Three days in a boma...I smell like goat!

Thursday through this morning we were at a home stay with a Maasai family. It was quite the adventure in more than one way.

Short version: Hiking 7k uphill in a skirt, milking a goat (I'm pretty good at it) slaughtering the goat (and watching people eat it raw), dancing with Maasai women until late, late, late, and then making it home. If you are still intrigued, read more details below.

On the way to the boma, we created our own road. Well, maybe one or two cars had gone before us. We stopped at the secondary school and decided to walk into the village from there. I was told it would be an hour. I didn't realize how long or how far that hour would take us. It was about 4k and I did it wearing a kanga (skirt type thing) over my pants. My range of motion was severely restricted. Once we made it into the village, Dodo, our cook made us lunch. Quite tasty for bush food. After our afternoon lecture, we were sent to journal "until the cows come home." That was a literal statement. We could sit in the yard until the goats came, but had to be moved by the time the cows came or they would trample us. Once the goats and sheep came in, we got to milk goats. It's a bit challenging since the teats are so tiny. I managed to get a few squirts out. Not enough for my tea though.

The sun promptly rises at 7am and sets at 7pm. After it was sufficiently dark, we laid out in the pasture watching the stars. I saw the Milky Way so clearly. The stars were amazing!

Friday morning we took off for the orpul, the sacred healing spot in Maasai medicine. It was quite the journey there...once again in a skirt...probably another 4 or 5k. (I'm an awful judge of distance, but it was in interesting trek on cow trails.)
Once there Gemma gave us a lecture on Maasai traditional medicine and we proceed with the goat slaughter. I was hoping to participate, but the warriors do it. It was less gruesome than I thought it would be. It was very systematic. The goat was killed by suffocation so there was no awful squealing or gurgling. I'll spare you the remainder of the details as I know I have squeamish readers. Basically we were asked to consume raw meat and organs followed by medicinal soup. I politely declined though I watched others including a five year old partake.

The roasted meat was really good. Surprisingly I like goat. After the eating and singing, the warriors made us these nifty goat skin rings/bracelets. It was cool until i put it on. The skin was still a bit bloody and kinda slimy. I wore it until I got back to the boma and couldn't take the smell anymore. It's dried now and I'll resume wearing it in a day or so. It's pretty cool looking.

Once we made it back to camp, barely before the goats, we had dinner and chatted. After it was sufficiently late, the warriors started chanting and the shoto began. It's an interesting process of the warriors jumping and chanting while the ladies call back and shake their huge beaded collars. I got kinda good at it. Basically it was dirty dancing Maasai style. It was an experience. That's all I'm gonna say.

OK, that's the somewhat longer version. I'm headed to dinner now. Goat...Yummy!