Still Teaching and a bit "o" Maasai madness.

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Hello everyone!

I have settled nicely in to a routine as a Teacher. It continues to be a hugely satisfying experience and these people continue to be the most fantastic and welcoming people I have ever had the pleasure of spending time with.

But, while these people never have even a sniff of self pity about them, they are far too positive, I can’t help feel that they are let down terribly by their Government, I often find myself asking quite what DOES the Government actually DO?

In the West, we moan about our Governments but you must believe me when I say that for all our Governments faults, they fundamentally serve the people with high standards and a high level of accountability. There will no doubt be folks who disagree, but when you have spent some time in a country like Tanzania (and many of the other counties I have visited) where NOTHING works, you start having another perspective.

Anyway, rant over, I just find it all a bit frustrating on behalf of the people here, I don’t want these folks to be dependant on foreigners to help drag their country in to the 21^st century, I don’t want this culture of dependence of foreign aid to continue, but see no change in sight.

So, what else has been happening? Well, for the second time on this trip I found myself paying a visit to a Hospital, I managed to get bitten by a Nairobi Fly. The last sentence is misleading on two counts, firstly it is not a fly, but a beetle, and secondly you don’t get bitten you get sprayed. These tiny little creatures live in rotting leaves and come out at night to fly around and annoy you, if you make the mistake of trying to swat them as a final act of defiance they spray you with a corrosive chemical that burns your skin.

It’s quite common here and a course of Antihistamines sorted it out after a few weeks, but it was pretty painful having burns around my neck and on my chest. Naturally I milked it for all it was worth and decided to describe it as a tropical illness as opposed to a simple insect bite. To add impact you understand.

And…..after much indecision over my plans for Christmas, I have decided that I am going to leave here and press on in to the wilds of Tanzania. I am sorely tempted to stay here over Christmas but I will lose two weeks of my rapidly reducing trip if I do.

So….as it stands I am going to leave here at the end of next week, head to Tabora (where my dear Aunt Margaret was born), from Tabora I will try and make my way to Kibondo (where my dear Uncle John was born) and finally on to Kigoma.

Once in Kigoma there is a old steam vessel called the MV Liemba that has been plying the waters of Lake Tanganyika for over 100 years and on the 21^st of December it leaves Kigoma for the 3 day journey down the lake and in to Zambia. I intend on being on that boat even if it kills me.

What this means is that I have no real idea where I will be on Christmas day, if the boat leaves on time and takes three days to get to Zambia, I will find myself in Mpulungu, but this being Africa there is a good chance of delays so there is the possibility I will spend Christmas day on a boat floating around Lake Tanganyika with 200 fellow passengers and countless livestock. Either way, should be interesting.

Ok, I am going to sign off. As is increasingly the case the pictures on this post will tell you far more about my latest adventures then the text itself.

So, as always, I hope you are all well.

All my love and hugs.

John

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Photos

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Nairobi Fly burn. Horrible little things they are. How can something so small inflict so much pain?
Pretty good survival strategy though, if not slightly Kamikaze, as I haven’t swatted one since.

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One day Rahim decided to sport some pink Flip Flops, which I thought worthy of a Photo. Would chaps in England wear pink Flip Flops? I think not.

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One thing I am going to miss deeply when I return home is the lack of colour. African woman dress in the most colourful and beautiful Kangas.

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On Thanksgiving, one of the Students appeared with a live Chicken for us. It was promptly named Marilyn.

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Marilyn was a handsome beast, very good looking, and not like some of the slightly mangy conjunctivitis ridden specimens that we have seen on home visits.

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Marilyn settled in quickly. After a breakfast of Muesli I decided that she must be thirsty so I put out a bowl of water.

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In English, the Students were asked what they were thankful for, you will note on the sixth line down they are thankful for “the new Chicken”.

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Sadly Marilyn was dinner, so the chaps set to work to liberate her from this cruel world. Being Muslim, the liberation had to be Halal. Here Rahim is trying to work out which direction Mecca is so Marilyn would be facing the correct direction for her execution.

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Miraji dispatched Marilyn quickly and painlessly.

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And then they set to work plucking and gutting the old girl. The point of this photo montage is to demonstrate just how capable and resourceful these folks are. Could you imagine my work Colleagues killing and preparing a Chicken in under half an hour. Or ever for that matter?

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Ahhh, its nice to be loved. Only my vewy special fwends call me John Jo.

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It was Thanksgiving so we invited in our Masai watchman in, and then proceeded to stick flowers in to the huge holes in his ear lobes.

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Since I have arrived in the house, Pancakes are becoming a regular fixture, they are very popular with everyone and have become my, ahem, “signature dish”.

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Perhaps my two most favorite people, Fatahia, who I introduced in my last post and whom I now call Mama, and Steph, who was sadly leaving that day to return to Australia. Everyone, including myself, was very fond of Steph.

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There were many tears on Stephs last day as she was so liked and admired by students and colleagues alike.

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This is Victoria, the Schools manager having a flight with a local child. This went against all my English sense of fair play, but I guess as Victoria is American, this didn’t apply.

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One of our former Students is a Maasai and stopped in one day to invite use to a celebration at his village. It was to celebrate the circumcision of several male, adult, tribesmen. They weren’t celebrating much, but everyone else was having a great time.

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It was a big gathering, and it was nice to know that it would have taken places regardless of our presence. Truth is you see the Maasai everywhere around here, even in big towns.

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Here, the women are bringing a goat to be slaughtered. I felt deeply uncomfortable taking pictures but our host seemed quite upset at my reluctance so I relented.

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Standard issue cute African children picture. But they ARE cute and they seem to love having their picture taken.

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As with the Mongolians, the modern Maasai use modern forms of transport.

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Ahhh, this is the grab the bit of meat game. The object, as the name suggests, is to grab the bit of meat while the opposite team defends it. With sticks. It was all good natured though.

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This was a pretty good sneaky hip shot. The Maasai are by far the most stunning and photogenic people I have encountered. They don’t always dress like this but for a big celebration they really go to town.

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After a day of walking around here your feet get pretty dirty.