I’ve learned that if you assume the worst, you’ll be much happier with how things really turn out. That’s why as soon as I started feeling sick over the weekend I went ahead and declared that it was either Ebola or Leprosy that I had come down with. I’m now happier today because I can honestly tell you that it was neither of the two, and was more of a mild cold than anything, but at least I planned for the worst. Can’t be too careful in Africa.

The Idahoians have come and gone, and are currently back on a plane to the States, which means that the house has been pretty empty over the last couple of days. I was afraid that it’d be weird and lonely not having anybody to talk to, but I quickly realized that I was more fun to talk to than I previously thought…and that’s what worries me. Luckily, new roommates arrive Wednesday so the house will be full again soon. Before the Idahoians left though, we did have some good times. 

Thursday we were set to head to the Maasai village, but before we could go we had to first go to the market and get food for the villagers as a greeting for having us. I had never been to the market in down town Moshi before, so it was interesting to see exactly how everything was set up. After walking through two gates on either end of the market, there was a covered area that housed the majority of the booths where vendors had their goods for sale. When I walked in the first thing I noticed was the strong smell of fish that had been sitting out for hours, and the booths immediately to my left were used for butchers and people selling fish. I did a little walk through in that section with a couple of the Idahonians and was tempted to once again try some of the meat that they had hanging from the hooks, but one of them Idahonians almost lost their lunch to the smell so we had to get out of there as quick as possible. The booths on the other side of the meat and fish section had huge bags of rice, spices, grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables all over the place. While everyone was gathering supplies for the Maasai, I decided to take a little field trip through the market myself and see what I could find.

           

And as I’ve discovered with any market I’ve been to thus far…find something I did.

At the far end of the market there were a row of shops set up that caught my eye, and I immediately walked up to them and stared at what I saw. The vendor walked up to me and grinning said, “You want a machete, don’t know?”

I looked at him surprised, How did he know? There was no way it was a shot in the dark, it’s not everyday you ask someone if they want a machete and turn out to be right, and so I asked. That’s when he pointed at the bandana around my head and replied, “Rambo.”

Bandanas speak louder than words.

He asked how long I was going to be staying in Tanzania and I told him 5 more months and he threw his arms up and exclaimed, “Well then you have to have a machete if you’re here that long.” Quite right he was, but I held off on getting my man machete for a later day. I was hoping the Maasai would have some awesome lion skin rug for sale that I’d need all the money I had on me to get, so I politely declined the gentleman’s offer and returned to the car.

             

            You would think that in order to get to where the Maasai are we would have to follow some complicated directions, but quite the contrary. All we had to do was drive out on the main road towards Arusha until there was nothing around but brush and mountains, and then just take a quick left out towards the nothingness. We did get lost along the way, but luckily we ran into two Maasai riding a motorcycle out in the brush (weird, I know) and we asked to follow them to the village that we were going to, but there it was.

            It wasn’t necessarily a village, but instead a few huts out in the middle of the brush where the family lived. We met the husband when we arrived and gave him the food we brought, and he introduced us to his wives and children. That wasn’t a typo either. They sang some of the traditional Maasai songs and taught us some of their dances where they jump up and down and it was a bit surreal. A couple days before I left I watched the Amazing Race and they were in Tanzania and they had the contestants doing the Maasai dances and jumping up and down with them, and literally there I was doing it just as they were. You see things on television and never expect to actually see them for yourself, and even though I knew I was going to be there in a couple of days, it’s still hard to imagine what it’s actually like. It was just barren brush land all around and in the distance were mountains and the sun setting behind them, and here we were jumping with the Maasai and being shown into their homes and, of course, taking pictures of their kitchens.

After we experiencing some of their culture, we had to introduce them to a little bit of ours. For the last half hour that we were with them we formed a circle of Idahoians, Maasai, and myself and threw around the Frisbee. We taught them how to throw it and after a while they got the hang of it, and everyone was laughing and having a good time, even when the Frisbee hit someone in the face.

At one point the grandfather Maasai (I say that because he was at least 70, but probably older, he didn’t know his age) walked up to me when I was standing against the car and he was grinning and laughing to himself. I didn’t really get what was going on, until he pulled his cell phone out and pointed at it with a prideful smile as if saying, “Check it out, dude.” I threw my hands up and said no way and pulled my cell phone out and showed him and we both just kind of laughed at really nothing, except the fact that we both had cell phones and that I imagined him saying dude to me. It also just reminded me of in middle school when kids were first getting cell phones and showing them to everyone, and I realized that being so old and a Maasai, the cell phone literally was brand new to him, and something he didn't have at all until probably recently. So, I understood his excitement, I could relate in a way.



The Maasai were awesome, needless to say.


              Friday we spent most of the later part of the day at the orphanage with the kids because it was going to be the last time that the Idahonians would get to see them before they went home. As always, it was a great time and we played games, had a dance off, egg hunt, another riveting game of red rover, and the kids and everyone got to say their goodbyes. Friday was when I really started not feeling well though, and I think I’ve learned my lesson on telling the kids that you’re feeling under the weather because this is what happens 

            I’m good now though, so nobody freak out and start claiming the vest I got last week. And if nobody happened to notice I did not mention getting a lion skin rug from the Maasai, because I did not get a lion skin rug from the Maasai. They did not have any.

 Also, my hair is fine now. Thank you for reading.

Mt. Meru from the village

And once again, a promotional spot. Please don't forget about the fundraising page, and any amount would be greatly appreciated by both me and the orphanage!

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/kyletaylor/kilimanjarofundraiserclimb