Puking at higher altitudes

I realize that I haven't updated my blog in a little while. I apologize that I am not as studious as the others... Anywho this past weekend was an interesting one to say the least.

Friday night we watched most of the third and final presidential debate. I had downloaded most of it the night before, so we got to see quite a bit of it until my download went poopy. It was quite entertaining to watch the debate with a Dane, an Indian couple that are here to do research through Michigan State (so they understood our American attitudes, living in the US to study and all) and a few Tanzanians around my age. We watched and awe as Obama cooly shot down McCain and McCains "deer in the headlights stares into the camera." We laughed, we yelled and most importantly discussed. It was really interesting to get an international perspective on the presidential race. Needless to say the rest of the world leans to the left.

Saturday I woke up not feeling the best. Little achy, little nauseous. That's when I convinced myself that I needed to go with the group and go climb the mountains behind the seminary. About an hour and a half into the climb, my body decided that it hated me and wanted to expel everything in the stomach. It was the first time that I has ever thrown up in public (as far as I can remember). I felt better after that and then continued on for another 8 hours. We reached the top and then continued for a while going down the other side. We then turned around and went back. I am still sore today but it was worth it. I'm glad I didn't bail out, otherwise I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see how unwinded and unsweaty a Maasai gets when he climbs a mountain. He had about a half liter of water all day....I drank 6 1/2 liters and ran out of water just before our descent.

Sunday we went to another Maasai village, only this one was a little different. Since PH needed to talk to the elders of the community (which I am sure the others have already described) we got to take a tour of the village, thanks to our friend and teacher Moreto. We went inside the houses, the kitchen, played with a Maasai spear, got to see how they make their sweet shiny jewelry. On a more serious note, this village seemed to have a different dynamic than the others. There was a wide range of people. There were those who were much better off than others. Widows suffered the most because the leader that taken care of them after their husbands died, died a few months ago himself. These widows had become very thin and looked extremely malnourished. It seemed odd to me that this happens in a community that is so close knit as what it appeared to be. This makes me really question the dynamic that is in these Maasai villages. It is an extremely patriarchal society, but everyone needs to depend on one another to survive. I guess this runs a little deeper than once thought. If a woman's spouse dies and no one steps up and takes care of that widow by providing food and other essentials for her, then that widow wilts and dies. I don't know how I feel about this. Taking a step back and looking at the societal structure it is obvious that the patriarchal society is very flawed. In instances like this, where poverty is so heavy, is it better to let a few die for the betterment of the community, or does everybody chip in and live at much harsher state than they are already in?

The choice would appear to be obvious where everybody chips in and helps one another, but by doing so they are weakening the state of an already fragile society, causing more sickness and malnutrition on a much larger scale and therefore potentially perpetuating the downfall of their community.

This just reinforces that I have so much to learn yet about the culture of the Maasai people. It is not as basic as it appears on the surface, but things like this seldom are. I am quickly learning how blind I am to things like these when I got villages and that I need to open my eyes more.

Peace,
PHW