returned from the maasai mara today. the trip was wonderful, the lanscpaes were beautiful, and the company above average. on my two days in the part, i saw a variety of animals -- lios, giraffe, ostrich, zebra, elephants, wildebeast, gazwlle, vultures.. at one point i even saw a cheetah guarding serveral new born cubs. it was amazing to see all of these creatures -- graceful, eccentric, bizarre each in their own way.

i admired the giraffe and the ostrich the most, however, for their lithe movements. one of the aspects of my trip that i found most fascinating were my encounters with the maasai. everywhere you looked on the landscape, it was possible to see little dots of red.. maasai men and women draped in red woven cloths of different description. many were also adorned with glass beaded jewelry and large guage earings. whenever their herds moved, the air was filled with ringing bells (the cows and goats wear them on their necks). the sound was remarkable.

oftentimes, the people i spotted leading the cattle were children between the ages of 4 and seven, swathed in red and carrying sticks to prod the animals.

the four most amazing things i saw on my trip were:
1 - a maasai man herding goats and cattle while carrying a little, white baby-goat in his arms

2 - a maasai warrior wearing a pair of retro superfunk mirror-lens sunglasses

3 - a vervet monkey peering mischenviously into my tent at the campsite

4 - a french and korean reality tv-show being filmed in the safari park. upon boarding their tour bus, i was served a hearty portion of french wine (french husband, korean wife, biracial kids -- collectively, they speak french, korean, english and chinese)

that aside, i had mixed emotions about certain elements of my trip. in a classic bout of egalitarianism gone wrong, two of the people on my trip boycotted paying an official visit to the maasai villages on accout of the fact that it was a form of prostitution (maasai prostituting themselves to foreigners). normally, i wouldn't disagree with the sentiment. however, in making their determination that taking such a trip was damnable, my travel companions ignored the comments of kenyans and maasai that the visits help fund education and nutrition in the communities and that the maasai welcome the interaction. the people in my group also declined an offer by maasai men to perform a tradional song.

really, wtf? how to you know a communities' values better than they do? whatever the internal politics that motivated their actions, in the end it seemed like they declined to take interest in the community. i, on the other hand, was interested and royally annoyed.

being maasai is semi-revolutionary in my eyes. you are a renegade -- anti-matieral, free of boundaries, free of government, ruled by custom, free to roam, all the land you touch is yours. and such beautiful land.

in news that is perhaps unrelated, i've been thinking about my beautiful beautiful boy.. since saturday, to be precise, when he left me to go on my safari in mai mahiu. david okoth, sociologist from the slums.

i guess its not uncommon for me to feel anxious and curious about things. however, the part that i can't figure out is how things could work out between us when we live in such different worlds. even my dirty thoughts of the past few days have been confused by these questions. for example, is seduction possible in a pentacostal and catholic society? heh heh.. moreover, where to stay the night? i don't imagine that i'd be able to visit him in korogocho, and i can't quite imagine him comfortably coming to visit me in the burbs of nairobi. seems like we might have to settle for cheap hotels.. just kidding..heh heh.

alas, i hope to see him on wednesday, although i'm not sure what to do or say.