The school itself is non-government, but teaches the same curriculum as the government schools do, with additional courses and projects that promote the passing on of knowledge that kids used to gain from the elders of their village, but are now missing (and subsequently the knowledge is being lost) because of westernized schooling. We were given a tour of the school grounds by the head master and also were informed that the Masaai runners, who did a marathon in London earlier this year (you may have read about it in the news - I hadn't but both of our professors and several students had and were very excited about this), came from Eluway and that one of them was a student at Aang Serian, but unfortunately was not at school that day.
After the tour we made the hour-long trek to the boma which were staying at. After lunch we got our first lecture from Gema on Ethnicity and Identity which was followed by tea and another lecture on Concepts of Development. Gema is a such a fascinating person. Although she never actually told us, my guess is that she went to school for Anthropology. She is British and has married Lesikar and into the Masaai community. She has been living in Tanzania permanently for the past 5 years but first came to the country 9 years ago. They have two little girls who are absolutely adorable, and split their time between Arusha, Mondoli Ju and Eluway.
We had dinner after the lectures and then were given time to journal until the cows came home - literally. The Masaai are pastoral and heard cattle and goats. Which meant that once the animals did come home we all got our shot at milking both. Unfortunately I would not make a very good Masaai woman - I had zero luck with both my goat and cow.
The second day we got up with the animals at 7 and ready to set out for Olpul. Olpul is the Masaai hospital. It is a place that men and women retreat to either rest and recoup either before or after major life events (i.e. circumcision, illness, child-birth). There are separate locations for either gender, but because neither Gema nor any of the other females on our trip count as 'real woman' (we are white, not Masaai) we were allowed to spend the day at the men's camp.
Part of the reason for the separate camps is because while at the Olpul site the Masaai typically only eat meat and drink medicinal soup. This is problematic because they also follow a custom that doesn't allow men to eat meat after it has been seen by women. Gema explained that when she first heard of this she was outraged thinking that the meat was made somehow unworthy or less clean after the women had looked at it, but that she later learned that this was a way to ensure that women and children always had food to eat - that the warriors could not keep it for themselves. So the men would go off to Olpul to eat away from the women.
Gema gave us our first lecture on the history of Olpul - other than what I previously stated, Olpul is both the name of the location and the act of the ritual slaughtering that takes place there. Sooo in that spirit, we finished our lecture and got down to the good stuff!
[DISCLAIMER!!! DESCRIPTION OF GOAT SLAUGHTER IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART - skip to the bottom of the third paragraph if you don't think you can stomach it!]
A bed of branches was laid out and the one of the warriors brought the goat over, laid it on its back and suffocated it. Because the Masaai are pastoral they don't believe in spilling the blood of animals, and so rather than slitting the throat of the animal being sacrificed they suffocate it. (While we were waiting we learned that cows actually suffocate much faster than goats - but require more men to get the job done). The slaughter itself was a little hard to watch at times, but not too bad. The further along the process got the easier it was to disassociate the meat from the animal.
In following the theme of not spilling blood, the Masaai keep the blood within the body cavity until it has all drained... and then drink it. We all knew that this was going to happen, and that we would be offered some to drink (this was not an obligation of course - no one would be offended if we turned it down). I had thought originally that I would have a sip, but in my mind I had imagined a cup of the blood being passed around - which did happen - but only after the 4 of the warriors took turns cupping the blood out of the carcass with their hands and slurping it up.
This was the only point in the whole process that triggered my gag reflex. (See photo above.) Needless to say I had to pass when the cup of blood did come my way. To the amusement of the rest of us Gema and Lesikars daughters both love this part of the ritual, and after everyone who wanted a sip had their chance the oldest, Nandi who is maybe 5, threw back an entire glass, getting blood all over her face, and spilling a couple drops on Chris who happened to be her lap at the moment.
Don't get too concerned though! After lunch Gema gave us her final lecture on the science of Masaai medicine. She granted that while eating raw meat and drinking blood would not be advisable on its own, because of the scientifically proven qualities of the medicinal soup, when they are taken together you would be just fine. I did drink the medicinal soup, which was definitely not appetizing, but not bad. It had parts of the goat, including the fat, and other carefully chosen plants in it. All of this was mashed and boiled into a smooth liquid form which you could drink - no chunks (I was concerned about that).
After Olpul we headed back to the boma, were we rested, journaled, and had dinner. After dinner, and after if got dark the festivities continued with dancing and singing! This only served to remind me again that I would not make a good Masaai woman. A. because I cannot sing in the high nasally tone that they do, and B. because I have no idea how they can move their shoulders like that!! The men's dance essentially consists of jumping up and down, but the women, who wear huge beaded collars, do one of two things. They either get the collar to bounce up and down (kind of like a see-saw) through some amazing shoulder technique, or they make the collar shiver - it's almost like a shimmy, but its so small that all you can see is the white collar vibrating around their necks. I don't think that any of the wzungu (white people) were able to master either of these dances - but we were definitely all forced into the spotlight to try it out on several occasions!
This morning we had breakfast, packed up and left for Arusha. It was a fun visit, and I'm so glad that we had such an amazing opportunity, but I am also looking forward to sleeping in a bed again - and more adventures in Dar es Salaam. We catch the bus for Dar tomorrow morning!
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