Just a few honours

A few days ago, heading out to the field with Nkori and Jacob, we give each other nicknames. Amazed at Nkori's abilities to track rhinos, I couldn't resist thinking Eagle was the most appropriate name. I am not (yet) able to pick out the grey shades of rhino amongst the grasslands and forests of Lewa. I thought I would be ok by now since I can relate this to polar bear season. Picking out a white-ish animal against a white-ish background gets to be routine after awhile. Now an arctic hare...those little furballs are something else. So back to rhinos....Eagle is appropriate. Now on to Jacob. He is a bit of a trickster. Trying to teach me Kiswahili and having me fail miserably at remembering the words, he laughs at his ways of joking with me as I search frantically in my head for the sounds that don't stick. I call him Fox. I wish I had my sister's language abilities; she would be fluent by now. My parents too; they would be speaking the tribal languages by now too.

I look up at the two rangers and try to decipher what they choose for me from their behaviours. A valuable lesson I have learned from studying animals is the somewhat predictable nature of behaviours. It gets easier to decode humans once their intentions are understood. This helps in other worlds....even amongst the Capoeiristas that speak portugese, I can sometimes conclude what is being communicated...unfortunately, Capoeira is all about malandragem (or trickery) and linear thinking is not always the case. Last weekend, I was able to meet up with a capoeira group when we (the 5 canucks and 1 yank - sounds like the beginning of a joke) headed into Nairobi for one of those ridiculous weekends. The capoeira group I met up with played a different style but the communication was all the same from what I have been taught back in Toronto. The familiar music was energizing and I was happy to play a few games. The lead instructor told me of his volunteer work in the slums of Nairobi, and some of the students I played against were from those regions of darkness that they essentially need to survive in. Their welcoming smiles is proof that anything is possible, and the dichotomy continues.

Sorry I digress. Eagle and Fox are discussing. I'm nervous, wondering what kind of perception I might have given off these past weeks around Lewa. And what does it mean for a Canadian woman to venture into the depths of Lewa, and head out to the field each day with the security guys for rhino tracking? I asked once about female rangers, and I came to learn there aren't any in the field. I don't believe the reasons for this are related to anything other than safety since Kenyan culture I understand to be open, accepting, and very welcoming. There might be a crucial role here for Rob and the Krav Maga crew!!! I am thus honored even more and feel lucky that I am allowed day after day to be in the field with the security guys.

Eagle and Fox decide on Mwendwa. I have no idea what it means. I look questioningly at them and wait for them to explain. Fox tells me its a Kimeru word. There are 42 tribes in Kenya, Eagle is Masaai and Fox is Kimeru. I come to understand that Mwendwa means someone who is well liked. I think it means a social butterfly kind of term. I am honored even more.