I’M HOME!!!!
Ladies and gentleman, I am back on the continent of Africa for the first time in over a year!!! I can not tell you how amazing it feels. I have never felt more at home in my life. Technically America is ‘home’ obviously. I spent the first 20 years of my life there, but it never really felt like ‘home’. As we were flying to Kenya I couldn’t stop looking at the map of our flight route. Every time the little plane moved a centimeter my heart skipped a beat because I knew I was that much closer to Africa.
Now, I do NOT cry very often, but I could have lost it on several occasions while landing and getting settled at our hostel. Getting off the plane in Nairobi being surrounded by Africans once again simply overwhelmed me. It feels natural for me, it feels like it’s normal for me to be here. I try and tell people that I am African….but they don’t believe me for some reason!? They ask me where I’m from and I say Malawi…..then they laugh in my face.
I think I’m black….
I’m not going to lie!! I walk the streets and really wonder why all the locals are staring at me? I forget sometimes I’m white L . If I’m the only white person in any situation I think that I’m black and it’s normal for me to be there and no one notices that I don’t have the same color skin as they do. The only way I snap out of it and realize I AM white is when I go to shake someone’s hand and notice that the 2 skin tones are not similar in the slightest. Silly Brian!!! I walked through the market and my heart started pumping with excitement!!! I LOVE the market!! I love the little hole in the wall shops and tiny ally ways. It’s where I spent a lot of my time when I was living in Malawi. Again, I wonder why everyone looks at me funny and why I’m being overcharged for everything?! I just don’t understand!!!
Anyway, I am in love with Africa and it’s people and I am so happy to be HOME!!! Lord, thank you for AFRICA!!! I feel like the first 7 months of my race have been preparation for this, for right now, for Africa!!! I am getting ready to take Africa by storm!!!
