coastal region is to so refreshing and we feel fortunate to have experienced it for a while.

Everyday learning. There was so much of it – learning about myself, my relationship with Rob, a new culture, a new life, a new way of doing things. The employees of the factory make fun of me because I made them show up to meetings on time and set strict deadlines based on how I’ve been taught. Now I wonder – was that necessary, to impose my way of thinking on them? Why is my way better just because it’s more efficient? Over time I adjusted and this was one of the thousands things I learned how to do this summer.

Sometimes it felt like every minute was so new. Even tonight at dinner, our last night in Diani, I learned all about the acceptance in society for all males (practically) to have several girlfriends outside their marriage. How naïve was I not to know this earlier? Everyday, a new perspective…

The monkeys. Their morning visits provided countless hours of entertainment. I’m not sure when again I’ll live among them, but the experience has been too funny to describe.

Working at a start-up. A real start-up in a very developing country. Again, countless lessons. I loved every minute of it, regardless of how frustrating it could get at times.

The friends. There are so many great people we’ve met like none before, from the supervisor at the factory to our cook in our apartment. It was refreshing to share stories and laughs with them and to learn from them. It was also fabulous to meet other people like us who are working in development and learn their thoughts and perspectives.

The beauty of this country. We only saw a small portion, but the views were always stunning and it makes us be thankful that we had the opportunity to see it, if only a small part

All this said, I can’t say that I absolutely love Kenya as I can about some other countries. It’s fascinating but there are some fundamentals here that truly bothered me.

The biggest issue is safety. Although Diani beach, Mombasa, and the coast in general, are relatively safe, I always feel like I have to watch my back more than anywhere else. It becomes so restrictive after a while and you get tired.

Of course there is the all-annoying, “Muzungu” comment (white man) and you do feel like you stick out more than anywhere else. It didn’t feel that way in Asia or anywhere else, even though in so many places we do look different. Everyone there though just goes on about their day. In Africa, it feels so different, or perhaps it’s in Kenya, or perhaps it’s on the coast of Kenya. There is a sense of animosity and it’s instantly assumed that you have money. Which may not always be the case, but even the poorest student or back packer has so much more than an average Kenyan that the assumption is true. Can you fault them for it? Maybe not, but it’s not a pleasant feeling.

But it’s all part of the experience. And we loved every minute of it.