I started to see these contrasts already on my very first day in Kenya. I landed at the international Jomo Kenyatta airport, one of the top 10 busiest airports in Africa, receiving as much as 7M passengers each year. And yet as I entered the arrival hall, I was greeted by a small terminal with a shabby roof, three almost-foldable kiosks selling sim cards and one security guard. Little did I know that this little hall was nothing like the other arrival halls with western cafes and an atmosphere that makes you think you never left Europe.

So to stay on theme here, let me divide my experience of Kenya into the most basic contrast of all: good and bad.


Nature, nature, nature. Kenya truly is a beautiful country. In many places, you will find the unspoiled beauty that was once found in popular places like Thailand. Tourists are slowly discovering Kenya, but it is still not a common destination, leaving you the freedom to discover a lot of places without the crowds of western tourists. From safaris through hiking to the beach, Kenya has something for everyone. On the other hand, Kenya still has a long way to go to truly preserve its natural beauty, especially since littering is far from uncommon.

Gorge in the Hell's Gate National Park

Strong sense of community. People within one community (such as family, friends, or even a village) help each other much more than in Europe. It is common for the whole family to chip in for medical treatment for a sick family member. After being at my company for one month, I was asked to give some money for the funeral of my colleague's granddad. And on the very first day in Kenya, our landlady drove me and Roel to the supermarket, waiting for us until checkout, and drove us all the way back, while her two friends were waiting in the car for us to be done. Nonetheless, people really don't respect each other beyond their community (e.g. our neighbors playing loud music until the wee hours week after week despite our relentless complaints) and in a way, Kenya really is a dog eat dog world unless you have a strong support group. Or enough money.

Hakuna matata. This saying, popularized due to the Lion King movie, means "no worries" in Swahili. And the statement that everything is hakuna matata in Kenya could not be truer. Whatever the problem is, people always find a solution or learn to live with it. If your car breaks down, you can be sure that a dozen people will surround you within a minute and try to fix it. (And while around Nairobi they will always ask for money afterward, this is definitely not the case in other parts of Kenya.) We never found this relaxed lifestyle more prevalent than in the coastal areas where people "chill for a living." For instance, Jawad, a young adult in Lamu, operates a dhow sailboat business and is paid to relax on a sunset boat tours every weekend. Undoubtedly, living with less stress is something that westerners could learn from Kenyans.

Sailing on a traditional Swahili dhow boat in Lamu

Kenya, and especially Nairobi, is very welcoming. Nairobi is full of expats, who are almost always searching for new friends. Already in our first week in Nairobi, we met a lot of people that we ended up spending a lot of time in the months to come. Talking to random people in a bar is nothing weird and everyone is usually very open to making new connections. Even local people on the street very often just greet you without wanting anything.

The food is great. No, I don't mean Kenyan food, which very often consists of ugali (cornmeal porridge), some sort of meat (often organs), and sukuma wiki (cooked kale). But across Kenya, and of course, especially in Nairobi, you can find exceptional restaurants serving any kind of cuisine you can imagine. The only one I have yet to find is the Slovak one.




It is still a poor country where people live from day to day. For many Kenyans, salaries are paid on a daily basis and saving is not a big thing. What often happens is that people start every single day anew, with no spare money. The fact that Nairobi is a very expensive city compared to the wages really doesn't help. In addition, a huge chunk of the population is unemployed, and any day you will see a lot of people just hanging around in the streets with nothing to do. In addition, the majority of the people who become beggars are handicapped due to the lack of access to healthcare and the inability to afford even simple procedures that would entirely prevent their disability. The one good side effect of the Kenyan poverty for expats is that Kenya offers some affordable luxury, allowing you to visit beautiful places to relatively good prices.

While Elephant Resort in Malindi

'Efficiency' has completely disappeared from the Kenyan dictionary. Kenyans are literally never in a hurry. In our very first week of being in Nairobi, we went to a fast-food restaurant where one staff member prepared our orders one by one, while the other four of his colleagues stood around and watched him. But the lack of efficiency seems to extend to every part of life. Working at a coworking space, on a daily basis I have around 20 people around me. And while many of them are developers and people who spend the whole day on their computer, none of them, in fact, use a computer mouse. This inability to see the value of small adjustments and investments in order to optimize efficiency is one of the reasons why many African businesses still cannot compete with their European or American counterparts.

Flexibility reaches undesired amounts. The hakuna matata mentality translates into people being extremely flexible. While on the one hand, it can be convenient to always be able to change your mind without any repercussions, I have found that this cultural habit proves to be more of a challenge. Booking back-to-back meetings is usually suicide, as meeting times are rarely respected. In fact, there is a running joke in our company that our management team meeting starts at 10:00 am Kenyan time, 10:30 am real time. Even conferences for hundreds of people routinely start an hour late. In fact, I learned the hard way that agreement or one's word doesn't mean much here - when a Kenyan company revoked my contract already after quitting my job and moving to Africa. But more about that here (coming soon).

Enforcement and regulation is a joke. Police are in most cases completely useless. When I got my phone stolen, they wrote me a report for my insurance company but never bothered to investigate. The same happened when Roel's bag was stolen. From my perspective, police are in most cases the biggest danger out there. With corruption reaching astronomical levels, police randomly stop cars, take your passport and only give it back if you pay. In fact, money will get you literally anything in Kenya. A local friend told me that if I wanted to become a Kenyan national and had some money, I could get it done within a day. Regulation of many aspects of life doesn't really work either, even though I must give kudos to the government for trying, such as recently introducing a ban on all plastic bags.

Security guards are everywhere in Nairobi and really change your feeling about the city. Especially after the recent terrorist attack on the Dusit hotel in Nairobi, security guards have sprung like mushrooms in literally every side of the city. Sometimes you go through three security checks before you can enter a shop. On the one hand, guards are there to make it safer for everyone, but their relentless presence and their loaded guns everywhere you walk really do not make you feel safe.

Despite security guards, crime rates are exceptionally high. First of all, walking outside after dark is a big no-no in Nairobi that even locals do not dare to do. Stealing is a big part of life here and there are only a handful of expats who leave Nairobi without having their phone stolen. The worst part about it is that those who steal do not even think they are necessarily doing something bad, as they are only 'taking from those who have everything.'

Health and safety are not big priorities. Despite having the best marathon runners, Kenyans are on average not very healthy or fit. Naturally, this is primarily caused by the lack of proper nutrition for a lot of the population. But even those Kenyans who belong in the middle class do not seem to care too much about their health. Their food is very simple and always the same, full of oil, salt, and sugar. They do not usually like to experiment with new cuisines and even though they never say no to food if you offer, they stay true to their Kenyan cuisine. This is also one of the reasons why many Kenyans consider hiking Mount Longonot or Elephant Hill as very difficult, even though we found it very doable. Safety enjoys a similar statute. People regularly walk in between cars waiting at the traffic light selling small bites. They cross highways like it's no big deal. They refuse to wear a helmet on a motorbike even though there is one available.

Hiking Mount Longonot (2,776 m)

Driving habits are rather poor. Most importantly, drunk driving is not stigmatized. This means that quite a few accidents happen at night after people go home from parties. Secondly, Kenyan always use their big lights at night, whether they need them or not, whether they are inside or outside the city. They also don't exit the fast lane after overtaking. One funny observation is that there are often speed bumps on a highway, as they pass through villages where people need to cross to the other side.

Cyber? What's that? Even though people are slowly realizing that cyber security is to be taken seriously, this renaissance is very recent and definitely still shallow, making Africans approximately 20 years behind the US, Europe, Singapore, or Japan. One most striking manifestation of this is that people leave their unattended laptops in a public space in an unlocked state, and probably don't even realize why that would pose a problem.

African definition of cyber

Kenyan men are quite the players and often like Western women. Be it in the gym, at a club, or just in the streets - Kenyan men are very, very keen on socializing with Western women. And they often don't even leave you alone when you say you have a boyfriend. In addition, the whole dating culture in Kenya is very relaxed, with many men not wanting to settle down until their 30s.



Almost all Kenyans have a Christian name: Catherine, George, Victor... This is a legacy of the colonial times at the end of the 20th century when western colonists gave Africans names that they could pronounce. Later, Christian missionaries spread the notion that together with baptism, Christian names are going to secure Africans a place in heaven. As written by a Kenyan writer here, "In the psyche of the Kenyan mind, Christian names came to be seen as formal, official, a sign of being educated, no longer a heathen, saved from one’s primitive nature. Long after the country gained independence, this mentality remained." I somewhat understand the value in introducing yourself with a name that the other party can comprehend (I also sometimes pronounce my name in the American way if I meet Americans) but the fact that Kenyans still use their European names in basically all official settings is very sad and disturbing to me.

Many use their African name as their last name. The vast majority of Kenyans have at least three names: European name (used in official settings), African name (used with family and friends), and their surname. Interestingly, very often they only use their first two names when introducing themselves fully. For instance, my colleague is called Mark Ochieng Onyango, but really only uses Mark Ochieng.
Kenya is very, very conservative. At least for my Dutch standards. The majority of the country is Christian and all of my colleagues go to church every Sunday and even sign in the choir or play in the church band. Conservativeness also means that the traditional gender roles are very much enforced here, with the bride still being bought by the groom's family, women expected to raise the children, and so on. Homosexuality is not only still a big taboo, but a lot of people are outright homophobic.

'Hello' in Swahili always has the meaning of 'Hello, how are you?'. Kenyans whose English lacks a bit do not recognize the difference between "hi" and "how are you?" and in fact, sometimes when I greet the security guard at my apartment complex with a "Hello!", he just responds "Fine."!

People do not say goodbye when they hang up the phone. This might be a cultural thing but I am pretty sure it also has to do with the fact that people do not have phone subscriptions and pay per minute. This way, they try to minimize the amount that they pay.

It is one of the things that everyone studying international relations can dream of – walking the halls of the European Parliament; the same halls that so many impressive people walked on; the halls that hosted so many impressive meetings; the halls where history was born. And it is impressive indeed; the first time I crossed the elusive parliamentary front gate knowing I was now part of the colossus felt surreal. It felt like I am about to find myself in a time of my life marked by both excitement and hard work. So here is my story of how it all happened – and what it really meant to me.

Rather than discuss the work itself—which I am not at liberty to discuss anyway because of an NDA I had to sign—I would rather focus on the various perks of the work and how the whole experience itself would have been worth it even if I was not working at all. So here is my take at the European Parliament and the work experience in its entirety. 

Almost every online tutorial on how to find a job will mention networking. But while I have always known that contacts matter, never did I realize this as strongly as in Brussels. It would be customary to be drinking in a bar at the diplomats-loved Place du Luxembourg and be handed three business cards a night by your fellow partygoers. I have come to realize that establishing contacts means everything in the Brussels diplomatic community, and especially lobbyists and politicians themselves know how important personal connections sometimes are in swaying people’s opinions. 

What this really means is that people are extremely open to meeting new people, and even though I have worked in various diplomatic environments before, Brussels was ten steps further. I have met various assistants to MEPs, trainees, lobbyists, journalists, and many others only through work and not through personal introductions. For instance, it is enough to share the same elevator or sit next to each other at a meeting and people will take the opportunity to start talking to you. This is one of the perks that really made the whole experience extremely pleasant.

Brussels is a truly international city, and even though I am used to the international dimension of for instance The Hague, one key emblematic thing about Brussels is that every EU nation is represented in ample quantities. To my surprise, I realized that three of my Slovak friends I met back at home are in Brussels at the same time, and it took little effort to be introduced to more and more Slovaks through them. I have always shied away from hanging out with Slovaks when abroad, but the Slovak community in Brussels has shown me that hanging out with like-minded Slovaks is something that cannot be experienced in the company of international people. We have similar experiences to a significant degree: having been brought up in Slovakia and studied abroad, and we share a common understanding of the world that only these two aspects can lead to.

One of the greatest things to admire about MEPs is their broad expertise: even though they usually focus only on a small number of topics, they are required to understand the basics of every issue that the Parliament deals with, given their votes in plenary sittings. This means that they are knowledgeable on every issue that concerns their constituents, from foreign affairs and security, through taxes and budget, to the environment and human health. As a consequence, trainees are also exposed to a variety of topics, especially since many need to prepare an explanation of votes, which are published online on each MEP’s website. Personally, I got the chance to delve deeper into the topics of pesticides and environmental policy, including carbon emissions and circular economy. Without this internship, I would have never known the complexity of the discussion on pesticides and experience the engagement of the MEPs when being face-to-face with industry representatives, truly grilling them in the face of questionable pesticide use practices.

Where to even start with this one… Being taken to Strasbourg by my MEP was one of the best experiences during the whole traineeship. I was suddenly in the epicenter of European decision-making. The buzz of the place was incredible; people were constantly vigilant. I had the privilege of going to Strasbourg alone only with my boss, and I was thus his right hand on the ground for the whole stay, unlike in Brussels where he has his assistants. So what have I done there? I attended meetings, saw Mark Rutte in the plenary, and established new connections again. 

I had heard very bad things about Brussels before moving there and so I had no expectations (or perhaps I had thought the city would be truly terrible). I believe that it saved me: I ended up being very positively surprised by how much the city center actually is beautiful (especially Grande Place). And living in Ixelles, the relatively rich French part of Brussels, I was in a place with cute little houses all around, lively atmosphere, and generally a great vibe. This Brussels bubble meant that I never set foot in the neighborhoods considered dangerous, and my perception of Brussels was somewhat skewed. But the little part of Brussels that I got to experience has made me feel safe, welcome, and like it was a place where I belonged – for the time being.

✦

As one of my friends has said, Brussels is a place of “coordinated chaos” – while a city like The Hague is a place which functions perfectly and you will have the easiest life there, Brussels is the perfect combination of functionality and dysfunctionality: just the right dose of all of the things you need in a city, in combination of little chaos which makes you feel like you need to show some effort and contribute to making things work. And so while The Hague lets you sit back and enjoy your life, Brussels is the best place if you want to feel like you are in a developed Western city with all the related perks, but also like the feel of a crazy disorganized feel of the lesser developed regions.

Thank you, Brussels, for being what you are.

Bali has been often described as beautiful, peaceful, or unspoiled. And it most certainly is, but let's be honest—it can also be very weird. To a person having grown up in Europe, Balinese way of life can feature hilarious as well as horrifying habits and occurrences. Here is my list of things I have seen or experienced, compiled over the course of my two months in Bali.

Crazy traffic in Ubud

It is no secret that one of the reasons why I decided to volunteer with VP Bali was that the program was located in Ubud—a place of spirituality, art, and culture. Eager to combine my experience with healthy lifestyle and mindfulness, Ubud seemed like the best, and actually only, logical choice. And while the city did exceed my expectations in many aspects, it also surprised me in others. So what is living in this tiny Balinese city really like?

Rice fields just outside of Ubud

For me, Ubud is on the outside first and foremost a town of endless sensual stimuli. On a 5-minute walk down the main road you would smell aromatic spices creeping from local warungs (restaurants), burning oil from street food stalls, all sorts of rotten fruit local sellers offer at the market, scented sticks lit inside the traditional offerings (inconveniently placed everywhere on the path), wildly blooming flowers, the emissions from the often enormous traffic, and the garbage disappointingly thrown just on the floor. 

You would also hear locals shouting "Cheap price, good price!", trying to sell you their products, or "Taxi!" and "Motorbike?", offering transport services; you'd pick up English and various European languages being spoken everywhere by tourists; the loud traffic around you; birds chirping in the background.

On that same short walk, one would already see that colorfulness is one of the dominant features of Balinese nature, trade, architecture—of Balinese life. Colors are everywhere. Temples, which one can find almost on every corner, are lavishly decorated in colorful frills; the mesmerizing fauna and flora in themselves are a wild debauch of paint; the only stores with a color-themed window display are the designer western brands.

And you would not be mistaken for a second that this place, indeed, is somewhat foreign—ladies on the street carrying big, heavy baskets on their head (often while holding a baby), men transporting their whole food stalls on scooters, toddlers being driven on a motorbike without a helmet. And yet, life in Ubud could be surprisingly western. If you only tried a tiny bit.

Ubud has developed rapidly over the course of the last couple of decades and is now fully caters to any type of tourist. From low-budget backpackers to the richest of them all, options are vast. And you can enjoy many of them even if you do not have the resources to stay in a luxurious resort.

Only the access to the pool of Hanging Gardens Bali would set you back over a hundred euros

From all sorts of western restaurants to services like Apple store or eyelash extension salons, Ubud doesn't let you down. You never really have to try too hard to get your laptop fixed, grab your daily dose of Starbucks, buy a new Ralph Lauren polo, have your body waxed, find a modern, fully air-conditioned gym, get your laundry done, or, even better, get your nails and hair done, have agents take care of your visa extensions or real estate purchases... If Bali is 'Asia for beginners' (as Roel once said), then Ubud could just as well be 'Asia for complete beginners'.

(And still, you will find a hint of Balinese culture and religion everywhere, be it the little offerings placed in the corner of your yoga studio or the view of Balinese architecture in your gym. While Ubud offers western amenities, it often does so with an eastern touch.)

But Ubud is usually known as the Balinese capital of culture and spirituality, and it did not disappoint in that regard. The main roads may have been chaotic, loud, and dirty, but just several meters from the craziness, you could find serene places with yoga studios and healthy cafes. And while Eat, Pray, Love's portrayal of Ubud is widely inaccurate, for me, those places came closest to the peaceful and spiritual atmosphere Julia was after. And these are also the places that capture a key feature of the town's character.

The Ubud Palace

Monkey Forest

Jungle Fish with an infinity pool in the jungle

Technological innovation reeks of literally everywhere. Free WiFi has become a standard of international airports, but Doha offers more. Internet machines (just like those telephone machines) providing quick access to the internet through a built-in tablet are abundant. For those who prefer more comfort, Internet corners feature several Macbooks with free access for anyone.

While Doha reeks of wealth and prosperity, some impoverished parts of Qatar - and of other country in the world, for that matter - house people who struggle to find food and live a decent life.