Jina Lako nani? (Whats your name?)
Today we took a long road trip to the Ngorongoro crater hotel. Along the way, we stopped and looked at many different places. We drove through the city of Arusha and big fields of bush.
First, we saw farmers harvesting different crops, mainly corn and beans. Then, in the fields, we started to see many herds of cows and goats. We even saw camels, zebras, and baboons. This area was dominated by the Maasai tribe. They are a tribe of nomad people with there own language. There diet consists of goat and beef, corn and beans, and blood. They marry at as young as 10 years old and have many wives. When they choose who they want to marry, the man trades cattle for her. Our guide told us a story of a witch-doctor who is around 85 years old. He has 35 wives, and 115 children. His youngest wive is 23. We stopped at a Maasai village were they danced for us and then gave us a tour of their houses. The houses are made out of sticks and mud. They are so small, you have to duck to get in and once you are in you can only sit. They had many items for sale, made by the women in the village.
Then, we went to a school for kindergarten - 7th grade to visit the students in the 6th grade. We looked at their classroom and learned about their school. In 4th grade, you take a national test designed by the government to determine wether or not you can pass through to 5th grade. Each year you take this test and if you fail, you repeat the grade. In 7th grade, you take the test to determine wether you get into secondary school. If you fail that, you are out of school for good. I brought Rubiks cubes to give them, and did a solve in front of one of the classes. Then, we got to meet and speak with them.
Finally, we arrived at the Ngorongoro crater. It is the biggest, non-collapsed, non-flooded crater in the world. It is around 21 kilometers one way, and 18 the other. Tomorrow, we will take a game drive inside the crater. We will most likely see elephants, rhinos, zebras, cape buffalo, lions, and possibly some others. Jina langu ni Barrett (My name is Barrett).