Part 2. From East Africa to USA: My friends I and The fog light.

As it is winning a race, the tales, tribulations, episodes and moments of desperations in life make a good inspirational story in the end. When you get to the finish line, you laugh instead of cry and begin to imagine how you ate the hills like the yams as Chinua Achebe once wrote in A Man of The People. You wanted to quit, but somewhere along the way you came along this person whom you kept waiting to see what he/she as or thinks.  You might have also received a message about a deal to be confirmed at a later date and all these kept you holding on.  I do not intend in this narration to ridicule my past or make holes on my trousers, but to shed light on the little things that make us who we are or yet to become. It is the little daily hopes, the occasional maybes or encouragement from a sister or brother that makes you stay tuned to the task. Those whom we shared a similar ending can attest to the relevance of this little hope, the undeleted emails, a pair of running shoes only kept for a Sunday walk and the undeleted foreign messages or numbers. The list goes on and on and I would want to continue, but I have a particular hope that is dear and specific to me and my two friends in the days gone. The FOG light.

We had been training as athletes in a small town of Kapsabet for quite some time and we had actually established a good rapport with a few business women around the shops. Within the limited time we had, we secured a discount on Samosas and also strike a good deal with fresh milk. Life was getting along very well: As time went by age was in and hope was diminishing and certainly we were almost rethinking otherwise about college and running. I believe there are “Angels among us” as Alabama sings, the closer we had gotten into the walls a small token of hope was presented to us. We became friends with this guy who had been to the States for many years and had just come to the country. How we used to engage ourselves, perhaps had a great impact in the new friendship. It was a perfect time, sort of symbiotic friendship, he had a brand new car in which he would often allow us to ride and it created a robust energy ‘to want’ and ‘to go for it’. We also secured a fair deal with the same person and he kept informing us that he was talking to his friends about our plans. We might not have understood the difficulty of these sort of  scenario, but what I came to realize was that the little hopes and waiting allowed us to mature and when the time come, not even the Embassy could resist. It is the FOG light.

Day in, day out on particular dates at about 7.30 pm or after the evening news, we were out on the road waiting for this guy to tell us what news he had for the day. For nearly 7 months we would wait for him with the hope that today could be the D- day. We mastered the uniqueness of his new Toyota premeo and all we could spot from a kilometer away was the Fog light. Today I can still hear myself say “that is him “and Phillip replying “does it have a fog light”. The fog light was the only hope to hold on to and to push ourselves to this far: it made us wait for a perfect time. Although, the waiting did not bear any fruits it reassured us about patience and time. I have learned to cherish those little moments and encourage those who will come after me to have something to look forward to daily. Listen to your instincts, they will teach you a means to an end you have desired to have and live.

The FOG Light.

Team Kamobo

 

What you think, sometimes it is not.

Have you ever gone out for a morning run,

You approach a shopping center and start pushing the pace so hard,

Thinking everyone is looking at you?

Sometimes they don’t even know who you are and what pace you are running:

You will end up running for 30 minutes instead of an hour.

 

Have you ever failed an exam and instead of keeping quiet,

You become so suspicious about every conversation in class/home. You even start complaining about the teacher and the material.

Sometimes you are not the only one and almost always 90% of the class failed.

Each day you worry a lot and become more and more frustrated about the school.

On Monday you are told it was just a mock exam and it doesn’t count for any grade.

 

Have you ever studied for an exam three days to the test date?

And at the end you feel like you don’t know anything?

You tried two or three questions and you don’t even know the answer.

Worry less, it is not you alone, sometimes the brain gets tired and needs a little more time to process.

You will realize you know the material once you see the questions on the exam date.

 

Have you ever worn a pair of clothes for 2 days?

Then the whole day you keep thinking everyone knows you doubled,

When you are in public places you feel shy and demoralized because you think

Everyone is concerned about your clothing….

Sometimes they don’t even know whether you met them yesterday.

 

Have you ever missed a shower for only a day or two?

And the all-day you are concerned whether people know,

Sometimes you become more and more suspicious and you ask a friend:

“Do I stink?” You might not be stinking and at times nobody cares whether you stink.

Trust me it is either you are too sensitive or engaging in a self-destructive talk.

Mind your business, you could have been putting a few dollars into your account.

 

 

Have you ever sped a car towards a stop sign and even overtook another car unnecessarily?

When you stop, you look around and then smile as though that was cool.

Sometimes you roll the windows and you keep gazing around.

You will always think that they noticed the expertise involved and are commenting how fancy that was.

Hey, that is not the case at almost all times,

If you pay a little more attention you will notice a look, telling you that were damn stupid.

 

Have you ever turned on loud music in your car (sometimes a friend’s car)?

Borrowing is always the case, your music is so loud and you keep increasing.

Sometimes you think everybody around you is enjoying your selection,

It is not always that way, people are too busy with their daily hustles.

Pay a little more attention and you will realize that,

Actually, most of them roll their windows up and pray.