25 Little Things I Love About Kenya

1. Little children squeaking “fiti” after you greet them “sasa”
2. Swahilized English words: toast = tosti, switch = swichi, freezer = friza, computer = kompyuta, guitar = gitaa, picture = picha etc.
3. Random people calling all their friends to see that I can actually respond to greetings in Kikuyu
4. Having to hope that I never again see a man peeing on the side of the road
5. That fact that peeing on the side of the road (or anywhere for that matter) is called taking a “short call”
6. Children continuing to ask if my father is the Prime Minister of America, after seeing a picture of him with President Obama
7. Really dramatic Kenyan soap operas such as “Tahidi High”
8. How the strangest bits of American culture get here -- such as everyone knowing who Chuck Norris is, and discussions about whether or not WWE is real or fake
9, Everyone sings in church
10. Children standing near the road pointing , jumping up and down and screaming “Mzungu!” (white person) and their smiles when I greet them
11. When you have to go to bed early because the power goes out.
12.Non-sequiturs such as being on a quiet street in Nairobi when a man carrying an armful of bananas walked past me and asked “banana?” and after I said “no” he continued with the bunches of bananas towards wherever he was going
13. Matatu rides!!!
14. That regardless of how busy a street is there is almost guaranteed to be a goat taking itself on an outing
15. Shop names such as “Vatican” (General Store) and “Cougar’s Meating Point” (Butchery -- there are no cougars in Kenya and most don’t know what they are)
16. If my hair is greasy people think I applied oil and comment how “smart” it is
17. That when you say “good morning” to your class, the students all stand up
18. That signs saying “fierce dog” in Kiswahili can roughly literally translate to “hot dog”
19. Pre-school children who latch onto you and only let go when you can free a hand to wave goodbye because they love waving goodbye and saying “bye, bye” so much they let go to do so!
20. Black Currant Fanta
21. Tea cooked over an open fire
22. That everyone greets each other with a handshake, sometimes more than once a day. There is no ignoring someone as they pass by.
23. Being an hour late is usually acceptable
24.Visiting a home is very relaxed and usually lasts all day, with no worries about the guest leaving so they can get other work done
25. Fantastic hair styles.