Mariko reminded me of a saying yesterday as we were waiting for the incessant monsoon rain to stop. We had been waiting all day so I could go treat patients and teach moxa to a couple families. "Make hay while the sun shines." Kind of a funny saying, but with a deluge going on outside and no sun in days it seems very apt. Right now I have working internet and it's far too rainy and muddy to go out. So I blog.
I'm hiding out indoors these days, listening to the constant rain. It feels like have been living in a waterfall for the past week. The acoustics are amazing, but our clothes never get dry. Is it worth constant dampness for being able to fall asleep every night to the sound of rain on tin? I will contemplate that one a bit as I spend a few more hours trying to iron the undrying damp and undying mold out of my clothes. It sure looks beautiful with the mountains wreathed in constant mist. I've always wanted to try living in a raincloud. It's not nearly as fluffy as it looks.
For now let's go to sunnier times and warmer climes. A few weeks back we took a little trip to the area around Mt. Kilimanjaro. Our ultimate aim was to get my visa renewed for another 3 months, but we also wanted to experience some of the unique culture of that area. After a fascinating form of bribery I was able to procure my visa from a local visa agent. He sent my passport to Kenya (without me) where it got a Kenyan visa and spent the night before returning to Tanzania with a new 3 month visa stamp. Highly unorthodox, but it did the trick. When I came to pick it up at the immigration office the portly official was inspecting a brand new camera and beaming like a kid on Christmas. With shocking enthusiasm he proclaimed that we were now closer than best friends and I should invite him to my wedding or the birth of any future children. I think I might have paid him a bit too much.
While my passport was engaged in it's international travels Mariko and I too the opportunity of a rare sunny day to do a little cultural tourism. With a wonderful and highly knowledgable guide we spent the day exploring one of the few agricultural Maasai villages at the foot of Mt. Meru. Most Maasai are still pastoralists and are one of the few fiercely traditional tribes in East Africa. They are incredibly distinctive in their red and purple robes, heavily armed with clubs and spears and beautiful large knives. The Maasai have a very detailed and ornate culture. They have amazing beadwork, facial scarification and a warrior caste with elaborate rituals. As pastoralists they live almost exclusively from cow products. Meat, milk and fresh blood straight from the living cow. If you haven't checked out the Maasai, I highly recommend you spend a few minutes on google. If you enjoy getting your facts clothed in semi-fiction then check out the German movie called The White Maasai.
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The folks we visited are no longer pastoralists but have taken the next step along the typical chain of cultural evolution, they are now agrarian. Instead of living in the plains these Maasai moved upward to more fertile land and planted little farms across the lush mountain foothills.
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| Mariko and I visiting a Massai bomba (house compound) |
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| It's pretty dark in a Maasai house. Here is the sleeping spot for the adults. |
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| Clay cooking, water and food storage pots. In the lower right corner is a long wooden water gourd for water on the go. |
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| The indoor cooking fire and family sitting room. |
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| The cows live in the house with the family. When your whole sustenance relies on cows it makes sense to keep them close and safe. |
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| Good oral hygiene is universal |
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| We climbed a small mountain to enjoy this incredible view of the village, Arusha city and the Maasai plains beyond. |
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I spent the whole walk going from bush to bush eating wild black raspberries and a delicious strawberry relative. I want more.
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| An idyllic farm. I can see why they moved out of the arid Maasai plains for this amazing and fertile land. |
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| Killer bee honey. Traditional beekeeping uses hollow logs split in two then tied back together. They have a variety of bees inhabiting the hives in this forest. The most common are killer bees. Second most frequent are tiny stingless bees. |
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| Our guide was terrified of this little guy. I thought he might faint when Mariko picked him up. Apparently parents tell their children that chameleons are poisonous and have sharp teeth that can take your whole finger off. I have yet to meet a dangerous chameleon, but I'm certain they are happier and safer for the fierce reputation. |
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| Our hotel was invaded by a plague of huge flies. We hid in our room. Later when I emerged I was shocked and confused to find not a single fly left from the thousands that were crawling all over our hall. I found the flies in question in the dining room. A fellow guest offered me a bite from his delicious dinner of fried flies. Alas, I was going to be on a long bus ride in the morning and didn't quite know how fried flies would sit in my stomach, so I gracefully declined. |
Here we are at the end of this blog installment and the sun is suddenly shining outside. This is my cue to quickly put on my shoes, grab my bag of medical supplies and make a mad dash through the mud to my next appointment. Make hay while the sun shines.
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| This one is dedicated to school kids everywhere. You understand. |
