Intermission
on It began in Africa (Kenya), 14/Jul/2011 09:58, 34 days ago
The author kindly suggests that you read this post listening tothis,thisorthisTwo months ago, I landed back in blighty: tired, stressed and confused. Today is my first day back in Kenya. "Normal" service has resumed.I had spent 6 months in Kenya, meeting some amazing people, going to beautiful places and doing a (very) small amount of good. It is not remiss to say that I had unfinished business here.The day I left Nairobi, I was due to give a presentation on amicro-financeproject being set up byKAIH(where Allys works). Unfortunately, I was unable to give that presentation, but I was able to email it. Now, KAIH is a small organisation which specialises in providing support and advice to families and people with intellectual disabilities; it is not an expert at setting up microfinance projects. On the basis of my presentation, KAIH asked VSO I could be a full-time volunteer for them. Two months on, I am back in Kenya for the next 9 months about to help KAIH set up their micro-finance project.My return sounds pretty straight-forward, doesn't it? It didn't feel that way and everything was pretty uncertain right up until the point I exited immigration. I was half-expecting immigration to tell me: "I'm sorry Mr Thomas, Kenya doesn't want you here," and landing back at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport did set my pulse racing a little: I may have become a bit phobic about it.While I was back in the UK, I coped like any normal Brit copes with anything by drinking and eating too much. For this, I have a myriad of people to thank, without whose hospitality I would have remained sober, and no-one would have wanted that!So, much thanks toAllys' parents who did not mind their wine cellar being depleted by my presence, and to her grandparents for the use of their car; to my brother who rarely complained for having another brat in the house; to Claire& Ian who kept me in work and chocolate; to James and Becs for letting me lead James astray; to Adrian and Annelis for sharing the delights of Cornwall and winning a pub quiz; to Kel and Dave for the airport taxi service; and to Rose and Johnny for holding an awesome wedding. The list could go on.I definitely came back to the UK at the right time: home is a beautiful place between May and July (although it took me some time to get used to sunset at 9pm). Wimbledon on the telly, Glastonbury on the radio, strawberries and cream, pub gardens and BBQs, the UK was really selling itself to me.More, I hadn't realised when I left Kenya that it would be 8 months before I ate a fresh mushroom. I missed eating mushrooms, who knew? I was prepared for the abundance of food in supermarkets, but I had forgotten how British supermarkets have convinced the consumer that every fruit and vegetable must be perfect looking for it to be edible. I loved the variety of food available in England (pickled ginger, sun-dried tomatoes, Camembert) but felt disoriented by the choices and was reminded that more choice is not the same as more freedom.In contrast, being home made me miss random conversation. In Kenya, people will talk to you for no apparent reason (or for some of the girls for a very obvious one). Brits have replaced conversation with order: you know what to do in queue, at the bus stop, on the tube so why would you have to talk to a stranger? The London Underground transports millions of people who are afraid of or bored with each other, wrapped up in their cocoon of sensations: books, newspapers& mp3 players, just so they can convince themselves they are not staring at someone's armpit.Having spent 6 months in Nairobi, London is a quiet and spacious place, where not every store has music blaring. Generally, tube at rush-hour notwithstanding, my personal space was respected - even venerated: my bubble must not be burst outside of the standard public space interactions of purchasing. On a political point, I hadn't realised that Thatcherism's exulatation of the individual over society had influenced our day-to-day behaviour to such an extent.My view on public transportation has changed a little: I missed matatus a lot. Those dirty, noisy, death-traps that I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for and would stop wherever I want, would have been a god-send for me during my time back in the UK. Ascar use declinesin the UK, could matatus make an entry into the UK market? I can only dream.Kenya, as we have said before is a work-in-progress; the UK, then, feels like a museum. The UK and its population in general has a highly developed sense of aesthetic, which for very practical reasons is not nearly as developed in Kenya, and I found I had missed good architecture and public works of art and that they do add value to day-to-day life. On the other hand, the UK feels fixed, static and sometimes even stultified and contained. Kenya is exuberant, sprawling, messy and youthful. As if to complete the effect, the UK seems full of old people; Kenya full of children and babies.The overall sensation of being back in the UK was of order, abundance and quietude; the antithesis of Africa? Being in back in Kenya feels familiar but unusual, a known weird.I think I am destined to suffer culture shocks every time I travel now.