Magara Trip

Jambo!
Well I have a lot to talk about after going on camp with my class for three days! I had a blast but definitely was ready to sleep in a bed again after a long, hot and rainy at times trip.
We left Monday morning and the kids were pumped and ready for our trip. The students all got in this big thing we call the Lorry but it’s basically a big truck with seats on it and the sides are more or less open with bars keeping the students in. I don’t think we’d get by with that in the U.S. but there was a lot of stuff that happened on this trip that definitely wouldn’t fly in the U.S.
Anyway, we got going (a bit late) and headed to the Arusha campus to get those students. From there we left (a bit late) and headed on toward our destination…Magara. The trip went well for the most part except that the Lorry driver felt sick so we had to stop a few times and the kids were cold and dusty when we finally arrived at our destination. I was fortunate enough to be in a Land Cruiser with two of our other adults so I didn’t have to brave any harsh conditions like my students had to do.
Our first stop when we arrived was at a village and we met the Bariback (not sure if I spelled that right?) tribe. It was interesting to see how they lived and find out what they do. Basically we found out that tending to the cattle is the most important thing to them. Cattle is their life line and without them they would die. Even a little boy that looked no bigger than 4 years old was holding a stick and was herding so of the calves. When we asked them about play they said… “We don’t play.” They consider all of their day to be work however we found out that they do dance and sing and play drums but the word “play” just really isn’t in their vocabulary. We also got to see inside their house which was quite interesting. The houses were made of mud and sticks and inside there were beds made from sticks and tied with leather and there were hollowed out gourds for their water and food. Some of the houses had little rooms where they kept cows, goats and other animals in their house with them! There is one “main man” of the tribe and he has many wives. The wives all live in different houses and the man has his own house as well. The houses form a circle and on the inside of that circle they keep more animals. It almost seemed surreal to see that people actually live this way, I wished we would have had more time to talk and ask questions but since we got started late we had to head back to our camp site rather quickly after visiting the tribe.
When we arrived at our camping site I was blown away! It was a beautiful area with a waterfall that added to the beautiful landscape. We set up our tents and all of us headed straight for a nice refreshing dip in the waterfall. That night we sang a few songs, ate some supper and then headed to bed. Unfortunately just as we had gotten all our kids into tents it started to rain. We were nervous since the kids mostly set up their own tents and worried that in the middle of the night we’d have a lot of soggy students, but after some rains went through and morning came we only had one tent that flooded a little. I was impressed! But even though everyone managed to stay dry throughout the night, we still didn’t get away from the rain. As we were serving breakfast a HUGE downpour of rain came down and everyone got drenched! We loaded the kids into the vehicles they came in and for about an hour we stayed in our cars to keep out of the rain. Finally the sky cleared and we were able to re-group and decide how the rest of the day would turn out. Our original plan was to all climb up a part of a mountain to visit another tribe but since the rain delayed us we gave the kids the choice to either climb like normal but in a smaller group, or drive up in cars. I was brave and decided to climb and I was surprised at how difficult it was! Apparently the trail they’ve used in the past had grown in quite a bit and so for awhile we were trudging through long grass trying to hold on to anything we could to climb higher. It was hard going for a little bit, but the view from the top made it all worth it! We could see for miles of the African terrain and in the distance was Lake Manyara which was so blue it almost blended in with the sky. Life was good!
After everyone reached the top we met up with the people who drove. They had already interviewed the tribe at the top of the peak we climbed and so we just went to visit and see their house and talk a little to the people. This family was part of the Warweiq (again, spelling?) tribe and they spoke in a language that had a lot of clicking. They also had a house that was underground to keep cool and inside they showed us their beds that again were made of sticks, the rock that they used to grind flour and other things that were similar to the other tribe. What I really noticed about these people is that they were pretty nervous around all of us. As I thought about it though, I don’t think they see many people, much less white people! We climbed about 2 hours to get to their home so that means if they ever need anything they’d have to do the same climb we did, so I doubt they get out much. While we were there, there was one little boy who I really was drawn towards. I could just see the fear in his eyes because he wasn’t used to all these people. I went over to him and tried to hold his hand, and he just stared at me again with fear. He was so adorable but I felt so bad that I scared him so much. I would be scared too though if some crazy blue-eyed, blondish haired girl were trying to talk to me in a language I’d never heard before! Eventually we left him alone though and hopefully he recovered from the invasion of new-comers. Again, I wish we would have had more time to talk with the people, but the kids were hot and hungry so we headed back down to our campsite.
That afternoon we went back to the waterfall and I unsuccessfully tried to wash my hair, but I think I came out dirtier than I started! Oh well, that’s what camping is all about! Then the kids had a meal and a talent show and time for bed again, this time no rain thankfully!
In the morning we packed up and headed to a market where the kids were able to do a little bargaining and shopping. The kids also were lucky (haha) enough to see a cow being slaughtered in the market right when we drove up….there’s one of those times where I don’t think we’d let that happen in the U.S. At the market I bought a stick of sugar cane because it was everywhere and I wanted to know what was so great about it. It was pretty good, but annoying to eat. You have to rip off the outside parts first, then take a bit, suck out the sugar and spit out the rest. It was a little too much work for some sugar I think, but people here seem to like it. Later, we got back in the cars and headed home. We finally all arrived safe and sound around 5pm here.
It was a great trip and I think everyone had a great time. The rest of my week has been pretty relaxed which was good because I was tired after the trip! We had two days of class and we mainly reflected on the trip and did some writing about it. This Friday a new volunteer from PA came and she will be here for a month. I stayed home last night so I could greet her with a warm African hello and help her get settled. This morning we went into town and I showed her what I know…which still isn’t much…but it felt funny to be the “expert” and be able to answer her questions and what not. Now, I’m just getting things ready for the safari that I leave for on Monday! I’m really excited and can’t wait to tell you all about it.
See you all soon!
Alissa