Day Three in Moshi, Tanzania

Today is my third day in Moshi. I spent the morning with the Maasai tribe. When I got there, they took me by the hand, brought me into their very small home and dressed me up like them. Then I met various members of the family and danced with them. It was the funniest thing ever! And lots of fun! The family was extremely nice and smiling. I don’t know how they can live the way they do but they probably don’t know better so they are fine with it. The women of the family built the house (small huts), cook and take of the kids. The kids live in a separate house until the age of 7. The men take care of the animals and protect the family. The last fight they had were with the Pare (not sure if it’s spelled this way). It’s another tribe in the region. WHat happened is that the cows of the Maasai were eating the gardens of the Pare so a fight struck between the two. It was later settled and everything is good now. After dancing, visiting their homes and  learning about their culture, I visited a school. There must have been about 40 small kids in a church/classroom with 2 teachers. All they had was a chalk board. They were adorable! An American lady recently invested in building a new school for the Maasai kids. It was unfortunately closed and I couldn’t visit it today.

It’s 2pm and my plan for the rest of the day is to take a nap by the pool and visit Moshi. It was Sunday yesterday so everything was closed. At 5pm, I have my debriefing for my Kilimanjaro hike tomorrow. I’m nervous! Everyone I spoke to about it said it was difficult and very challenging. The women complaining mainly about the bathroom situation, in addition to the difficulty. Someone said it reach -15C when he was on the mountain. Everyone had altitude sickness, just in different degrees. I think I’m mentally ready to do this. After the debriefing session, I’ll be packing my stuff and tomorrow, the big hike begins! 7 days and 6 nights on the mountain. Ohhh… what was I thinking?!

Wish me luck! I’ll try to post something when I get back, in 7 days. Merry Christmas to all! I’ll be summitting on Christmas morning!!