The quest to find who we really are is fuelled by a need to find a place in the world where we belong. A sense of belonging comes from a strong sense of identity. The novel My Maasai Life is about Robin Wiszowaty, a typical teenage girl from the suburbs of Chicago who embarks on a journey to Kenya to find her true self. Robin was dissatisfied with her life from a very young age, even though she grew up with access to malls and technology, she always felt as if something was missing. In search for excitement and thrill Robin travels to Kenya hoping maybe this journey can help her find her inner self. Robin asks her self the same question through out the book “ Who am I?” and during her quest to seek answers for the question that has been pestering …show more content…
In the Maasai community the beliefs of the culture are based off elders in the society therefore some of these practices may be considered old. Robin met a lot of interesting people in Nkoyet-niaborr a small village in Kenya where Robin lived with her adoptive Maasai family. Mama introduces Robin to Samuel who is a family relative to accompany Robin on her runs because it’s not always safe. Robin begins to spend a lot of time with Samuel and she learns a lot of new things, one day “ Samuel downed the rest of his tea, then stood, saying he needed to go to school. “School?” Hadn’t Mama said Samuel was twenty-two? “Class 5.” (63) He said it with pride, standing taller, I held back my surprise, and he promised he’d return after school to sat hello.” Robin found this very strange but she later learns that in the Maasai culture helping to support the family comes before education whereas in North America kids are expected to be in school so that they can get a job after completing their education. Samuel like most other kids was forced to start herding cattle to support the family at the age of 5 because his father was a alcoholic and sold most of their livestock to feed his hunger for alcohol while the rest of the family were left hungry. In the culture that Robin grew up with kids and adults were allowed to make their own decisions about education and marriage but in the Maasai culture if your father didn’t believe in getting an education you wouldn’t be able to go to school furthermore if a female and a male in the community are seen together or are caught spending time together they are expected to get married to each other. We see this in the novel when Robin learns about Samuel’s family, “Samuel grew up with a strong, unbending desire to attend school and gain an education, but his father strictly refused, believing Maasai were not meant to attend school but instead follow