Stateless Empire of a Kind

Well, today, I learnt how small Nairobi really is. It is no longer the city that I used to read of in the story books. The grandiose place, where anything is possible. It is no longer the place where civilization exists and where the epitome of humanity can be found. In fact, this picture was crushed today in a matter of minutes.



So, I apparently, had to get some sport shoes, and as always, referred to my ever-reliable mother: Google Maps, to look for online stores. And when I found one, it was 40 streets up from my dorm. I didn’t feel like taking a cab, or an Uber, because my mother had recently lectured me on how I need to draw up a budget for my money recently. And so, to justify to myself that I could manage my money, I told myself that I will walk up to that store. So, I gobbled up my egoistic decision and crossed the many streets. Believe me, this is the same exact reason why cabs and Ubers exist in NYC- So that you can take them and stop being so fit and all-Fitness is not for you. Cmon, you are now in the fattest nation on the planet.

Fast forward, the streets begin to grow, the buildings are taller, and now I see why people say New York is a crowded city. Yet, you must understand that this is not from the eye of a typical Kenyan. This is the American definition of crowded-where if you touch me while I am walking, I feel like I am suffocating because you are breathing my air.

I see now… I see all of them. All the stores, all the designers that we see in the magazines that somehow find their way to the shores of Kenya.

ALDO, Anne Fontaine, Armani, Burberry, Bvlgari, Dior, Clarks, Converse, Diesel, Guess, Gucci, Levi’s, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Versace, Nike

Now, bear in mind, that I might just have simply copy pasted all these names from google, which is true because I couldn't spell some of the names right. And yeah, there is a certain rush that comes to your blood when you are around all this glamour, all this taste, all this qualitricks. Your mind begins to play tricks on you, and do either of two things: You either get over your head and all you do is keep on taking photos of all the buildings so that you could show your friends what they are missing (which in fact you are also missing), wanting to go in but will be stopped at the door because they apparently can tell that you will most likely walk in and out with nothing or you just ignore all the noise because you know you are not of that class. I think its better to just ignore all of this noise all around you, they are screaming noises. Just ignore. But as always, I had to show you, yes you, proof that I was here.



By nature, and I believe that it’s a good thing to want, I wanted. I wanted to go in, I wanted to go and feel what makes something a designer signature, I wanted to walk out and someone says that I got taste. I wanted them all. And when you want, you imagine. I imagined myself. By God’s grace, I will one day be what I imagine. One day, God will lift me into the stores, and shower me with what is necessary to buy them all. Because God is gracious and faithful. I believe in him and therefore I will receive. He will bring me here next time, not to look but to take. He will bring me here next time, not to salivate but to eat. He will bring me here not to crave, but to have. Now, this might be a prayer, and I might say Amen, but I put in my earphones, put on Drake, and go to school at this point.



PS: I completely have no idea what my title has to do with this post