Life is too short...: Ayubu's Masai Village, north of Arusha

Two weekends ago a few of us at the Greenhouse went to visit Ayubu's village. We met his family and learned about how he grew up. The village is an hour minibus ride north of the city. On Ayubu's command, the bus stopped on the side of the road in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. So, we walked. The Masai village was just a short 15 minute walk through the bush. On a clear day, there are views of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. There was a little haze and clouds on the day we went, but the mountains were still visible.

Arriving at the village, we were greeted by the women and children of the tribe. There was a song and dance to welcome us as guests. We (women only) were handed some traditional jewelry to put on and joined in the dancing.

Afterward, we entered the village to experience a little of what it would be like to be Masai.

CAUTION: There is somewhat graphic content to come!

We walked through the village to meet with the chief and some elders and drink Masai tea. Then we experienced the traditional slaughtering and butchering of a goat. It was fascinating! The boys were incredibly skilled with the knife. You could tell they had done it many times before.

Every part of the goat is used... the meat is cooked over the fire,

the internal organs are eaten raw or thrown into a pot for soup,

they drink the blood while it is still warm,

the dogs get the scraps and the bones,

and the head is left as a tree ornament.

Unfortunately, no goat for us. All the meat was eaten by the villagers (though later in the day when other mzungu weren't around one of the men shared a piece of his meat with me). We had our boxed lunches in the "charging hut". A solar panel was donated to the village a couple years ago and so all the people in the village and even some in surrounding villages use this hut to charge their cell phones. Yes, even people in the most remote places and with the simplest of lives have cell phones.

Next, it was time for the men to show off their moves and participate in the warrior dance.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out. Observing and interacting with the people was the best part. The fact that we couldn't verbally communicate with any of them was a moot point.

The kids were so sweet and just beautiful. One of the kids was admiring my watch. When I let him wear it he asked me to take his picture and then got so shy when I did. Way cute!