The rest of the quote is good too, where he goes on the say he likes tea and croissants.

ZAZ: The rest of the quote is good too, where he goes on the say he likes tea and croissants.

Yeah, he complains about veggies being "woman's food" then endorses one of the, well, sissiest breakfasts you could have.

CrOIWssants? COISANTS? CKWASONT?

Maasai
/moran

jake_lex: ZAZ: The rest of the quote is good too, where he goes on the say he likes tea and croissants.

Yeah, he complains about veggies being "woman's food" then endorses one of the, well, sissiest breakfasts you could have.

Hey! If it was good enough for Captain Picard...

jake_lex: then endorses one of the, well, sissiest breakfasts you could have.

Please tell him that, to his face. I'll bring a lawn chair and popcorn.

All kidding aside, I've always admired the Masai tribe. These days, I scrupulously avoid news of Kenya because I want to maintain my naive illusions.

/btw, I have an authentic Masai simi, not tourist grade
my dog completely ate the leather off of the wooden sheath and the leather off of the handle
//anybody have leads on me buying a real one?

That's really interesting read. Someone who has never witnessed Western culture sees it for the first time. Very cool.

Prior to a wedding, the groom must prove his manhood. He heads out with one spear and one Masai Simi (kind of like a machete but shorter) and two buddies. The intent is for him to kill a lion. The buddies are not allowed to help other than drag the lion back to the village, or instead, drag their friend back.

At the wedding, the couple gives gifts to their guests, not the other way around. The Simi that I have was given to my friend as a guest of honor for attending the wedding. The blade (thanks to my dog, is all that's left) has a strong beauty about it and you can tell that it was an old saw blade hammered down over an open fire.

So apparently what the British call meat is actually a substance that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike meat.

Noah_Tall: So apparently what the British call meat is actually a substance that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike meat.

Nice. But what about the Jynnan Tonnix?

Moving floors...

I'm actually really hoping they win some money. He's not out for glory - he's just hoping they win money to help them drill for water so the little kids in their village don't have to risk their lives trying to get some from the dam that they share with wild animals.

GONK :(

Awesome read! I hope they win money and can one day buy moving floors that go whoooosh!

Cool read. Thanks, subby.

I like veggies and meat so i'm really getting a kick...

Wow, even this guy thinks the media are idiots.

Eat nothing but meat = get gout!

Where do I sign up!?

"Then I would like to study community development in America so I can be a great chief to my people."

I'm sure he means well. I hope he does better than most American-trained leaders in Africa.

Funny, the best English breakfast item ... French pastry.

But, damn, I thought we were done with the shipping of tribal people to Europe and gawking at them in the 1800's. I kept waiting for the date of the diary to be revealed, but apparantly it was current. Are there really that many tribal cultures left? Bear in mind I've worked in labs/gone to college with: Nigerians, Cameroonians, and Eritrians. Does info like horses, not travel far?

/Yes, I know Africa is big
//Yes I saw The Gods Must Be Crazy
///You know that Bushman was acting, right? He had worked outside tribal areas.

No mention of hyena possession?

What a noble savage!

Don't these people drink blood siphoned off live milking cows?

And as much as I admire their ability to jump really high and look very cool in National Geographic photos with their red clothing and big bead necklaces, I was rather freaked out when I found out the Maasai practice one of the most extreme forms of female genital mutiliation. They cut everything off and sew it almost completely shut. Now everytime I see Massai on tv, all I can think it they think it's a fantastic idea to slice the hell out of a girl's crotch so she can never enjoy sex.

story reminds me of this guy:

FunkOut: They cut everything off and sew it almost completely shut. Now everytime I see Massai on tv, all I can think it they think it's a fantastic idea to slice the hell out of a girl's crotch so she can never enjoy sex.

Who doesn't?

Arkcon///You know that Bushman was acting, right? He had worked outside tribal areas.

actually not true, N!xau really was genuinely lost and shocked a great deal of the time in the movie.

from IMDB:

# Director Jamie Uys searched for three months in the Kalahari desert of South Africa, to find the perfect Sho (N!xau), who in real life had no contact with modern civilization to play the role of Xixo.

# Xixo's frequent look of bewilderment was genuine, since actor N!xau, an actual Sho, was seeing many of these things for the very first time.

FunkOut: Now everytime I see Massai on tv, all I can think it they think it's a fantastic idea to slice the hell out of a girl's crotch so she can never enjoy sex.

Humph. You'd think a few Olympic Torch grabbers would have seen the same TV special, and been along the marathon route with signs, if not outright tripping the chief en-route.

"The weather here is strange. From a window it looks warm but outside it's very cold. It is better when we're running or in the shower. We heard about showers before, in a briefing about the country. It said be careful - when the shower is hot it is really hot, and when cold, really cold. This is true."

San Bushman >>>>> Masai.

Approves.

FTFA: We will dance and sing when we run the marathon. We won't drink water, we eat and then go.

I can see this going very badly.

He's just having us on. I bet he hid his ipod and mobile phone before giving us his wide-eyed "noble savage" schtick.

Number two cause of death for Maasai warriors- cardiac arrest... right after mauled to death by lion.

Lord Summerisle: He's just having us on. I bet he hid his ipod and mobile phone before giving us his wide-eyed "noble savage" schtick.

Good point. While it's fascinating to read the thoughts of someone who has never been to our part of the world, I'm also forced to wonder how much of the unfamiliarness he exhibits is genuine, and how much of it is simply him acting the way he thinks everyone expects him to act.

Nice to see he already picked up on the value of saying 'it's for the children.'

I helped put on a dinner party where I was warned "Don't try to serve Ben any vegetables or salad."

I asked why.

"Because he will look at it and tell you 'that's what food eats'."

I think I've received a few emails from this guy... I recognize his writing style.

He seems more sophisticated than I would have expected: "Everyone took photos of us, not the soldiers and horses. We are looking at one culture, and everyone is looking at us."

To recognize and comment on the fact that he was as much a curiosity to Londoners as they were to him kind of surprised me. I don't know why that should surprise me, but it did.

It'll be sad if these guys just get their asses kicked.

His reactions are kind of the reactions I would expect if we could travel through time and bring someone from the early 1800s to our time.

It'll be awesome when these guys just get their asses kicked.

I can sympathize with the Maasai. They get nyama choma when they're at home. Cannot find anywhere that does nyama choma like in Kenya.

Witty Handle : I can see this going very badly.

He's really too accustomed to a diet heavy on milk and blood. Those delicious croissants aren't useful for hydration, unless his hosts are serving them soggy or raw.

This must be 1 of the worst instances of culture shock ever.

Scutter: He seems more sophisticated than I would have expected: "Everyone took photos of us, not the soldiers and horses. We are looking at one culture, and everyone is looking at us."

To recognize and comment on the fact that he was as much a curiosity to Londoners as they were to him kind of surprised me. I don't know why that should surprise me, but it did.

It surprised me, too. Probably because it's a minority reaction, at least from Americans, Brits, Germans, French, and probably every other nationality on Earth (though I can't speak for the others). Maybe they printed his diary because he was the sophisticated one in his group, and his friends are a bunch of assholes.

"European men are fags and the women are whores! But why won't they sleep with meeeee! They like those fags instead!" -- The typical African man's response... if the typical African is anything like the typical American. And you could knock me over with a feather if he's not.

@harryasaboy I see what you did there.

If you guys want to see a good example of culture shock, there is a documentary called God Grew Tired of Us, although that is about the Lost Boys of the Sudan, not any of the indigenous people of Kenya.

If you want an interesting read about the Maasai, there is a book called Facing the Lion.

FrankTheYank:
It surprised me, too. Probably because it's a minority reaction, at least from Americans, Brits, Germans, French, and probably every other nationality on Earth (though I can't speak for the others). Maybe they printed his diary because he was the sophisticated one in his group, and his friends are a bunch of assholes.


I wouldn't say it's a minority reaction so much as a cultural one. We see Maori as unsophisticated or uncouth because they don't have the technological advancement that we enjoy, but that doesn't make them stupid or savage.

As far as being the most sophisticated in his group, the article mentions that he's the tribal chief, so I would assume he would be among the most intelligent or open-minded, or at least able to make a capable assessment of his surroundings and drawing intelligent conclusions.

Scutter: Maori

Frak. I meant to say Maasai. My bad.

Smellvin
Video

That video's mind blowing. One of the few videos I've seen that actually makes me proud to be a human being.

Baada ya kazi...