Are they like us?

Urghh! Neglected this poor journal for so long. Busy, is an understatement as to my life right now. Funnily enough I’ve been keeping busy to stop from feeling lonely. I just realized that you can be surrounded by so many people yet feel so alone at times so I’ve let my work consume me but it has been enjoyable and rewarding at the same time.

Anyway, as a result I’ve been able to interact more with the office messenger whose queries about life in the US, liven up my day considerably. It’s actually quite a change from the questions I was asked about life in America. She is so refreshingly naïve, innocent and beguiled with the illusion of a perfect existence outside of her own fairly dreary reality. Well, dreary from my point of view but it’s all she’s known thus she dreams extensively about what it must be like outside of Kenya.

Here are some of the questions she asks and my responses:

OM: Do people in the US buy mitumba? (second-hand clothing – popular, large markets, refer to other blogs)
Me: Depends. It’s not a large scale there as it is here but there are stores like the Salvation Army where you can buy clothes second hand. I do as well but I prefer to call it vintage. (don’t ask me how I managed to translate vintage into Swahili as most of her queries were posed in the language.)

OM: Are things very expensive there? Like your diet sodas, which you love so much.
Me: Well a can of soda costs about 50¢, which is about 38 shillings. (She winces because a packet of milk or loaf of bread costs about the same so I’m essentially wasting that money every day in her eyes.)

OM: Is food expensive there?
Me: Yes, it can be. Depends on what you buy just like anywhere in the world. I mean caviar is caviar.

OM: What’s kaveeya?
Me: Umm, never mind.

OM: Are there poor people in America?
Me: Heavens yes!

OM: Are they poor like we are?
Me: (Heavy heart) Well, if you have to put poverty on a scale then I’ll say no because over there, the government has many resources to try and help people out. While over here the government is in a mess already and it’s hard enough trying to get the basic essentials to those that need it.

OM: No (she insists), so they are not really poor like some are here.
Me: There are very many poor people in the US and they have the same problems poor people have everywhere. Where is my next meal coming from, I can’t afford books for my kids, I can’t afford to take the bus…poor is poor, it doesn’t matter which country. All I’m saying is that you can actively see the government trying to help people out.

OM: Do they have the street kids that go around sniffing glue harassing people?
Me: Well, in small town America where I was, no. But big cities have, umm…people like that, not really street kids and believe me glue is not the drug of choice.

OM: Oh, drugs like miraa (mild hallucinogenic you chew, legal and common), and bhang (weed).
Me: Haven’t seen any miraa there but yes there is bhang but that’s not the drug that you see as causing problems. There are problem drugs like cocaine, crack, meth and other things.

OM: (blank stare)
Me: Umm, well, if you’ve never heard of them then that’s good.
(The day crack hits Nairobi - if it hasn’t already, I think that will be the epidemic that supercedes all.)

OM: Did you have wazungu (white) friends in the US?
Me: And black as well, yes I had friends, they aren’t black or white.

OM: Did you hang out with your wazungu friends?
Me: All the time, also with my black friends.

OM: But I hear that Kenyans have a hard time making friends with wazungus.
Me: Well, I imagine that it’s the same everywhere and doesn’t matter whether you’re white or black and if it does it’s wrong, it should be about who you are. (I knew I was coming off as a public ed-service but I really wanted her not to thing along those lines.)

OM: Did you have a boyfriend?
Me: Yes I dated.

OM: Did you ever date a white man?
Me: Yes

OM: Wow, you’re lucky.
Me: Why would you say that?

OM: The way I see it, if a white man is interested in you then that’s good because you can marry him and leave here. You have to be very beautiful to date a white man. You’re lucky.
Me:

OM: You don’t see the girls around here, the ones I know. When they meet a white man, they get married and leave and their life is better. The men here are stupid. They cheat, are unfaithful and they leave you if you get pregnant.
Me:

Me: Do me a favor and stop thinking like that. Marrying a white man does not solve your problems. And by the way, I know plenty of white men who cheat, are unfaithful and will leave you the minute you say "baby".

OM: Still, you’re lucky.
Me: (sigh) I have to work.

The thing that catches me about all this is that she’s not the only one that thinks like this. I haven’t even gone to my rural area where my true home is where (hate this word) ignorance is even larger. Most of the gathered knowledge about life in "Amrika" is from media. And it bites that some of the shows running on a regular basis are Divorce Court, The Bachelor (gag), Oprah (at least the newer ones) and if you wanted to know where all the UPN pilot season shows ended up…. There’s also a huge pirate DVD industry. I can already watch Mr. & Mrs. Smith in the comfort of my home if I wanted to. And it will probably be lumped into one disc with four other movies.

I got out of Nairobi last weekend and went to a friend’s farm and I can’t tell you how refreshing that was to get out of the city. I’m planning on going to Lamu or Diani, haven’t decided yet for the 4th weekend. Yeah, yeah, I’m in Kenya now but there’s something that just dictates enjoy the 4th. Is that incredibly unpatriotic of me to continue to celebrate and relish the freedom of an adopted country whilst in my native one? Hmm…