No place like home

As much as I enjoy travelling, I always feel a great sense of relief when I get back home, where everything is familiar and, therefore, comfortable. There are certain things I miss about home when I’m away, like the food, the language, the currency, the roads and transport system… 

My sister and I were recently in a foreign land where we had little choice but to adjust to almost everything, including the huge difference in time zones. Something as seemingly simple as crossing the road became an exercise requiring intense focus as we tried to make sure we were crossing at the right point and the right time. Coming from a culture where pedestrians cross the road whenever and wherever they feel like, this was a true test of road discipline for us.

We actually found ourselves with trust issues, having been hardened by the driving culture back home. While the traffic lights worked perfectly and the motorists obeyed them totally, we still found ourselves wondering if they would stop when and where they were supposed to so we foreigners could cross the road in peace.

I’ve always said Kenyan drivers – myself included – are the only ones in the world who think the amber light means they still have a few seconds left to floor the accelerator before the lights turn red. In the traffic rule book I learnt from many years ago, amber means slow down because the lights are about to change to red, which means stop!

Thankfully, drivers in the faraway land take traffic rules very seriously so in the end we had nothing to worry about.

Shukisha na jam

When my sister and I took the bus to various destinations, we had to sit quietly and wait until the bus stopped at the designated stages and lowered itself to the level of the pavement before stepping (not hopping) off. None of that “shukisha na jam!” business we are so used to at home that is outlawed but oh so convenient. And the only public transport option by road was the bus; no matatus to pick and drop you wherever you need. A very orderly system, yes, but not very convenient.

The (in) hospitality was something else I found a bit disconcerting. While the hotel staff were professional and pleasant enough, there was none of the physical help we are so used to back home. My sister and I struggled to get some heavy suitcases out of boots and onto a trolley (there were a couple of helpful taxi drivers), into the lift and to our room.

When we got back home, there was a weekend trip out of town and the difference was like day and night – right from the car to the rooms, our luggage was handled by friendly and enthusiastic taxi and hotel personnel.

Strange food

As for the food in the land far away – it’s so strange to bite into something that is called a potato on the menu and that looks like a potato on the plate, but which tastes like something else. And the stuff they call tea is from another planet; thankfully we were prepared for this and had carried our very own home brands so we could enjoy at least one cup of real ‘chai’ a day.

The ‘normal’ food portions were enormous, which would explain why our clothes began to shrink the longer we stayed there. But speaking of clothes, one thing we weren’t complaining about was all the great sales we found! And when you have a companion who enjoys clothes shopping as much as you do, the days can pass real quickly.

While it was exciting to catch up with family abroad, and definitely happy to leave the cold weather behind, I was very happy to be back home in the familiar, albeit not as developed, environment. As I blissfully bite into my first ‘ugali na mayai’ meal (absolutely delicious!) since coming back, I am reminded that no matter how far and wide I travel, there is truly no place like home.