When I first came to Kenya I thought that I would be living in a traditional Maasai hut with no running water and no electricity. However this was not how it turned out to be, as a student of Anthropology this still really intrigued me however. So after talking with my African Mamma she arranged for us to go and visit and stay with some of the more traditional Maasai.
So our little adventure began on Thursday
We had to wait until later in the morning to do some stuff at the bank, then go with David another volunteer at the house, he was buying mattresses for the school! Then we took the mattresses there. As that would be his last day, he stuck around for awhile for a good-bye ceremony type thing. When we all finally met up it was later in the afternoon. After a decent drive on roads that were leading to the middle of nowhere and where the best typical African roads, and getting lost and having to pick up some traditional Maasai men, we found our way.
When we arrived at this first manyatta, before we were allowed to enter we had to meet up with the higher ups in the group, and they had to discuss whether we were allowed in or not. After not too much contention and our offering of 5,000 Ksh we were allowed in. We were allowed to take pictures of everything except the warriors....I was really bad though and kind of maybe snuck one. I think he knew what I was doing though, I wasn't very subtle about it lol.
This village contained 40 manyattas and about 89 residents, this village had been set up as part of a ceremony that happens in the maasai culture. Young men in their early 20's must be seperated from their families for around 1 year to learn to become independent and men. After the year is up they have a huge feast and I believe they are then eligible to marry.
We visited two of the manyattas and in the second one we got to try their "brew". It is essentially sugar, water, and honey comb. It is then left to ferment for a while and apparently can get you quite drunk. We all only split 1 cup though. It was actually quite good the only thing that threw you off was the gas can they poured it out of and the bees and wasps that you drank with it. Oh well a little protein never did anyone harm.
After this manyatta we had to go back through Kajiado to pick up another man to come with us to the second manyatta where we would be staying at.
This manyatta was not like the other we had just been at, it was more of a homestead - there were about 10 people living there currently, the man his two wives, his mother, and some of the children. Others were away at boarding school.
They all seemed quite nice but who would have guessed they spoke basically no english, only a boy who wouldn't you know it goes to the school that I am working at, and another older girl.
It was nearing nightfall when we arrived, so we had to get on with everything. They had arranged to slaughter a goat for us, so we watched as they slaughtered the goat....its really not as bad as most people would think. Then they cooked it the traditional way for us, and we ate. It was quite good, I do enjoy the goat that we eat here - and we eat alot of goat here, except it is a little fatty. After supper we really just went to bed.
We slept in one of the manyattas; Jetteka, Mamma, and I the manyattas are very small, and you can't really stand up straight in them. They are made up of sticks and cow dung, there is nearly no light at all minus a small candle maybe, and very poor ventilation. The ladies cook in these manyattas and also heat them through fire, so all night and day there is a small fire in there as well. So the three of us cuddled up and slept as best we could with the cow hide mat and our cockroach friends. In the morning we made tea, and watched as the boys cleaned / sprayed the cattle with an insecticide. Then I helped to spray all of the sheep. We said goodbye to Mamma, Jetteka, and David then Brad and I continued on with our day.
The other duties of the day were to shovel cow poop. Who doesn't love that? Ha! We then went and watered some really thorny bushes, I believe it was to start a boma. We never really knew what we were doing due to the language barrier so we just went with it. We also moved some thorny bushes into the water to create a barrier for the animals. Then carried some water and wood back to the home stead. Then we ate lunch and rested and went for a walk. The day other than that was quite uneventful. However I did try something that was not the most tasty thing I have ever tried. When they slaughter a goat they use everything possible from the goat that they can, so I was curious as to what they did with the head. Then I found out when we walked over and they were roasting the goats head which had a stick through its nose. After it was all roasted they then split it in half and boil it all down with a little water. They take the bones out and mix and grind all of the little pieces in, and then you drink it. Its probably not as bad as it sounds, but it was far from good. I respectfully finished the whole cup, but politely had to decline the second. After supper it was bed time again, I slept in the same manyatta only this time I shared the cow hide mat with the one of the mothers and daughters. In the morning we helped with more chores, mainly just herding the cattle and sheep. There was a baby calf born while we were there, so that was pretty cool! Afterwards we left around 3:30 or 4 though, we were planning on staying until Sunday evening but we would have been expected to go to church with them, and I really had no desire to go nor did Brad as he was a buddhist. Also Sunday is there day to rest so there wouldn't have been much to do.
Maasai life is very interesting very simple but very different. The main issue that I had was the gender differences, and gender separation. Even with Brad and I they were very sure to make sure that we were separated most of the time, and they made it very clear that we were to sleep in separate manyattas haha obviously neither of us cared it was just amusing. My favourite was that the girl specifically told me that if I had to wake up in the night, that I was instructed to wake her up...probably so she could make sure I was not wandering over to the boys side. Lmao if felt kind of like being at summer bible camp when I was young again.
Either way it was a phenomenal experience, and one that has really encouraged me to pursue Anthropology and has furthered my love for the studies of different cultures and has intrigued my interest even more.
