17.09.2011 Chega Village, Mt. Meru

 17.09.2011 Chega Village, Mt. Meru

            Since I visited Kelvin’s father’s village, his mama asked me if I would like to go meet her mother and father, who are from the Chega tribe.  I, of course, jumped at the opportunity.  Dana and Hannah joined me. The Chega people live on the side of Mt. Meru, a tropical paradise.  As we drove up the mountain, Kelvin’s mom was waving and greeting the people she grew up with.  On both sides of the narrow road were banana trees, cassava, and flowering greenery. We arrived to a cozy brick house, and Kelvin’s grandparents came out to greet us.  They speak no English, but it was understood that they were very happy to have us.  Mama took us on the tour of the land.  We went through the house, where the bedrooms and living room were.  The kitchen was in a room disconnected from the house, and had pots on a fireplace on the ground.  It was very simple.  Next was the barn for the cows, and a chicken coop, both set apart from the house.  The bathroom was an outhouse.  Behind the house was a small dirt trail, winding through acres of banana trees, cassava, carrots, and other vegetable and fruit plants.  The dirt was thick with moisture.  As we walked to the trial, we met women carrying wood for fire and food on their heads.  We reached a small creek, trickling and bubbling as it cut through and gave life to the surrounding vegetation.  Everything about this village was opposite of the Maasai village.

            We headed back to the house, where a Chega meal had been prepared for us. We were fed all sorts of freshly picked vegetables and fruits, beef-banana porridge, beef-banana soup (which was, in fact, different from the beef-banana porridge), beans, deliciously spiced rice, and well cooked chicken.  They insisted we eat seconds, which I was happy to do, because the food was delicious.  Kelvin kept saying, “Eat as you can!  The food is there, special for you!”  We must have eaten three or four servings because the food kept being piled onto our plates.  I was so uncomfortably full by the end.  Finally, I told Kelvin that if he didn’t stop pressuring me to eat and piling food on my plate, I’d puke on him to make more room. He laughed, but stopped asking me to eat more.  After dinner, we visited for a bit longer and then left.  I slept the entire way home.

14.09.2011 Third Maasai Burn

14.09.2011 Third Maasai Burn

            Ashlee and I are either crazy or really bad ass.  I think we are crazy.  We both decided to get a third Maasai burn, on our neck, directly behind our ears. We drank Vladamir first to dull the pain, the local cheap and disgusting tasting vodka.  I think the vodka was more painful than the burn.  Sashays of all the horrible, cheap alcohol would make great gag gifts for Christmas. I’ll keep that in mind for December. 

            As far as burns go, this one looks great!  It’s a perfect white circle, and about the size of my thumb nail. Of course it’ll scab a look a bit gruesome as it heals, but nothing can look as bad as the two Maasai burns on Ashlee’s foot. 

10.09.2011 Maasai Wedding

10.09.2011 Maasai Wedding

            Kelvin invited Ashlee and I to accompany him to another Maasai wedding.  This one, unlike the other wedding we attended in Mwanza, was traditional.  Kelvin was asked to slaughter the cow for the wedding feast.  I was very excited about it.  He told me Ashlee and I would have to wear the Maasai clothing and jewelry, which made me even more excited.  Unfortunately, Kelvin wasn’t feeling well this morning and we arrived to his village after the wedding was already over with.  We made quite the spectacle.  I don’t think Kelvin told anybody that he would have two mzungus accompanying him.  We were introduced to his aunt, a short woman with a seemingly everlasting smile.  She gave us buckets to sit on, and we sat in a semi-circle as we attempted to converse, behind a mud hut to block the sun out.  I caught myself looking around at my surrounding at one point, amazed at how I got from little Crete, Illinois to here, a tiny Maasai village surrounded by desert and dust.  I didn’t even know the Maasai culture existed until I arrived to Tanzania, and even then, I never thought I would start dating one.  I’m so grateful for what my volunteer experience here in Tanzania has turned into.  It has been such an eye-opening, culture-filled experience.

            Kelvin’s aunt fed us a Maasai meal of goat, beef, rice, and looshoro, which is a maize and milk porridge mixture.  And a coke.  As I was eating it, I kept thinking about my doctor and all the warnings he gave me.  “Don’t drink milk there, don’t eat meat unless you know it’s been cooked properly, don’t drink the water, don’t eat anything that’s unfamiliar to you.”  Well doctor, at least I didn’t drink their water.  I had a coke instead.  Luckily, I didn’t get ill, and neither did Ashlee.   And, the food was quite delicious.

            After eating, Kelvin asked if I wanted to see the hut where he grew up in.  I jumped at the opportunity.  I had already seen Zachi’s village but this was where Kelvin was raised for a large part of his childhood.  This is where he had his pre-adolescent circumcision, where he learned the Maasai language, where he learned about his father’s traditions, and where his family still lived.  On the way there, we drove past fifteen foot deep crevices, young boys grazing skinny cattle on the sparse amount of green weeds turned red from the caked-on dust, and deserted corn fields.  The car tires picked up the dust and sprayed it on our windows.  It slid down and swirled like micro-drops of red water caught by a strong wind.  We would stop and wait for the dust to settle, and then continue on.

            We arrived to Kelvin’s father’s hut.  It was a large hut, surrounded by four or five slightly smaller huts.  We were welcomed inside and offered chai tea.  The hut was separated into two areas.  The area immediate to the opening was for the animals that gave milk.  Three posts were buried in the dirt ground that made the family’s floor, and the animals were tied here at night.  Separated by a half wall was the male’s sleeping area, where Kelvin slept as a boy.  The mattress was cows hide pulled tight, tied to a wooden bed-frame. The women would sleep on the floor.

            While being shown around, we were being followed by a dozen Maasai children, all colored grey by dust.  They reminded me of the commercials we all see play on the television at home.  The commercials that can make one feel so guilty for being born privileged that you change the channel and stuff the knowledge of suffering children into a back corner of your mind. These children, although filthy, were happy.  They were far happier than a lot people in the States, who have all their basic needs plus more met.  They would tell secrets about us, laugh, and run when we chased them.  They bent their knees in respect as they said “shikamo” to us and giggled after the formalities were over.  The young girls were in charge of caring for the even younger babies (and the only children which were clean), and they may have had more of a motherly instinct than I.  The metal roof showed light through the rust-made holes, but nobody neither noticed nor cared.  I know that these children are still lacking other things that we may consider essential, such as an education, but they learn how to care for their baby family members, cook, gather water, and care for their livestock.  These are the skills they need to live.  If somebody wishes to leave the village, and get an education, such as what Kelvin is doing, they are supported.  I wish I had more time to actually live in the village, and gain a more substantial perspective on living simply. 

            After visiting the home, we were taken to walk outside and look at the crops and trees.  Kelvin and his mother paid to plant dozens of shade trees on the property.  The crop that was planted was corn, and had already been harvested.  Looking around, the land was a beautiful skeleton made of hills, crevices, and dust.  Growing corn seemed to me to be impossible.  Growing any plant seemed to me to be impossible. Finding the means to live on this land seemed to me impossible, but these people mastered it decades ago. 

            

05.09.2011 The Germans are Here!

05.09.2011 The Germans are Here!

The hospital we volunteer at is sponsored by a hospital based out of Germany.  Once or twice a year, a team of doctors, surgeons, and nurses come to Arusha to perform surgeries, which will start tomorrow.  This trip, they have arrived to perform pediatric orthopedic surgeries.  They introduced themselves in church today, and I am very excited about their arrival.  What they are doing is absolutely amazing.  The hospital grounds were swimming with local families and children who desperately need medical help.  Some had orthopedic deformities that prohibit them from walking, so they have been crawling on their hands all their lives.  Screenings were done last Saturday to determine who would get help and who wouldn’t.  That is a job I would not want.  To have so many families coming to you in need and desperation, and having to turn so many of them away would be extremely hard for me.   

Tanya, the nurse from Belgium who essentially took us under her wing, also opened her pediatric ward today.  A hospital from Belgium hired her to come to Arusha, manage the construction of a pediatric ward, hire nurses specifically for the peds ward, and to run it.  She was both extremely nervous and excited about welcoming her first patients today.  All of the orthopedic pediatric patients will come to her ward post surgery.  Ashlee, Tanya, the four newly hired nurses, and I will be caring for them.  I am glad that Ashlee and I came during the opening.  This way, we have a foot in.  None of the local nurses have had a chance to become comfortable and set in their positions, so we will be able to teach them easier.  Instead of thinking, “What is this mzungu doing?  I’ve been doing wound changes this way in this hospital for years.  She’s been here a week. I’m not listening to her,” hopefully they will be open to new techniques.  I’m praying. 

With all of the Germans, and five other volunteers who will be here for a week, and with the surgeries not being performed until tomorrow, there wasn’t much for Ashlee and me to do.  Instead of taking up space in the wards, we went to the hospital orphanage to help the mamas feed, clean, and watch the babies.  When we walked in the room where the fifteen or so babies and toddlers were, there were no mamas in the room and the toddlers were on a counter top.  The mamas set them there to feed them, but I’m talking nine month olds to two year olds. On a counter top.  With no supervision.  Two were running the length of the counter back and forth.  Ashlee and I starting setting them down on the floor, but then we realized they were probably up there for a reason, so we stood there and made sure they didn’t fall.  That started to backfire when several of them ran up to my chest, wanting to be held.  I thought they were going to push each other off onto the ground.  Luckily, the mama came in with their food just then.  We fed all the children (babies included) rice and beans.  We each had a bowl, and a communal spoon.  Two of my kids started hitting each other.  I would say, “wewe, acha!” but they didn’t listen.  I  set the bowl down to pick up a child to move them away from the kid they were hitting, and then another child would grab the bowl and spoon and make a mess.  I can’t think of a better way for the mamas at the orphanage to feed the babies and toddlers, but I sure was wishing for some high chairs.  The mama came out with smashed avocado next.  The watoto hated it!  As I was holding one, the mama put a spoon full in her mouth.  She tasted it for a second, and then started gagging, spitting it out, and rubbing it off her tongue with her fingers.  I had never seen a baby gag because of taste before!  I started laughing, and then cleaned her up.  A few minutes later, the mama came back with another spoonful of avocado.  The baby shut her mouth tight, threw her hands over her mouth, and started vigorously shaking her head no.  It was so funny to see!  My white lab coat got full of beans, rice, and avocado!

After feeding, we sat on the ground and played with the children.  Mostly, we held them and tickled them.  The laughter of the children here seems to be more musical and enchanted than it is back at home.  Maybe it’s because I hear it less. Maybe it’s because I don’t know where these children will be in ten or twenty years, but at least I know I made them laugh today.  

04.09.2011 Back to Arusha National Park? I Think Not.

04.09.2011 Back to Arusha National Park?  I Think Not. 

Soooo, we had plans to go back to Arusha National Park today (because it would be free), but the boys (and Ash) slept in.  Reggae night usually leads to that.  Ah well, we had a good day anyways.  We met Joe at Maasai Market, and then had a few Cokes over conversation.  Joe and Kelvin left to return to Moshi.  Joe is moving to Dar this week, so Ashlee and I will visit him before and after our trip to Zanzibar. Kelvin will be back to Arusha on Friday!  Yay!  I can’t believe I’m leaving in less than three weeks.  I also can’t believe that I had to travel half way across the world to find a guy as amazing as Kelvin. 

03.09.2011 Arusha National Park Safari.

03.09.2011 Arusha National Park Safari.

When I went to spend a weekend with Kelvin in Moshi, I met a guy from England in one of the bars.  His name is Joe and he is here for a year long internship, working for a coffee business.  I invited him to come to Arusha for a weekend, and he took me up on my offer today.  Kelvin and I decided last night that we would take him to Arusha National Park for a day long safari.  There are no lions or wildebeest there, but Kelvin said that there is an abundance of giraffe, elephants, and flamingo, and an assortment of other animals. I invited Ashlee to join us as well.  The four of us had lunch, and then left for the park.  We paid 35 USD each (with the exception of Kelvin, who gets into all national parks free of charge).  Our car battery died while we were paying for our entrance.  We got a jump.  His jumper cables are just that: cables with frayed ends.  No pincher clips.  After that, we entered the park, worried that the car would die again, but willing to take the chance.  As soon as we entered, we saw two giraffes laying on the ground next to each other.  Even though I saw giraffes in Ngorogoro, Lake Manyara, and the Serengeti, I was just as excited to see these ones.  We drove a little farther, and saw about twenty giraffes, and a few zebra.  They were so close and so many!  Without there being lions in Arusha National Park, the giraffes just feed, lie around, and multiply.  They were beautiful.  They were crossing the road right in front of us, and grazing on the bushes and trees right by us.  

We left the giraffes to go to the salt water lakes.  On our way, Kelvin asked me if I wanted to drive.  He has been trying to convince me to drive in Arusha town since we met.  I always say no, because they drive on the left side of the road and even though there are only supposed to be two lanes, it sometimes turns into four or five lanes.  Also, with the bota botas and dalas, I would end up killing somebody (and then by gang justice would I die too.)  I told him I would drive in his Maasai village (because the most I’d hit there would be cattle), but Arusha National Park seemed like a slightly more dangerous, but satisfying second.  I hopped into the driver’s seat, and started driving.  It was strange.  I kept veering to the left. The roads were narrow and unpaved, and there were a lot of hills and curves.  While I was driving, I met a car coming in the opposite direction.  He stopped to let me pass, but it didn’t look like there was enough room.  Kelvin said there was, so I started slowly creeping up, steering as far to the left as I could.  Kelvin grabbed the wheel and started turning it to the right.  I yelled to him that he was getting to close to the car.  We were like two inches from the car, but Kelvin knew that.  I need like a foot to know that I’m not going to hit something.  It’s not just Kelvin either, it’s everybody here.   They all drive at fast speeds, within inches of each other (yet another reason I couldn’t drive in Arusha town).  We got past the car, and I kept driving slowly.  The radio was on, and at this moment, the DJ played a police siren noise.  I found myself pulling over and looking in my mirrors for the police car.  Ashlee was like, “What are you doing?” Then she realized what I was doing, laughed at me, and said, “Those are on the radio!”  I started laughing at myself, but that’s when I decided I should not be the one driving.  I was too nervous!  I switched seats with Kelvin, and he continued driving like a madman.  

We made it to the salt lakes, and saw the flamingos.  The sight was absolutely breathtaking. There were thousands eating, flying, and swimming.  Their long legs were a bright pink, their bodies a pinkish off-white, and the underside of their wings were black.  When they put their heads under water to feed, their legs would dangle in the air.  It was cute.  I wish I was able to get better photos of them!  

We drove on to see more.  Unfortunately, we did not see any elephants.  We did see defesa water bucks, red duckers, buffalo, baboons, blue monkeys, sequir, and makowa ducks.  We also had the opportunity to go on a walking safari to a waterfall. We decided against it because it cost an extra 20 USD and Ashlee’s foot was infected and in pain (she got Maasai burns on her foot).  The day, however, was a complete success!  I had a lot of fun, and so did everyone else.  It was nice to be on this safari as Kelvin’s date rather than me being his customer.  

After the safari, we went home to quickly shower and change, and then went to Empire for Reggae Night.  Reggae Night is my favorite night out!  A local band sings a variety of reggae songs, and everyone jams out.  I thought that you couldn’t not dance well to reggae, but Joe proved me wrong.  He danced like a robot.  He kept his feet together and just moved his butt and arms.  At least he realized he was a bad dancer and was a good sport about it.  All the women form the volunteer house were swooning after him anyways.  I joked that it was a good thing he had at least one flaw, otherwise the women would kill each other in desperation for his attention.