Yesterday, I was in Kenya

My plane leaving Kisumu made a long wide circle over Lake Victoria. From my window seat I could see the lake and the town of Kisumu stretched out below me. It was a similar view to the one I had had ten weeks earlier when I first arrived in Kenya. This time though I knew what the big building was on the shore and the name of the green grassy point without any trees out beyond town.

On the plane ride home I kept having to stop myself from thanking the stewardess by saying "asante" which is Swahili for "thank you". I will admit to having not learned much Swahili this summer but the words I did learn I tried to us a lot and thank you was one of them. Even if in a store or at a shop I spoke in English while being helped I felt that a thank you in Swahili made it a bit more personal when I was leaving. Of course the stewardess on the plane and the shopkeeper in the London airport had no idea what I was saying, it was the begining of remembering I was not in Kenya any longer.

Culture shock is a term that is often used when people first get to a new country where the customs, language, and culture are very different from where they usually live. Reverse culture shock is when people have been in a foreign place for a period of time and then return to their home and have a sense of not quite belonging. I sometimes feel that I have spent so much of my life between cultures and countries that in some sense I no longer experience culture shock or reverse culture shock. I am able to slip in and out of the culture without realizing that I have changed in small ways to fit the cultural norms of the place that I am in. It is a skill that I have only recently realized that I acquired over a period of many years. This isn't to say that I forget where I was yesterday when I am in a new place today. I still carry that place, those people, and my memories from that time with me in my heart. This summer was full of unforgettable moments and great people. Leaving Kenya and returning to my life of school in Atlanta does not mean that I have forgotten about the beautiful place I spent 10 weeks in this summer or the amazing people I met or the great experiences I had. I have nearly 1000 photographs to remind me, my blog entries, and friends from around the world to stay in touch with.

I am not going to leave behind my blog either, though I can't promise updates as frequently or necessarily as interesting as those over the last 3 months but I will try my best. So I say "Karibu sana" to the school year, to seeing my family and friends again, to being able to make much cheaper phone calls, and having a better internet connection. I now just have to find the 3 or 4 best pictures of the summer to print and hang in my apartment. Kenya is not far after all.