Journey Home and Culture Shock

The journey home to St. Louis took about 27 hours. I left Nairobi at 11:30pm (3:30am CST) on Monday and arrived in STL at 7pm CST Tuesday (3am Nairobi). It was an 8 hour flight from Nairobi to Zurich, Switzerland then another 8 hour flight to Newark, NJ and finally 2 hours to St. Louis.

27 hours is a long journey but I have decided it is actually a much needed adjustment period to mentally prepare myself to be back in the US. Going from Endarasha, Kenya to the US is like changing to a completely different world. When I was in the Peace Corps they would tell us the hardest part of the entire service would be adjusting to our home culture. Although I heard this for two years, I couldn't believe it to be true. All I could think about was watching TV, driving my own car, eating American food, taking hot showers... how could life at home and with all of these amenities bring culture shock? But it is so true, you can actually have culture shock when returning to your own home. Through the many trips I've made back and forth it gets easier, probably not culture "shock" but at least culture adjustment.

Although I was looking forward to visiting family and friends, I was sad to leave everyone and truly had to prepare myself for the change of lifestyle. Instead of calling the US "the land of milk and honey" (as most Kenyans think of it) I think of it as "the land of excess and me".  It's not bad, just very different from the life I experience in Kenya. Most of us in the US have way more than we need and we live a life that is centered around ourselves. It is basically the opposite of those I live with in Kenya who go without even basic necessities and live a life of community and faith.

A few things that seem the most different to me:
-Shopping- So many choices at the grocery store can be completely overwhelming. 

-The vehicles here are huge. Everyone is driving massive 4 wheel drive vehicles but rarely/never taking them off the pavement.

-Drive thrus (which I love), my Kenyan friends can't imagine why anyone would eat in their car- ha!


-Empty roads- There aren't many vehicles (and no pedestrians) on these really nice paved roads except maybe at rush hour. In Kenya there are cars, people and animals everywhere.

-TV- I always get excited to come home and watch TV but then once I start watching it, I feel worthless. I'm used to being busy with the kids and visiting with people. Watching TV makes me feel lazy, like I'm wasting life away.

-White people! When I landed in Zurich I stared at all of the white people during my entire layover. Other than a few tourists I really hadn't seen white people in five and a half months. While observing all of the white skin I realized we age much quicker than black people. Note to self- stay out of the sun without sunscreen.

-Money- Every time I buy something, even a sandwich, I'm converting the money into shillings and think about how far it would go in Kenya. "The money for one sandwich would buy me 3 chickens or enough seeds to grow 1,000 cabbages or a uniform for a student."

-Busy, busy, busy. A European guy that sat next to me on one of the flights asked how I can live in Kenya "because they never get anything done".  I explained that once you get used to the culture you really start to appreciate it- slow down, make time for family, friends, neighbors, prayer and church, grow fresh food. What important things is it that everyone is actually getting done in the western world that isn't getting done in Kenya???

-Stress- Somehow the people in the culture who have the most money and material items seem to be the most stressed. And the things people stress about and get frustrated with don't seem as important after working with people who don't have food to eat. But until you have experienced it, it is hard to put it into perspective.

Although very different cultures, neither is perfect (which is why they aren't called heaven).  I am extremely fortunate to be able to live in both worlds and to experience and share the differences. Yes, it's an adjustment but so worth it to do what I love and to also be able to enjoy time with family and friends.