Eager to leave her life as a foster child behind, Robin travels to a remote village in northern Kenya called Songa in 1973. As a white college student, she arrives in a desert-like environment to teach elementary school to Samburu and Rendille children. While befriending the residents, she learns to live in a mud hut, survive without modern conveniences, skin a cow, and kill a chicken for dinner. 

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The author weaves stories about her close friendships with a local teacher and a woman who became her surrogate mother. As the only white resident, she participates in local customs, finding much to learn. While she adapts to the intense heat, endless insects, and close encounters with wild animals, she also faces challenges from those faithful to Christianity, never revealing she is Jewish. 

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This story alternates between the challenges Robin faced growing up after her mother’s early death, her father’s abandonment, and her years in foster care, along with her efforts to fit into the remote community of Songa. It offers readers insight into how a 19-year-old from New York City could find the courage to live with strangers—this time by choice—as she searches for a place to belong.