Siku ya kuzaliwa yangu.

Well, tomorrow is my birthday. Another year closer to 30. I have heard from several people now that I need to do something special for my birthday which got me thinking of how I spent my birthday last year. Stephen and I were all packed and ready to move down to Georgia the very next day. Some friends came over, we went for a run in the park and then feasted on salmon, wine, and vegetables fresh from Mom & Dad's garden. I don't know how I can compete with that this year. However, because of the numerous requests to "do something special," I began brainstorming what would be something special to do for my birthday in a country where birthdays really aren't recognized. Here are my ideas:

1. Take a bubble bath by candlelight (actually, there isn't a tub here... but maybe I could settle on jumping in the waterhole with the elephants... no, that's not a good idea... maybe I could take a bucket shower with 2 buckets of water ...and conditioner ...and put on clean clothes afterwards!)
2. Feast on a special food. (I hear there is a village 2 dala-dala rides away that sells cheese...)
3. Watch a movie (I am out of new movies, but maybe if it wasn't so windy I could climb a hill for a nice view)
4. Drink a whole bottle of wine by myself (that would actually be a first and sounds like a brilliant plan except for the trip to town to get the bottle of wine...)
5. Go watch elephants. (I think I will stick to this one. No, it is not more special than any other day, but really, what else could a girl ask for... besides her husband... and salmon... and a swig of wine... ;0) )

Pappy is in heaven now.

Some of you may remember my friend from Kenya who started a mission near the ranch where Stephen and I met. When we were in Kenya together, we celebrated Pappy's 91st birthday. Recently he hadn't been doing very well and I got a call yesterday morning from the mission nurse, Lucy, that Pappy had passed away. Pappy's wife died in Kenya so there is a place for him and her to be remembered together. I was disappointed that I didn't get to have one more visit with him, but I know he is in a better place and we will see each other again one day.

Ya huzuni

I have a very sad story to tell. For the past two weeks or so we have been monitoring a female elephant on the property who looked pregnant and was limping quite severely on her left front leg. She has not been travelling with the rest of her herd and has therefore fed too sparingly to support her body size. On Wednesday morning I got a call that she had passed away. I wanted to go inspect her body to see if I recognized her from my ID files and to get her age. I went in the afternoon and to confirm if she was pregnant, her stomach was cut open to expose a fetus that was completely ready. It was a baby boy fully ready for birth. There was a wound behind the elephant's ear which raises the suspicion that she was wounded by a poacher, although this couldn't be confirmed because she was lying on the wounded side. After further investigation and talking to people at the ranch, most likely the wound was caused by an arrow with poison, as the Masai use in the area. Poachers aim for behind the ear hoping that the spear/bullet would go to the brain for a quick kill. However, this elephant's swelling was probably caused by the poison which unfortunately does not kill quickly. I have been stricken with the reality of why I am here. I think it is quite easy to fall into this routine of going and enjoying all the wildlife and experiences Tanzania is offering me, but this incident has really fed my desire to conserve the wildlife of Tanzania. Although devastating, I am now more determined to play a part in saving these elephants by providing methods other than killing that will keep peace or at least alleviate conflict between humans and elephants. The tusks were collected from the elephant and will be picked up by the wildlife division.

Game drive usiku bomba!

I was fortunate enough to go on another night game drive with my temporary neighbors. There were 3 students only so lots of extra room in the car. We saw many springhare which was quite exciting. I really want to learn to hop like one- it looks like a lot of fun like every springhare has their own pogo-stick. Now that I have seen them, I realized that Safari the dog has brought Rose and I tails from springhare on 2 occasions. I admit, I am rather impressed with Safari's hunting skills if she indeed caught them, they are quite fast as the spotlight holder and driver on our game drive will attest! We also saw an African wild cat which honestly, I thought was a joke, but now have confirmed that African wildcats do exist separate from stray domestic cats. We also saw more bush babies which is always a treat for me. When I was walking back to my house, my headlamp caught the eyeshine of a creature in the bushes and on closer inspection (and after searching my mammal book) I learned that there is a genet living in the bushes next to the house. I am going to try to get a closer look one of these days. Rose came with us on the game drive, and as you can see, we were chilly!

Eland

An eland is the largest ungulate alive today. Adults can get up to 2 tons, and they are rather incredible to see in person. The picture doesn't do them justice, but I have to try, right?

Happy Birthday Mume Yangu!

Today is Stephen's birthday! Cheers, love. I sure miss you!

Jumapili bombastic!

I had a rather incredible day yesterday. Only one day this week have I spent in the village. I am trying to enter and analyze data to find out if I need more information for the correlation study. So, this means a lot of time in front of the computer or going on a walk to let the solar panels charge up the computer! Yesterday I wanted to spend time at the waterhole because there have been a lot of elephants around this week. There were 4 groups that all came together at the waterhole which was fantastic because I managed to get data for all of them. Now of course, I have a lot more work to do sitting in front of the computer but I can't help but feel like everything else should come second if there are elephants around. What a treat. Additionally, there is a group of students camping this week. There are only 3 of them and they come across as a little lonely and maybe bored of each other's company. Unfortunately, they missed the elephant convention at the waterhole yesterday, but they invited me along on their afternoon game drive. We saw elephants and giraffe, rather typical, but nonetheless, it was a welcome change of scenery for me. An exceptional Sunday indeed!

Wageni geni

Yesterday was very interesting. I was told there would be students coming to stay in my backyard again, but a small group- only 5. I have been doing a lot of computer work as the crop season is finished so being wholed up in the house all day is making me a bit antsy. Needless to say, I was happy to have some visitors in the afternoon, although it was completely unexpected. Answering to the upteenth "hodi" of the day, I hurried to the door to find an askari with four wazungu. I greeted him and then said hi to the wazungu, probably inadvertently portraying my confusion at their presence in my territory, as the tourist camp is on the opposite end of the ranch, and my end might be considered an eye-sore for paying guests. However, the purpose of their visit was quickly revealed. One of them had lived in my house for a year in 2001. He wanted to see the house, how it has been renovated and then offered me a picnic lunch... with WINE! Ends up, both of the guys are chefs. One owns a ritzy restaurant near Arusha. The food was absolutely fantastic. When I tell you we had sandwiches it will not adequately portray my delight in the meal. I haven't had bread, cheese, or lettuce since I have arrived... and of course there was the white wine. It wasn't just any bread, cheese, and wine. It was really nice food. Even as I write I know nobody will understand how great it was, but what else can I say? I excitedly offered to take their garbage... including the wine bottle that still smells of its contents. Yay wine. I will even take a picture of the bottle because it makes me so happy.

Nyama's drama.

I thought it would be a good idea to get Nyama spade professionally before she had her kittens. Like most seemingly simple tasks, this became quite an ordeal for me... and for Nyama I am sure. There is a veterninarian who occasionally brings guests to the ranch with his horses for horseback safaris. I met him last week and anxiously asked if I could send my cat with him when he returns to his farm near Moshi. He agreed to spay her even though I knew she was pregnant. By the way, normally, I would be very much against this but under the circumstances, I had to first of all keep in mind I am here for research, not to raise puppies and kittens. Secondly, sure I could find homes for kittens, but the animals are treated so poorly here that I didn't want to have to be worried about their welfare. And third, the puppies have provided me with enough tragedy for the whole of my seven month stay. I just wanted Nyama without being worried about her having kittens and galavanting around with disease ridden stray tomcats. On Tuesday the vet and his wife were leaving with the guests. Challenge number one was getting Nyama down to the camp where the vet was staying. I didn't have a box. I didn't have a harness or leash. However, I found a scrap of Masai shuka and fashioned a primitive harness/leash so that if she jumped from my arms at least she couldn't get away. Nyama didn't like my clever invention. At all. We made it about 100 meters from the house when she began howling and trying her darndest to get out of my arms. We took it slow and eventually made it to camp after an hour. I think it is about 3 km but really don't know for sure. Challenge number 2: find a box. There was one box in the tourist camp. Nyama quickly figured out how to use her claws as box-cutters and the box was no more. Challenge number 3: wait... for 4 hours... in an open hut without doors. At first, Nyama was afraid of leaving the hut which was fine with me but it didn't take long for her curiousity to take over. She started venturing out and after carrying her back several times, I decided to just watch where she went. She bolted to some long vegetation and I was ecstatic to discover she just really needed to poop. After this feat, she was completely content to sit in my lap and have my undivided attention. Finally, the car was ready to leave but we had to fashion a bucket in a bag as a makeshift cat carrier. I haven't heard the full story from the vet, but I am sure Nyama also grew tired of that scene.

Tuesday night they arrived home and on Wednesday morning, Nyama had 4 kittens in her cage with her. I guess the trip stressed her enough to pop them out. I did manage to find 2 very willing and capable owners and the vet will keep the other two. The downside is, now Nyama has to stay with the vet for awhile so that she can provide milk for her kittens before she can have surgery. So, alas. At the moment, the house is pet-less... except for a lingering Safari who seems to have it in her head that she is my dog... or my askari... as she sleeps on the porch and warns me of danger.

One year ago today...

Wow, life was different on July 14, 2007. It was our wedding day one year ago. Honestly, it seems an eon ago because the setting was so different. One year later, here I sit in Tanzania pondering the irony of it all and missing the touch, the laugh, and the voice of mapenzi yangu.

Mbwa mtoto alikufa.

The puppy mentioned in previous posts was very sick yesterday morning. I attended a first communion of one of Rose's relatives and then a party afterwards. It was not a very good day because I was worried about the puppy. At 6:00, I passed by Rose's house and he was doing worse. I brought him to my house so that the other puppies weren't exposed and so that I could check on him throughout the night. At midnight, I woke up to him screaming and gasping for air. I knew I had to put him out of his misery. Thankfully, he wasn't coherent at all. I used a damp cloth to cover his nose and mouth and in less than a minute he was gone. This is why I don't want any more animals here. Why am I posting tragic stories about the pets rather than my research? It doesn't seem right at all.

Napenda twiga, kweli!

After I saw Stacy off, I made my way to the waterhole. There are a lot of guests at the tourist camp at the ranch now so I was expecting a lot of visitors, but only two groups came through. There were four groups of elephants that came to the waterhole- 47 animals in all. This is absolutely fantastic for the research. At the end of the day, I was putting my things away, ready for the trek home for dinner when I was amazed to see 10 giraffe approaching the water. I had never seen a giraffe drink before so I was ecstatic. Not only did they drink, but they wrestled with their necks as I had only seen on PBS, and the elephants were there at the same time and ended up chasing them away with lots of trumpeting and dust. I took about 115 pictures although most were directly into the sunset.

A preparation climb...

For dinner, we had more Masai meat that was given to Stacy as a gift. I think she really enjoyed being there more as a guest than as a tourist. The following morning, we woke up really early to try and catch the sunrise from the top of a hill. We were trying to simulate Kili because her next venture was up the mountain. Well, the hill was no Kili, but the conditions were similar. We climbed in a cloud and reached the top in a cloud so unfortunately we weren’t able to see as much as we would have liked. On the way down, the cloud broke and gave a very dreamy appearance to our pictures. I guess I will have to climb again in the afternoon. It was a short visit, but I really enjoyed a break from the research and a chance to really enjoy my surroundings and share my stories.

Naomba game drive?

After the party, Stacy and I went on a game drive with my friend and a guide of the ranch, Jimmy. We got to see a lot more of the ranch and I realized just what a small part I look at from the treehouse. We saw elephants and giraffe and heard all of Jimmy’s guide stories about the birds and trees. It was very enjoyable.

Masai Party!

Loneliness is not an issue these days. There are 25 students camped out in the backyard this week. That is a lot when I have become accustomed to being alone. In addition, my friend Stacy came to visit for two days. She arrived via pikipiki on Sunday and we walked to the treehouse to give her a taste of what that side of my research is. On Monday morning, we were invited to a Masai party. Seven cows were killed. The Masai kill by suffocation so that the blood is retained in the body. A bit gruesome. They then skin it and actually drink the blood that had drained and pooled in the hide. Enjoy these gruesome pictures!

Picha

Kilimanjaro peaked out from behind its cloudy shroud the other day and I was happy to get a picture of my house which is situated between Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro.
I figure the only way I am going to get a decent shot of me with elephants will be to take many self portraits and hope one turns out. I am very happy the elephants are there- can you tell?

Mtoto habari

I am happy to report that the little puppy has fully recovered. He spent 3 days in my arms and 3 nights keeping me up at night, but he is now back with his remaining brother and sister at Rose's house. I enjoyed taking him to the treehouse to observe elephants one day and it was a hoot to pretend he was my baby, however odd it may be to the villagers who played along a little. Although he is still tiny compared to his siblings, he has an affection for me that they don't have. Rose has decided to keep him and let me name him "Simon." Rose has a friend named Simon who thinks it is hilarious. I am just glad he is not offended. Now, we call him Simon Mtu: Simon the man.

Unahitaji dawa?

Working in the village, I have been exposed to a lot of requests from the local people. From the kids it is usually “Naomba zawadi” (I request a gift), but the adults aren’t quite as forward. One woman said to me, “I have a problem.” Of course I replied, “What?” She preceded to tell me about how the church needs money and asked quite boldly for a donation. Churches ask for money at home and it even bothers me there so I had no problem telling her hapana. I hear frequently about the ailments of whoever is in our company and because there is so much aspirin, Tylenol, and ibuprofen leftover from previous students, I have begun carrying it with me to give to those with headaches. Perhaps I am encouraging the notion that white people are all doctors, but really I am just trying to dispense the dawa I have before it expires.

Utafiti habari

This crop season is coming to a close. This past week has been busy with trying to conclude all the interviews and measure the damage in the fields one more time. The trouble with the suspicious participant seems to have diminished. After our meeting with him and the chairman he told me there was no problem but maybe we could ask him questions later. This has me thinking that there is a problem and he is just tired of talking about it. However, his misgivings have not caused problems with any of the other participants and still when we see him we give him a friendly greeting. Perhaps he will change his mind about me eventually. I had a very pleasant experience with a new participant yesterday. Half of his crop has been destroyed by bush pigs this season, but rather than moping around, he has used his head to come up with clever ideas to dissuade them. He has fashioned an ingenious noisemaker using a post, a chain and some corrugated metal. It has worked marvelously well and I admire his creativity. His family has been extremely welcoming and accommodating.

Wageni Mwingi!

We are now in the high tourist season and the pace has definitely picked up at the tourist camp on the ranch. I thought I might be bothered by so many “foreigners” invading my territory at the treehouse, but it has not been so. I guess the loneliness has gotten to me because whenever I see guests walking toward the treehouse, I find myself hoping that they speak English so I can chat. This past week I was asked to do a lecture on my research. There was a group of 17 tourists who came to the treehouse to hear me speak. They were mostly retirees from America. I really enjoyed telling them all about what I am doing and a few came up afterwards to explain that their grandchild or friend’s grandchild really liked animals and asked for advice on how to proceed.

In addition, there is a group of students arriving today. Last time the students were English and it was nice to have company. This time, there are 25 students and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried about the invasion. Nonetheless, it is nice to have voices outside and someone to talk to when I return from the day’s work.

A friend of mine is also arriving today. She has graduated from GSU and was in my Chemical Ecology class last fall. I am really excited for her visit and to share my experience with someone. She will be here for 2 nights and I am trying to think of every possible activity we can cram into our time together.

In Memory...

Mwewe is gone now. In the end, the decision was not all that difficult. Last Tuesday, Mwewe kept me up all night long. He couldn’t get comfortable when he was lying down and his breathing was deep, slow, and definitely labored. I had talked to a mzungu on the ranch about the dog and that I really felt he had suffered enough. He said I could simply stab it in the heart with a knife. Easier said than done. I was close to being able to do it but having never killed anything before, I had a hard time convincing myself that I could do it right the first time to end his suffering immediately. The following morning I went searching for the mzungu that had no misgivings about killing things and he mercifully borrowed a gun from the owner of the ranch and I brought him to Mwewe. We received very strange looks from the villagers as I was rushing to Rose’s house and a mzungu with a gun followed closely behind me.

It is now a week later and still the participants in my study are talking about Mwewe’s demise. I believe it was more the manner in which he died that has caused people to talk. It is not every day you see a mzungu in the village, much less two, one of whom was carrying a gun. The story has made it all the way to the next village and circled back to the workers on the ranch. I have explained many times that he was suffering and it was a merciful thing to do. They seem to understand but I can’t help but wonder what they are saying when they speak fast.