I can easily say, that one of my favourite days of my internship while in Morogoro, Tanzania with Youth Challenge International, occurred on one of my free days. It was just a regular Saturday and we had planned to do something out of the ordinary and we had chosen to visit the bi-weekly Masai market outside of town. Nothing about that sounds what we would deem as 'out of the ordinary'. The reason it was random is because, no tourists, no local townspeople attend the market- only Masai, and usually only Masai men. Our day started off with a gruelling Dala Dala bus ride (basically the equivalent to a mini-bus, only picture 40 people simultaneously sitting and standing at the same time). After a long 3 hour bus ride we arrived to field area that was actually in the middle of nowhere.. all that was present was the occasional bush and 'upside down tree'. The Masai set up this market every second Saturday to trade cattle, sell traditional printed Masai cloth, spices (and or drugs..) goats, and jewellery. The only reason we knew about this market was because one of our program coordinators had a 'fan' who she met through YCI programming who was Masai and spilled the beans. We went there not knowing what to expect, but you get used to never knowing what is going to happen when you live in a completely foreign community in a completely foreign country on a completely foreign continent.
The day started out by us walking around, observing everything that was going on and wow, we definitely stood out. Not only were we the only white people present, we were women and the only NON-Masai people present. As uncomfortable as this situation sounds, everyone there was genuinely welcoming, if not perplexed why we were there ( I even had a Masai businessman take a picture of me.. he thought my attire and vintage green sunglasses were so odd). We sauntered around, decided to try a popular snack in Tanzania... raw sugarcane. You buy the cane .. in all its glory in a huge tall piece for about the equivalent to 50 cents and suck the sugary water out of it. This was all ok, but what I really wanted was to take pictures of these people because they were so amazing and beautiful looking to me. When you walk through the market you will see a mosaic of colour.. traditional Masai cloth is draped over the body and fastened by a belt. Then there is the Masai jewellery which involves intensive bead workmanship, and they wear ALOT of jewellery. Aside from the fact that they are so beautifully coloured and dressed, you will notice how tall and muscular the Masai men are in comparison to many of the other local Morogoro townspeople. At this point I hope you can envision how out of place I must have looked.
The day transitioned from wonder and questioning to absolutely the most memorable day of my 2 month adventure when we decided to sit down in a Masai 'Bar'. This is a drinking establishment, but it literally is best described as an open banana leaf thatched hut. Envision benches below, and two 'staff' members with matching work t-shirts on and coolers stacked with local beer. This is the Masai 'Bar'. We sat down and ordered a beer, and within the span of 10 minutes were fully enveloped in a conversation with these Masai Warriors. What was planned as a refreshment stop turned into 3 hours where Masai people offered us presents (think fatty racks of meat, gigantic cucumbers, local beer and cigarettes) and a time where I actually felt like I made friends. We came home from this day practically skipping along, because it was so great, but also with a notebook of contacts in tow. The amount of offers I had to visit villages, cell phone numbers to call when I visited Dar es Salaam and mailing addresses to send updates when I returned to Canada is really quite hilarious. Its funny how something I planned on a whim, and went into with a meh- kind of attitude turned out to be one of the most memorable days of my life.
You think my story is over? You are wrong my friends. Some of the best parts of my day occurred after the Masai Bar. If you recall, at the beginning of this story I indicated that the market was in the middle of nowhere. Ok, now that we are on the same page, picture having just consumed 3 extra large local Tanzanian beers and having to visit the bathroom. Bathroom? Wait. There are no bathrooms here... hmmm what will I do. We were facing a 3 hour bumpy drive home before we would be able to use at least an indoor squatter. Well let me tell you my friends, a big prickly African bush becomes much more tempting as a bathroom facility at this point. My friend Steph and I ( a fellow YCI volunteer) ventured into this bush, not knowing if a snake was going to pop out and end our lives, or maybe even a baboon would should up, who knew? We were in the process of relieving ourselves when we heard the murmur of voices behind the bush and decidedly began trying to cover up, but for me this had become a difficult challenge as my 3 large beers were coming into effect. While running out of the bush half covered I tripped, and this is the best part.. in what I believe to be monkey poop. While this is gross any day, picture it smushing on the bottom of your bare birkenstocked foot with no place to wash it off. In the span of time that all this happened, we realized our Dala Dala was getting ready to leave for Morogoro so we ran over and a lady who happened to speak English helped us. Soon enough we were crammed in the back of this un-ventilated mini bus.. with me who smells like monkey crap. Soon enough the best day of my life gets even better. Before take off, the back door of the mini bus pops open, as there is obviously some luggage to pack- oh how wrong I realized I was when all of a sudden a white and very upset chicken was thrown on top of me. Picture a very loud and angry wild chicken flapping its wings and screaming and that being thrown without any warning in your face.
My day at the Masai Market is one I will certainly never forget. It literally turned out to be one of my favourite days during my time in Tanzania, but it also remains one of my fondest memories of anything that has ever happened in my life. Probably because it was crazy and so out of my world that I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around it. Moral of the story is, embrace the random and make yourself do things that you may feel uncomfortable doing while on an internship, the rewards are worth it.