Today was a pretty spectacular day in Arusha; for me, it was by far the best day I've had here so far. Life in Arusha is sometimes really easy and sometimes really challenging. We are pretty privileged as far as living accommodations go here (living in our guarded compound with cooks and housekeepers is nothing to complain about), but every once in awhile, no matter how open your mind, you can't help but get a little frustrated with taking another cold shower under a spout because your shower head is broken again or getting harassed by men and having them try to follow you home (peanut M&Ms really help through those times). Not that I wasn't expecting some of these things, but it still gets to even the best of us every once in awhile. That, in conjunction with a broken laptop, has, I will admit, gotten the better of me earlier this week.
Things progressively got better. I ventured out more than usual and started to see a lot of the good stuff in Arusha. Many of the people are incredibly friendly; it is not uncommon to end up chatting with someone for a few minutes and realizing you have some sort of connection (yes, a lot of the guys do try to ask you where you live and whether or not you're married, but as long as you give them a vague enough answer, you are mostly okay). We found a great place to eat, simply called Fast Food. It is one of those great dive places where for 2,000 TSH (Tanzanian Shillings, which is the equivalent of about $1.20) you can get a giant plate of delicious food. I got a huge plate of rice with curry sauce, beans, and grilled vegetables. Next time I am trying something else, that I'm sure will be equally delicious and equally as cheap. Fast Food has been a great find so far, and I imagine we will be frequent customers. Thus (sorry for saying thus), as frustrating or uncomfortable as life can be here (and it really isn't too terrible at all), there is definitely some awesome stuff that I am realizing you just have to be open to finding. It's definitely there.
Today, we found some of that awesome stuff that I keep alluding to in spades. We went to Meserani Snake Park, which is located about 25km west of Arusha. The day consisted of three parts: a guided Maasai tour, a camel ride to a Maasai village, and a walk around the snake park. All three were excellent.
Our Maasai guide's name was Lessica (aka Jessica with an L, in case that wasn't blatantly obvious) and he took us on a tour of the Maasai Cultural Museum. [Really briefly, for those who may or may not be aware, the Maasai people are a semi-nomadic ethnic group in North Tanzania and Kenya, and are known for being warriors and cattle-herders.] Anyway, as far as museums go, theirs was really interesting and really depicted life as part of the Maasai. We saw how their huts are built (with cow dung and ash from fires) and learned that there are two beds in every hut, one for the women and children and one for the men (the men and women don't share a bed unless it's a special occasion ... maybe this is something Ralph and Cathy want to consider?). Something also pretty interesting we learned was that the jewelry and adornments that people have tell others who they are, and you can tell by what a woman is wearing if she has children, grandchildren, and (wait for it) whether or not she is circumcised. Yes, circumcision was a pretty significant portion of the museum, as it is an important rite of passage in Maasai custom (and something we heard about a lot today). A few things we learned: boys get circumcised around the age of manhood (about 15) and have to be prepped for the ritual because they are not allowed to cry, make noise, shake, or basically react in any way during the process. This includes blinking (they can choose to either close their eyes or keep them open, but whatever they choose they have to do for the duration of the process). If they do cry, they are outcast from society (pretty harsh, right?). Another interesting piece of information - women are also circumcised, which is a little disconcerting (as I imagine it would be for most females to imagine having to go through that). Thanks to the Tanzanian government, it is actually illegal now for women to be circumcised, but we were told that about 30% still go through with it, and that it is by choice. Sorry to talk so much about circumcision, but it actually was fairly interesting and if I had to hear about it, you have to hear about it. The rest of the day was much nicer, though, I can assure you.
After the cultural museum, we got to go on a camel ride to a real Maasai village. I was very apprehensive about getting on a camel; I have always heard that they are mean and dirty creatures, but I must say the camels we had today were lovely and I apologize to camels everywhere for the bad reputation they have (unless they deserve it, but the ones today certainly did not). Getting on and off of the camel is the most terrifying and thrilling part of the ride. I didn't realize that camels are very tall, and to get on the camel, they sit on their legs so we can climb onto a makeshift saddle. This is all well and good, but then when the camel goes to stand up, it's long legs thrust you forward and you feel like you're going to fall off. It is all pretty awkward but actually really fun. Same thing with getting off the camel (which actually is the only thing scarier than getting on). The camel leans all the way forward and you have to hold on to the handle bar in front of you while leaning as far back as possible while not falling off. If you see my current Facebook picture, it really captures the feelings I had while trying to descend the camel. Fun stuff, really.
The camels took us to, like I said, a local Maasai village, where we were greeted by a big group of children who came running when we showed up. They were really friendly and immediately clung on to all of us, and we spent at least an hour playing with kids and walking around and seeing where and how they lived. A lot of stuff to talk about here; first, there are baby goats everywhere, and even though I have never been one to swoon over animals, those things were pretty freaking cute. Tiny little guys, and I even held one without dropping it or throwing up. In terms of the Maasai kids, they were all over the place. There were about 20 kids, probably from around eighteen months to ten or eleven years old. I think what we were told is that the Maasai are polygamists, and so they have a lot of children, and all of these children were the grandchildren of one person I think they were talking about, so basically they were all cousins. Being 1 of 20 cousins is actually sometime I am very used to, but I can only imagine what would have happened in the Butler grandchildren grew up like these kids (it would actually be pretty interesting if all 24 of us lived in a couple of huts together - I bet Emily, Ronan and Declan would be ruling all of us and Dieter and Laura would probably be our slaves). They seem to govern themselves (but are incredibly respectful of their elders), so the littlest kids were carried by slightly less-little kids, and there was definitely a hierarchy you could see from the 10-12 year old boys. It can be a little tough seeing kids who have less than what I'm accustomed to seeing, but if you look past the dirt, the baggy clothes, and some of the flies (which were all there), we got to see some really happy children. They really loved our group, and I noticed that they were particularly interested in watches, aviators, and cameras. They sang some songs for us, including Twinkle Twinkle, and then wanted us to sing for them. So I sang In the Jungle (even though I forgot the words, at which point the kids sang their own, better version of the song) and I taught them the Chicken Dance. They mostly wanted to play, hold your hand, have you swing them around or toss them in the air, and just be near you. There really isn't anything that's quite as rewarding as spending time with kids and making them laugh, so it was definitely a good day. I think a lot of us who went today will find ourselves volunteering with kids throughout the next few months here in TZ.
We took camels back to where the Cultural Center is, and had lunch made for us (toasted tomato and cheese sandwiches, which always hit the spot, at least for me). Then we had some free time to walk around some Maasai tents (which are basically for buying stuff) or we could visit the snake park. My friend Sarah and I decided to see the snake park, which turned out to be awesome. I don't know about everyone else, but I happen to be terrified of snakes (they are near the top of my long list of things I'm afraid of, right up there with hippos and birds), and even when they are in cages, they are pretty intimidating. The snake park had AWESOME snakes, including a few gigantic pythons (one which had pictures of a human it had eaten and a buck), black mambos, cobras.. all sorts. The park also has crocodiles, and, better than crocodiles, BABY crocodiles. I'm talking tiny little guys (who, surprisingly, do not scare me at all, whereas stink bugs scare me, so go figure). There were also some lizards, and some turtles. The coolest thing about the park is how close you can get to the animals - not like a park or a zoo at home where you are well-guarded and far enough away. If I wanted to, I could have reached out and picked up a baby croc, which I didn't do. However, something I DID do was hold... a snake! Obviously, if you know me at all (and I'm assuming you do, because basically the only people who read my blog are my mom and Jennifer) I would normally cry and run away from a snake, but I held that black mambo like it was a snuggly puppy (also, it wasn't a black mambo at all, it was like the safest, nicest snake in the park with no teeth or venom, but I prefer my version of the story). I also held a turtle, which isn't scary at all. The only other scary thing to note in the park - a badass vulture. So there is this vulture that sits in his cage, and when Sarah and I walk back, it literally hisses at us (I don't know if you would say that birds hiss, but it hissed at us). Then, it flew to the front of the cage (flapping it's giant wings VERY angrily) and started biting the cage and making noises like it wanted to eat my soul. My fear of snakes is one thing, but birds are a whole different story, so I screamed and ran away from that crazy mo fo.
I think it was around 3:30 when we finally left. It was a long, tiring, exhilarating, and extremely fulfilling day. I'm sure there will be many like it to follow (hopefully minus that stupid bird), and I am greatly looking forward to them. In fact, tomorrow we are going for a hike to Mt. Meru, so I'm sure I will have a lot to write about then.
Here's a few more pictures taken throughout the day:
I also want to post a video of the Maasai children singing to us and some more pictures of the Maasai children in general. It was really wonderful getting to spend some time with them.
I hope you all enjoyed the addition of pictures to my blog. I know you aren't actually reading it, so at least now you can pretend to know what I'm up to!
Things progressively got better. I ventured out more than usual and started to see a lot of the good stuff in Arusha. Many of the people are incredibly friendly; it is not uncommon to end up chatting with someone for a few minutes and realizing you have some sort of connection (yes, a lot of the guys do try to ask you where you live and whether or not you're married, but as long as you give them a vague enough answer, you are mostly okay). We found a great place to eat, simply called Fast Food. It is one of those great dive places where for 2,000 TSH (Tanzanian Shillings, which is the equivalent of about $1.20) you can get a giant plate of delicious food. I got a huge plate of rice with curry sauce, beans, and grilled vegetables. Next time I am trying something else, that I'm sure will be equally delicious and equally as cheap. Fast Food has been a great find so far, and I imagine we will be frequent customers. Thus (sorry for saying thus), as frustrating or uncomfortable as life can be here (and it really isn't too terrible at all), there is definitely some awesome stuff that I am realizing you just have to be open to finding. It's definitely there.
Today, we found some of that awesome stuff that I keep alluding to in spades. We went to Meserani Snake Park, which is located about 25km west of Arusha. The day consisted of three parts: a guided Maasai tour, a camel ride to a Maasai village, and a walk around the snake park. All three were excellent.
Our Maasai guide's name was Lessica (aka Jessica with an L, in case that wasn't blatantly obvious) and he took us on a tour of the Maasai Cultural Museum. [Really briefly, for those who may or may not be aware, the Maasai people are a semi-nomadic ethnic group in North Tanzania and Kenya, and are known for being warriors and cattle-herders.] Anyway, as far as museums go, theirs was really interesting and really depicted life as part of the Maasai. We saw how their huts are built (with cow dung and ash from fires) and learned that there are two beds in every hut, one for the women and children and one for the men (the men and women don't share a bed unless it's a special occasion ... maybe this is something Ralph and Cathy want to consider?). Something also pretty interesting we learned was that the jewelry and adornments that people have tell others who they are, and you can tell by what a woman is wearing if she has children, grandchildren, and (wait for it) whether or not she is circumcised. Yes, circumcision was a pretty significant portion of the museum, as it is an important rite of passage in Maasai custom (and something we heard about a lot today). A few things we learned: boys get circumcised around the age of manhood (about 15) and have to be prepped for the ritual because they are not allowed to cry, make noise, shake, or basically react in any way during the process. This includes blinking (they can choose to either close their eyes or keep them open, but whatever they choose they have to do for the duration of the process). If they do cry, they are outcast from society (pretty harsh, right?). Another interesting piece of information - women are also circumcised, which is a little disconcerting (as I imagine it would be for most females to imagine having to go through that). Thanks to the Tanzanian government, it is actually illegal now for women to be circumcised, but we were told that about 30% still go through with it, and that it is by choice. Sorry to talk so much about circumcision, but it actually was fairly interesting and if I had to hear about it, you have to hear about it. The rest of the day was much nicer, though, I can assure you.
After the cultural museum, we got to go on a camel ride to a real Maasai village. I was very apprehensive about getting on a camel; I have always heard that they are mean and dirty creatures, but I must say the camels we had today were lovely and I apologize to camels everywhere for the bad reputation they have (unless they deserve it, but the ones today certainly did not). Getting on and off of the camel is the most terrifying and thrilling part of the ride. I didn't realize that camels are very tall, and to get on the camel, they sit on their legs so we can climb onto a makeshift saddle. This is all well and good, but then when the camel goes to stand up, it's long legs thrust you forward and you feel like you're going to fall off. It is all pretty awkward but actually really fun. Same thing with getting off the camel (which actually is the only thing scarier than getting on). The camel leans all the way forward and you have to hold on to the handle bar in front of you while leaning as far back as possible while not falling off. If you see my current Facebook picture, it really captures the feelings I had while trying to descend the camel. Fun stuff, really.
The camels took us to, like I said, a local Maasai village, where we were greeted by a big group of children who came running when we showed up. They were really friendly and immediately clung on to all of us, and we spent at least an hour playing with kids and walking around and seeing where and how they lived. A lot of stuff to talk about here; first, there are baby goats everywhere, and even though I have never been one to swoon over animals, those things were pretty freaking cute. Tiny little guys, and I even held one without dropping it or throwing up. In terms of the Maasai kids, they were all over the place. There were about 20 kids, probably from around eighteen months to ten or eleven years old. I think what we were told is that the Maasai are polygamists, and so they have a lot of children, and all of these children were the grandchildren of one person I think they were talking about, so basically they were all cousins. Being 1 of 20 cousins is actually sometime I am very used to, but I can only imagine what would have happened in the Butler grandchildren grew up like these kids (it would actually be pretty interesting if all 24 of us lived in a couple of huts together - I bet Emily, Ronan and Declan would be ruling all of us and Dieter and Laura would probably be our slaves). They seem to govern themselves (but are incredibly respectful of their elders), so the littlest kids were carried by slightly less-little kids, and there was definitely a hierarchy you could see from the 10-12 year old boys. It can be a little tough seeing kids who have less than what I'm accustomed to seeing, but if you look past the dirt, the baggy clothes, and some of the flies (which were all there), we got to see some really happy children. They really loved our group, and I noticed that they were particularly interested in watches, aviators, and cameras. They sang some songs for us, including Twinkle Twinkle, and then wanted us to sing for them. So I sang In the Jungle (even though I forgot the words, at which point the kids sang their own, better version of the song) and I taught them the Chicken Dance. They mostly wanted to play, hold your hand, have you swing them around or toss them in the air, and just be near you. There really isn't anything that's quite as rewarding as spending time with kids and making them laugh, so it was definitely a good day. I think a lot of us who went today will find ourselves volunteering with kids throughout the next few months here in TZ.
We took camels back to where the Cultural Center is, and had lunch made for us (toasted tomato and cheese sandwiches, which always hit the spot, at least for me). Then we had some free time to walk around some Maasai tents (which are basically for buying stuff) or we could visit the snake park. My friend Sarah and I decided to see the snake park, which turned out to be awesome. I don't know about everyone else, but I happen to be terrified of snakes (they are near the top of my long list of things I'm afraid of, right up there with hippos and birds), and even when they are in cages, they are pretty intimidating. The snake park had AWESOME snakes, including a few gigantic pythons (one which had pictures of a human it had eaten and a buck), black mambos, cobras.. all sorts. The park also has crocodiles, and, better than crocodiles, BABY crocodiles. I'm talking tiny little guys (who, surprisingly, do not scare me at all, whereas stink bugs scare me, so go figure). There were also some lizards, and some turtles. The coolest thing about the park is how close you can get to the animals - not like a park or a zoo at home where you are well-guarded and far enough away. If I wanted to, I could have reached out and picked up a baby croc, which I didn't do. However, something I DID do was hold... a snake! Obviously, if you know me at all (and I'm assuming you do, because basically the only people who read my blog are my mom and Jennifer) I would normally cry and run away from a snake, but I held that black mambo like it was a snuggly puppy (also, it wasn't a black mambo at all, it was like the safest, nicest snake in the park with no teeth or venom, but I prefer my version of the story). I also held a turtle, which isn't scary at all. The only other scary thing to note in the park - a badass vulture. So there is this vulture that sits in his cage, and when Sarah and I walk back, it literally hisses at us (I don't know if you would say that birds hiss, but it hissed at us). Then, it flew to the front of the cage (flapping it's giant wings VERY angrily) and started biting the cage and making noises like it wanted to eat my soul. My fear of snakes is one thing, but birds are a whole different story, so I screamed and ran away from that crazy mo fo.
I think it was around 3:30 when we finally left. It was a long, tiring, exhilarating, and extremely fulfilling day. I'm sure there will be many like it to follow (hopefully minus that stupid bird), and I am greatly looking forward to them. In fact, tomorrow we are going for a hike to Mt. Meru, so I'm sure I will have a lot to write about then.
Here's a few more pictures taken throughout the day:
I also want to post a video of the Maasai children singing to us and some more pictures of the Maasai children in general. It was really wonderful getting to spend some time with them.
I hope you all enjoyed the addition of pictures to my blog. I know you aren't actually reading it, so at least now you can pretend to know what I'm up to!
hurry with the pictures... cause im not reading all of this
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