My wife, M'buti, is rather sad these days (and it seems she's been that as of late--sad--). She just talked to her older brother, Naiser, who lives and works in Nairobi, Kenya, and she really misses her life back in Africa.
Now we went to Africa on our honeymoon several years back, but she's since expressed a desire to return there, so she can visit the friends who still live there, friends like Eshe Parnyombe(although Eshe lives in Tanzania; still they met at one of the big Maasai gatherings one year), Nasha ole Eshe Mikemba, and others. She also misses the Maasai way of life, and she also misses the emmense beauty of her country.
I can't say I blame her...after all, she came to America to go to college, and ever since living here in America, it seems she's had nothing but heartache. Oh, she met me while she was in the hospital recovering from her burns and we then fell in love; but then she got sick again, and she nearly died from a massive bacterial infection--and is still recovering today (and it's been over a year; it will be two years since she had necrotizing fasciitis come Christmas Day). She has a lot of serious health problems involving her ability to walk, and she is weak and tired and faints every so often (this is due to her having extremely low blood pressure; her blood pressure normally runs anywhere from 80/60 or below if she does too much). She walks with a walker (or, for short trips, forearm crutches) and leg braces, and she uses her wheelchair a lot of the time.
But then her life back in Kenya wasn't all that easy either. She was taught the Maasai lifestyle from an early age, and she was cooking and cleaning the enkang (house) when she was a little girl, providing for her two older brothers and her parents, and when she was 11 she was circumcized---and was married a year later to an abusive man who was in his 30s--and, a year later, was a widow when her husband was killed by a lion.
So she really never had what would be considered a normal childhood. She was forced to grow up from the time she was a little girl.
But Kenya, Africa, IS her homeland, and she misses her people.
I understand that. But in Africa people don't have access to good medical care, diseases like AIDS, polio, malaria, Ebola, and
TB are running rampant, and thousands of Africans are starving or dying from lack of food (caused by severe droughts, some, of which, have been going on for YEARS). And in Africa, there is MUCH civil unrest, and innocent people are often killed. So Africa is a dangerous place, especially in the bigger places like Nairobi or Cairo, where violence and unrest is often prevelent. And ever since the terrorist attacks that took place here in America last year I DON'T think going to a place like Africa would be that good of an idea right now...
And besides, going to a place like Africa is NOT cheap. The last time we went (on our honeymoon), it cost me AT LEAST $6,000.
Plus we ended up going to Sydney, Australia, for the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics, plus we also went to London, England. So you're talking at least $1,500 extra tacked on to the $6,000 I spent for the Kenya, Africa, trip. The total cost for the entire honeymoon was AT LEAST $7,550.
There went MY vacation pay...
Maybe SOME day we'll go back. We'll just have to save some SERIOUS money first....
Exploring the impact of literary icon Flannery O'Connor's noted legacy on the cultural realities of modern-day America, the world, and a certain author.
Yankee Doodle Daddy is a historical Appalachian Family Saga. The story follows a mother's reckoning as she struggles to survive and keep her four daughters alive.
Exploring the impact of literary icon Flannery O'Connor's noted legacy on the cultural realities of modern-day America, the world, and a certain author.
