Kenya: some final thoughts

It is my second day back in D.C. and I still don't know quite where I am.  This "reverse culture shock" is quite interesting.  I see things a bit differently now.  I look at how absolutely extravagant everything feels now.  How even a $5 latte at Starbucks seems ridiculous when you think about what that money could do in Kenya and how most families in Kibera live on less than half that per day.  Crazy.

There are some things I wanted to write about before I forget:

Obsessive cleanliness at malls and public places

I still don't quite understand this.  When I walked down Ngong road from Shalom House to Junction Mall, there would be litter everywhere on the side of the road.  In Nairobi it's not uncommon to see piles of trash (including plastic) on fire on the side of the road.  This is very common in Kibera (also in Kibera there are HUGE trash heaps as the city considers it an "unrecognized settlement" so they don't do any trash pickup.... a reason Carolina for Kibera's Trash is Cash program is all the more ingenious. 

Then you get to the mall and there are people obsessively sweeping and mopping the floors.  At Shalom house they mopped the floors twice a day (despite the fact that the tile is from the 50's and will never really be clean again).  The dichotomy between dirty and clean was so strange and hard to understand.

Being mistaken for a missionary 3 times in an hour

Last Saturday I walked from the National Museum to the city center where I visited the Masai Market in the parking lot of the court house building.  As I didn't spend much time in the central business district, I wasn't quite prepared for the hustling that went on.  I was wearing my Children of Kibera Foundation t-shirt, which in retrospect wasn't a good idea.  At the market a lot of people were asking questions about why I'd want to spend time in Kibera.  One gentlemen was quite angry, saying that Kibera isn't a "real" slum because of all the white people pumping in money and resources.  He said where he lived was the real slum and why wasn't I helping there?  You just don't have answers to questions like that.  And it's not a good feeling.

Three different people stopped me and asked me if I was a missionary.  I said no. (Little do they know...)!

Christianity everywhere

Christianity is everywhere in Kenya.  Most of the matatus have Christian slogans all over them and some are even "Christian themed."  I took one matatu to Prestige Plaza mall that had bible verses all over the inside and was playing a sermon from an American church on the radio very loudly.  Even on the "regular" (non-Christian) radio stations, there are overt Christian messages.  There are many churches.  Many BIG churches... which begs the question:

Why are there massive churches but not enough houses for everyone?

I really struggle with this.  The Lutherans are building a HUGE national church on Ngong road not far from where I stayed.  The largest non-mall or government building I saw in Nairobi was the Baptist Church.  There is one church on the outskirts of Kibera awaiting a building which has erected four HUGE tents in the meantime.  I really don't understand why these churches would rather have sanctuaries than provide housing. 

Next steps

What I'm really struggling with now is how I will use this information to inform choices about next steps in my life.  How can I incorporate my love of travel, African music, African culture, music education and choral conducting?  How does it all fit together?  Any insights are welcome.