Music with the Mamas

Imagine a mug. You know, one of those cylindrical, normal sized ones you drink your tea out of. Now imagine a spider inside that mug. Now imagine that its legs reach all the way to the circumference of the mug, and they even have to scrunch up a little to fit inside. Add two large pincers and glinting eyes and you are picturing what I found on the wall that the head of my bed is pushed up against this morning.

Fortunately, I sleep in a completely tucked in, impenetrable, bug repellent-treated mosquito net. This, however, is not quite enough to make me feel comfy cozy about crawling back into bed tonight. Just the thought that it might be crawling just inches away from me on the other side of the net in the night is enough to make my skin… crawl… aghhh

Oh right. It is also probably poisonous, according to our Maasai morning walk guide this morning. Luckily not deadly. I’ll just concentrate on that while getting tucked in tonight.

Other than the lovely morning wake up, today has been wonderful. I woke up early to go on a nature walk, guided by Daniel, our Swahili teacher. We saw a whole family of baboons in the trees, and I have to say I am starting to be a bit fond of them. We also came across some incredible birds! Walking outside of our fenced-in camp was a little scary at first because apparently they have seen herds of elephants on these walks before, but our guides know all about the area and safety around the animals.

The mamas!

Later we had many hours of class, which were very interesting but it was so hot that I could barely keep my eyes open. I will have to find a way to combat this afternoon sluggishness! After class we went to a Maasai village (Boma) nearby. It was incredible! All the women welcomed us with a song and a dance in all their beautiful beads and colorful clothes, and showed us their houses.  After their dance, all the SFS students and I did our own song that we’d practiced during the day: “Twist and Shout” by the Beatles. It was really hilarious!!! The women loved it. I am SO glad that I brought my guitar. This day alone made it absolutely and completely worth it. I figured out the chords and we all sang and got the Maasai mamas to dance with us. What an unexpected and random, jubilant moment in the middle of a dusty African field. I never thought I’d be dancing and playing guitar with twenty Maasai women.

SHAKE IT UP BABY!!!

Seeing their homes and village was amazing. The heat inside the huts amazed me. I was also surprised that they were pitch dark inside, and that they cook on a fire inside these small huts. The women spread out the jewelry that they make after showing us their huts, and we all perused and bought beautiful rainbow colored beaded jewelry. I chose a very thick wrist cuff made of many colors that I am quite excited about. Those women are hard bargainers though! They rarely have outsiders visit, but they acted like experienced saleswomen when it came to convincing us to buy things! Lucky for us, because we really wouldn’t find anything like it anywhere else. They were even selling lion’s teeth! I didn’t know how they got them and didn’t want to buy one without knowing but it was cool to see them and just confirmed how enormous they must be in person. Can’t wait to see one!!!!!

On the way back there was a very heavy downpour of rain and hail out of the blue. We all ran out and played Frisbee in the rain and saw a beautiful brilliant rainbow. Had a campfire tonight and now doing homework- another great day!