The Grand Africa Expedition Through the Eyes of A Student of Anthropology

Abstract

Why does someone become a student of anthropology, or more precisely what is to make an anthropologist? Such questions can get answered in this brief article, in which a student of anthropology describes her personal experiences in relation to a multi-month expedition in Africa. Major emphasis is laid on the Samburu Tribe, living in north Kenya, as for the description of the origin of this ethnic groups, its religious background and its daily life is presented based on the experiences of some personal visit. An exceptional opportunity rose when the author was invited to participate in a special multiday Muslim-Christian Samburu wedding, including all important moments from the very preparations to the demolition of the scenes. In this special event it was observed that the tradition is in contrary to the appearance of new habits as the tasks of the wedding participants widely known as well as the description of the course of the wedding. The plurality of conflicts in Africa are also presented through some mini-cases such as insights form everyday life, jewelry vendors, gender issues or the problems referring to the Khat shrub. In general, the aim of the fieldwork was nothing else than the preservation of these unique moments for future generations.