Baboons and Cheerleaders, Part 1

Sunday, February 20, 2005
Baboons and Cheerleaders, Part 1

Well, this weekend is for me! When I came to Africa, I had big plans to spend my weekends doing the normal tourist stuff. However, that was before I realized that a simple trip into town to buy mangos is exciting, adventurous and magical! So, needless to say, my definition of ‘tourist’ stuff has changed and mostly I feel like every second of every day is a vacation! With that having been said though, I had to do it! I had to go on a safari! How many times in your life do you get to drive right up to elephants?!?! So, I put on my tourist best, slathered on the sunscreen and jumped into a range rover with three of the other women here and headed out for the weekend.
Jessica, Sonja, Christy and I joined our guide, Wilson, and the cook, Feeti for two days at Lake Maynara and the Ngorogoro Crater. The group of us, alone, would have been entertaining enough, but we truly did enter a wild, unbelievable world! The fact that I got to share it with these fabulous people made it even better!
Jessica is the young woman who teaches at Kilamahewa with me. She was born and raised in Moshi, and in the interim between school terms, she volunteered her time to CCS. She is quiet and beautiful with a wisdom that belies her years. When I asked her about boyfriends and marriage, she just laughed and said that she didn’t think that Africa had a man for her to marry. You see, she believes in education first. She wants to be a lawyer and does not want anything to detour her from those goals. To us, this sounds admirable. But, can you imagine how out-of-the-ordinary that is here in Tanzania?! Women do not do this. Ever. She is one of a very new breed of youth that are saying no to the traditional roles that society here holds so true. She has stolen my heart and I have a world of respect for her. If anyone in this country can buck convention and fulfill her dreams, Jessica can.
Christy is a 40-something volunteer from Minnesota and she has become the official mom of the group. However, she is also the first in line to go out dancing, and if anyone is going to get kicked out of this program for drinking alcohol at the house, it will be her!! She is fun, wild, crazy and loved by everyone. Of course, every Yin must have its Yang and if Christy is Yin, then Sonja is Yang. Sonya is our resident celebrity. She came to CCS three days late because she was……….are you ready for this?……….she was a cheerleader in the Super Bowl! Can you imagine!? She cheers for Philadelphia. Now I know that you can picture her in your mind……blond, tan, peppy and a little annoying around the edges? Hah! You would be wrong! That is exactly what we all thought, but when we met her, instead we saw a beautiful black woman, (she does not like to be called African American), who is quiet and poised. She is working on a Masters in Public Health and she has a calming influence on the house. I think she is a very old soul! I told her that she taught me a very important lesson in assumptions!
Wilson, our guide, is very popular among CCS volunteers. Everyone told us to request him, and I am so glad that we did! He is tall with ebony skin and a huge white smile, and an easy way about him. Several months ago, he took a CCS group on safari and when a lion walked up against the car, he said, “Shhhh…we are in danger”. As a result, all weekend long, we kept asking him if we were in danger. He would just laugh and shake his head ‘no’. We tried to teach him to just say ‘yes’ regardless of the danger, because that is what we really wanted to hear, but he never really got the hang of it. He brought along Feeti to do all the cooking, and while we did not get to see much of him, I can say that the food was wonderful! It is starting to get redundant when I say that so-and-so was just as nice as he/she could be, but here in Tanzania, everyone is like that and Feeti was no exception.
The morning started off early with a long drive to Arusha, a trip to a grocery store and a quick stop at a huge tourist gift shop. We pulled into the parking lot and there were safari vehicles as far as you could see! I mentioned that every mzungu in all of Africa must be here, and Wilson just nodded. He told us to look, but to be careful about buying because everything was so expensive. I walked around a bit until I stopped next to a large woman in polyester pants and a Las Vegas tee-shirt. When asked how much the kanga she held was, the sales lady said, 20,000 shillings. Hmmm….20 bucks. I paid 2.75 for mine! I decided that I had had enough of the tourist scene and went back to the truck. Soon, we arrived at the lodge we were supposed to spend the night in. It was,……how can I say this kindly……….umm…..a dump. Seriously! Our room had two old single beds ensconsed in mosquito netting, gray concrete floors, walls and ceiling, and a bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling. I didn’t care at all seeing as how I have slept in much worse places, but I was worried that the other women would hate it. Turns out, everyone thought it was fine. After all, we all agreed that we were there to see animals, not lounge around. So off we went……
We left the lodge and were driving towards the park when all of the sudden, about five baboons crossed the road! Right as they cleared the lane, I saw a wart hog dart between the weeds next to our truck! Oh man…we are definitely not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy! Wilson laughed as we all freaked out, explaining to us that we would see so many baboons, we would soon get tired of them. Hah!! Fat chance! No sooner had we driven through the gates of the park when we found ourselves right in the middle of a huge pack of more baboons. We sat for a while, just watching them, and it was so neat! There were lots of babies, some hanging on beneath the mothers stomach as she walked, and others riding up on her back. There were large old male baboons and lots of adult females. They sat and picked insects off of each other, ruffling the fur between their fingers to make sure they didn’t miss any. Other safari trucks would pass us from time to time, but the baboons didn’t seem to mind. It was with a lot of regret that I finally said “Yes”, after Wilson had asked if we were ready to move one……for the third time. I could spend a week here!
This was the first of many “Omigosh” moments. Everytime we would come upon a new animal, I would be newly amazed, and I would be sure that it wasn’t going to get any better than this. Each time, though, I was wrong. It wasn’t until Wilson said, “Look”, and pointed ahead, that it really hit me where I was and what I was doing. There, in front of us, was a herd of elephants. Real, live elephants. Not behind a fence at a zoo, and not running circles in a circus ring……but…..right….in…..front…..of….us. As one walked straight towards our truck, Sonya let out a little yelp and ducked back inside of the roof top window. But, as Wilson would say, we were never in danger. Instead, a mama and her baby stood next to our truck eating while another young elephant stood nearby wallowing in a mud hole. This was my favorite sighting of the weekend.
The rest of the day went by in a blur of wildebeasts, water buffalo, zebras, more elephants and lots of baboons. It was so amazing, and I really didn’t believe Wilson when he said that the Ngorogoro Crater would be even better. How could it get any better than this?
An early supper and even earlier bedtime awaited us back at the lodge, and it was not long before I found myself lying in a pool of sweat underneath my mosquito netting. There is no glass in the windows, but unfortunately, no breeze stirred the curtains at all. I lay there listening to Jessica breathing a peaceful sleep across the room and the thump of bass from a bar down the road. The mosque is belting out Muslim prayers over a loudspeaker and the sounds of cars from the main road fill the room. I know I have said it before, but …….
omigosh……I am in Africa…………..
Love, Anna aka Mud Butt

Anna aka Mud Butt

Booga-booga talk and African Rum

Thursday, February 17, 2005
Booga-booga talk and African Rum

Thursday, February 17, 2005
I woke up to the sound of African children going to school outside my window. They are laughing and talking in Swahili, and mixed with the roosters, it is the alarm clock that I have become accoustomed to here. This morning, we were all quiet as we rode to work. Between the big field trip yesterday, and the trip to the local pub for dancing that some of the younger volunteers took last night, we are all pretty beat. I was hoping for a quiet day at Kilamahewa, but the joke was on me! There was a cool breeze blowing, and for the first time since I have arrived, it was not unbearably hot. As a result, the kids were wild!! If I didn’t know better, I would think that they had all had Frosted Flakes for breakfast! The morning passed quickly in a whirwind of ABS’s, 123’s, and teacher’s cries of ,”put that down, stop hitting him and turn around forward in your seat!”. I will say…. I loved every minute of it!
I was hoping to go to the orphanage today, but we have three classes in a row this afternoon. All of these ‘cultural enrichment classes’ will be over next week, so hopefully I can go then! After lunch, the heat settled in thickly and we struggled to keep our eyes open for a lecture on ‘Gender roles in Tanzania’. I was exhausted, but the lecture was in no ways boring! When the roles of men and women here are described to us, we are told that the woman is in charge of everthing that has to do with the home. That includes, but is not limited to, cooking, cleaning, gathering all water, (sometimes as much as a two day walk from the home), feeding, birthing and cleaning up after all livestock, selling vegatabels for money, managing the home finances, shopping, caring for the sick, and, ahem, all conjugal rights that the man expects.
(Now some of you are saying, “Man, that is just like here in the U.S.”, but let me tell you, this is no joke! I have never seen anyone work this hard, ever!!)
When I asked what the man does, I was told that he MIGHT have a job. If not, he just lounges. We see a lot of this here….women working their fingers to the bone and men sitting in the bars drinking beer. If a woman cooks one pound of meat, the man gets half, and the rest is divided by the woman and all of the children.
The women here are proud, beautiful and strong, and all I have to say is that if women’s liberation ever comes to Tanzania, these men better watch out! Things are getting better for women here, though. FGM, female genital mutilation, or as it is better known, female circumcision, is becoming rarer in the cities, and education for young girls is becoming more easily available. However, times change very slowly here. When I asked why most of the women that we meet are quiet and meek, but the women that work here as staff are strong and assertive, we are told that the women here on the staff are educated. Education is the key. That thing whick I took for granted my whole life is such a luxury and gift here and it can change a womans life profoundly. I think that I already told you that until 20 years ago, there was a 98% illiteracy rate among adults here. Well, these are the grandparents of the children in schools today, so you can see how that change has taken place in the last two generations.
After that class, we had another one on spirits, witch doctors, diviners and such. This was also really fascinating. Western medicine has it’s place here, but traditional medicine is still used by the majority of people. The amazing thing is that the traditional medicine is very, very sophisticated. The people that are healers are ‘called’ to heal by the spirits, and are told that healing is the purpose of their life and if they refuse to learn the skill, there is no reason for the gods to keep them around. Pretty convincing, huh?! Stories of their medicine have been written up in many medical journals, and everyone trusts in them completely. Some of the other volunteers are skeptical, but it makes sense to me. Most of our pharmaceuticals are derivitives of plants and herbs. The healers here are just serving them up in their natural form!
As for spirituality, there is a heirarchy of spirits starting with the supreme God, which every African believes in, all the way down to the ‘living dead’, which are those people that have died but that we still remember. Most people here are Muslim or Catholic, but many of them believe in a combination of their traditional beliefs and organized religion. They do not seem to find conflict in the two, rather they allow the two to peacefully coexist.
Booga-booga talk soon gave way to our last Swahili class. I really wanted to skip it, but I kept telling myself that it is not very often that I get the opportunity to take a free Swahili class, so I finally went. Several people are out of town, so myself and the two college guys enjoyed the last class. They spent all of their effort trying to get the teacher, Mama Hedwig, to teach them how to insult each other, while she just shook her head at them and said, “No, do not learn such things”. Even she had to laugh, though, when Andrew told her “Hakuna ma-taco”, instead of “Hakuna matata”. Rather than saying to her, ‘no worries’, he was telling her, ‘no buttocks’. You gotta love a foreign lauguage!
After class, we all gathered for our final field trip. CCS was taking us to the Honey Badger Cultural Arts Center for an evening of dinner, tribal drumming, and dancing. It was great fun and as I twirled around in a grass skirt, I just kept thinking, “If my parents could see me now!” The laughing and dancing went on into the night, and as it got later, Mama Lucy, the large African woman that is in charge at the Center, kept feeding me swigs of the local homemade rum. When I finally got into the van, I was exhausted! I loved every second of it, though, and before we left, Christy and I accepted an invitation to come back and spend the afternoon with Mama Lucy to discuss Tanzanian traditions. I can’t wait!!!
Love, Anna aka Mud Butt

“When all is said and done here at the ending of the day, I look out on this world and it still takes my breath away…”
“Robin’s Song” Small Potatoes

Anna aka Mud Butt

I’m gonna dance upon this earth!

Wednesday, February 16, 2005
I’m gonna dance upon this earth!

Wednesday, February 16, 2005There are several events that CCS schedules for us to help us learn about the culture here in Tanzania, and today we did a whole day of stuff! This is a big field trip that encompasses a ton of stuff and I have really been looking forward to it. We all loaded up in the van at 8:30 and took off for our first stop. Simon, our driver, had not been driving for even fifteen minutes when he pulled over to an empty lot. When we asked what we were doing, he pointed across the field. There stood the single biggest tree I have ever seen! It is a bao bob (?), and they are sacred here in Tanzania. Not only is it against the law to cut one down, but spiritually, it is akin to commiting hari-kari! Simon says that these trees can grow 2000-3000 years old, but this one was only about 800 years old. Can you imagine? Of course, I hugged the tree! Wouldn’t you?!?! One other note of interest, ….when trying to get rid of hexes or evil spirits, people sacrifice animals at the foot of the tree. There was a bucket of something beneath the tree with a million flies in and around it, but I did not move in for a closer look! There are some things I would rather not know!!
Our next stop was a Chagas cave. The Chagas are a tribe of people that were at war with the Masai for centuries. They built a series of caves and tunnels to hide their women and cattle in, since that is what the Masai were primarily interested in. There is one cave and tunnel that leads to the river and is a TWO DAY walk….all underground! The cave that we went to was small with a long ricket-y wooden ladder leading down into the darkness. Once you got down there, you had to crawl on your stomach from room to room through layers of guano. I have to be honest, though, this is definitely second hand information. There was no way, no how I was going down that dark little hole! I really do believe that when I have a fear in this world,, the best thing I can do is try my best to overcome it. I have hiked at night, I have forded streams, I have attempted a 40 foot high cat walk (I could not do it, but I DID try!), I have flown to foreign countries, I have performed in front of thousands, and I have walked through an African village by myself, knowing no one. All that having been said, I was NOT going down into that dark little hole!! Instead, I walked behind two of the huts and met an elderly Chagas woman. We talked for about 15 minutes, (no, she did not speak English!), when all of the sudden she went running off through the banana trees! A few minutes later, she came back dragging a large stalk of corn with an ear hanging off. She had ripped it out of the ground to give it to me! She was so excited that she just kept talking in Swahili until finally Simon came over and explained that she wanted to give me a gift. I was really touched and after thanking her about a thousand times, I stuck the ear of corn in my bag and fed the rest of the stalk to the cow. I may have been scared of the cave, but I had my own wonderful adventure and I am really glad that I got to meet her.
After the Chagas cave, we stopped by a tiny market for 20 minutes before going on to lunch. I was still in pursuit of kangas so off I went to try my negotiating skills. As usual, within a minute, we were all swarmed by locals talking to us and reaching out to touch us. When I found the kangas I wanted, I bargained with the woman for a few minutes before finally reaching a price. Business done, I headed back to the van. It turns out that out of the three of us that bought kangas, I paid the lowest price! Everyone said that it was because I was a good negotiator, but I think it is because between my bad Swahili and laughter, I am the silliest! The market sellers seem to really enjoy that!
Amid groans of hunger, we headed to a small park for lunch. We drove for miles on little dirt roads, dodging the livestock before we came to a metal gate. When it swung open, spread before us was the most beautiful green lawn circled by shrubs and flowers. This was our picnic place, and it was like heaven. We lounged on the grass under a tree eating box lunches that our cook had prepared for us as we garnered our strength for the rest of the day. The next trip was a close walk to a traditional Chagas hut, and it was really neat. The guide explained the burial practices of the Chagas dead, and took us inside the hut to show us how traditional Chagas live. Imagine a round grass and twig hut woven so tightly that no light can come inside at all. When you enter, on the left, there are two pens, one for the cows and one for the goats, and on the right are two sleeping platforms, one for the girls and one for the guys. There is a small fire in the middle of the floor, and a loft above for storing bananas. It was all very interesting, but I really sat up and took notice when the guy explained that HE lived in here!! I thought that it was a display hut, like you might see if you visit Indian Village in Andarko, Oklahoma, but NO! This was this gentleman’s home! Fulgence, our director, explained that in this situation, rodents, insects, animals and humans all lived together in harmony. Hmm…..almost sounds like the Appalachain Trail to me!
After the history part of the day was done, we all went on a hike down to a waterfall. I had spent a good deal of last week worrying about this because some previous volunteers had told me that it was a very steep, difficult climb down and back up. I thought about not hiking it, but I kept telling myself that if I can do a big chunk of the AT, surely I could do this! So, they handed out sticks to everyone, (I took two!), and down we went. Well….it was steep…very steep…..but there were hand rails! And it was mostly giant steps cut into the rocks! Hah! Piece of cake!! Simon told me at the top that he wanted me to go down with him and to go very slowly. After the first five miuntes, I sat down on my butt to go down a steep section. He went’ “Oh!! Be careful!”, and I smiled at him, telling him that I did it on purpose. A few minutes later, he said softly, “you are good, …very good”, and stayed behind with some other volunteers. At the bottom was a gorgeous, huge waterfall, and I settled back onto a rock to enjoy the view. There were about six little local boys down there and they laughed at us all as we splashed in the water and hopped from rock to rock. The weather was hot, but perfect and the sky was a brilliant blue. As I looked up through the trees, I just felt totally relaxed. It really doesn’t get much better than this!
Much too quickly, Simon came to tell me that it was time to go. I had asked him for a ten minute head start so I could take my time, so off I went. The climb back up was hard on the legs and lungs, but not technically difficult. The heat was overbearing, though, so I struggled to get up out of the canyon as fast as possible. When I got to the top, I did the ‘dance of the real woman’, while saying, “tena…tena”, which means ‘again!”. The other volunteers were not amused, but I couldn’t help but feel great. One of the guys asked me it that trail was like the AT, and I explained that the AT was a lot tougher. Steps cut into rock and hand rails are a serious luxury! He just shook his head and said he would never understand why someone would ever want to do that. I just shook my own head, wondering why someone would not want to.
The rest of the day passed quickly with a stop at the gate of Mount Kilimanjaro and a long drive home. As we drove through the darkness, I listened to the music on my iPod. The Burns sisters were singing, “I’m gonna dance upon this earth”, and I was filled, once again with gratitude for my life. I am the luckiest person I know. Good night.

“When all is said and done here at the ending of the day, I look out on this world and it still takes my breath away…”
“Robin’s Song” Small Potatoes

Anna aka Mud Butt

Another African Day-Tuesday Feb. 15

Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Another African Day-Tuesday Feb. 15

Tuesday, February 15, 2005
This morning I made a wonderful discovery! I went To Kilamahewa as usual, and began teaching 1-2-3 etc. The day is beautiful and hot, but there is a nice breeze blowing and we are shaded by the corrugated tin roof over the porch where class meets. The children are in good spirits, but one boy in particular, is being a booger!! He is wiggle-ly and distracted, and basically causing lots of trouble. I finally walked over to him and said, “Ache, Emmanulli, ….hapana, hapana….andika 1-2-3”, which basically means ‘stop driving me crazy!’
When he held up his half-piece of paper covered in about a skillion 1-2-3’s, I turned it over and wrote his name in big letters. “Andika”, I said, and he imediately leaned over in deep concentration. Several minutes later, he showed me a fabulous five-years olds depiction of ‘Emanuelli’, with a huge grin. I immediately grabbed him by the arm, interrupted Mr. Masawe in the other room, and showed him. You would have thought the child had found a cure for cancer!!! It was so great! Mr. Masawe cheered, the class clapped, and I hugged him. Needless to say, he calmed right down and I started challenging him every five minutes with something new. It is amazing how a bored kid can become a perfect student with a little motivation! We ended class with a rousing rendition of the Hokey Pokey and Emanuelli was right in the middle ‘shakin it all about’ with a happy smile. Man, I love this job!
After school, I headed back to the house for an afternoon of chores and such. I needed to do laundry and run some errands, so having some downtime was really nice. When it comes to doing laundry, CCS has arranged for women in the neighborhood to do our laundry. It is a way for them to earn some income, and I have to say, it is a wonderful service! I put all of my clothes in a laundry bag, fill out a sheet saying whether or not I want wash, press, or wash and press, stick my money in, and leave it on the porch. A little old woman comes to get it and two days later I get it back. The thing that is amazing is that they do all washing by hand. No washing machines, no dryers. And they get the clothes SO clean!! A bag of clothes costs about $3 to wash, and there is no way I could do it as well as these women! Traditionally, though, Tanzanians never handle the undercolthes of strangers, so we have to hand wash all of our own underwear.
The afternooon ended with yet another Swahili class. At this point, I am somewhat lost! People of the street constantly compliment me on how good my Swahili is, but that is because they have not met Andrew and John, the two young Georgetown boys in my group. These guys have not taken the first note or written the first thing down, and they remember everything!!! At this point, I am happy to live in the present, (rather than figure out future and past tense), and communicate like a cave man. “Me name Anna. Me American. Me teach childs. Me loves Tanzania much.” I think you get the picture!
Tommorw is a big day, so I am going to head to be early. As for today, well, it was just another normal African day! My best to you!! Anna aka Mud Butt

Anna aka Mud Butt

The Click heard Round the World

Monday, February 14, 2005
The Click heard Round the World

Valentines Day- February 14, 2005
Today it happened. You know, whenever I travel, after a bit of time, something happens and all of the sudden, everything is normal. I feel perfectly at home, and feel like I have lived here forever. Well, it happened this morning. I was in the van with all of the other volunteers headed towards our placements when all of the sudden I felt it. I looked around and it was……normal. Women with giant bunches of bananas on their heads, Dala Dala buses with men hanging out of every window, goats in the road……it was all normal. It feels like I can spend the rest of my time here really being here, rather than being a tourist. Does that make sense?
Anyway……….
Happy Valentines Day! Today we went back to work after a wonderful weekend, and I asked Sarah and Jessica if we can make Valentines Day cards with the kids from the school. Students at Mill Creek HS and my friends Amy and Andy have donated construction paper and crayons and I think it would be a great way to share the day with the kids. After everyone agreed, Mr. Masawe came over to our side of the building and I asked him to explain what Valentines Day was to the kids. In the midst of all of the Swahili, I could hear him saying, “I love you mama, I love you baba”, and having the kids repeat after him. This man is so awesome! He told the kids to make the cards and to go home and tell their parents that they loved them. How great is that!?
It may seem like a small thing, but because of the donations by Amy and Andy and the orchestra at Mill Creek HS, these kids were able to do something they very rarely get to do. In fact, they each got TWO crayons to color their cards with instead of one, and believe me, that was a big deal! Many of the cards had 1,2,3 and Aa, Bb on them cause that is what we have been working on, and they were so proud. They worked on them all morning, and then we took them up to keep them nice until the end of the school day. In general, the kids were a little wild, but I think the excitement of the colored paper and crayons were just too much for them! It was great!
After leaving, Christy and I grabbed some lunch and went to the internet cafe. This has become the favorite thing of all the volunteers. We would rather be doing this than just about anything! I really miss home and my friends and family, so it was a great way to spend an hour. After going back to the house, I took a nap, and woke up to a dinner invitation for Valentines Day! The two young men from Georgetown that are here have invited all the ladies out to dinner, their treat. Isn’t that sweet! So we all got dressed up, which in my case meant that I put on some chapstick, and headed downtown. Supposedly, the Kinderocco Hotel has wonderful food, so that is where they took us. We climbed five flights of stairs to a wonderful roof top cafe and watched the sunset over Kili while sipping wine. Ok, ok….I know that I am in a third world country and that this is not what you had in mind! Trust me….it is not what I had in mind either!!! The funny thing is, after waiting over two hours for our food, Christy and I had to taxi back to the house because she was expecting a call from her husband. So she and I never did eat, but we enjoyed a nice evening out with the other volunteers anyway!
After a quick dinner of Snicker’s Marathon bars, we called it a night and tucked ourselves under our mosquito netting. I hope that all of your Valentines Days were as wonderful as mine!
Love, Anna
PS
“Please tell your friend how grateful we are that she is sharing her trip
with us. Also ask her why people don’t attempt to treat the water that’s
there? I thought chlorine killed about everything?”
As for the water, I am not sure that I can answer it. The locals have no problem with the water at all, but like so many other third world countries, foreigners definitely do. I think it has to do with all of the different stuff in the water which they are used to but we are not. I was planning on bringing my filter, but we were told that it would not be 100% effective against all the critters in the water here. Luckily, they provide us all the bottled water we need, or I would be in serious trouble!!
So far, knock on wood, I am the only volunteer that has not gotten sick, so I am happy with the way things are! I really appreciate that ya’ll are reading my journal! It helps me feel closer to home! Oh…and the coolest thing!!! All these young volunteers are planning on climbing Mt. Kiliminjaro and they are all asking ME for advice! The funny thing is, when you climb Kili, you hire porters to carry all of your stuff, so it has GOT to be easier than the Whites!!! Take care all!!! Love, Anna aka Mud Butt
“When all is said and done here at the ending of the day, I look out on this world and it still takes my breath away…”
“Robin’s Song” Small Potatoes

Anna aka Mud Butt