Kenyan Habits

As in every culture, there are certain habits that most individuals have.  Whether its a certain way to greet someone or a saying, everyone seems to do it from the large cities to the rural villages.  Kenya is no different.  Lately I've found that I've developed or taken on a few of these.  They aren't necessarily good or bad but may cause a few stares next time we're back in the states.

1. Shaking hands-Its really rude to not shake everyone's hand in the room here.  Everyday, every room I shake hands with EVERYONE.  Now I find myself enjoying the ritual and purposefully extending my hand even before some Kenyans.  I even feel a little weird when someone doesn't shake my hand....

2. Invading Personal Space-Kenyan's have a different idea of personal space than most Americans.  Many will literally stand right behind you or even next to you while you are in line (I always notice it most when I'm in a line).  It took me a long time to get used to this.  I just felt uncomfortable with some basically in my lap most of the time.  Now I'm right there with everyone, making sure I have secured my place in line or vehicle.  I noticed how bad I do this one when I went back to the states in July.  I got a few dirty looks from people when I was standing just a bit too close.

3. British Speak-British English and American English are just a bit different.  There is still a lot of British influence here in Kenya and the language is definitly one area affected.  We say "holiday" instead of "vacation", "Que" instead of "line", "take away" instead of "carry out", "pick" instead of "go pick up", etc.  Not to mention all the Kenyan versions of English...."kindly do this", "way forward", "assist please", etc.

4. Kenyan Time-Kenyans have an unspoken rule of "Kenyan time".  This means that you can wait up to an hour or so past the designated time set to meet up.  Josh and I tend to embrace this to a degree.  We're more the people who start to get ready to leave when we should have been there making us about 10 to 15 minutes late most days.  (Don't get me wrong, we're perfectly capable of arriving on time)  I found that as time goes on we get more lazy with this.  No one wants to wait an hour for someone to show up so you take your time getting there in order to wait less.  Personally I'm ok with this when it comes to most social situations.  I get pretty angry when this starts to apply to work.  If I schedule a meeting with you for noon, be there at noon!  My time is valuable :)