I Don't Blend In

A local school at Sadili for rugby practice.

I currently live on a continent where I am very definitely a minority in the population. Not only am I a minority on the continent, or in the country or city, but as I mentioned in a different post, I'm the only white person at Sadili or in the neighborhood. Sadili is located in a very middle-class Kenyan area, and as such, there isn't much reason for white people to be around - white people tend to frequent the upper class communities while maybe occasionally visiting or providing aid to the poorest neighborhoods. This means that every time I leave our compound, I get loads of stares. People seem to be more surprised to see me here than they are to see me in Kibera.

The week began at Sadili with no Wi-Fi. For me, that basically meant that there wasn't a whole lot I could work on - I'm social media captaining, remember? So internet is sort of essential. But by Monday night Wi-Fi had magically reappeared, and all was good.

I'd been told that the Girl Power Clubs would resume this week, coinciding with the return to school from break. I guess I forgot the reality of the pace of things here - immediately starting something up doesn't seem to happen much. Instead of leading Girl Power sessions every afternoon, we went to Kibera and attempted to pick up paperwork from our partner schools (who no longer had the forms.)

I guess we'll start Girl Power next week.

View from the roof of my building.

I'm really happy, though, with being here. I love that I have my own room, my own space, my own time. I love that I have a schedule, and that into that schedule fits time in the gym. It's a much more professional work environment than I've been a part of in a long time - lots of sitting, lots of time in an office, lots of computer usage. It's not at all like being on my toes constantly, covered in dust and other people's sweat and saliva, while working with kids. It's not that I'm thrilled about the sitting aspect of working here, rather it's the total change in activity and day-to-day lifestyle that I'm enjoying.

Last year, my co-captain and I started a winter training program to better prepare our spring league ultimate frisbee team. One of the key elements of this indoor training was Insanity workouts, an intense, incredibly fast-paced workout video series. We absolutely loved it. I was, without fail, completely sore for at least two days after every Insanity session.

When I heard that three nights a week there is a group Insanity class at Sadili, I knew I had to at least try it. I promised the instructor (who is also the personal trainer here,) that I'd attend, and that if I wasn't sore the next day I'd be bummed. He laughed and agreed, telling me that he, too, hoped I'd be sore.

Well, let me tell you. Insanity in Kenya, or at least at Sadili, is different. We didn't use the video, which was fine. Except for I was the most fit participant in the room (which, after a year of very little exercise and a lot of weight-gain isn't saying much.) The first 15 minutes of the class were the crazy Insanity that I'm used to, but beyond that, things mostly went in a short-interval strength training direction. All in all, I had a good time. But, unfortunately, I did not wake up real sore on Thursday morning.

After the Insanity workout, I finally acknowledged that I have an injured rotator cuff. I think it has something to do with my lack of coordination in sports, coupled with a family game of pool volleyball last summer in the Dominican Republic that ended in a partially dislocated shoulder. Anyway, I guess one of the perks of living and working at a sports center is that I'm buddies with the personal trainer. So now I'm trying to work with him to restrengthen the muscles in my shoulder, so that my rotator cuff can actually function effectively. I've been working out every day, but I'm now not allowed to do heavy lifting - a bummer in a gym with only weight equipment. I do realize, though, that if I don't fix this soon, it's going to be a problem when I finally get home and back to playing ultimate frisbee.

I'm realizing how imminent my return is - less than 2.5 weeks and I'll be back in the States. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the sudden lack of public attention. In Israel, Josh and I were so thrilled every time people assumed that we were Israeli. We loved that we weren't completely obvious tourists. But since coming to Africa almost four months ago, there's been no chance at blending in. I simply don't match.

My favorite mango stand.

My favorite reactions are the little kids whose jaws just plain drop open at the sight of me, and are stunned speechless. I also like the kids who begin grinning from ear to ear as soon as I smile or wave in return. Or the young boys who tell me to "Look!" at them while they perform backflips for me in the road.

Sometimes, when I'm in an extra fun mood, I like to mess with the kids a bit instead of just waving or responding to their greetings. Sometimes I'll point or stare straight back at them. Yesterday, as I was walking home from the supermarket, there were these three little 5-year-olds on the street next to the Sadili compound. The first one saw me and, wide-eyed, announced "Mzungu!" to his friends. I let my jaw drop and I stared directly back at him as I continued to walk towards them. Well, I guess my expression and mock shock were a bit too convincing. And apparently, fairly terrifying to this kid, who immediately started running away, screaming mildly. As soon as I saw this, I abandoned the expression and broke into a huge smile. All four of us shared a great laugh as I continued to smile and wave at them while I rounded the corner. I guess I'll try not to scare kids anymore.

It's been interesting to be on a continent where I'm clearly a spectacle. In Central America it was evident that I was a foreign species, but I was able to blend in a tiny bit more, helped immensely by my fluent Spanish. But here, there's no chance to be mistaken for anything but a white person, and that's made clear to me every time I leave my home. I can't yet say whether or not I'll miss the attention - will I miss being greeted and stared at everywhere I go? Will I miss prices growing exponentially when I enter a market? Will I miss spontaneous conversations with strangers? Will I miss the excitement and joy on small faces that spot me? 

One thing I can say is that in an environment where almost everyone I meet wants to interact with me, I've definitely become more outgoing.