Touching Hands, Touching Other Things

I’ve shaken a lot of hands in my day. But nowhere more so than here. Anyone who meets you in Kenya will extend their hand. Doesn’t matter if you are greeting them for the first time, are old friends, or have already seen each other 10 times earlier in the day. Always TAKE THE HAND. When we went to a village in Mariakani to meet about 40 women at a farming school, you better believe every single one of them came up to our group of five... and shook our hands individually. If you missed one of the ladies, you’d soon feel a tap from behind and turn around to see them looking up at you quietly with an extended arm. Not until you reached out to squeeze it would they say “Jambo”.
It’s really quite a warm way to greet people. And the office is no different. The first thing each person introduced to us did, was shake our hand. I have no problem with it. Not at all. But the thing is, hands and, in particular, fingers, are a funny thing. See, I’ve noticed they often find their way – some with more frequency than others – into a nose. Sometimes for prolonged moments if something is found that’s really worth digging for. Sitting and waiting at reception the other day, I caught a man nearby use that hand of his to check if his crotch was still there and give it a little scratch. His blue shirt was rather striking, which is why I particularly recognized it later in the day when we were introduced to him and, you guessed it, invited to shake his hand. It’s not that these sorts of finger maneouvers aren’t common in Canada. It’s just that the hand-to-hand contact with strangers, doesn’t happen nearly as often. You will hopefully understand then why, when I was preparing to leave for work this morning and even though I was running late, ran back up the stairs to grab a necessity I’d forgotten to bring: a travel size bottle of hand sanitizer.