Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Rediscovering Society

Well I'm back folks! It feels weird and new and scary and wonderful all at the same time. I didn't really think I had changed much until I got back and started to see how much things haven't changed here. It's so nice to see my family and my closest friends, but I miss Kenya and my Peace Corps family a lot. I can't really relate with people here about my experience, but I appreciate the effort everyone is putting in for me. I've been home for going on 3 weeks now and it really just feels like it was all a dream. I keep asking myself, did that really happen? I brought my dog back though so he's a constant reminder of Kenya and the village which feels good. Everyone keeps asking, how was Africaaaaa?....It was good. I don't know. How do you sum up 2 years in a rural Kenyan village in one word? It had its ups and downs. Overall it was amazing, but there were a lot of times when I wanted to go home also. People tell me that they can't believe it was two years and didn't it go by so fast....not to me. I mean looking back, I can't believe I'm already home, but the days were long in the village. I spent days literally doing nothing. Life here is so fast! My day seems to fly by compared to Kenya. It's a little scary.

I've started a list of all the things that I've come to truly appreciate about living in America, the things that feel good to get back to and the things that are strange to me. Here they are:

1. Icecubes
2. Refrigeration
3. Having the urge to pee in public, but knowing that I can't just pop a squat in the bush
4. unlimited amounts of toilet paper
5. toilets
6. free public toilets
7. clean toilets
8. an oven
9. so much technology! (I got the iphone 5, facetime blows my mind)
10. Electricity...that always works
11. Tap water is ok to drink
12. water
13. there is a tap!
14. shower
15. dog laws
16. organized driving
17. wearing seatbelts
18. tomatoes are huge and avocados are tiny and expensive (I paid $2 extra dollars just to get guac on my burrito!...an avocado was 20 cents in Kenya)
19. pedestrian right away
20. being able to talk in English and correctly assuming that the person I'm talking to knows English
21. Americans are so loud
22. Being able to say "pants", not "trousers", and people know you are not talking about underwear
23. Having to pick up dog poo
24. Laundry machines
25. commercials/advertising
26. Transportation costs! Bai Gali!
27. Not having to share a bed with 5 people when I sleep over at a friends
28. Being able to load the regular version of GMail, not just the html version
29. Everyone is on their ipod/phone constantly, no one talks to each other on public transport
30. Realizing that my neighborhood I live in is actually really nice

Anyway, those are just a hand full of my many observations. I had dinner with my friend Hayley who did Peace Corps Burkina Faso and it was nice to share our experiences. I did the Bay to Breakers which was a trip. I saw so many people from high school and nothing has really changed, which is comforting, but also funny at the same time. I went to the Giants game. It was so nice to see a sporting event and cheer on a team. I helped back stage at a ballet recital and it was so cute to watch the little girls dance around, it brought me back to when I was a child. I miss dance and I plan to get back into it now that I'm home. I went and spoke about Peace Corps and Africa to my friends high school class which was interesting. Especially seeing their reactions when I told them I bathed in a bucket and slaughtered chickens.

I guess I'm just learning how to be an individual again. Not that I never wasn't, but I felt more of a collective part of something in Kenya. People are very much on their own in America. There's not really community in the way that there is there. I called my mama in Kenya on Mothers Day though and it was nice to hear her voice.

Anyway, it's all a big change. I'm temping some to make money since Peace Corps hasn't given me any of my readjustment allowance yet and it's been almost 3 weeks. I'm struggling and I realize I have a long road ahead of me with going back to school. Reality really slaps you across the face in America.

It's good to be back though and I'm so grateful for my family and friends. I want to thank all of those who supported me along the way and continue to support me. Life is a blessing and I am one of the lucky ones. I just hope if anyone learns something from my experience, it's that there is a whole world out there. Get out of your bubble and help those less fortunate. Someone always has it worse than you so count your blessings. God is real.

This may be my last blog entry so again thank you to all my readers and signing out!

Sincerely,
Andrea Chepkosgei
Peace Corps Kenya- Public Health 2011-2013