Being brand new to this country, this culture, this continent, leaves me feeling like I am a sponge trying to soak up as much as I can in a day. Even though I have only had three full days to explore this town, the experiences I've had exceed what I ever could have imagined possible for a 3 day span. It leaves me feeling a bit unsure of where to start here.
I think most notable would be Sunday. Now, I mentioned Hombre already. He's one of the first people I met here, and from what I can tell, a nice man. He is 25, has lived here all his life, and seems to make money currently by being friedly to tourists and helping to show them around. (This is very common here!) Well, I formed a trust with him. He has taught me a lot about the people here, the customs, the language, etc. He offered to take me up into the hills (where the villages/homes and Maasai huts are) up to a remarkable viewpoint of Arusha town. Going into this area alone as a Mzungo (white person) would not be a safe thing to do but he assured me that with him it would be fine. And feeling curious, brave and ready to explore new things, I said "I'd love to do that!" I asked if it would be possible to bring some of the girls I'd met with me and he said it would be great (that means a higher tip for him), so 8 white girls and Hombre headed up the hill (which we would call a mountain in America, but since it is not Kilamanjaro, it is a hill). This was quite the experience! It is hard to describe what I witnessed in words that portray it all. The dirt road with pot holes everywhere was littered with people. There are men signing shoes and selling all sorts of different products, but primarily clothing, shoes, music, sunglasses, paintings, crafts, etc. The women may be seen walking with baskets of fruit on their head, or sticks for fireword, or buckets of water... the rest of this story is to be continued. I've run out of time. But get prepared for the story of the old, hunchbacked maasai woman who threatened to hit us with a stick, yelling things in her language that none of us Mzungu's could understand.
