A little something from the diary

19 July 2008

I learned how to get my feet clean! Sounds like something simple right? - Nope, it's huge! Since I have been here the bottoms of my feet have been black, covered in a crust that proved to be impenetrable, that is, until the other night. At the same time, two seemingly unrelated occurances have confounded me. 1. That every man, woman and child here has amazingly clean soles. Even those, and there are many of all ages, who go without shoes all day. 2. The huge damp areas outside my bathroom and shower each evening.

The other night, I was talking and laughing with Aisha (my Kenyan mom) right inside the door after returning home. Do (my niece) was in the choo (bathroom) and when she came out she had the cup in her hand. She smiled that brilliant smile up at me, got to a spot in front of the shower and started pouring the water over one of her feet, stopping after it was well soaked and then proceeded to drag her foot across the uneven part in the concrete there. Eureka! I stopped mid-sentence and started pointing and clapping. This even more so than most anything I do, was very entertaining to the two of them. I explained why I was so happy, lifting up my foot for them to see the dirt caked soles that I am sure they were well aware of. When Do was done furiously scraping the soles of her feet at every angle against the rough slab, she stood in front of the bathroom door, put both sandals on and gave her feet a rinse, stomping in the sandals. It was my turn and Do ran in to grab Maryam (my sister) and Dea (my niece) out of bed to watch. My feet are clean!

I can't stop talking about it either! I've been here 5 weeks and have been wondering. Why didn't I ask? I was embarrassed to have such dirty feet and thought I should know the answer. What else do you discover/learn the longer you stay here? What else do I think I should know, but don't and need to ask about? How many other phases of feelings and perception about the hustle would I go through if I lived here a year, two years? How is it possible to make decisions about a community or a country from a distance, or ever as an outsider?

I feel grateful to have caught a glimpse of this place and uncovered a first level of meaning behind things, but regret that what I know about this place will be so limited. Maybe after another 5 weeks I will know more, but I don't have much hope beyond being able to tell the difference when people are laughing at me or with me.