Friday, February 18, 2011

The Diva Outdoors


So I feel like Wash U totally suckered us into this program.  All the St. Lawrence kids came on this trip because they are all involved with their “Outdoors club” at school and love to talk about trees and plants and see plants and tress and camp and hike and climb and run and all that… so yea. The Wash U kids came to discuss and study and analyze and read and learn and watch and teach and philosophize and campaign if necessary. So this past week we went to spend a few nights with a hunter-gatherer group called the Hadza (or Hadzabe) located in Tanzania. They are one of the last groups of people who practice hunting and gathering. Little did I know that part of this little adventure including almost a week long of camping. Full fledged outside in a tent with bugs and rain and mud and going potty outside camping. The morning we left I didn’t feel good at all. I think my stomach was dreading the days to come. So after many hours of driving we arrived at a campsite in Tanzania and met the guides from Dorobo Safairs. We were then loaded into these huge army trucks that were once used by Germans. This is where the “fun” began. As we drove through the bush these wretched trees came to attack us. The first one got me in the face because I wasn’t ready. I was so pissed off. So the next ones we passed I reached out and pulled the branches off and our guide, Killerai, laughed at me. That night as we debriefed we were told we would be hiking the next morning. I immediately got upset and told Kilerai that I was too pretty for this. He laughed hysterically and told me that I was in shape and would be fine. The next morning after a horrible night in a tent, with a thunderstorm, and a theater nightmare, Kilerai greeted me with “Good Morning Diva!”  And I embraced it.
I can walk just fine and look good doing it but I don’t like hiking. Walking uphill at a fast past makes it hard to breath and I forgot my inhaler at our compound. Needless to stay during our 2-hour hike up that mountain I was very unhappy. But I did it. Killerai was trying to stress the beauty of the Rift Valley but my response was “I know someone has these pictures on the Internet somewhere. We could have printed them out and passed them around as drove up the mountain.”
For most of the trip our group of 28 students was split in 2 to not be overwhelming for the community. On our last day there we met up again. This is when we were informed about the “No Shower Club”. Apparently about 10 students (9 boys and a girl) decided not to shower for the length of this trip. Now please note that we camped outside everyday, walked or hiked at least two hours everyday, hunted animals, climbed trees, dug in the ground and danced. And Dorobo even had these nifty shower bags so we could take a shower outside. But no. They did not. One guy even wore the same clothes the entire time…. Now I may be a Diva or old school but my Granny used to say “Its ok to be poor but its not ok to be nasty, God made too many rivers and streams for you to clean yourselves with” Now living out there was kind of live being poor in a sense. And as long as I had access to clean water and my Dove soap I was NOT GOING TO BE NASTY. I bathed every morning. And I’m positive I’m the only one to do so. Granny also said “If you can smell yourself` everybody else is sick of smelling you” So I bathed every morning knowing that Granny was looking down on me with Jesus smiling cuz her Grandbaby didn’t stank.  As I was getting dressed this morning my tent mate was starring at me and said “You do not look like you’ve been camping for the past week” This was such a great compliment! “Thank you” I said “That’s how it should me” Then I sprayed on my Black Amethyst body spray and the Diva went out to have her last breakfast in the bush.
 I write more n the Hadza a little later. Don’t worry. Here’s a picture of me in my tent with this AWESOME headdress made of Zebra mane.

6 comments:

  1. love. this. post. the hadzabe trip was far and wide my favorite part of the SLU program. a few things...

    PLEASE be thankful that all 28 of you didn't get violently ill during the hadzabe trip. that most definitely happened to my group and it made the trip miserable for a lot of people. i was one of a handful that didn't get sick. (and when i say 'a handful,' i mean that literally. only 5 of the 24 students in my group didn't get sick.)

    anyway. some favorite quotes from this post:

    "All the St. Lawrence kids came on this trip because they are all involved with their “Outdoors club” at school and love to talk about trees and plants and see plants and tress and camp and hike and climb and run and all that… so yea. The Wash U kids came to discuss and study and analyze and read and learn and watch and teach and philosophize and campaign if necessary." --> LOL. i thought i did warn you. :shrugs: lol

    "As we drove through the bush these wretched trees came to attack us." now, that's something i didnt tell you about. my bad.

    "I immediately got upset and told Kilerai that I was too pretty for this. He laughed hysterically and told me that I was in shape and would be fine. The next morning after a horrible night in a tent, with a thunderstorm, and a theater nightmare, Kilerai greeted me with “Good Morning Diva!” And I embraced it." --> BAHAHAHAHAHA now, real talk, i was down with the hiking, but i understand not wanting to. did you guys do the 5 hour hike mono wa mongo?

    "Now I may be a Diva or old school but my Granny used to say “Its ok to be poor but its not ok to be nasty, God made too many rivers and streams for you to clean yourselves with"" *snaps for your granny*

    now, i will say that it may have been wasteful to shower every morning. i know it was a lot of sweating and moving and grossness going on during the trip, but water conservation > your cleanilneess. i mean, everything balances if 10 people didn't shower, but still. and even if you had only showered two or three times during the trip, you would NOT have been nasty as compared to your SLU friends.

    anyway. great post. can't wait to here more of your thoughts on the hadzabe. like i said, i absolutely loved them.

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  2. hahah Diamond I love you, I can't wait to read more! We are going on our first rural trip next week, and there are 2 days of hiking (sorry you had a week) so I will probably be just like you! This helped me prepare lol <3 u and miss u!

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  3. Wanda! wow i think God for not getting sick then!
    i did have to do that 5 mile hike- it was fine, just too long, i can walk but up hill journeys bum me out! And as far as water goes- i thought about the conservation thing- and as much as they harp on us I am not a big water drinker- so basically i used the same amount of water the others used to drink by bathing myself!
    Lexi! Glad you read and liked it! Good luck looking gorgeous girl! you'll be flawless

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  4. Hey mama.

    I pray that this message makes it to your comments.............This is just a test.

    I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!======the mommy.

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  5. WOW! I MADE IT!

    WE WILL BE WRITTING NOW!

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  6. Well, I guess I should learn to SPELL first, huh?

    MAMA

    ReplyDelete