Trav's Travels: "So Congratulations, you're done with your master's"

--> 7-2-14
"So Congratulations, you're done with your master's"

These were the words Todd told me a couple of days ago when I said I was almost done with my 12 networks. Well, today was that day. I finished my field work! It went much quicker than I thought it ever would. Mainly b/c I had such an awesome field crew! Of course at first I thought I might do 24 networks, but that would have just been impossible with my time-frame, and Todd is very happy with 12 networks.
But don't be fooled! I am still far away from that master's. I still have to enter the data, organize my insects, get my insect identified, analyze my data, write up a thesis, present my project, and defend it. So really, the fun part is done, but lots more work lies ahead

Yesterday, Elisha went to Nanyuki with Todd and Kat to do a little souvenir shopping and to take a much needed break from my project (she has been so extremely helpful!) She missed out on a little bit of excitement because while we were resting in the shade, a family of elephants came up into the plot and one seemed a little angry. Because our vehicle was in the shop, we had hitched a ride with George. This means that we had no vehicle near us, so we ran towards the meso-fence (the fence that keeps out everything except dik-diks and warthogs) and ducked under it. It wasn't really a close call at all, but it was fun to watch the elephant shake his head and flap his ears at us through the fence. Last night, we watched the Belgium vs USA world cup soccer match. It was an exciting game, though sad in the end. But worth staying up until 2am to watch it.

The next day when all of us were there, an elephant was in the plot when we drove up. It got scared off when we arrived, but soon, once we started watching our flowers, a large family of elephants arrived nearby. They were peacefully eating (and downwind of us, so they knew we were there), so we weren't too worried, but we made sure to keep an eye on them as we watched our flowers.

Today we didn't have many flowers to watch because we were in a very dry area, so we had time to go to the local Maasai market in a village about an hours drive on rough roads away (including fording a river in our land cruiser). The market happens about once or twice every month, so it's a big affair with livestock, food, and wares brought from Nanyuki and Nairobi for sale. They also were selling a lot of this one plant that they chew to keep them awake. I suppose it’s like caffeine, except much stronger. The tiny village was in the middle of nowhere in extremely dry, arid land. On the way we passed herdsman watching camels, sheep, goats, and cows.

The best part of the market, of course, was seeing all the people dressed up in their traditional clothing. I wish I could have taken some photos, but felt like it would be quite rude as this was a real market, not some touristy place. And we were the only Mzungus (white people) there, so we really stood out). Butt google image search maasai and samburu traditional dress and you can see. The majority of the people are Maasai, though some were also Samburu. The women are dressed extremely colorfully. They all wear very brightly colored sarong type clothes. Then they have these huge (and I mean huge) beaded necklaces that are made of brightly colored beads and are probably 5 to 6 inches thick. They are also bedecked in colorful bracelets and anklets of all kinds. They also have various types of earrings (some attached to their necklaces). The Maasai--both men and women--have large holes in their ears so that their earlobes hang quite low. Also, both men and women have shaved heads.

The men also wore colorful clothing. Some of the men, especially the older ones, carried the standard Maasai red blanket around their shoulders. They too had various earrings. Their arms were also loaded up with large bracelets too. One of the funniest things was that, tucked into their bracelets, most had a mirror. It was funny because these weren’t the type of people you felt would be too concerned with always checking themselves out. All of the men also carried their lion clubs (a wooden stick type thing with a big ball on the end used to kill lions, especially in the old days when they did this to become a man), spears, a machete, and sometimes a cattle prod stick. The machete is tucked into their outfits and they hold the other objects in their hand or, when they are resting, they keep the sticks between their legs as they stand with their weight on one leg in classic Maasai resting style. The Maasai warriors are shirtless, but have decorations (almost like suspenders) over their shoulders and across their chest. They also wear a special type of headdress that looks like a bandana, and they wear a chain that starts in the ear and goes over their cheekbones. All the men wear that aren’t barefoot, wear sandals made out of old tires. I bought a pair for $2. My field assistants said they guarantee they will last at least 8 years! Take that chaco!

Apparently, based on colors of bracelets and necklaces and types of earrings worn, you can tell whether people are married, single and other social statuses.

We met some of Zachary’s (my field assistant) brothers and sisters as well as his mother. His family members were all dressed up in traditional clothes, and he said he often wears them when he is home. I gave him 3 days off to go to a wedding at his village this coming week, and he said he would be all-decked out for that. But it was really cute to see how proud his mother was of him. There was her son, the scientist, hanging out with Mzungus, speaking English and guiding them around, and of course riding in the bright green landrover. You could just see the big smile on her face as she pointed Zachary out to the different people she was with, and presumably told them that he was her son.
Elisha bought some jewelry, sarongs, and some other clothing items as gifts for people. Then we went and had some chapatti and cow (or goat) intestine/stomach soup before heading back to our plots to finish up our last observation for my project.

As a celebration for being done with the field portion of my project, I decided to take the guys and Elisha up M’kenya, the largest “peak” on Mpala Ranch. All the little peaks around Mpala are old volcanic structures and these rock outcroppings are known locally as kopjes. On the drive to M’kenya, Peter somehow managed to spot a female cheetah resting in the shade. She wasn’t afraid at all, and she let us get really close. We watched her for quite some time before we decided to stop bothering her so she could get some rest for the evening hunt.

At the top of M’kenya, which has amazing 360 degree views as it towers over the surrounding landscape, we had a toast with soft drinks (a real treat) I had bought the field assistants at the village. We also took some fun jumping pictures and ate some snacks as we soaked in the view and explored the rocks and little caves around the summit. We had a very fun time with lots of laughing. My field assistants are awesome guys, and we had a good time together. Because of them and Elisha, I was able to get my project done so quickly

The guys were very amazed how Elisha could climb the rocks so well and didn’t need help. I think that women, in Kenyan culture, aren’t believed to be super talented in physical type activities. They also think it’s strange for them to have a woman drive. The day I took the students on a field activity, Elisha drove one of the vans. Zachary told me how at first he was so scared to be in the car that Elisha was driving, but quickly learned that she was a good driver.

On the drive back to the research center we asked Zach how old his sister that we met was. 26 was his answer. We then asked him how old his mother was. 37 was his answer. We were a bit puzzled at the biological possibility of this, but then he explained that the sister was the daughter of his father’s other wife (still called his mother, but not his biological mother). We learned that Maasai can have multiple wives. Most have 2 to 5, though you can have as many as you want as long as you have enough money. To get a wife, you need about 12 cows to give to the girl’s father (Elisha bragged that she was probably worth 200 cows, which they all got a kick out of). Zachary has a girlfriend that he has been seeing for about 2 years, but he only has 6 cows. Julius, who is 30, also only has about 6 cows. Peter, however, has 10 cows, so we joked that he must be getting really close to marriage. They were all very surprised that in America it is illegal to have more than 1 wife.