DAY FOURTEEN

I’m in a round Maasai hut that feels claustrophobic.  I lay awake even though I’m exhausted after the long trip and meeting my new host family.  I wish I could invent a version of myself on this first night that isn’t so scared. I give myself a brief moment to wallow in doubt and self-pity.  I know the days ahead will demand a lot of me. I fear the energy I need to cope with this part of my journey will not be enough for I feel myself coming down with a bad cold.  Oh, I don’t want to be sick so far away from any comfort or ability to care for myself and I hate to be a burden on the young family who I’m going to be working with at their school.  I also hate feeling like I’m not up to this and don’t want to be seen as sickly or have anyone worry I can’t take care of myself.

Before having to get up and face how to brush my teeth, or go to the toilet, I remain in bed for a moment and think about the people I’ve met.  It would take a whole book to write about the Kenyan people, but so many have such joy in their faces when they smile and it seems they smile a great deal.  Of course there are the hustlers, trying to make money, buzzing around at markets, selling anything from opening your car door to vegetables or just holding out their hands for a few coins.  That is what poverty drives a person to. Same here as down the street from my home in America. I had expected things to be better by now in America, but everyone has become worse off than when I was young  and for a moment I think I should be back  home, doing something in the city where I live instead of this far off village in Kenya.