“Foreignness is intrinsically stimulating. Like a good game of bridge, the condition of being foreign engages the mind constantly without ever tiring it.”… “But we cannot expect to have it all ways. Life is full of choices, and to choose one thing is to forgo another. The dilemma of foreignness comes down to one of liberty versus fraternity—the pleasures of freedom versus the pleasures of belonging. The homebody chooses the pleasures of belonging. The foreigner chooses the pleasures of freedom, and the pains that go with them.”
-Being Foreign: The Others—the Economist
I’m realizing Kenya has been tackling both my cognitive and affective domains simultaneously—I think that’s why I’m so captivated. Both my heart and mind are constantly engaged. The days seem so short but the stars are so bright. I can feel myself transforming—with each shift I make to accommodate a difficult situation, I gain a new perspective. I’m learning to have faith, not in any one specific thing but in life. That the world is comprehensible in mysterious ways, and that I can’t possibly see where I’ll end up but I have to just trust that each twist and turn is part of the path that will take me to where I’m supposed to be. Life would be so boring if I was making the journey on straight, paved roads—this bumpy, twisting journey is so much more fun.
i. love. you.
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