Massai, the tribe that drinks blood

Source: Maganews

Life abroad

Massai, the tribe that drinks blood

They live in a region inhabited by wild [1] animals. They are tall, strong, and eat raw meat [2] and drink animal blood [3].  They are brave, and they are one of the most famous tribes in the world

  
   Between the north of Tanzania and the south of Kenya (two of the main African countries), there is a region full ofcattle [4] and wild animals. Here lives one of the most famous tribes in the world: the Massai. The men and women of this tribe are tall, beautiful, and strong, and they like to wear the color red. They raise cattle and live in mud [5] huts [6]. The Brazilian Márcia Pavarini visited one of these huts some months ago.“The Massai do not like visitors and hate [7] tourists taking photographs. But with the help of my guide (who is a Massai) I got permission to take photographs and was even welcomed by a Massai village leader. He offered me raw meat and a cup of animal blood (their traditional food). I politely [8] refused [9],” she said.

                              Lion hunting 

The Massai are considered to be a people. Some youths hunt [10] lions with spears [11] they make. Some of them, after killing a lion, use this as a way to impress beautiful young girls from the village.

Romantic wedding?

   When a girl turns 15, her parents take her to the hut of another family’s. There she is introduced and “offered” in marriage to a young man from the other family. If the young man shows an interest in the girl, he (or his family) will have to give some cattle to the bride’s [12] family and only after this will the engagement [13] be official. 

A strange ritual

   Until not long ago, when a Massai tribe member died, his body was not buried. The Massai simply took the deceased [13] to a far away place and left the body to be eaten by hyenas and other wild animals.

Tanzania and Kenya

Tanzania and Kenya are two of the best-known countries on the African continent. They are neighboring nations with much in common, besides a hot climate and being home to the Massai. In Tanzania the population is 36 million, while in Kenya it is almost 35 million. Poverty is rife in these countries, where the life expectancy is no more than 53 years old. 

Pictures:  Márcia Pavarini

Vocabulary

1 wild – selvagem

2 raw meat – carne crua
3 blood – sangue

4 cattle - gado

5 mud – barro

6 hut – cabana
7 to hate – odiar
8 politely – educadamente

9 to refuse – recusar
10 to hunt – caçar
11 spear – lança
12 bride – noiva

13 engagement – noivado
14 deceased - falecido

15 rife – adj.  predominante / volumoso