Friday, February 24, 2006
My first trip to the Maasai
Well, what can I say about the Maasai?
I can say that yesterday was one of the happiest days of my life.
We left Moshi in the late morning and started the drive to Arusha. About 20 minutes in a police officer waved us over and hassled our driver for a license and registration, which he quickly gave her. She wanted money from him – it’s the end of the month and cops are corrupt here. Anyway, with my mom watching her from the backseat she didn’t press the issue. I suppose they don’t want us foreigners to see how corrupt they really are.
We moved along, with giant dirt devils swirling around in the distance. Tanzania is experiencing rather severe drought right now and there’s dust everywhere. People are hungry, the maize is taking too long to grow.
We stopped in Arusha for lunch. It’s a busy city, much more hectic than Moshi. We passed the United Nations International Tribunal for Rwanda. I was glad to see the place where Hutu leaders are being prosecuted for their crimes. Say what you will about the UN, these tribunals are a good thing.
When we left the city the scenery started getting much greener, though Anthony and John said it’s not as green as it should be. Stopped in Monduli to see Anthony’s mother and walk around the vibrant Monduli market.
I bought a few lovely pieces of fabric for about 13 bucks, a decent deal. When I’m quoted 4000 shillings and they don’t want to give it to me for any less than 3800, I can’t complain much. That’s a 20 cent difference for me! I’ll gladly give them the extra 20 cents.
After the market, I started getting butterflies in my stomach. The bumpy dirt road we were on had the occasional Maasai walking alongside it. I can’t help but be happy when I see them. They’re always so stoic and wise looking. It took about 10 minutes to get to the village. We pulled up to the “boma” (a Maasai village has many bomas, each of which belong to a different clan) and immediately the children ran up to the car, yelling “Bibi!” (pronounced bee-bee) to my mother. Bibi is Swahili for grandmother, it’s a very respectful term used for older women – they gave her this name last time she was here.
To the right you can see our view of the village as we were driving up.
We unloaded our duffel bags from the car, with children everywhere around us. They were between my legs, pulling on my arms to see me, inspecting every inch of the car, and looking at themselves in the rearview mirrors.
The chief’s second wife, Mama Paolo (it’s customary here to call a mother by her child’s name, in this case her eldest son is Paolo) had a baby a month ago, so we went into her home to see her and meet the new child, Edward. She and my mother get along very well – they quickly became friends after meeting back in September.
Her daughter also had a baby just 5 days ago. Here Mama Paolo is holding her grandchild and I’m with little Edward.
We unpacked the bags, full of clothes, sneakers, and the sandals I received from Ocean Minded. The women loved the sandals! Mama Paolo spotted a pair of blue ones and took them for herself. I was happy for them – the women often get whatever’s left after everyone else has taken what they want.
The clothes and sneakers will be divided between the children, those from this boma and probably from neighboring bomas as well. Here are the women posing with their new sandals – I only got photos of 4 of them because the other three women slipped them on and ran off. They were overjoyed.
My mother was then honored with a priceless gift. About a month ago the guys paid a visit to the Maasai and the women asked them for my mother’s full name. Yesterday they offered her a beaded bracelet that they had made with her name on it. It’s meticulously well done, and the thought that went into that, well, made her cry. That they had been thinking about her all this time and offered her something so incredibly special… I think it made her desire to move her even stronger. There’s so much love.
While I was taking a picture of my mom receiving the bracelet a young girl, maybe 10 years old, touched the tattoo on my ear. As she did, she noticed my earring and got a very curious look on her face. She flipped it around and saw that I did, indeed, have a large hole in my earlobe. I smiled at her and took my earring out, and she squealed! She yelled at the others and they all turned toward me, amazed. I took out my other earring and everyone started chattering loudly. John explained to them that I had been fascinated with Maasai culture since childhood, and that meeting them was a very special occasion for me. Mama Paolo’s daughter, whose name I didn’t catch, lifted her hands up as if to say “WAIT!” and ran into the house.
She emerged moments later with earrings for me, and slipped them onto my ears. The women clapped, the men laughed and smiled, the children all watched in amazement. I think right then and there I floated up off the earth. The women said I was now a “mzungu Maasai”, or white Maasai. I don’t think I’ve made it back onto solid ground yet. As I write this I’m still blown away by what an incredible day it was.
The next picture is me with Mama Paolo's daughter. You can see my beautiful new earrings. After that I'm with Mama Paolo and a neighbor.
Nevermind that there was no power when we got home so we had to eat peanut butter sandwiches for dinner, and nevermind that today we barely have any running water in the house (they’re fixing it)… Yesterday was a day I will never forget.
This weekend we’re going back to the village with a group of volunteers from CCS. The guys’ tour company, Maasai Moja Tours, takes people to the village to spend a weekend with the Maasai and see how they live. I’m excited to spend more time with them, but I’m glad I got to go once beforehand. This will be a very special weekend.
¶ 2/24/2006 01:33:00 AM 
I can say that yesterday was one of the happiest days of my life.
We left Moshi in the late morning and started the drive to Arusha. About 20 minutes in a police officer waved us over and hassled our driver for a license and registration, which he quickly gave her. She wanted money from him – it’s the end of the month and cops are corrupt here. Anyway, with my mom watching her from the backseat she didn’t press the issue. I suppose they don’t want us foreigners to see how corrupt they really are.
We moved along, with giant dirt devils swirling around in the distance. Tanzania is experiencing rather severe drought right now and there’s dust everywhere. People are hungry, the maize is taking too long to grow.
We stopped in Arusha for lunch. It’s a busy city, much more hectic than Moshi. We passed the United Nations International Tribunal for Rwanda. I was glad to see the place where Hutu leaders are being prosecuted for their crimes. Say what you will about the UN, these tribunals are a good thing.
When we left the city the scenery started getting much greener, though Anthony and John said it’s not as green as it should be. Stopped in Monduli to see Anthony’s mother and walk around the vibrant Monduli market.
I bought a few lovely pieces of fabric for about 13 bucks, a decent deal. When I’m quoted 4000 shillings and they don’t want to give it to me for any less than 3800, I can’t complain much. That’s a 20 cent difference for me! I’ll gladly give them the extra 20 cents.
After the market, I started getting butterflies in my stomach. The bumpy dirt road we were on had the occasional Maasai walking alongside it. I can’t help but be happy when I see them. They’re always so stoic and wise looking. It took about 10 minutes to get to the village. We pulled up to the “boma” (a Maasai village has many bomas, each of which belong to a different clan) and immediately the children ran up to the car, yelling “Bibi!” (pronounced bee-bee) to my mother. Bibi is Swahili for grandmother, it’s a very respectful term used for older women – they gave her this name last time she was here.
To the right you can see our view of the village as we were driving up.
We unloaded our duffel bags from the car, with children everywhere around us. They were between my legs, pulling on my arms to see me, inspecting every inch of the car, and looking at themselves in the rearview mirrors.
The chief’s second wife, Mama Paolo (it’s customary here to call a mother by her child’s name, in this case her eldest son is Paolo) had a baby a month ago, so we went into her home to see her and meet the new child, Edward. She and my mother get along very well – they quickly became friends after meeting back in September.
Her daughter also had a baby just 5 days ago. Here Mama Paolo is holding her grandchild and I’m with little Edward.
We unpacked the bags, full of clothes, sneakers, and the sandals I received from Ocean Minded. The women loved the sandals! Mama Paolo spotted a pair of blue ones and took them for herself. I was happy for them – the women often get whatever’s left after everyone else has taken what they want.
The clothes and sneakers will be divided between the children, those from this boma and probably from neighboring bomas as well. Here are the women posing with their new sandals – I only got photos of 4 of them because the other three women slipped them on and ran off. They were overjoyed.
My mother was then honored with a priceless gift. About a month ago the guys paid a visit to the Maasai and the women asked them for my mother’s full name. Yesterday they offered her a beaded bracelet that they had made with her name on it. It’s meticulously well done, and the thought that went into that, well, made her cry. That they had been thinking about her all this time and offered her something so incredibly special… I think it made her desire to move her even stronger. There’s so much love.
While I was taking a picture of my mom receiving the bracelet a young girl, maybe 10 years old, touched the tattoo on my ear. As she did, she noticed my earring and got a very curious look on her face. She flipped it around and saw that I did, indeed, have a large hole in my earlobe. I smiled at her and took my earring out, and she squealed! She yelled at the others and they all turned toward me, amazed. I took out my other earring and everyone started chattering loudly. John explained to them that I had been fascinated with Maasai culture since childhood, and that meeting them was a very special occasion for me. Mama Paolo’s daughter, whose name I didn’t catch, lifted her hands up as if to say “WAIT!” and ran into the house.
She emerged moments later with earrings for me, and slipped them onto my ears. The women clapped, the men laughed and smiled, the children all watched in amazement. I think right then and there I floated up off the earth. The women said I was now a “mzungu Maasai”, or white Maasai. I don’t think I’ve made it back onto solid ground yet. As I write this I’m still blown away by what an incredible day it was.
The next picture is me with Mama Paolo's daughter. You can see my beautiful new earrings. After that I'm with Mama Paolo and a neighbor.
Nevermind that there was no power when we got home so we had to eat peanut butter sandwiches for dinner, and nevermind that today we barely have any running water in the house (they’re fixing it)… Yesterday was a day I will never forget.
This weekend we’re going back to the village with a group of volunteers from CCS. The guys’ tour company, Maasai Moja Tours, takes people to the village to spend a weekend with the Maasai and see how they live. I’m excited to spend more time with them, but I’m glad I got to go once beforehand. This will be a very special weekend.
¶ 2/24/2006 01:33:00 AM
Comments:
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So happy for you. You look well in the pictures, now if only the phone would work....
# posted by 
: Fri Feb 24, 08:36:00 PM PST
: Fri Feb 24, 08:36:00 PM PST
Your post made me cry. In a good way.
I'm loving this blog. How wonderful that the simple things in life can make you happy; if only the rest of the world could take a page from you!!
Travel well.
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I'm loving this blog. How wonderful that the simple things in life can make you happy; if only the rest of the world could take a page from you!!
Travel well.
# posted by : Sun Feb 26, 01:38:00 AM PST
: Sun Feb 26, 01:38:00 AM PST<< Home
