Soko la ng'ombe

I thought I would write an entry tomorrow after we visit another village, but then I realized that my experiences today would probably not be as epically cool and details would be skipped out.

Today we went the cattle market. If you can remember way back when, we went to a cattle market about month ago... has been a month already? Wow, I guess it has. That means that it has also been about a month since I had malaria. I know this because the last time we were at the cattle market I felt unbelievably terrible for no reason. Not today though. Today was a special day. PH didn't have to pick up anybody along the way today so the four of us got to ride where there is leg room. For some reason I get the front seat whenever this extremely rare occasion happens. Maybe it's seniority, maybe it's height, maybe it's pity...who knows and who cares. Sitting in the front means direct access to the A/C vents MWAHAHAHA!!!!

When we got to the market we made the rounds with PH. Using our Swahili skills that we have acquired over the past month and a half of lessons. It was terrific to use our skills once again in a public setting. As the day went on I realized that I could understand about half the conversation around me. People bartering, people talking about their families, people talking about their cattle, their villages, their current life situation. It was amazing to hear it all because when we came last time I felt like I was watching a foreign film with no subtitles, now there are subtitles that turn themselves on and off...but there are still subtitles. None of us really bought to much as we walked around. Maybe some fabric, a pair of shoes, and a few knives. It was just great to walk around and meet new people and see some familiar faces. We drank and ate green coconuts. We ran into some limeys (the term originating in the late nineteenth century because of the former enforced consumption of lime juice to prevent scurvy in the British navy) while we were there and talked it up for ten to fifteen minutes. It was quite odd to see other white people around. It made me realize how much we must stick out like sore thumbs. Odd feeling, this realization.

Lunch rolled around...that meant GOAT!!!! YAY!! I love eating goat. We got some liver, ribs, and a leg. My father would absolutely love this meal, because it is meat with a side of meat with meat for dessert. After all the meat was eaten I was given one of the big leg bones along with PH. I had the Maasai man that we ate with crack open the bone so that I could have one of the great Maasai delicacies, that is to say the bone marrow. I impressed the Maasai around us as I sucked the bone dry until it whistled. If you ever wanted a cultural experience, this would be one to do. As the quasi-tasteless slime finds its way into your mouth you begin to think to yourself, this isn't too bad, I could think of a lot worse things it hits you. You are in Africa sucking out bone marrow with some crazy Americans, Tanzanian pastors and Maasai people. What an opportunity.

I have come to realize that I will not be really able to grasp all that I have done here while I am here. When my everyday life consists of studying Swahili with Tanzanians as my teachers, visting Maasai villages, riding in dala dala's, looking at the beautiful mountains behind the seminary, the countless flowers, trees and plants...it is hard sometimes to fathom it. I know that when I get home it is going to hit me, and hit me hard. I look forward to though. I look forward to grasping the magnitude of what I am doing here. Even though I may not be making a major impact on Tanzania, I know that Tanzania is making a big impact on me.

Peace,
PHW