My Farewell

No doubt about it. What I will miss most about Odessa, are the people I met here.

My very first day in Odessa was spent with Dawn; and you can't ask for a better welcome. We talked for hours that day, and I felt so 'cushioned' in my transition. Although I have many memories at the Freeland's- a day spent learning the art of collage, our Thanksgiving feast, a lunch with yummy salad and pumpkin soup.... I think it was that very first day that will remain with me forever.

Any time spent with Bob and Andrea were sure to be filled with laughter and fun. What an awesome couple; always a joy to be around. They are the couple I aspire to be! Our night of playing Pictionary could only be topped by their impromptu number of "Baby, It's Cold Outside!" Lunch at their house was the first home-cooked meal we had in Odessa- I'll never forget them, nor Abigail, Emily and Iris.

One of the dearest people in my life here has been Natalie, my boss- who has always been more of a friend to me than anything else. Always supportive, relentelessly caring (she offered to arrange for a physician when I called in sick one day!), and perpetually smiling. I will miss her as well as the wonderful teachers at the OLSC- Irina (who called me Antaruchka from the start), Alexis, Vickie, Natasha (such a gentle spirit!), Sveta (cutest son ever!), Marina... all were absolute sweethearts!

Then there's Helen; with whom I clicked with from the start. Whether we went out to lunch for some borsch, or spent time chit-chatting, or went out dancing at the Palladium; we always had fun together.

There are so many others; I couldn't possibly capture all the wonderful people in a blog entry.

So I'll end with a big THANK YOU to all the people who have come into our lives in Odessa.

Keep in touch! We will miss you!

Arun's Farewell

Today is my last day in Ukraine.
Feels like it was yesterday I landed in Odessa.
I remember all the questions I had when I reached the Continental Hotel late at night last September.

What would work be like?
What about the people I'll work with?
How will it be working with the Ukrainian people?

Then there were some very practical concerns:

How would I search for apartments?
Should I live downtown, as most expats did? Or closer to work?
There were barely any internet listings- not that I could understand it, if I tried.
I took a full month of apartment-hunting accompanied by my coworker Vova (interpretation help) before I finally settled down.

But really, that was just the beginning.

How do I set up internet? Once again, I relied on the Raytheon interpreters to help me locate the Tenet office. Even filling out the form was an obstacle because it was entirely in Russian, and I needed their help for even that simple task.
The TV channels were Russian news stations and Russian reality shows. I had my office-mate Sergei call someone to install the Satellite so I could at least have BBC and CNN (and yeah, a few Hindi programs too.)

In many ways, life here was a struggle and there are a few things I won’t miss. The smelly marshrutka buses (whenever people coughed, I always feared TB.) The stray dogs. The smoking.

But overall, if I was asked if I would do it again? Yes, I would.
I never realized how relaxing it is to walk to work. I would walk through the marketplace and by the time I reached work, I would feel clear-headed and ready to start. Compare that to battling traffic on highways or playing the Monday morning airport shuffle; and I realize how much simpler life was here. It also helps that work starts at 9 am rather than at 8 (that extra hour of sleep is nice.)

Language was a huge barrier.
But people were always willing to help.
We used to live in such a bubble in the US. Most people are busy with their own life and their own stresses- and there are a lot more of them there.

It was great to meet the close-knit expat American community here and we definitely made some new friends. It was so easy to spend time with people- you can just pick up the phone and get a group together for dinner. In the US, we would have to plan a dinner weeks in advance.

I will take a lot of great memories from my time here in Odessa and I learned a lot about the people and culture in this part of the world- all of which I will cherish throughout my career.

Dash to the Finish

Arun and I have been trying to enjoy our last few days in Odessa. We can't believe our adventure here is coming to an end!

Both of us are becoming increasingly nostalgic for our carefree days as expats.

So in the last few days, we've run around town eating at our favorite restaurants, visiting our favorite sights, and spending time with our friends.

Thought I'd share some of our latest photos of fun:

This building is called the 'one-wall' building because of the very odd angle that creates the optical illusion that is indeed, one-wall deep.

This bridge is called the "mother-in-law" bridge. As the story goes, the mayor built this bridge because he so enjoyed his mother-in-law's cooking that he wanted easy access for meals and therefore constructed this bridge between his home and his in-laws'. The bridge is now popular for newlyweds to come and place engraved locks on the rails. And when that couple has children, they add a little lock to it! Very cute!

If there's one restaurant I will miss the most in Odessa, it's Yokohama. They have a spicy shrimp that I crave and my absolute favorite dessert: molten chocolate cake with green tea ice cream. Ohhh how I'll miss this! (And yes, I did break into the cake before taking the picture.)

If there's one thing Arun will miss- it's the street-side Schwarmas that Ukrainians and Ex-pats avoid like the plague but Arun's absolutely addicted to.... hey- to each their own!

And of course, as Arun pointed out- we'll miss the interesting fashion. (The Fall knee-high stiletto boots over jeans is now being replaced with platform stiletto heels of Spring time)

We'll miss walking around town and simply running into random performers, neat churches, fun statues and beautiful architecture. We went to Primorsky Blvd and ran into a event showcasing Belarussian singers.

And finally- we'll miss being able to walk to Arkadia Beach.

Russ-lish and Eng-ian

One of the things that has been both incredibly endearing and entirely hilarious has been listening to the mis-steps of Expats in their attempts at Russian and those of Ukrainians speaking English.

On one of our first trip to McDonalds, Arun was trying to order us a medium-sized french fry.
"Kakoi?" she asked Arun, indicating the various sizes of containers.
"Uhhh...." Arun fumbled.
"Bolshoi?"
"Nyet!" Arun was at least relieved to be able to rule out the largest size.
"Malinchi?"... "Small?" she translated into English for him.
"Nyet!" Arun ruled out again.
"Oh!" she said with recognition, "In-the-middle!"
"Da!"

And bingo- we got our in-the-middle sized fries. Very fun!

On the flipside, there have been some hysterical mistakes on our part as well.
One evening, we went out to dinner with a large group of Arun's coworkers at a Ukrainian Restaurant. Dave was trying to join us and asked for the name of the restaurant.

Our fellow diner flipped over the Menu and said, "Oh, we're at Mihio's!"
The rest of the table burst out laughing.
The letterings on the menu cover were in Russian and spelled out the word, menu.

Some other common Ukrainian-English phrases and words that have struck me are:

• The pronounciation of the word 'clothes' (which we rhyme with hose or shows, but they pronounce with two syllables: clo--thes which rhymes more with bogus.)



• Using the phrase "make pictures" rather than "take pictures" but in many ways I love the word 'make' here because it seems more like an artistic creation.



• Using the word "many" instead of "a lot."

I'll end on one note- and its that I am grateful to all the Odessites who have put up with my attempts at speaking Russian over the past 6 months. I have mixed up "Ribyonik" with "Rabushka" and "Palitinza" with "Leiznitza" and numerous other vocabulary brain-freezes... and people have only been understanding and appreciative at my feeble attempts.

Krakow

Krakow wound up being a delightful surprise to us. Charming, yet uncrowded and a bit undiscovered! The people were amazingly warm and welcoming... and even the food was surprisingly good! We took a very long walking tour of Krakow and saw everything from the ancient Medieval walls to Oscar Schindler's factory. We were able to learn about the very tragic history involving the Jewish population of this city - but the heroic stories of resilience as well.

We stopped for Zapikanka and Peirogi every chance we got- how did we ever get through life without these delicious snacks??!

We took a couple of day trips. One was to Wieliczka which is home to the famous salt mines. It seems there are some incredibly talented sculptors amongst those miners because they managed to carve some of the most amazing figures hundreds of metres underground. We saw a giant salt Copernicus, amazing salt cathedrals, salt chandeliers, and even a salt Last Supper!

There were also some somewhat-creepy gnomes, and I'm hoping the kids liked those and weren't haunted by them in their nightmares. No? Just me?

The most powerful part of our trip was our visit to Aushwitz. We happened to be visiting the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day (when the site is reserved for survivors and other special guests) and it was simply compelling, emotional and moving to go through the site. There are images I'll never forget- pairs of glasses and suitcases left by victims who until the very last moment were deceived about their fate. The methodical dehumanization of so many innocent individuals. There was one particular story that our guide told us at Birkenau that finally put me over the edge and in tears- I'll let you discover it, if you're interested (A film called A Love in Aushwitz.)

Although we found Warsaw to be fairly sterile after Krakow, we definitely enjoyed our trip to Poland- a bit of a hidden gem still!

Prague

Prague simply takes your breath away.

It's as though you are walking through pages of a fairy-tale rather than a real city.

There seem to be countless nooks and crannies to explore on the gorgeous cobblestone pathways. The riverbanks are lined with red-shingled rooftops and views from the famed Charles Bridge are unsurpassed. Our hotel overlooked the Wawel Castle and when I awoke (Arun missed this because of course he was asleep) there was a gorgeous fog that hung over the city. The foggy mornings seemed only to add a mystique to the city and within a couple of hours, (when Arun finally got out of bed), there was clear blue skies.

Arun's choice of hotel was rather interesting- he chose a fantastic 4-star hotel (NOT a Hilton, gasp!) that is frequented by celebrities because it is out of the way. It stands on a hilltop and has an amazing view of the city but wasn't anywhere close to public transportation. When we trekked 15 minutes (uphill, no less) to the hotel, I turned around and asked Arun if he chose the hotel because it was in a good school district because although it was located in a very posh part of town, it was definitely not convenient for tourists. Sigh. Last minute travel plans and Arun doing the planning....

Still, the walking was rather delightful since Spring was in the air and there were gorgeous flowers and cherry blossoms in bloom everywhere.

Naturally, the romantic city is also filled with great restaurants and Arun certainly had his fill. We tried a Brazilian churascaria, a fantastic Indian restaurant and OF COURSE Chinese food! We could not resist grabbing a trudle pastry and gelato every chance we got!

The only drawback to this wonderful city is the fact that it is really TOO touristy. Everyone has already discovered this city and most of the time we found ourselves surrounded by Americans. At Wawel Castle we were shuffled through the throngs of tourists as well as at the Jewish Quarters. Reprieve seemed to come at around 3pm when most of the tour groups subsided. Prague is just not a 'best-kept secret' anymore. Prices of crystal were ridiculous and we decided to hold off for Poland to purchase our wares. The prices, however, didn't prevent Arun from purchasing this shirt- ha! Such a sap for tourist traps! (He proudly wore it to work too!)



We visited churches (goregous stained glass windows) and perused museums (original manuscripts of Beethoven!) and spent our evenings walking through the Old Town. I'll end on some random trivia that I learned:

• The Czech Republic has the highest density of castles in the world
• Bata Shoe store was founded here (largest shoe retailer and manufacturer)
• Freud was born here
• The soft contact lens and the sugar cube were invented here

Now go impress your friends! :)

So Very Lucky!

Yesterday evening, as I taught my final class at the OLSC, my students surprised me with flowers and candy. I was so incredibly touched and moved by the gesture. As I commuted home that evening, I reflected on just how incredibly lucky I have been in my places of employment.

Fresh out of undergrad, I applied for my first 'real' job at the Mental Health Association- the Village. Upon leaving, I received such a torrent of well-wishes from the entire organization. A huge party that was catered to my pescatarian diet. They even wrote a song to the tune of 'Bend it Like Beckham' (the movie had just been released) ! It was a very emotional time in my life and I will never forget the outpouring of support as I left for Michigan.

During Grad School, I received an EU externship in Athens. The friendships I made there have lasted me until this day. Dr. Merianou, Dr. Pavi, Aphrodite, Eleftheria, Matthew, Nikos still keep in contact with me. On my final evening in Athens, Eleftheria and I went out to dinner. We sat on an open-terrace overlooking the Parthenon and ate and drank wine late into the hours. It was unforgettable!

At THR, I had a one year fellowship upon finishing Grad School. Once again, the executives and my amazing colleagues threw an amazing farewell spread. Engraved mikasa crystal, a Fort Worth monopoly game, dozens of cards... I couldn't believe how much they had done for me.

When I left Children's Medical Center, once again my employees and coworkers moved me with their farewell. And now at the OLSC, I have teachers and students reaching out to me in so many touching ways. I have only been a part of their lives a few months, and yet their actions don't reveal that short tenure.

I realize what amazing organizations I have been a part of. More importantly, it speaks volumes about the people who stay in touch throughout the years, and care so deeply.

I am truly, very- very lucky.

Easter in Ukraine

Ukraine follows the Orthodox calendar and as such, Easter falls on April 19th.

There are a few traditions that differ from those in America. I would say, overall- it is much less commericalized and much more focused on church and family.

The first Ukrainian tradition is the baking of pashka. It is a soft pound cake of sorts- moderately sweet and has white frosting on top. There are numerous variations- some put raisins inside, others put nuts; some make it more of a cheesecake and use ricotta. But it is almost always created in a mold that makes it tower-shaped. Very yum! Baking pashka has great symbolic significance in Ukraine. The baker of the bread must keep their thoughts pure and the household must remain quiet for the bread to retain its fluffy texture while in the oven. It is customary to keep the baking of the paska a strictly family affair; and guests are generally kept from the house while the paska is being prepared. Care and effort is put into pashka because it represents the family's prosperity; and therefore one must guard it from the 'evil eye.' [photo credit: Dayrain on Flickr]

Secondly- the tradition of pysanky! Our familiar tradition of decorating eggs started right here in Ukraine! Our friends Andrea and Bob gave us the most amazing egg and I learned that the process is quite intricate. You make a small hole on the top and bottom and gently blow out the yolk and albumin (or alternatively, make one hole and eat the raw egg- yuck). Then you create a design on wax and depending on how elaborate the design- you have to do the process over and over again using different colors and layers of wax. Andrea has an quite the eye for detail as you can see her design of sunflowers on the egg she presented us. Beautiful!

Thirdly- unlike the tradition of eating an Easter Ham, it's tradition to eat eggs here! Afterall, if you decorate and purchase all those eggs, you can't waste them! Ukrainian tradition dictates that you decorate your boiled eggs and then play a game that involves picking a rival and smashing your egg against your rival's until one of the shells break- that's the loser! After each battle- you enjoy your egg!

Fourthly- there's no easter egg hunts here. And definitely no giving of live animals like bunnies and chicks!

Many pagan rituals have been incorporated into Easter traditions- pysanky, the blessing of willow branches, and other Spring time traditions; and even though many have lost their original meaning, they still remain as part of the symbolic diaspora.

Odessa News

Odessites have been rather anxious over the fact that the government has decided to release over 10,000 inmates from local prisons this past week.

Turns out the government simply can't afford to keep so many people incarcerated and they want to ease prison overcrowding.

Activists, however, laud Ukraine's "progressive" stance on inmates. They have transitional programs for the people that are released and have programs for inmates that allow mothers to visit their children (living on-site) twice a day.

Still, people are being a bit more cautious walking around in the evenings. Some of the students at my school have been asking to shift their class times a bit earlier so they don't have to commute after the sun sets. It's been interesting hearing Ukrainian insights about social policy. Most Ukrainians seem so frustrated by their government, they simply tune-out the overarching policy-aspect of the decision and worry about how things affect them personally. And with regard to this new inmate-release, they are simply worried about their own safety. Who can blame them?

Weekend Wrap-Up

One of the lovely things in Odessa are the many statues and squares. I think we will definitely miss the charm of walking around downtown when we head back to the States.

There is a particular statue that is very popular among tourists- a man sitting on a park bench that just beckons you to sit next to him and pose! There are other charming statues- a boy flying a paper airplane, a mother and child waiting by the Sea Terminal for the return of their loved one...

Another interesting treat is visiting Privoz- an enormous farmer's market that has everything from dried fruit stalls to butchers to vegetable stands. Rows and rows of open-air shopping that isn't for the inexperienced or faint of heart. You have to be able to have a good eye to discern the good produce from the poor, an ability to negotiate in Russian, and a tough stomach in the meat and fish area.

Arun didn't seem fazed at all, and had fun negotiating for a schwarma and walking through Privoz like it was a day at the fair!

We ended our weekend of fun with a night at the opera.

We are certainly coming full circle, as this was one of my first excursions in Odessa.

At that time we had seen the Pirates of Penzance ballet, and this time we took in Rosinni's Barber of Seville. As promised (so many months ago!) I am finally posting pictures of the gorgeous interior!

The first thing Arun asked me in the morning is whether or not he could get popcorn to snack on during the show. Um... considering this isn't the first time he's been to the opera, I'm surprised he was rather disappointed when I told him NO!

Still, right before we walked into the opera house, Arun stopped to get some M&M's which he asked me to sneak in (geez- it's not a flask during a football game!). And so during the show, he munched on candy... and then between acts, he ran down to get some cake. Geez- such a grubber!

The opera was delightful. What was funny is that about midway through the show, Arun realized he's SEEN it BEFORE! Yeah, that's right- HE'S the cultured one! Apparently, HR took the entire office to the Barber of Seville when they first arrived in Odessa. This doesn't, however, explain why Arun asked me after the first act if this was in Russian or Italian. Sigh. Obviously Arun's been paying more attention to the M&M's than the libretto!

So that's it! Our Night at the Opera!

Weekend in Odessa

As we wind down our days in Odessa, we are trying to get in the last bits of sightseeing that have been on our 'to-do' list. Arun has been particulary anxious to go to 411 Battery (a memorial park dedicated to WWII.) It was the site of the "siege of Odessa" when the Soviet forces battled the Germans for 73 days. The city was overcome until May 9th, 1944 which is celebrated here as "Victory Day." The trenches, underground catacombs and some weaponry still remain.

It proved to be a rather enjoyable day. We had breakfast downtown at the Mozart Cafe and then headed on the 175 marshrutka down to the Battery. It's right on the sea, so it was actually a bit chilly; not that it deterred the throngs of people out and about!

The funniest thing was that the park is particularly popular for energetic boys- ranging from 7-14. And so for many of the photo-ops, Arun was waiting in line or battling 10 year olds for positioning! It was rather hilarious! And most of the boys were accompanied by their mothers who were taking their photos but in my case, I was following around my 30 year old husband for pictures. Sigh...

There was a wonderful museum displaying a lot of Soviet paraphernalia and propoganda- and of course, Arun was deeply mesmerized.

Odessites are really enjoying the Spring weather and so many folks make a day out of 411 Battery and drive their cars into the park for picnics... it really looks like a form of tailgating! Pretty hilarious!

We left the Battery and headed downtown to enjoy the rest of our day. Arun was really amused near Greek Square by the throngs of old men who gather to play chess. "I never really considered chess a spectator sport!" Arun quipped when he noticed that there were more people watching than playing chess!

We finished our evening with some sushi at Fanconi's (the BEST in Odessa!) and came home exhausted! Quite a Saturday!

Apprehended!

If you look like a foreigner in Ukraine- chances are, at some point- you will be stopped by the police. They ask for your passport and check to see if you are in the country illegally. Most of the time, they are simply looking for a few bucks of "chai" money.

Arun and I have been stopped a couple of times. Never near our home in Fontanska because it's a suburb; generally it's downtown on Deribasovskaya.

They are generally cordial- they ask for papers, and Arun just NEVER carries them! But so far he has gotten away with showing his Texas driver's license. Usually, they ask him, "Uchinik?" meaning- are you a student? That's because usually the foreigners living in Odessa ARE students! But we (I) usually have to correct them and explain that we work here (he shows them his office id) and they see that he's married and that we look innocent-enough and they salute us and let us go.

Well- this didn't happen the last time Arun got caught.

I think mainly it's because this is the first time I wasn't with him.

AND he was hanging out at the airport (waiting to pick me up!)

Well, the police caught up to him and asked for his passport- which of COURSE he wasn't carrying. He tried his old trick of showing them his driver's license and Raytheon ID card and they just refused to budge! They sent him to the police station nearby to talk to the head guy there. Well, by this time Arun called the office manager at his work and they quickly faxed over a copy of his passport to the police office. About 15 minutes later, the whole thing was cleared up and Arun was released.

Well- news spread like wildfire at his work! Arun was APPREHENDED!

Little did they know that this had been our third time. And that Arun STILL hadn't learned his lesson about carrying his darn passport around!

I was speaking with one of my students, Zoong, who is Vietnamese in origin (but Russian in every other way!) and he mentioned that he gets stopped by the police all the time too. It seems Arun's main mistake at the airport is not slipping them a 20 Hr note! The police, like everyone else in Ukraine, are incredibly underpaid- so it's really just a way to bolster their income. They mean no harm! And it's true- generally they are young guys who are usually very respectful to us. One of the times on Deribasovskaya- Arun even tried to shake the cops' hand at the end! That didn't really fly....

Live and Learn!

My name is.... what?

So one of the things we've learned in Ukraine is that names can be very complex!

Almost instantly after people meet me, they turn Antara into Antaruchka.

It's a way of addressing someone more informally- to draw them closer to you and make it more 'tender.'

Arun's nickname never ceases to crack me up- it's Arunchik.

However, you can't just haphazardly add 'uchka' and 'chik' to people's names. There are certain endings that 'match' with certain names.

The other thing that occurs is the diminutive version of names. I learned quickly that my student called Nastya- was actually Anastasia in my attendance sheet. Natasha was Natalie. Maria was Masha. Olga was Olya. Ira was Irina. For the boys it was equally interesting: Alexander was Sasha. Dmitry was Dema. Vladamir was Vova.

The whole Slavic naming structure gets even more complex than just nicknames though!

Turns out everyone is also given a patronymic middle name. This essentially is a 'son-of' or 'daughter-of' identification. It doesn't function in the same way as an American middle name. Sometimes they are dropped or abbreviated. I really think the historical origins of the patronymic is to help people identify the lineage of an individual. And even though that function is becoming more obsolete in our modern age- the tradition remains.

This is way my students' formal names look like this:

Svetlana Iosifovna Kuzmina

Which means this girl's name is Svetlana- she is the daughter of Iosif (Joseph) and her family name is Kuzmina. But of course... she goes by Sveta (the diminutive).

Whew!

Superstition!

• 
  At a recent dinner party at our house, the conversation turned to superstitions. Turns out, there are a lot of very interesting supersitions that exist in Ukraine. I find that some of them are rather similar to a few that I used to hear from my mother. For example- If your right hand itches-you will get money; if your left hand itches- you will lose money. So clearly, some superstitions cross cultural boundaries! I'd be interested to hear if there are similiarities between Ukrainian superstitions and some that you've heard--- let me know!
  
  Here are some others:
  
  
• While it is bad luck to make Borsch on Thursdays, it is good luck to sit between two people with the same name.
• An unmarried Ukrainian woman never sits at the corner of a table if she wants to marry within the next seven years.


• Before a trip- it's good luck to sit on your luggage before leaving.


• Never shake hands over a threshold for you will send misfortune to your host.


• While flowers are considered a gracious gift, do not present a bouquet with an even number of flowers.
• If cutlery falls to the floor, it means you can expect guests.
• Whistling indoors means financial hardship may befall you!

Thanks Andrei! For all the great conversation!

Missing Ankur

Today would have been Ankur's 26th birthday.
As I have been sorting through my pictures, I realize that most of them involve him with food! :)
He definitely loved to eat!
And so I'll have to make it a point to remember him and eat out in a big way.

I've had my ups and downs these past few weeks.
Through people, I have discovered more and more what made Ankur so amazing. And I feel so incredibly blessed to have had him in my life.

Still- the grief I have felt over this time has been the most intense as I have ever gone through in life. Not a day goes by without thoughts of Ankur. I miss him so intensely.

I have learned a lot as well.
At first I really questioned how this family who has stood by everyone and been such support in our community could have had this happen to them. I wondered how someone who has lived with such honesty and integrity could have faced such a terrible incident. What kind of karma is this?

And yet I watch as hundreds of people write about Ankur... even to this day.
There hasn't been a single day that the Dube family has been alone.
There has been a flood of support- people flying from all corners of the world to be with them.
And while that doesn't replace the loss- clearly all their good deeds are coming forth through this shared grief.

Here I am, still thinking of him, writing of him. If he hadn't touched me so deeply- I wouldn't be missing him right now.

Happy Birthday Ankur!

Safari Part IV

The Hadzabe!

As I've recounted stories from my safari trip- there is one aspect that seems to capture people's imagination. Our time with the Hadzabe tribe.

It's rather understandable- there are less than 1,500 people left of this tribe. They are one of the most primitive tribes left in the world. Lifespans are only up to 40 years of age because of their harsh life. No huts or caves or homes- they completely live in the bush. They eat what they can shoot with their bow and arrow (turns out their favorite is eating baboons!) They also subsist on wild nuts and berries to add to their primarily-carnivorous diet.

We drove through the bush for about an hour over unpaved hillside to get to this particular family of 14-20. They are shunned by other Hadzabe because they 'accept' tourists. Actually, they have gained more of a world-view because a Harvard professor studied them with the help of a local mediator, Mustafa. We were lucky enough to pick up Mustafa who did the same for us. He asked them for permission for our visit, and they immediately approached us with warm handshakes (taught to them by some Westerner, no doubt!) Generally Hadzabe do not wear clothing, but this family has leaned some amount of shame from so many visitors and so they cut off trousers and turn them into shorts when they see tourists arriving.

Even though we had to communicate with them through Mustafa, we could feel their warmth and hospitality. They seemed to be a simple, kind-hearted people that lived more harmoniously with their surroundings than most of us could dream possible!

They showed us how they make arrows- straightening them with their teeth. And then they showed us their precise hunting ability with some target practice (we joined in!)

Mustafa all of a sudden asked, "Normally, if you want to watch them hunting, you have to arrive at 4 in the morning and trek with them. But I saw a wild cat killed at the side of the road... what if we asked if they are interested in a little snack?"

Of course we were interested! But at the same time, we couldn't help but be a bit repulsed by the fact that we were about to watch three teenage boy chow-down on some road-kill!

Well, Mostafa asked the boys in their click-lanaguage if they wanted to eat this cat... and they were filled with excitement! They gathered up their bows and arrows and started walking down the path. But Mostafa stopped them and asked if they wanted to go by car- it was quite a distance and Arun and I didn't have too much time.

Those boys have NEVER been inside a car before in their lives. They were delighted-thrilled-and completely scared out of their minds. Mostafa translated for us:

They're saying, "The trees are running!"
And we watched the poor boys as they held on to the sides of the car for dear life shrieking as the trees rustled up against our jeep.

Finally, we arrived, and the boys went out to check their mid-day meal. They seemed rather relieved as they clamored out of the vehicle and back unto solid land. They excitedly clicked to one another as they examined their 'freebie' meal- one they didn't have to exert any hunting energy for.

I won't explain in graphic detail but quicker than I could microwave a TV dinner- they had a fire up and roaring- and threw the cat over the fire to singe the fur off. Then they created a 'plate' of sorts out of leaves, made some skewers out of branches and were dining!

It was a rather surreal experience!

In fact, local tribes, who keep their distance from the Hadzabe (and never really interact with them) stopped by to watch as well. They were equally amazed at the ability to digest, essentially what amounted to raw meat!

After the boys finished up- they covered their 'pit' up with dirt and then happily headed back on foot to their bush.

We wondered if they would have preferred going back by car- afterall, didn't they enjoy the experience? But as we watched them with their carefree gait, heading through the bush- we realized, no- they are truly happy. They have an inner-peace that those of us with so many wants-and needs can not achieve. They are the lucky ones.