Posted on 04/03/2010 11:39:57 AM PDT by valkyry1
It has been done before...this review of the subsequent book (The White Masai: My Exotic Tale of Love and Adventure) was posted on Amazon:
2.0 out of 5 stars What Was She Thinking???, October 26, 2008
By Amy Greenhouse - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: The White Masai: My Exotic Tale of Love and Adventure (Paperback)
I found this book at the library, and the first thing I first noticed was the word Masai, and thought back to some comments my friend Penny had made after her trip to Kenya where she visited a Masai village. She was shocked at the poor treatment of women. I opened the inside cover and read that the book was an autobiography about a Swiss woman who fell instantly in love with a Masai man and gave up her life in Switzerland to live with the man in the African bush. As a woman who also fell head over heels in love with a man from a completely different culture, I was curious to see what would happen.
I actually knew what was going to happen. Like a person who jumped out of an airplane without a parachute and knows what kind of hell it feels like to hit the ground without one, I couldn’t help peeling my eyes towards the sky and watching her hit the ground. This is not out of evilness, but out of loniliness, to see that I was not the only one foolish enough, stupid enough, naive enough, to make such a mistake. Reading the book was like watching a horror movie, where you are like, “No, don’t go into that dark forest at night all by yourself. You’re gonna get yourself killed.” I was shouting out her, “No, don’t go after this man who comes from a completely different culture. You’re going to ruin your life. His life. IT WON’T WORK!!” I also began to read with a little satisfaction that I found someone who had even worse judgement than my own. At least, I did not give up everything for the man I loved and moved to his country. I don’t think I would have done that. Also, there was some communication between him and me. For Corrinne, it seemed to be based entirely on looks. Yes, I can pat myself on the back, I am not the stupidest person out there. It brings up the issue of making judgements when in love. Isn’t love very dangerous? Doesn’t it lead us to situations we shouldn’t be in? Is love ever clear? What separates those of us who make rash judgements for love and those who don’t? Was her love with Lketinga ever real or was it just infatuation? Why doesn’t she see all the warning signs of how they are incompatible?
Besides all the love issues, the book did provide some fascinating insight into the life of the Masai people. Life sure ain’t easy there. Corrinne suffers from malaria and then hepatitis, life threatening diseases that we never think about in our comfortable American lives. She also has to deal with everyday hardships like keeping clean, using the toilet and having a comfortable place to sleep. I was amazed at what a difference her store made in the lives of the people in the village. At first, I thought that nobody would have money to buy any of the items in the store, but the bigger problem was transporting the goods to the remote area. I do give her credit for being so brave in driving through the jungle back and forth. It was amazing that even in the African bush, relationship problems often come back to money. She was working hard, while her husband was wasting money on drugs and beer.”
Childbirth without any painkillers & with muddy water might be a real eye-opener, unless she dies during it...
At least he can kill a lion with a spear(or they used to have to do that before entering manhood), unlike many wimpy men today who cannot even kill a mosquito.
Cross racial, cross cultural, cross socioeconomic status mud hut ping . . .
She may have already found out the Masai have the world’s highest rate of STD infection.
In the old days they had to kill either a lion or a man.
The Masai were roughly the Comanche of East Africa. They raided the other natives over hundreds of miles in all directions.
I meant for this thread to have fun at MY expense, poke fun at ME. Guess I should have been more clear about that ;)
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