The White Maasai

Last week was eventful for us (as you can tell by Nate's post on casting out demons). Saturday, Nate and I were invited and got to go to a Maasai send off. We thought it was a wedding, but it was actually a separate ceremony they have the week before. It is a big deal...a ceremony all about the bride and her family giving her to the family of the groom. Nate works with Jackie, the bride (a physical therapist at the hospital)...hence, the invitation.

We met at the hospital at 9am (since we were told we'd be able to get a ride from there). We finally left after 10:30am. Ny, the head nurse in the OR, brought a Maasai dress and jewelry for me to wear and a shuka for Nate to wear since she knew we wouldn't have any. Ny dressed me, but told Nate he could wait to put his shuka on once we got to the wedding.

A group of us loaded up into two land cruisers and headed off towards Longido. Nate and I, plus another couple and their friend, were the only Wazungus, but we were travelling with about 11 other Tanzanians. The first part of the drive was about 1 hr and 45 min on the main road (mostly paved) that goes from Arusha to Nairobi.

 Countryside

 Cows in the middle of the road

 Cows up close

Once we got to Longido, we stopped for a short break to stretch and get water. A local Maasai man was confused why I, a white person, was dressed as a Maasai woman. He asked Nate if he could have me as a wife, but Nate said "No." Thankfully. :) Then we got back in the cars and traveled about 14 km off the main road into the countryside. It took about 45 minutes due to the condition of the roads, but it was beautiful. We saw ostriches and gazelle on the way.

 Once we arrived, Nate put on his shuka.

This is Ny. She's the one who was thoughtful to bring Nate and me some Maasai clothes. So we finally got to the house. It was interesting because we had been passing all these mud huts that are traditional Maasai homes. We were out in the middle of nowhere and we came up to a nice house (where the bride's family lived). We didn't know this, but Jackie's dad is a member of the Tanzanian parliament. When we arrived he came out and greeted us (the crew from Arusha). He invited us into his home. We were very much treated as VIP guests: 1) because we had traveled far to get there and 2) because some of us were Wazungus. He sat and talked with us a bit, had someone get us sodas, and then we all went outside for the ceremony. We were given permission to take pictures, so we did. (We did ask because some Maasai do not like pictures taken of them, but they seemed more than happy to have us take pictures.) They sat us in the second row (behind the groom's parents).

Groom's mother

At the beginning of the ceremony, a group of Maasai women walked in the gate singing. Then, they went to get the bride from the house. They walked with the bride from the house to the front. Singing and dancing along the way. They had beautiful voices.

This is the bridenand her sister (foreground). They dressed the same and stuck together the whole time. Ny explained that the bride chooses a person to stay with her during the ceremony. Once the bride and sister were seated in their tent facing our tent, a pastor spoke for quite a while. Nate thought it was in Kimaasai language, not Swahili. Of course, neither one of us had any idea what was going on. Jackie was emotional through the ceremony.

Jackie's sister wiping away Jackie's tears. This was the point in the ceremony where Jackie was standing with her parents and her dad had been saying some words to her. I love this picture. It is such a sweet moment between sisters. We're pretty sure Jackie is excited about getting married, but this ceremony is about the bride leaving her family...hence, the tears.

 The transferring of Jackie from her parents to the groom's parents

 Praying over the two families

Apparently there was a "famous" singer there. They asked him to perform his song (that was actually recorded). He was very animated. I'm pretty sure it was a praise and worship song because he kept lifting up his hands and pointing toward the sky as if pointing to God.

Following the singer, different groups of women took turns dancing/walking up to the front to bring Jackie gifts (a lot of cups and some other kitchen stuff).  We (the group from the hospital) eventually took a turn walking (and dancing our way up to the front) to give her our gifts. I felt awkward since I'd never met her, but I joined in because Ny made me :)

 Women from the hospital, plus me, and Jackie and sister

Up until this point, the groom was nowhere to be found. Well, actually, we were told he was sitting in the back. At this point in the ceremony, Jackie went into the audience and "found" her groom. Here, she is putting some necklace type thing on him. I actually missed this part, sadly, because I had to go to the bathroom.

Then, it was time to eat! This picture is Jackie, the groom, Jackie's sister, and the groom's friend all eating together. They had a lot of food! Mostly rice with some meat, some vegetables, some fruit. We were waiting our turn in line when the bride's uncle (well, we weren't sure who he was, but he was close to the bride since he went up front in the ceremony when she was being transferred from her family to the other family) insisted we (wazungus) skip ahead to the front of the line. We tried to decline, but gave in eventually because they insisted.

After the guests got their food, they let in all the little kids who had been watching from the other side of the gate to come in and get food. There was SO MUCH FOOD!!!

Here we are in the middle of nowhere Tanzania, far from any town, and this kid is drinking a Coke. Nate thought it was a good commercial for Coke.

 Picture of the crowd with beautiful scenery in the background

 We drove back as the sun was setting.

We saw the ostriches on the way back too!

It was an amazing experience! Nate and I felt honored to have been invited and included. We were treated like VIP even though we were not and did nothing to deserve it. It was a truly beautiful and moving experience. I will always be thankful to Jackie, her family, and the other Maasai people for letting us experience a part of their lives.