Mabera Circumcision Parade

The thing I missing most right about now is The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I know it seems silly, but I really like parades.  I like getting up early on Thanksgiving and Christmas and watching the Parades on TV.  I like watching them when we go to Disney World, and I liked watching them roll down Jackson Street in Downtown Newnan.

So today I witnessed a surprise replacement parade, only one day before Thanksgiving.  I went to a town called Mabera this morning not to far from our town of Isibania.  Now there are basically no Muzungus (white folks) in Isibania, and there are even less in Mabera, so I get noticed, alot.

I was accompanied by my Kenyan-counterpart Rogonga Augustine.  So as we were in the cab on our way.  By the way a cab here is a toyota station wagon, and it will usually hold about 12 people, no lie.  4 up front, 2 people sit in the drivers seat, the driver actually will often sit in the lap of a passenger and drive.  5 people in the back seat, and then another 3 or maybe 4 in the cargo area along will all the bags of maize and whatever else is happening to be transported.  This morning I was up front sharing the passenger seat with a rather large man.  I noticed alot of people on the side of the road, some were dancing.  When we hit town I knew something was up.

There were alot of people and then coming down the main dirt road that we would be travelling on to go further into the bush was a parade of folks.  It was indeed a circumcision parade.  They have a circumcision season here, it will occur in a community every few years.  During that time boys and girls will be circumcised.  The have sheets rapped around them, their bodies are painted white, and there are tons of folks around them singing, and dancing and carrying weapons!  They have a weapon here called a Rungu, which is basically like a club, with something menacing attached to the end, you would see them  in Mad Max, Beyond Thunder Dome.  And some people have like shakers things all over their body like maracas making noise.

So I knew before I left this morning circumcision season was coming up.  I was actually traveling to see the Chief because 3 members of my team had been attacked by a crazy-man in the village.  None were harmed, and in the end he didn't take any of their belongings.  This was the team I traveled with last week in the same area, and on Monday I decided not to go in the field and oversee another area of the project at our HQ.  I had also been warned that during circumcision season, the clans don't allow vistiors or people from different clans into their area, because they do secretive things they don't want others to know about.

But I had no idea when I got out of the cab, I was going to be in the middle of the Circumcision Parade.  I was on edge a bit going back and fourth from the Chiefs office.  I prayed alot, and tried to go unnoticed, well as unnoticed as I could be, being a Muzungu whipping by crowds of people on the back of a motorcycle.

So in the end, I was ok and I got to watch a parade.  I'll be honest and say that if they were streaming the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I'd be trying to find a way to watch.  But they are not, so the Mabera Circumcision Parade will have to do for this year. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving back home, and you all enjoy the Parade.

Photo Journal

So just a few photos in this addition, because they are worth a thousand words, right?

This lizard fears nothing! Enough said.

This is what Toto was referring to in the song "Africa."  This is a giant rainstorm rolling in right around sunset.  This happens just about everyday around the same time.  Pretty incredible. 

This is Janine and I enjoying dessert!  It just happened to be homemade mint chocolate-chip ice cream that night!  Amazing things can happen when you have a freezer!  So exciting because you can't just walk down the street to the Dairy Queen here, like we did back in Newnan.

Hope you all enjoy, and we will write more soon!

Breakfast and Dogs

Hi Everyone!

So I had a moment before we do "movie night" and thought I'd check in with all of you.  Things are going well here.  Tonight was mine and Janine's night to cook.  We had been doing breakfast for everybody on the weekend, but we switched back to Friday night, as per group request.  So tonight we had breakfast for dinner.  The menu included pumpkin pancakes (made from butternut squash), cheese eggs (the cheese was mailed from the US) skillet potatoes with peppers, onion and garlic, and fresh sliced pineapple.  Janine also made chai which is local hot tea with milk and sugar.  Our meal was a big hit!

Janine and I got to take a really great walk the other day, and found this sweet little spot beside a little stream, with a big rock that we could both sit on, so we sat and prayed for a bit.  There is this dog that lives by our compound, she is named "Chewy."  I believe this is because she likes to chew on people, but I'm not sure.  Anywho, she gets beat by her owner like everyday (not uncommon for dogs around here).  She looks alot like "Santa's Little Helper" from the Simpsons.  So this dog loves the Mzungus (swahili for white people).  She accompanied Janine and I on our entire walk.  During the walk she was attacked by several dogs, as always seems to be the case with her.  She also fought a goat, and was beaten and started to whimper when the goat rammed her in the chest with its horns.  She also just hung out and ran around in the stream while we prayed.

Well, thats about all the time I have for now.  I'll write again soon, and will try to keep y'all more updated on the events and life here.