“Mommm” Alexia wined as Ravena tried to fix the collar of her jacket during breakfast. “Hakuna matata!” she said, meaning “No worries”, a Kiswahili phrase made popular by Disney’s The Lion King.
It was early in the morning and we were at the Methodist Guest House, our hotel in Nairobi, just hours before my departure flight. Alexia was wearing the same Boston Red Sox track suit she’d picked me up from the airport in on my first day in Kenya, somehow bringing my trip full-circle. In a way, her outfit almost seemed to signify what was to come, as I was returning home to start my last semester at Northeastern in Boston.
Checking in at the airport was simple, fast, and pain-free, leaving us extra time to grab a snack at the airport café.
“Mommy?” Alexia said, as we ate our lunch.
“Yes?” asked Ravena.
“Not you, Gwen is my mommy.” Well this is awkward…
“I’m not your mommy, you know that Alexia” I said, somehow hoping to clear the air.
She chose not to respond and asked to braid my hair instead. It seemed fitting that she should one last time before I left, as she had just about every other night I’d been there.
I picked up Alexia and gave her one last hug goodbye, then made my way back through security and to the terminal. And that was it. Just like that my life in Africa ended and my trip back to the US began, but not without a quick layover in London…
It was early in the morning and we were at the Methodist Guest House, our hotel in Nairobi, just hours before my departure flight. Alexia was wearing the same Boston Red Sox track suit she’d picked me up from the airport in on my first day in Kenya, somehow bringing my trip full-circle. In a way, her outfit almost seemed to signify what was to come, as I was returning home to start my last semester at Northeastern in Boston.
Checking in at the airport was simple, fast, and pain-free, leaving us extra time to grab a snack at the airport café.
“Mommy?” Alexia said, as we ate our lunch.
“Yes?” asked Ravena.
“Not you, Gwen is my mommy.” Well this is awkward…
“I’m not your mommy, you know that Alexia” I said, somehow hoping to clear the air.
She chose not to respond and asked to braid my hair instead. It seemed fitting that she should one last time before I left, as she had just about every other night I’d been there.
I picked up Alexia and gave her one last hug goodbye, then made my way back through security and to the terminal. And that was it. Just like that my life in Africa ended and my trip back to the US began, but not without a quick layover in London…