I've officially reached my 6 months mark in Africa. They said 6 months was supposed to be a major milestone for an expat here, that it is when someone can make a reasonable assessment on whether she should consider staying in Africa or not.
I've heard stories of people getting really home sick or really stressed out living in Africa before, but thankfully none of those things have happened to me (knock on wood). Settling into Africa was a relatively easy task compared to my previous move to Japan or to Paris. I can't quite put my finger on why this is the case, perhaps it is a sign that I should consider staying or continue to do work on this continent? Maybe, maybe not...
Living and working in Africa are two different things to me. On one hand, if I can, I would love to continue living in Kenya. The weather is gorgeous 365 days a year, people are friendly, labor is cheap, and one can get a very high quality of life here with a middle class income in the US. As much as the pace is slow here, I've learned to work around things and just allow for the right amount of time for people to take their time. To me, what's more exciting about living here in Kenya is that you see "life" everywhere, and I am inspired every day by the people around me. Sure, most people are struggling and surviving, but there's something very uplifting in that act of striving for better life, and I'm so energized by it that I'm not sure how I would feel when I return back to the US where many people seem to be lost in their daily routines and distracted by news like who Kim Kardashian is dating...
Working in Africa, on the other hand, is a whole other matter. It's frustrating. It's rewarding. It's exciting. It's draining. There is so much contradiction in this work that it's hard for me to take a stance quite yet on whether I would sign up for doing this for the rest of my life or not...but for sure, I can say I have at least another 1 to 2 years in me to keep going at trying to make a difference here.
It's really quite amazing to think that a simple, middle-class girl like me, born and raised in Asia, would end up schooling in the US, which opens up a whole world of possibility, and actually end up in Africa! Who could have predicted this turn of event! Life is really quite amazing. I'm blessed!
I've heard stories of people getting really home sick or really stressed out living in Africa before, but thankfully none of those things have happened to me (knock on wood). Settling into Africa was a relatively easy task compared to my previous move to Japan or to Paris. I can't quite put my finger on why this is the case, perhaps it is a sign that I should consider staying or continue to do work on this continent? Maybe, maybe not...
Living and working in Africa are two different things to me. On one hand, if I can, I would love to continue living in Kenya. The weather is gorgeous 365 days a year, people are friendly, labor is cheap, and one can get a very high quality of life here with a middle class income in the US. As much as the pace is slow here, I've learned to work around things and just allow for the right amount of time for people to take their time. To me, what's more exciting about living here in Kenya is that you see "life" everywhere, and I am inspired every day by the people around me. Sure, most people are struggling and surviving, but there's something very uplifting in that act of striving for better life, and I'm so energized by it that I'm not sure how I would feel when I return back to the US where many people seem to be lost in their daily routines and distracted by news like who Kim Kardashian is dating...
Working in Africa, on the other hand, is a whole other matter. It's frustrating. It's rewarding. It's exciting. It's draining. There is so much contradiction in this work that it's hard for me to take a stance quite yet on whether I would sign up for doing this for the rest of my life or not...but for sure, I can say I have at least another 1 to 2 years in me to keep going at trying to make a difference here.
It's really quite amazing to think that a simple, middle-class girl like me, born and raised in Asia, would end up schooling in the US, which opens up a whole world of possibility, and actually end up in Africa! Who could have predicted this turn of event! Life is really quite amazing. I'm blessed!
Wow, 6 months already. I miss you. Hopefully will see you in 4 more months?
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