Maasai and Turtles

The rainy season is in full swing and the good news is that there is going to be a good harvest this year if the rains continue on; bad news it rains everyday for most of the day and there is mud EVERYWHERE you go. Since the rains have started I have put a good dent into by collection of books and am running out of things of interest to read, the volunteer before me was a big science fiction reader… I am not.

A couple of weeks ago before the rainy season was in full swing I got a chance to go to a Maasai village on their market day. The village market is on Fridays and I heard about it from some teachers at school and mentioned to Haji I wanted to go on Friday to visit and he was excited because his family lived near by that same village. So I met him on a Friday morning with our bikes and we started the hour bike ride to the village. I went with my Tanzanian friend Haji who has been a great friend because he is always getting dragged a long on my adventures here at Mzumbe. I like to have my Tanzanian escort because he knows everybody and can bull shit with the best of them… he’s the Zach Smith of Tanzania (inside joke). The down side, Haji likes to hold my hand… here you have to understand that it’s the way friends roll in Tanzania, homosexuality is illegal here so people of the same sex here hold hands and it doesn’t imply they’re gay like it does in many other cultures… I still feel really uncomfortable about it to be honest and always find myself pulling my hand away like a kindergarten student when they have to hold hands with the opposite sex for the first time in dance class.

The Maasai is one of the largest tribes in Eastern Africa and semi-nomadic, they are one of the few tribes whom are not farmers but herders. Much of Tanzania has been left as an open rage for the Maasai to run their cattle and goats, which is the primary source of meat in Tanzania. The Maasai are one of the few tribes whom for the most part still wear their traditional garments of blue/red material worn like a toga called a shuka or konga. They are a tall people that usually carry a sword in their belts, a long stick to keep the livestock in line, wear lots of beaded jewelry and have the stretched out holes in their earlobe; they are easy to pick out of a crowd. I like to think of them as the cowboys of the Serengeti; taking care of business, dressed to party, but they always remember to wear their peace maker.

So on Fridays the Maasai village has their market and all the herders will come into village with their livestock. In a field adjacent to the market all the animals which are for sale are kept. So local butchers come with their trucks and buy livestock and the Maasai can get new sandals, sword, beads, clothing, cooking material, and ex...

When Haji and I arrived on bikes of course I was getting the usual stares which I have come to like to think it’s because I am so dam good looking and not just because I am white, and it was a one of those ‘wow I am in Africa’ moments. A hundred or so Maasai all walking around catching up on the news with each other selling hides and other things, taking advantage of buying a cold Coka -Cola, and eating some roasted meat with livestock walking around. Haji knew one of the girls working a booth at the market so we left are bikes there and were able to walk around and look at the goodies, I purposely left my wallet at home because I knew I would have bought a couple of ‘impulse swords’, what could I do with a sword… As we were walking around I was wondering out load if one of my fellow teachers was there because he runs one of the butchery’s at Mzumbe. Before I could finish my sentence he was standing in front of me introducing me to his friends, it is nice to stick out of the crowd sometimes people find you. After talking with my teacher and sharing a drink I continued walking around and dreaming of Halloween costumes to be, we decided to embark to go visit Haji’s family.

Mind you that every time I go somewhere with Haji we have to meet his family, Tanzanian’s families are huge all cousins are brothers and sisters and all aunts and uncles are mothers and fathers so I have met a lot of his ‘family’. This time we were going to meet his 100% biological real parents whom lived ‘near by’ the market, ‘near by’… another 45 minute bike ride in the opposite direction from home. It was really nice to meet his parents and show my Swahili skills off (limited still but getting better) and to get out of the rain storm that had started. They were disappointed we couldn’t stay for dinner because they were going to kill a chicken for us. Haji’s mother said that I could get a wife for some goats if I wanted. I told here I was only in Tanzania for two years and she said that would be ok my wife could have other husbands. I am opting for the single life for now…

A phenomenon that occurs during the rainy season is that snakes, turtles and frogs come out from hiding. I thank got I haven’t seen any snakes and always walk with a flashlight at night because I am afraid to death of snakes and I joke with my teacher friend that if I ever see one around my house I m coming to his house and will make him come over and kill it. The other day one of the students killed a black mamba and a staff member killed a viper… YA I watch where I am going when I am walking around. As far as the turtles go I haven’t seen any walking around but I have had two different people come from the near by villages in the mountains and ask me to buy turtles they have found. I just don’t see why they thing because I am white I will want to buy a turtle… their must be a rumor floating around that the Whiteman wants to buy turtles. To put I stop to the rumors, I DON”T NEED A TURTLE.