The Last Day at Matonyok

And so today we came to an end. I won't bore you with the usual stuff...we woke up, we ate breakfast (I don't think the french toast was cooked), and we got a dalla dalla to Olasiti. The whole way there we kept talking about how this is our last time doing this or that or this or that. We did search around Arusha for a place to make photocopies, and finally found a little Arabic shop (but aren't they all Arabic I feel like?). My mom was giving her kids a test, as was Amy, and me and Ashton had some connect the dot stuff to practice numbers with. So we finally did get to Olasiti, but on the walk to Matonyok, it began to rain. It started as a light drizzle, and never really got THAT heavy, it was just continuous enough to make the top layer of dirt stick to your shoes...you know, the annoying kind of rain. Since we had mud on our shoes, I spent the first part of the day barefoot teaching my kids the "R" sound (which apparently Ashton had taught them yesterday and just didn't tell me...thanks Ashton), while Amy and Ashton went with Nosim to get chickens and bicycles. After about 30 minutes of teaching, we decided enough, and we passed out the kids' pictures that we had taken of them two days ago. We had put them in paper frames that the kids decorated. Since they don't have a mirror, it was of course a BIG hit with all of them. After that we pretty much just played around for the rest of the day. I spent several hours working with Mike, Manuel, and two other guys from the village building the swingset that we had been shopping around for, and apparently they ended up finishing it just after we left later that afternoon, so I'm glad that worked out. We had a late lunch with everyone outside, which turned into a sort of goodbye ceremony. We noticed that many of the kids were somber all day, and we found out that Nosim had told them the night before that today was our last day (some of them cried, she told us). We had rice and beans, then we presented the cakes and juice boxes (the cake was AWFUL...very sweet and very dry) to everyone, which they loved. They had some cards for us and some prayers, and they had even hired a Maasai friend to construct the traditional Maasai stool for my mom. I don't want to go on and on about the ceremony because you really had to be there. Everyone was, of course, sad to leave, but at the same time very happy that we were able to give this group of people some things that could really, really help them. The cows, for instance, let them have milk to drink and to sell, and milk to make bread with to sell and eat, etc. Amy and Ashton bought 4 chickens and three bikes, all of which were a hit. Ndemno wore the Carolina Tar Heels shirt that we had brought for him. We gave out awards such as "Best Guide" to Mike and "Best Caretaker" to Nosim. When we finally did leave, there was a whole lot of hugging and more hugging and the goodbyes. A sad day, but a wonderful day. After Olasiti, we dropped by the Cultural Heritage Center, where Amy got a Tanzanite stone as an early birthday present. We then walked down the road a bit before catching a dalla dalla to our hotel (there was another traffic jam, so we got to take a detour through a part of Arusha we hadn't seen yet). We got to the hotel at about 6:30, and we rushed to get ready because Emily from TFFT was picked us up at 7:30 to go to Stiggy's again for dinner. She came to get us, we went to eat, and we basically recapped everything and talked about the safari we start tomorrow. Tomorrow, the safari company picks us up at 9, and we head out to, I think, Ngorongoro Crater (I'm not sure if thats first or not). Of course the next 3 days are going to be an awesome cap to our trip. We'll be relaxing in the African bush. It's weird, though, that after 2 weeks of laughing at the wide-eyed white people in safari trucks, we will now become them...at least the safari truck part...we've seen enough of Arusha to be locals. That being said, tonight may be my last blog. We did get an upgrade to stay in a lodge in the bush, so that may have internet, and of course there is the Monday night back in Arusha, but I can't guarantee internet, therefore, I can't guarantee blog. If we don't talk again, it's been great filling your imagination with summaries of our trip, and I hope that when we get back, you and I can talk in person about the great experiences we've had, and plan ahead to when we can come back and do more. Until next time. Kwa heri.