The road is icy and it's -1C outside
Trip Start
Feb 01, 2006
1
11
Trip End
Mar 09, 2006
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
With the plane ticket home the traveller is also issued the standard 'reluctance' ticket: reluctance to venture outside in the cold, first day back at work, opening bills and listening to the same concerns of friends and family as when you left: but she said this! there won't be enough cash for! at work today!
I have fallen victim to each of these burdens but have also anticipated several Canadian luxeries. The thought of clean laundry that actually smelled and felt like clean laundry had plagued me since week two at the Mulwas. The food variety at Zehrs is unparalled to anywhere in the world. It seems almost a sin to not taste it all and for this reason I've decided to try cooking - to the horror of my roommate. And finally, it is good to be back in a place where I can find girls to discuss important subjects and where my face masks are appreciated, not rediculed.
I will miss the mandatory way of hanging every picture or piece of art: crooked. I will miss the option of boarding a bus and for the one hour it sits idle collecting too many passengers, I can buy my next meal, the utensils to eat it with, clothes to wear and a blow-up bowling pin clown to...sit on? I will miss the Kenya Boyz to Men obsession but not the fanatical Micheal Jackson songs. I will miss the impressive women who carry suitcases on their heads while their white male counterparts slowly wheel their luggage alongside them. I will miss the beautiful sunsets and the heat on my face. I will miss hearing two foreigners to the English language trying to converse. I will miss repacking my bag for the 14th time, but this time finding Sh500 inside. I will miss my new friends, my beloved nurse Mrs. Musembi. I will miss the anticipation of travelling to the next destination and finding it nothing more than a humidity stricken, ant-infested hole. I will miss the uneventful travel to a beach only to find it heaven. I will miss learning a new language and being made fun of while I speak it. I will miss decifering new schemes to grab my money. I will miss the pick-up lines found only in Africa: "So, you like black things?" "Will you let me love her?" I will miss the nightly power failures. I miss the anticipation of clean laundry, of wondering when I'll eat something other than rice and potatoes. I miss guessing if I'm inflicted with worms or when my ant bites will subside. I miss taking new pictures, smelling new odours and complaining of German tourists. I miss all that encompasses a good trip. But I have one aspect to cling to: I'm not missing anticipating the next journey.
Thank you for reading about our travels, commenting and giving me a great connection to home.
To Waveyna, thank you for moving me out of the way of screaming cars in Nairobi, braving the 'washroom' first and giving me girl tips such as pee aim and how to shave legs in a bucket.
"Always go to the bathroom when you have a chance." George V (1865 - 1936)
To my second-time African traveller, thank you for once again enduring my picture frenzy moments and forced 'girl chats.' My new bathmat enjoyed its' time in your pack as much as I apprecieated being escorted to the pit in the middle of the night. Thank you for the many laughs, even though most were directed at me :)
"Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
From one 'home'-sick traveller...
"Traveling is not just seeing the new; it is also leaving behind. Not just opening doors; also closing them behind you, never to return. But the place you have left forever is always there for you to see whenever you shut your eyes." Jan Myrdal
