It did not take me long after arriving in Kenya to realize that I most likely would not be able to live in Nairobi at this point in my life. I was amazed at Kaylie's love for the people, place, view into the slums, and ease at moving with their lifestyle. Nairobi is so...busy. People, noises, vehicles, more people, stuff, markets, more people. Just very busy. Nothing starts on time except apparently work and school. The city is just sort of overwhelming, but then again, I am from a town of 684, and we didn't even technically live in the town. Nairobi felt a lot like New York City. Only there were a lot of new cultural things that I would have had to learn too so it felt like a bit much. However, Kaylie thrives. In the first few days, I thought I would probably shrivel up if I lived there.
It was funny to me though that the first several days when I went through some sickness and was miserable walking around on my sad leg that I wanted to hurry past the ailments without much concern of experiencing Kenya. The last Friday though, I had to go home early because I was feeling really nauseous, and then I got sick Friday evening and Saturday and stayed home. I missed out on a new friend cooking us matoke (like green bananas...not the unripe ones but a kind that never turn yellow, are more starchy than sweet, and supposedly taste more like potatoes than bananas) on Friday and then our last art class in Mathare Saturday morning. During all of that, I was pretty sad that I was missing out on other experiences and time with these people. It is pretty interesting how my view changed in such a short time. If I lived there, maybe I would not be so overwhelmed. Maybe I would adjust. Maybe I would thrive, like Kaylie.
PS I'm not planning on selling my condo and packing my bags today. It is just interesting to note.
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