Maasai Madness and Minor Surgery

So the one thing that I was freaking out about before leaving has happened. I got a jigger. I was lucky enough to be the first of the trip AND the worst Angie (our nurse) has ever removed (out of over 20). It must have been in there for a decent amount of time. I had the "minor surgery" (as Angie calls it) on Friday, March 2nd. We did it on a mattress out on the grass in the sunshine. Adele played in the background. Amanda held my hand and Chelsey rubbed my back while I leaned on her and Will. Hannah helped Ange and took pictures. It took about an hour. I did not watch it during the procedure so what I am about to tell you is what I was told afterwards and from pictures.

Before she started, Angie told me what had happened and what was about to take place. She said this little bug had hopped in to my toe on my right foot. It anesthesizes your skin before so you don't feel it. Then it lays edds. The black spot I saw was an egg sack. Angie's goal was to remove that without breaking the sack.

Angie then went to work. When she was moving back the skin to get the sack out she noticed how big it was. She decided she needed to break it. She didn't want to cutt off more of my toe just to get it out whole. So she broke the sack, took it out and then had to remove the eggs now in the hole in my toe. When removing the sack, some black liquid oozed out that she still doesn't know what it is.

There were then two "rings" around the sack. The first was like a callus bowl. This is why removing the sack (about first 2/3 of operation) was not too painful. It was not attached to too many nerves. So the first ring was a bit painful causing a few squeezes of Mandy's hand and some "ow"s. The second ring was the worst. This was directly attached to the nerves and tissue in my toe. This involved about 5-10 minutes of awful pain. Imagine an awful shot that doesn't end and ripping a bandaid of all at the same time. I could not hold back tears. In the states they'd probably freeze it but we're in Africa and we feel everything!

After an hour, it was finished. A lot of blood had come out of a teeny toe and now I was left with a large, bright red hole. It went past the transluscent skin so the red and pink tissue is what you see. I set the record for the largest "jigger crater" in Houghton in Tanzania history. Woo hoo! Angie bandaged me up. I clean it everyday. The skin has to grow from the inside out now. It is healing very quickly which I am grateful for!

So before all this jigger nonsense we had our trip to the Maasai. We were there, camping in tents for two nights. I think part of me is still processing all that took place. It was such a drastically different culture to experience. I think it may be my favorite trip so far because of how challenging it was. It was totally new and forced me to learn through provoking questions and thoughts that shook me up. There were parts of the culture that I loved and never want them to lose, but also aspects that just broke me. I won't go in to full detail here, but can when I get home :)

Our schedule there was packed full! When we got there we set up camp in the woods. Some warriors led us out to a field area where we met more Maasai. A girl, Neimbasha, took hold of my hand and stayed with me all night. The guys (with the help from some of us girls) in our group killed a goat and cow. The cow they also skinned and butchered. I did not watch too much of this. The rest of the night consisted of lots of dancing. All the guys got involved and some of the girls were given beads and taken in to dance with the women.

The next morning we went back out to where they keep some cows. The girls were going to milk the cows. Before milking you had to put on the ladies' outfits. I did not get to do this. I just watched. The milk was put in to gords. The cows were not tied up so it was a bit tricky. The milk was then fed to the children in another gord. I was able to do this. I got dressed up in the garb and got a child plopped in my lap.

We then went back out to the cows so the guys could let blood from a cow. They took an arrow to the neck to draw blood, but not kill. The warriors then drank the blood. After, the guys were taught how to start a fire. Then we had some games. There was high jump, long jump, limbo and archery. I was SO proud of our guys in jumping. They really proved themselves. Limbo is not a Maasai thing so Americans could dominate that :)

After that, us ladies were able to have some Q&A time with a couple of Maasai women. This was my favorite part. They were very open and honest. It was fascinating and also heartbreaking. We saw how male dominated a society it was. They all wished they were men because life would be easier. Women do most of the work. They're not friends with their husbands. The relationship was described like that between a strict teacher and student. They all had scars from multiple beatings. These absolutely beautiful women serve their husbands just hoping not to make even the smallest mistake. When they asked us questions I found it difficult to describe our culture. For them, it's all laid out and everything is the same. Our lives are so diverse. We have such immense freedom in deciding what to do with our lives.

Later that afternoon we went and had our faces painted by the warriors. We could then purchase items from the women. It was then a night of dancing. When we went back to camp, it rained. Alot. Many tents flooded so a good chunk of people slept in cars. My tent wasn't too bad so I was in it all night.

The experience is still kind of surreal. You feel like their putting on a show or just doing some fun things with us, but this is their life. Well sorry this was oober long but so much happened! This week is super super busy but Monday we leave for our second trip to Ruaha National Park. It will be a nice break. In about 2 1/2 weeks we'll have village homestay! Love and miss you all!

Bethany