Chagga Tribe Tour

So this Wednesday we didn't have to go to our schools and instead we got to take a tour of the Chagga lifestyle. We started out by going to a blacksmith where they made spears that they actually used for hunting. We then went and saw the chagga caves. The chagga and the massai are two tribes that live in this area and they were always fighting each other. The chagga claim that the massai always stole their cattle and their women. So the chagga built caves underground that they could hide their families and cattle within. They gave us a tour and these things were just little crawl holes and then slightly larger rooms where the people were housed. At the beginning of the cave there was a little hole where the watchmen stayed and protected everyone. Each day they changed the password to get in and if you didn't know it you were killed. Just past the watchman there was a little cave where they stored the dead bodies and then each night they carried the bodies out. After the caves they took us to a Chagga market which was quite the scene. There were women everywhere selling everything from shoes, clothing, scarves, bananas, and minerals for the cows. The market was packed full of people. There were people carrying around live chickens that they had bought, I assume for dinner. More bananas then I have ever seen in my life. Piles of shoes, many of which were just single shoes. There were people and things everywhere and it was much more hectic than Mexico. It was quite a sight to be seen. After that we went to a waterfall that was gorgeous. There was a small hike from the pool at the bottom of the falls up to a pool which was a little higher. I decided to take the hike and it was well worth the view. I do have some pictures of this which I can share when I get home but unfortunately we were unable to take pictures in the market. We concluded the day with some banana beer which I still find kinda gross.

The past couple days in my school have been going well. I am starting to get the hang of things a little bit more, but man these kids can tire you out. The biggest challenge is the fact that we don't speak the same language. But past that it is hard that some of the students know how to add and subtract and some are just trying to recognize the numbers. The age and skill just varies so much that it is hard to teach them all at once.

The food here is okay but nothing that special. We have spinach (not at all the same as what we have), ugali, and fresh fruit with every meal. Other regulars are rice, potatoes, and cole slaw salad. The food isn't bad it just isn't that great.

This weekend we are going on a safari so I am really excited for that. I will update the blog when I get back. Sorry that I haven't put up pictures but I don't have the ability to do that here. You are lucky if you can write a whole email without the internet crashing on you. Anyways hope all is well and I will write again soon.