Watch the Walk

Walking to the plane After being away for 5 weeks, it's an amazing feeling to be home on Clove Island. After a couple days' travel I finally boarded a 12-seater plane for the short hop home. It was a beautiful flight, full of gorgeous views. Arriving on the island, I had a choice: taxi home or walk? Yes, I live within walking distance of the airport. So I walked. Along the way I greeted several people in the local language. Although I took a back route, I still ran into a couple of acquaintances along the way. The last block before home, I heard my name yelled super loudly. An earlier picture of my friend and I "ABBY!" One of my best friends here was running down the road to meet me. Seriously, it was the best welcome ever. We hugged and laughed, trading greetings without hardly answering the previous one. Then she helped carry my bag to the house and followed me inside. "Oh, it's really dirty in here" she said. "Yep." It was filthy. Dust cover...

On a hike! "Abby, don't be weird," a friend just said to me. Why did she say this? Well, I was exclaiming over something small which can't be taken for granted on my island. While I try to control said "weirdness" it's sometimes helpful to sit down and take stock of all the differences between island life and where I am in Kenya. Urban Kenya isn't Clove Island, that's for sure. Americans often think that "Africa is Africa." In fact, some Americans seem to forget basic geography and think of Africa as one county instead of the actual 53 countries on this glorious continent. But as I was saying, there are a few major differences between life on Clove Island and life in Kenya. Like what? Let's start a list: Change : here in Kenya it seems that having change is to your benefit, as you can often get a better deal if you have exact change. But it's nothing like the island where people will lie through their teeth about not having chan...