The Smile of Africa

Once upon a time, I heard this corny promotion for some African nation's tourism industry. Near as I can tell, the televised ad went something along the lines of: "[Our Country's Name]... The Smile of Africa!"

Well, within fifteen minutes of traversing the gate separating the Ethiopian half of Moyale from the Kenyan half, I remembered that silly ad and thought to myself: That's gotta be Kenya.

Corny, but true. I defy anyone to come here, look about themselves for a minute or two, and tell me I'm wrong. Am I in Texas or something?? Everyone's smiling at me when we make eye contact.. for no reason.. and after Ethiopia, it's bizarre.

The wave of smiles washed over David and I like impossibly warm sunlight in winter, and we stumbled about in its rays, eyes blinking furiously, unable to properly interpret our surroundings.
For me, this confusion manifested itself in an unfortunate (and, I hope my friends will admit, uncharacteristic) rudeness to the first friendly Kenyans who fell in step with us to ask jovially, "Hey, how are ya! where ya from?" Still in Ethiopian mode, I greeted their welcoming smiles with cold suspicion and curt, one-word responses, waiting for the student sob story or the demand for a guiding fee, abruptly startled when they easily gave up interest at the obvious lack of mine. In Ethiopia, such sudden "new friends" would follow you for blocks, never letting go until fully persuaded that you weren't going to give them money, no matter how creative their rationale. (Or a pen.)

Not so here, and alarmed at how easily I terminated my first few encounters, I began to tentatively meet the gaze of some of these "friendly strangers". Could it be..? Sure enough, curious and amiable expressions met my eye, and excited welcomes met my responses. I think I'm going to like it here.

Tourism industry nothing- they're just broadcasting the national attitude! Kenya... The Smile of Africa.