A New Normal

I just wanna start off by clarifying something. I’ve received a few notes (which I appreciate) from people just making sure that I’m happy and well. After reading some of my previous blog entries, I realized that they sound a little dark and may make it sound as if my experience here has been…well..less than enjoyable. I hope that’s not the case. What I write here is my raw thoughts. I don’t edit this before I post it. Sometimes I just speak (or in this case write) my thoughts regardless of whether it makes sense or not. To be honest, I read back on some of these posts and I wonder what the heck I was thinking at the time. But that’s the beauty of a blog I figure…I’m not keeping a journal – I started to, but then quickly realized that what I was writing in my journal was exactly the same stuff I write here, and so was the frequency. So this is my journal, when I get home, I’ll print off every page (on recycled paper, double-sided and make sure to reuse the ink cartridge) and bind it into a book. But thanks to all for checkin in...

NEhoo…last wknd we decided to take a trip out to Haller park which is an animal sanctuary just outside Nyali. It was a great day and I got to see giraffes, hippos, crocs, gators, and probably the coolest – giant tortoises. It got me very excited about the prospect of that magical Kenyan experience – safari’ing! No – no set date yet, but it will happen…stay tuned. Traveling large distances in Africa is not the easiest thing to do (or cheapest). After that we hit the beach till dark and once again I saw probably my favourite sight of all - the sight of the full moon illuminating the Indian ocean as it crashes onto the shores…I never get tired of it.

The work week has been slow, but maybe its just that my blood pressure has finally returned to normal as I continue to settle down. The sights, the sounds, even the smells are becoming familiar. I know when to hold my breath, I know when/where to just look straight, and I know when to wear ear plugs (not that I carry them around). Yesterday, we had the odd cloudy day (its rarely cloudy here) which meant that it would be cooler (the heat is coming)…so I decided to take an hour over lunch and just wander the streets a bit with no particular destination. Its really amazing when you just randomly hit the pavement to see the microcosm that is not only Mombasa, but maybe Kenya, and maybe Africa (ok that’s a big generalization). First there are just tons of people who are walking around with somewhat empty looks on their faces and you wonder if they’re actually walking somewhere, or just walking. Then, there’s tons of people just sitting on the side of the street, not really doing anything, just chilling, as if they plan to sit there all day. There’s street vendors everywhere selling everything you can imagine. There’s food stalls that tempt you, but I continue walking lest I want to spend an afternoon on the toilet. Tiny narrow alleyways entice you to walk through and see what they have to offer. Music is blasting at almost every corner, and if you can’t hear the music, its probably because its being drowned out by the (sometimes musical) horns of matatus and their conductors yelling where they’re going and haggling you to get on (even you’re walking in the opposite direction they’re going)

There’s the modern mixed with the rural. The western-style business people going out to lunch mixed with the traditionally dressed women with an incredibly large quantity of goods on their head and tiny infants wrapped around their backs. Finally, there is probably the saddest sight - the sight of multiple street kids sniffing glue. They also walk around with lifeless looks on their face, except that they are unjustly young, barefooted with ripped/minimal clothing and have plastic water bottles with industrial strength glue in them stuck to their noses which they sniff all day. Its truly a heart breaking sight to see youth that are so lost…seems so unfair.

But this is Mombasa, this is my adopted home, in all its beauty and all its grime. It tingles at your senses and emotions and invites you to interact. You can see both where Africa has come from, and maybe a little bit of where its going (however that’s a whole other debate). So I think I’ll continue to wander, to walk, and explore the streets of this old industrial port town and see what else I find. Its not Toronto, its not normal, but it’s a new normal.