How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills. (1.1.1)
This pretty much tells us all we need to know about Out of Africa. The past tense "had" lets us know that this all remains in the past, and what we will read about the farm are memories, a wish to go back in time.
Quote #2
I remember well the fist time that he ever looked at me and spoke to me of his own accord. (1.2.13)
We're still way early in Out of Africa, just getting to know the narrator, and we might not be too sure how trustworthy she is. That's why declarations like these are important; she insists that she remembers "well" such small details as the first time a kid looked at her, which might convince us that she remembers everything she's writing about well, too.
Quote #3
One year the long rains failed.
That is a terrible, tremendous experience, and the farmer who has lived through it, will never forget it. Years afterwards, away from Africa, in the wet climate of a Northern country, he will start up at night, at the sound of a sudden shower of rain, and cry, "At last, at last." (1.3.1-2)
The whole book is about memories, right? That's why it's called a memoir. So the idea that the things that you can't forget are the most terrifying ones you live through kind of sets the tone for the painful memories that are about to get rehashed before our eyes.