5 Months

It has been raining so much here I can’t remember if I’m in Washington or Kenya. I have been sporting gum boots to trek between the house and Abba for the past couple of days.  There is so much water you can’t tell where the ditches are in the sides of the road – everything is murky water. My steps make sucking sounds as I pull my feet from the mud. People warn me about worms and billhazia.

I have been making frequent trips between Kochia and Kisumu in the past couple of weeks. The surroundings are lush and green from all the rain. Some unlucky houses are surrounded by puddles, and rivers rush loudly underneath bridges. The crook of my arm hangs out of the window and grows moist from approaching rain. It smells the same as Washington.

Before taking these five months to explore, I never allowed myself any time. Every moment in Bellingham was planned meticulously – between school, volunteering, exercising, and homework, I had no single moment to sit. The days were so well planned that I could not even take in my surroundings, just kept moving to the next thing, with my life as blurred and hazy as looking through train windows. If I somehow found an unplanned chunk of time – I would inevitably fill it. Here, time is as vast as Lake Victoria. By having no plans, I can absorb every detail that passes. By having no plans I can recreate these details through writing – which is as fulfilling to me as sitting down to play my favorite piece on the piano.

I am fascinated by strangers. I find myself studying people more intently, paying more attention to every aspect of their face and posture than ever before – so that I can come home and write. It makes every encounter deeper, and more interesting. It’s as if I have been blessed with a child’s pair of eyes – impressed and engrossed by everything they take in.

This Wednesday marks five months – the halfway point for this grant. I can hardly believe I have been away for so long. I can hardly believe it’s December and Christmas is right around the corner. I am further from my original proposal than I ever imagined possible.  I have laughed and smiled more than ever in my life. I can hardly imagine coming back to the United States.