My Maasai Life: From Suburbia to Savannah

I picked up this book in preparation of a trip to Kenya. Robin did an excellent job of describing the culture and beauty of Kenya while addressing the issues and concerns of the Maasai people. I love how she described the ways that westerners can responsibly help.

This is a wonderful story about Robin's life in a Maasai community. Having recently been to Kenya and specifically the Maasai Mara, I enjoyed her insights and description of daily life.This book needed a really good editor with a critical eye. There are hundreds of typos and grammatical errors that I found a little annoying. However, I still loved the story.

Because I recently went on a Mission trip to Africa I wanted to learn more. I commend Robin for her desire to do more for the people of Africa and for her mission work. What better way than to live the life of the Maasai. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the Maasai.

I really enjoyed this book. I had read an article about her, and I grew up in a neighboring community. I really enjoyed every page of the book. She writes very well, and I could get a picture in my mind from her descriptions. I would recommend this to anyone.

This book did a good job of describing the situation in Kenya when the author was there and brought the reader into the hut in the country where the host family lived. That was great and I liked it a lot. The way the story was presented was what made me give it three stars instead of four or five. The author spent a lot of time talking about her feelings regarding her real family and why she couldn't connect (or get along) with them in a meaningful way that would have brought her satisfaction. I kept hoping there would be an "aha!" moment further along in the book where she discovered why she had to go to rural Africa to find a family she could get along with since her family was apparently driving her crazy (and vice versa!). There was a whole lot of "they don't understand" and "they don't get me" and "they don't appreciate me" that frankly made me want to shake the author and tell her to grow up. It's her experience and her story to tell but the book would have been more enjoyable if there hadn't been the strong and lasting impression that despite her travels and efforts and interaction with a different culture, the author couldn't see past the end of her nose.

Interesting

Although set in Kenya, this brought back vivid memories of a trip I took to Tanzania earlier this year. A quick, great read of Robin's life with the Maasai and her ongoing work in a country she loves.

This very interesting, well written story suffers from being centered on the dislikable young woman who is the author. At the beginning of the book, she goes to great lengths to describe her parents and the struggles they endured to provide her with a comfortable life in the suburbs, but it is in no uncertain terms that she views her family and her surroundings with great contempt. In doing so, she comes off as an ungrateful, spoiled brat who looks down on her parents for the sacrifices they have made on her behalf. So when she announces that she has chosen to go to a place that is as far from her parents and suburbia as she could possibly manage to go, it was a bit disappointing that her parents didn't jump for joy and say, "Goodbye. Good riddance. Have a nice life." Instead, they express sadness over her departure, worry about her safety and wonder when they might see her again, while she firmly decides that she will not, under any circumstances, show any tears to her parents when she bids them goodbye.The story thankfully picks up when she gets to Kenya. The hardscrabble existence led by the Masai in the harsh Kenyan countryside stands in vivd contrast to the incomprehensible pity party the privileged author has thrown for herself in the previous chapters. That she has chosen to venture out and live the life of the Masai is finally some indication that she may have some glimmer of character. As part of a Masai family, she must work very hard doing chores - walking miles for firewood and water every day, washing the family's clothes, cooking and caring for the children. When she decides that she will get up and go jogging every morning, she quickly realizes that "going jogging" is one of the luxuries of affluence that is simply ridiculous in a society where one walks for miles and miles each day to gather the necessities of life. In short, hard work and living a harder life is turning her into a better person.Still, questions about her character linger. While she has nothing but criticism for every aspect of the life her parents worked so hard to achieve, she decides that she must refrain from making any judgments about how the Masai live, even going so far as to accept female circumcision because she views it as such an important aspect of their cultural traditions. To her, living in suburbia is disgusting and incomprehensible, but female circumcision (performed on young girls and without anesthesia) is somehow only initially upsetting, but ultimately okay. What???? In addition, her willingness to bow her head in deference to the male heads of Masai households and to adhere to other rigid codes of behavior, such as how to speak in certain situations and to speak only when spoken to, is head scratching when it is clear that she would have rejected those requirements had they been part of her native society.The Masai people we meet in this book are unforgettable. The way they live their day to day lives is unimaginable to those of us who live in houses on paved streets with cars at our disposal, and the author does a magnificent job of describing that life so that it is fully imaginable. The people on the pages jump to life due to the author's richly vivid writing. The book is worth reading for that alone. It is armchair travel at its best.I honestly believe the author was born into the wrong body and culture when she was born as a middle class American. She seems much more suited to a life in the brush and it is wonderful that she found her place of comfort and happiness there. Her desire to help the people of Kenya is admirable, and her experience with the Masai has undoubtedly made her a much better person.

This woman's story of self discovery is honest and easily relatable. If you are interested in rural Kenya, Maasai culture, or third world daily struggles I highly recommend this book. This would also make for a great novel study from youth to adults.

Very interesting read - highly recommend it!

Je pensais que ça allait être un peu naïf et "à l'eau de rose" or, il s'avère que cette biographie semble à la fois sincère, bien informée, véritablement vécue et pleine d'informations actuelles très intéressantes. Le ton est spontané, sans prétention anthropologique mais tombe juste.

I'm not incredibly eloquent in reviews but to me this is a must read. An honest story from Robin of her journey to being a remarkable woman. I have been on a Me to We trip and have seen the differences first hand that Free the Children are making. This makes me fall in love more with the Kenyan people and the work they are doing. Assante sana, Robin

AMAZING novel. So well written, insightful, beautiful, and captivating. A necessary read for anyone who has thirsted for something beyond suburbia and the Western way of life. It completely took me back to my own adventure in Kenya this past summer.