24 days after I left Tanzania.. the reverse culture shock has arrived...

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I left my heart on the slopes of Kilimanjaro

When I first got home to Canada, I hit the ground running with way too many things going on. In the last 3 weeks: I had gone for a pedicure; been to two parties; had drinks with a friend who used to live in Tanzania; visited another friend and her new baby; went to New Jersey & New York for 5 days; had a meeting with someone from the bank; and helped my parents move out of the house we lived in for the last 15 years. Needless to say, it was hectic and I was on a high that prolonged the onset of my own reaction and realization to me being here and NOT in Tanzania.

Now that the dust has settled, the reverse culture shock is here and its real; I've tried to enter the driver's side door as a passenger, I had trouble with the prepayment function at the gas station, and I cringed at the grocery store when the lady in front of me in the check out line freaked the hell out at the cashier for not giving her a plastic bag (so much that I told the cashier girl to ignore the lady and to not worry about it).

There're so many new condos and houses in my area, and downtown Toronto looks and more importantly FEELS strange to me. I worked there for 10 years and, after 1 year in Tanzania, all of a sudden my familiarity with it is gone. While I don't feel like mambo-ing and habari-ing every black person I see (I only felt that way the first time I came back, cue Mean Girls when Lindsay Lohan says "Jambo!" to a group of black students), I saw a family over the weekend with a dad who was wearing an African print shirt and my heart smiled and skipped a beat.

Don't get me wrong, I love being home in Canada and being with my family - it's one of the reasons I wanted to come back home in September; But after more than a year of living in Tanzania -- there's just some things about being back here that will take some time to get used to.

I miss you Mama Africa, every.single.day. #moyowangu

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