Some situations take me back memory lane and make me think of how things used to be back when i was in Kenya â two birthdays with bonfires and a hut did the trick.
When we got to my nieceâs birthday it was like  for a split of a second, everything  around me vanished and i was back in Kenya 10 years old and answering to my mom calling me. She wants me to light up the fire so we can get ready to cook dinner. I rush out go pick up firewood, and head straight home to get the "Jiko"(fireplace or cooker) started. The smoke was my worst enemy. No matter how much i rubbed my eyes, or closed my mouth, the smoke still crawled in and made cough like mad and IRRITATED my eyes like it was being paid!Â
It looked almost like this:Â
Back then i hated the smoke, but today i knew that no matter how much the smoke irritated my eyes or made my clothes and hair smell, i knew was going to leave at some point and go to the comfort of my home.
PS: We used to say that if smoke follows you too much, then that meant that you shit on the road.  Today the smoke was aggressive, as we made pancakes. And i couldn't help smile when the smoke followed one or two people that day.  Â
By choice, not by necessity
As i sat on a log next to the bonfire fire to warm myself up, while eyeing the sausages on the grid iron, i remembered how necessary it all was back then. The hut was my home, the bonfire was my only means of cooking food and the toilet with a hole in the ground was my normal. But here i was doing  it all for pleasure, a get away from everyday ânormal lifeâ. My lil boy was running around peeing on every tree he could find( normal for a boy until he is too old  and can't stand by himself , true?)
This kind of living is still somebody else's normal. Just because i have another normal, doesn't mean that i forget how it used to be or how it is for someone else right now. Â