These past couple of months in America have proved rather challenging, but for different reasons altogether. Reasons which are familiar to any one of us, reasons which transcend culture. What I'm alluding to is uncertainty. Finding a new purpose, a new place to belong.
Sure, I've been overwhelmed with the relative ornate characteristics of American life. I've spent ten minutes staring at menu choices, unable to come to a decision as my friends wait. I've marveled at the wonder of a washing machine. I've bemoaned the omnipresence of the iPhone (then quickly caved myself), and the proverbial distance between one another, which African culture could never allow. But those are all trivialities. You wonder, you adjust, you move on.
I don't yet have a place to call home. Before leaving Kenya, I had resolved to live in a city. Preferably New York or DC. And, aside from visits with family, it is there where I've spent my time. Staying with friends, experiencing both places as I try to make some decisions. Both cities, I really enjoy. New York has taken a slim lead, but I've really enjoyed all the diversity, the possibilities, the people in both. For all the flack New York City gets for being impersonal, I've found that's just on the streets. When your at a bar, at any event, people here are less cliquey, more approachable and likely to mingle.
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| New York City. Doesn't get much different from my village than this, but so far I love it. |
