Panthers Goats and Beads - Tanzania part 1

As I thought, I'm breaking up this trip again. So with out further adu, here it is, part one:

We are staying at a place called the UAACC (United African Alliance Community Center) near a city called Arusha. It was started by Pete and Charlotte O'Neal. They are both Americans who were members of the Black Panther party in the middle of its prime. Pete started the chapter in Kansas City. He is here in Africa living in exile and hasn't been in the states since the 60's. The reason for this is the result of an interview he gave in which he said he wanted to storm into congress to take someone's head. And when the interviewer asked if hem meant that literally, he said yes, I do. About 3 weeks after this, he was brought up on charges of transferring a gun across state lines and was facing 15 years in jail. So instead of doing that, he moved to Africa - first to Algeria then to Tanzania. He has mellowed out a lot since his Panther days and while he still has the same ideas and beliefs, he realizes that there are more productive ways to attaining them. So he started the UAACC which does a lot of community development programs and education type things. He also started a clean water project where he helped install a water pump near the village so the families could have clean water close by. Its a pretty amazing place - a large compound with about 20 people living on it and room for about 20 students as well. They have students here all the time serving as interns and pretty much always have student groups around for one reason or another. Everyone is so amazingly welcoming and open that we all feel right at home. Its been great to just talk to everyone here, from Pete to the volunteers to the people who work here - they are all just such interesting people. And the food is fantastic (very American), we have free internet and a crazy amount of movies to pick from in our down time as well as a basketball court. I kind of fell like we're at summer camp, but its definitely the coolest summer camp ever.

The first day we were here we went on a safari through the Ngorongoro crater - its a collapsed volcano that has grown over with brush and is about 12 miles wide. There are all different types of animals in there and even a lake! Between driving there, getting over the crater wall, driving around inside it and getting back, we were there the whole day. We got to see monkeys, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, lions, hippos, random birds, ostriches, and a few other that I can't remember right now. The whole day was pretty cool, but the coolest part was at lunch. Our academic director (AD) had told us to be careful because there were eagles around who might steal your food. I didn't really take it too seriously, so I was just eating and talking like normal. Then all of a sudden this thing flew in front of me and before I knew what had happened, my food was gone. An eagle had stolen it right out of my hand! The only mark he left was a little scratch on my finger - its amazing how precise they are. I'm kind of hoping the scratch will scar because I think that can beat most scar stories hands down.

The next morning we had a dancing workshop at UAACC and learned a traditional African dance. It was a lot of fun despite how ridiculous we all looked. After lunch they let the nearby residents come in and they had a traditional dance show that also featured us doing our dance. I'm not sure how well that went over, but it was fun at least. We also had to do some kind of American cultural thing, and despite the hard time we all had agreeing on something, that went over really well.

As if all that wasn't cool enough, the next few days were so much cooler. We left for Maasai land on the 2nd, and staying with them was one of the coolest things I've ever done. We drove about an hour and picked up Ngoingoi, our Maasai guide on the side of the road. We turned off the road at a seemingly random spot and drove for about 10 minutes. How he knew where to go we had no idea - there were no paths or road that we could see but despite that we were still making turns and headed in a definite direction. We got to our campsite and spent the rest of the day setting up and getting familiar with the area. We toured Ngoingoi's Boma (compound), met his family - his 2 wives, siblings, son and parents and got to see their houses within the compound. After that, we went for a walk to gather herbs for tea and then helped them prepare the tea. I really wanted to like it, but it pretty much just tasted like dirt to me. But at least I tried it, right? Later that night, we had a chance to talk to some Maasai elders who told us (through 2 translators - one from Maa to Swahili and then from Swahili to English) a story about hunting lions and how every group of warriors has to kill at least one lion. First they cut off the tail while it is sleeping and then they run after it and kill it b spear. And the first guy to hit it with his spear becomes a huge celebrity and may have upwards of 10 girlfriends, some of whom he "might happen to sleep with" as we were told. They also asked us a bunch of questions - mostly focusing on animals and what kind of animals we have. They were surprised to hear that there were any wild animals, because according to them there is no place in America where we haven't built over the wild - aren't the stereotypes funny?

The next day was really amazing - we woke up really early to see the sunrise over Kilimanjaro. Jealous? Don't be - we didn't see anything. It was super cloudy and by the time we got to where we were going, the sun had already risen. So yes, it was really cool, but not as cool as I had hoped. After that, we helped milk goats before breakfast, and definitely got shown up by the Maasai in the milking department...

And then it got even better. After breakfast, we went to Orpul - a sacred site where the warriors go to sacrifice animals (goats and cattle). What did we do here you might ask? That's right - we helped the warriors sacrifice a goat. It was absolutely crazy. And in Maasai culture, the blood is one of the most sacred parts of an animal, so of course they can't slit the throat like in most cultures. So they hold it down and suffocate it. That's right. It was a little weird to watch, but they do it with so much respect for the animal that its hard to find it totally disturbing. Then we got to help them skin and butcher it. And they use every part and are so precise about it all. Some of it they eat raw (the heart, the blood, the liver) some they roast and everything else the boil in a soup, which is actually pretty gross (shocker, huh?). The whole process took about 2-3 hours and it was so awesome, and kind of gross all at the same time. We also got to hang out with the warriors and take pictures with them - which they loved. They loved wearing or hats and sunglasses and using our cameras - and it was really cool to see someone in full Maasai garb using a camera and wearing sunglasses (google them and you'll understand why).

After the goat sacrifice, we spent the afternoon going to their grazing lands, playing traditional Maasai games and learning more about them in general. We also got to dance with them that night, which was so intense. Their dancing involves a lot of jumping and chanting, and the only light around was from the full moon. Probably the best dance party I've ever been to. Oh, and as if that wasn't cool enough, they walked us back to our campsite too - we definitely felt pretty baller having the Maasai escort us back.

The next day was our last day with the Maasai. Another huge part of their culture is beading - everyone has beads and they are all really symbolic. So we got to sit with some of the women and bead with them all morning and learn (again, through 2 translators) what all the beading meant. It was fun to spend time with the women, we really hadn't gotten too much of a chance to do that before this. And watching them make all the intricate jewelry they wear was so awesome (again, google it and you'll understand).

Sadly, we had to leave Maasai Land after that. We spent a few more days at UAACC, but I'll save those days for the next blog entry - its getting kind of late and this one is already pretty long...