So that’s it! We’ve finished our 5 months with GVI in Kenya. There were times when I was really really tempted to throw it all in and run back home. Other times I wanted to quit and just run off around Africa. But those times have been thankfully few and far between. For the first couple of weeks here everything was so new and exciting that there was no time to feel homesick. For the next 3-4 weeks after that I had a real struggle as the realization hit home of how long we had committed to and how long we would be away from everyone we love. That period was very hard indeed and I was sorely tempted to throw in the towel and head off around Africa, rejecting the restriction of the programme that we had signed up to and just drifting around and seeing some more of the world. Recently with news from home there has been another period of difficulty coping with the distance. The delays on the phone and the simple fact of not being able to sit down and have a proper face to face conversation has hit hard at times. That has left the last few weeks with me feeling at times like I was treading water and counting time before we left. But for the last 2 weeks the time has started rushing by and the realization that we’ll be leaving here for good and saying goodbye to the very good friends we have made here has tempered that and has made me appreciate the time we have had here.

All the experiences we have enjoyed and that I’ve been able to share with you by writing this blog have been quite simply some of the most amazing and enriching experiences of my life. At last I have a wider view outside of the world I had always lived in and that was completely outside of my comfort zone at times. The things that I now accept with an easy shrug might have made me scream with rage before. The food that once I would have turned my nose up at I now crunch and munch with relish. And the sights, sounds and SMELLS of places like Mombasa now provoke nothing more than a misty eyed smile as I think about what a crazy place it is and how charming it is in it’s own chaotic and colourful way in a crumbling, dusty and dirty, rundown and rusty way that you just don’t get back in the UK.

But for sure I have never been so pleased to have done something in my life before. I’m not quite sure what I’ve learnt from it. It’s hard to pin down how I have changed or grown in this time away. Perhaps when I get back to the people that know me so well I will be told. Perhaps I’ll be told I haven’t changed at all…I really don’t know. But for sure I feel far more ready to approach that unknown than ever before and I can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that I have never been happier in all my life.

I am really really excited about coming home but slightly tredipatious at the same time. Before now I had never been away from the UK for more than a 3 week holiday. And since being here I have been told many many times about the reverse culture shock being 10 times harder than the culture shock you have when you first arrive. Kenya is a crazy country with so maybe differences from home. Some huge and almost overwhelming but the ones that you really notice are all the little day to day ones that make your life just that little bit different all the time. But from what I’ve heard when I get back to the country I’ve lived in for my entire life and the city that’s been my home for almost 15 years it’ll be very very strange indeed. That in itself excites me as it’ll be a whole new and interesting experience that I’ve never had before. But please bear with me if I freak out a bit for the first few days :)

I’m so pleased that people have enjoyed reading this blog, but I think I’ve got way more out of writing it than anyone has from reading it. It has helped me make sense of the things that I’ve done here and the experiences that I’ve had. It’s made me think a lot more clearly about what has gone on and how I can understand it, make sense of it and communicate it. I’ve tried my best and I would say that I’ve achieved about an 80% rate on a good day and maybe 60% on bad days or when I’m feeling too lazy to try harder and get it just right. But that’s way better than not having done it at all and I know that what I have managed has been really worthwhile for me. In total I’ve written 26 entries with somewhere in the region of 30,000 words which is a pretty fair amount. And thank you for reading whatever you have and for some of the wonderful emails I’ve had from people that have enjoyed it.

I’m very excited about the next stage of our trip around Eastern and Southern Africa. I’m sure we’ll have some amazing experiences and I cannot wait to enjoy them and write about them. But for now I will spend my last few days of Kenya soaking up as much as I can and then I have a whole month at home with friends and family to look forward to as well and boy am I looking forward to it a lot.

So I’ll say cheerio for now…or Kwaheri as they say here. The next blog I write will be on a computer not cursed with power cuts, on an internet connection that doesn’t collapse every 10 minutes and in the comfort of my own home!

Love to you all

Jx

PS Since first drafting this I have been for my first scuba dive which was absolutely amazing. We had an incredible day, almost all the staff out on a boat together. What a great way to round off our time here.

On the downsie we have now left Shimoni and have had to say huge goodbyes to many many great friends which has been not so great. But I hope through this and the many other wonders of the internet that we can all stay in touch...bless Facebook!