Market and Moving On

Hello All,

Since my Lupanga adventure I was able to complete the work I came to Tanzania to do. I have obtained more information on the region, and I have done a test run of my interview guide. There are several portions that need some more attention, but overall it worked well, and everyone I showed it to approved. Below is a picture of the breakfast of champions: chapati with Africafe!

Charles and I visited a Maasai Market in my last couple of days. I had commented that NaneNane was like the National Western Stock Show, but this market was much closer. The main attraction was the cattle. Warriors guarded small herds, and people walked around inspecting, buying, and selling. The air was filled with dust and the sounds of lowing and the crack of sticks across stubborn backs. I took this awesome shot of one warrior inspecting his herd.After Charles sold one of his cattle, he and some of his relatives and I sat down to have some freshly cooked (and freshly slaughtered) beef. We sat around a small table covered in leaves pulled from the surrounding trees, and the chef dropped this slab of meat in front of us. Charles whipped out a knife and cut off large bites for everyone. As soon as I had mine in my mouth, I knew I was in trouble. It was tasty but huge and tough. Maasai love their cattle and everything connected to their cattle, and I was afraid of making some social fauxpaux by having to spit it out. So I chewed and chewed... and chewed some more. I couldn't even tear off a piece of it to swallow. What seemed like ten minutes later, I was still chewing, my teeth and jaws were starting to get tired, and I was really starting to panic that I would never be able to swallow the thing. Happily, Charles noticed that I had not been taking anymore pieces and just said, "If you can't swallow it, just throw it," gesturing to the dirt. Gratefully, I removed this giant, gray, masticated blob from my mouth and chucked it away from our table. After that, Charles cut me tiny little pieces that would have been good for a baby or a granny with no teeth- they were perfect!
In the last couple of evenings spent with Luka and Seleyan, we enjoyed delicious dinners of mishkaki na chipsi na mayai (sheesh kebabs with french fry omlettes). There was a little shop just down the road from the house that would grill you up the mishkaki over glowing coals, and the put french fries in a skillet and cracked eggs over them to make a little omlette. Then they would take all the elements and throw them in a plastic bag with a few squirts of tomato sauce and send you on your way to eat the mix with toothpicks. I should have taken a picture, but I was too anxious to get home and eat!

Saying goodbye was sad, but I'm really excited to be traveling again. Morogoro's a great town, but I was getting antsy. I have now arrived back in Dar es Salaam, and the YMCA proved to be the source of good fortune once again! I met Edward there, and this time, I have met a group of travelers from British Columbia, Great Britain, and Colorado!! Our adventures are a tale for next time!

Cheers,

Kara