Kwaheri ya Kuonana

Well, it’s official. I am an alumna of the St. Lawrence University Kenya Semester Program.  This past week was filled with last minute paper writing and frantic packing, wondering if our oversized suitcases would exceed the weight limit.  For me and several other students, packing wasn’t as hectic because we are extending our stay in Kenya and departing for the United States near the end of May. I am currently in the transition stage of my time here having said goodbye to my friends yesterday, yet waiting until tomorrow to greet my family in Nairobi.

To the SLU KSP staff: your program has truly changed my life. I am forever grateful for the opportunities you’ve provided me, the friends you’ve introduced me to, and the lessons you’ve taught me.  Never in a million years did I foresee a future for myself in East Africa, but this semester in Kenya has made me rethink my priorities and what I want to do with my life.

Nowhere else in the entire world have I witnessed a culture so rich and transparent. From the food, to the dress, to the mannerisms, walking down the streets of Nairobi or the dirt roads in Meru, you get a taste of where people come from and where their priorities lie. Strangers offer you smiles and ask you how you are, not because it’s written into society’s cultural script but because of their own genuine curiosity and interest. 

I wonder how my readjustment to U.S. culture will be, if I can even call it that. When I walk into a boutique and am struck by the number of zeros on a price tag, I won’t be able to bargain with the salesperson. I can’t stop a random motorcyclist on the street and ask him/her to drive me to the supermarket. I can’t satisfy a sudden craving for chapatti by approaching any street vendor. 

Don’t get me wrong—I miss by friends and family dearly, but I have come to know and love Kenyan culture. I have grown up so much during my time in East Africa, and I’ve been lucky enough to experience things I never dreamed possible. I milked cows and goats for the first time in my life. I went hunting for hyraxes in the middle of the Tanzanian bush.  I drove a safari van through the Yaeda Valley. I navigated my way through a new city in Uganda. I witnessed a birth! These are some of my unique experiences that have earned Kenya (and most of East Africa for that matter) a special place in my heart.

I’m not saying that after I graduate I’ll move back to Africa and establish a new life here. However, I will return at some point whether it’s a year from now or fifty years from now, and whether it’s for 3 weeks or 3 months.  I have seen, heard, tasted, felt, and even smelled too much here to not come back at some point and repay the thanks and appreciation that I have for this region of the world.  I can’t imagine having a genuinely bad day in the United States when there are women selling their bodies for water and children living amongst trash and human waste in the slums of Nairobi. Whatever I decide to pursue, whether it be medicine or a career in the circus, I hope to pay it forward in some way to the place that has taught me so much. I want to remember my host family in Meru who had never even seen a deck of cards before, and think of how my privilege can be used to help those less fortunate.

So thank you Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Thank you for showing me how to live spontaneously, embrace adventure, seek out new experiences, and truly appreciate all that I’ve been given. I won’t forget about you, and I won’t let my friends and family forget about you. I will continue to share my stories until I’m blue in the face.

Certainly having this transition period has allowed me time to think and perhaps become a bit too nostalgic. However, I can’t help but reflect on my experiences and be grateful for all of them. I’ve done more in these past four months than I could have ever imagined. I’m looking forward to seeing my family tomorrow and introducing them to my new world and my second home.

I would like to offer a final thank you to anyone who helped enrich my experience this past semester, whether you were a fellow student on the KSP program, a family who welcomed me into your home with open arms, a stranger who flashed me a smile, or a friend/family member Stateside who kept in touch with me while I’ve been away. Thank you to those of you who read my blog, whether it was one post or every post. I know some of them were more entertaining and concise than others, but each post offered a different viewpoint as to how I’ve been living my life these past four months. I can only hope that I’ve changed your perceptions of East Africa if you’ve never been, or that I’ve made you reflect upon your own experiences if you have. 

I’m excited to see what these next two weeks have in store, and I hope to savor every minute that I have left in Kenya. I can’t wait to see my friends and family when I return to the United States, and I’ll miss those whom I’m leaving behind.

My sign off for every post (“Kwaheri ya kuonana”) means “goodbye until we meet again” in Kiswahili. My professor at Washington University says it after each class because it signifies that there will be another tomorrow and that this goodbye is not the final goodbye.  And so I’ll leave you with these very same words. This final blog post does not mean I’m saying goodbye to East Africa forever. I will be back.

Kwaheri ya kuonana!