The beginning…

Once upon a time there was a girl from Kyiv…

Ok, if I start from there, this story will get way too long. So I will keep it to my African experiences. Maybe, one day I’ll write an Asian and European chapters, and all the others that may come.

I’ve never dreamed of moving to Africa (but I’ve never dreamed about moving to Asia either), those things just seem to happen to me and I’m too curious to not at least consider. And that’s exactly how it happened this time. Back in February I’ve been approached with a job opportunity in Kenya, and 6 months later — here I am (Thanks Covid-19 for this delay, but also for a chance to travel around Thailand for the whole month and spend 3 weeks at home with my family ❤)

I’ve been living in Mombasa for almost a week now, so time to share some initial observations. I hope to be doing it on a regular basis.

Observation #1: plastic bags are forbidden in Kenya. Officially, you can’t even bring them in the country and can be fined for doing so (though I’m not sure it’s enforced, they didn’t check my suitcases). It’s a huuuugeee difference from what the situation with plastic is in Thailand. Also, spotted this sign in one of the hotels:

Observation #2: I’m staying at a hotel now and today I didn't come for breakfast, as I wanted to sleep in but also go out for a nice meal for a change (been having the same breakfasts, as well as dinners! for the whole week now). When I came back, I found a big bowl full of fruit and a nice letter from a manger in my room. Later when I went down for a dinner, they mentioned that they’ve noticed that I didn’t come for breakfast, so they brought me some fruit. How thoughtful this is! ❤

Observation #3: it’s not as hot here as I expected! There are actually seasons here, though of course not as pronounced as in Europe (which is definitely a good thing for me!) Winter has just finished here, so it will gradually start to get hotter and more humid, but now the evenings are pretty chilly and it’s around 28 degrees during the day.

Probably should have started with this observation first: living in Mombasa is nothing like living in Bangkok (or similarly like anywhere I’ve lived before!) — there’s no huge skyscrapers everywhere, no such great variety of bars and restaurants and other entertainment options (not to mention that currently there’s a curfew after 9 pm and you are not allowed to go to the beach! 😢)

But on the other hand, there’s ocean (and I’ve always dreamed of living by the ocean), there’s nature and generally slower pace of life. I really enjoyed slow living during quarantine in Bangkok — I hope I won’t get too bored too quickly. But even if I do — Nairobi is just one our flight away. But I moved here to experience this “island living”, see the other culture and expand my horizons. “Bole bole” is the mantra that Kenyans live by which means “Slowly, slowly” and favorite timing is “tomorrow”. Everything that needs to be done will be done tomorrow. The concept of time is in general very fluid here (even more so that in Bangkok), and coming to a meeting couple of hours later is considered normal.

Of course, there’s also another side to living in Africa. Poverty is very visible here, and it might make it quite tough for you to observe it if you’re too sensitive. I have tears in my eyes every time a little boy/girl comes up to me on the street saying “Miss, I’m hungry, I’m hungry” and continues following you and begging. But if you give them anything once, they will never leave you alone… I’d rather find a way where I could volunteer and help in a more organiseid way. I once wanted to move to Burkina Faso to do some volunteering for about 6 months. Didn’t happen then, but now is the chance. Seeing all of this might be “unpleasant”, but it makes you so much more aware. When you don’t see this, it might feel that those things don’t exist, but they do.

Another slightly annoying thing (which I’m already getting used to) is uninvited attention. I’m absolutely fine with “boda” and “matatu” (bike and small buses respectively) drivers honking and suggesting to give me a ride (even if I’m going in the opposite direction of where they are driving) — they are just trying to get more business. What is really annoying is street vendors shouting after you things like “Hi darling, I love you” and other catcalling along with whistling. But I have to admit it happened so many times to me in Budapest that eventually I even stopped noticing it.

I’m moving to a permanent apartment tomorrow and looking forward to do my first supermarket visit. I’m sure it’ll provide more observations for another post!