Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Day 7 - A Maasai Village

resta qui ancora un minuto
se l'inverno è soltanto un'estate che non ti ha conosciuto
Fiamme Negli Occhi - Coma_Cose

Day 7 was when we're going back to Nairobi. Was I ready for vacation to be over? I guess. It's been a really different week and I think it's just time to go. I remember telling K that morning that I was excited for him to see his family again :D But before that, I had one more thing to do which was to visit a Maasai village. I was really on the fence about doing this, but in the end I thought I should because if you only have one chance to do something, I do think you better do it all out. That being said, I was still nervous about it that I admitted that to K. I couldn't quite put into words why then and maybe now, but it's more like these are people, they are not objects to be looked at or observed at, so I feel very uneasy. K said they're happy you're there. It's still awkward though. There were other tourists but we got our own person to walk us around. So I was assigned this guy, P. He first sat me down under a tree and introduced himself a bit and showed me a horn which I forget was from which animal and a hat made of a lion head. He told me about how one of their practice was sending a group boys of the same age out to the savanna for days and learn how to fend for themselves. That is super daunting for me because I wouldn't survive, so it's really cool that they have this skill set. Then P got his villagers to perform a dance. This was one of the most awkward thing about this visit as I knew it would since I have read about it before. Awkward, because for me it's like no, you don't have to do this, but it's part of the programme, so I just sat there and tried to be cool.

After that, P brought me to enter his family compound. The compound is surrounded by a fence made of pretty tall tree branches. There were a few houses and they're all one big family there. The Maasai practice polygamy which is not radical at all in Kenya because it's quite common for everyone. So in the compound, everyone are related to one another. The houses are almost like in a circle and their cattles will stay in the center of the circle at night. During the day, they're taken out to go grazing, except for the baby cattles which was in a separate area. P showed me that and told me that some nights before some cheetahs broke in and managed to kill some baby cattles, but they had since cut a tree nearby and installed steel wires on top of the enclosure. Then a few of them showed me and other tourists how they would make fire and it was interesting. P also showed me some plants that had medicinal property, like the one they use to repel mosquitos. For someone who has zero survival skill, these kinda things really impress me :D

Then P took me to visit his house. Houses are build by the women and it's made by cow dung, mud, sticks and he said the house may last like 10 over years. If the houses are showing signs of damage, they may move the whole compound to another area. The fact that the women build the houses are just amazing. Again, I will not be able to do this. Upon entering the house, P told me it's going to be dark, so he said I may want to have my phone's torchlight as light. The house is small and there's like a small hallway. I could already hear my mom saying why have this, just make it open concept. The hallway then opened up to a small area. There's a place for fire, that morning it's just ember, and they could cook what they need there. There's a small storage room kinda thing where they store the firewood. On the left and right of this small open area, there are rooms, totalling 3 rooms in total. The fact that the women could build this house on their own and it does not collapse is just amazing. The women are also in charge of collecting water some distance away. I kept on thinking I wouldn't survive living like that. P and me sat there a while talking. Only much later I thought, wait I just sat with a guy alone in a dark room for some time, somehow that did not feel proper, but there's nothing unbecoming and I enjoyed the conversation. P allowed me to ask anything I wanted which now thinking about it, I actually have more questions, but then I guess it was a combination of feeling awkward and sensory overload that I did not ask as much as the questions in my head now. I did say one obnoxious thing, which was he speaks good English. I know! The moment I heard that coming out of my mouth, my head was like, what the fuck?!? You have had people telling you yourself that, didn't you want to roll your eyes then? Now you're doing the same. I think it came from me feeling like sometime I don't even speak such good English. He was gracious about it though, saying thank you and maybe he had good teacher. There's no electricity in the compound but for young people like him, he does have a mobile phone so he has access to information out there, but he has to charge the phone in one of the lodge nearby or at a store in the market. We talked about food. The cattles are precious for them and selling the cows is a slippery slope because you sell one today, you may sell two tomorrow. They drink the blood of the cows and have the milk. They have chicken which they trade off for grains and P said, they do not like chicken and fish, which is the opposite of me because I don't eat beef often. Their diet seems so limited and unhealthy, but I'm pretty sure they're healthier than me. The kids go to school but it's some walk away. I mean for the lazy me, it's a distance but he said it's fine for them all. I asked if education is free and it's not, they still have to pay something. P values education and he has some ideas to better the lives of his people and I think that is cool for a young person to feel that way. Talking with him was the best part of the visit I think because it allowed me to get to know someone and their world.

Here are some pictures from the visit. There's the cows that were going out that day, the welcome dance, and also after talking with P, I saw some other tourists dancing and singing with the women.

After the visit, we made our way back to Nairobi. Nothing of note to say in the journey, aside for the fact that maybe K realizing we only had a few hours left that he suddenly just asked me questions regarding my lack of love life. I couldn't remember the first question being asked, but I remember thinking, wow, okaaay :D You know what, I respect the boldness. He had taken so many questions and comments from me about his personal life, he has earned the right to fire back :D I also think the fact that he felt he could do that also kinda signified that he's comfortable enough with me to grill me. So that's good, we're friends or for me I really see K as this little brother. He asked me about the kind of guy I want and then insisted I should make an effort *sigh* I am sighing because as I told him, so many people have told me that. I make an effort for a number of things in my life, but I do have to say that that is the one thing I don't make an effort in. There were some honest truths that I told him in that journey back. We talked a lot which was not really what we did on long drive the days before. I guess really it's because we only had a few hours left, so it's almost like the last moment to ask questions that we're curious about or just to talk about stuff :D I am really glad and thankful that the time spent with K had been all good. Thank God really. Nearing my hotel, he told me J1, who was his boss and the person who I liased with when booking this, was there because he wanted to meet me. I initialed it as J1 because his brother's name also starts with J, so he'll be J2. When J1 opened the door for me, I was stunned because he's so young, even younger than K and I have to say I am very impressed. Again young people doing big things do make you wonder what you have been doing with your life. Good for him though and I do hope business will be good for him. There was a bit of chit chat and then it's good bye to all.

So I arrived back not too late in the evening. I decided to have dinner not at the hotel, but at the cafe nearby. Before going there, I explored the hotel a bit. Went up to see where the swimming pool is, but didn't go there. Instead I took a picture of the area below which I'm still not sure which part of the hotel this was. I have to say, I rarely explore what the hotels I stay in have to offer. I mostly just stay in my room, so that's perhaps quite a waste? Anyways, there was a sense of accomplishment for having completed that week (praise be to God), but there was still a challenge that I had to conquer the next day and I had to do it alone.

:) eKa @ 5:46:00 PM •