A CEREMONY THEY CALL BULL JUMPING - A ONCE IN A LIFE TIME EXPERIENCE

WEATHER: Sun finally out and 27C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: The Bull Jumping

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Can’t think of a single thing

BUYS OF THE DAY: A beer at 11am – well Massimo bought it for me – does it still count?

WORD OF THE DAY: How much is it – Well it’s not Christmas – Massimo buying a bracelet from a Hamar

What an awesome day we had yesterday.  I still can’t believe we saw what we did and that we were so welcome into the whole ceremony.  Yes we had paid, but only money to the family, not to the other 150 people there.  It was like being a fly on the wall and watching everything you wanted to without getting hassled. 

Today we are heading to a Hamar Market a few hour’s drive away.  We were able to have a bit of a sleep in this morning with breakfast at 8am and our departure set for 9.30am, but seeing as we were all ready to go early we left at 9.10am, which in hindsight was a good thing as it got us to the town and the markets before all the other mazunga’s (oh that’s Kenyan) I mean farangees.

It took us just over 1.5 hours to get there and today we were in car number 1 and what the ducks have nick named Zoom Zoom, as Zeme does tend to have a bit of a lead foot.  He drives a lot like me, so I can’t really complain, but car number one is still the sardine to me as we have to cram 3 people in the back as Minaloo has the front seat.  On days like this though, he does share the front with our local guide, so Gilley was packed in the front as well, so sardine definitely seemed appropriate today.  As the market doesn’t start till 11am, we got there a little early so we took a walk down to the river where some tribal people were getting their tobacco all prepared and ready to sell.  They have them stored in the nuts, which the ladies have turned into handbags.  There were a few local children also around and there was the cutest little girl, she was about 4 and had beautiful curly hair and massive brown eyes till Josephine asked her what her name was and her big brother came over and said she was a he, to which Josephine’s face must of looked a little skeptical, so the big brother proceeded to pull down his younger brothers pants to show us his mr Johnson and yes indeed she was a he.  He stuck to Josephine like glue the 2 hours we were there and I rekon he was the cutest kid I have seen to date, handsome and beautiful all at the same time.  I wish I could remember his name, Josephine would know.  Cute.

This market was a lot smaller than what we have been used to.  The main sale items were jewelry for the farangees, honey and butter.  We got a total of 2 hours here and once again a farangee hangout the later the morning progressed.  It was nice to walk around and not get hassled and asked to take photos of them here.  Massimo, Josephine and I had had enough after walking around for 90 minutes and so with around 30 minutes to kill, so we went to the Tourist Hotel, which seems to be a bit like the Royal Hotel in Australia, there seems to be one in every village / town and ordered a beer.  It was after all nearly lunch time, 11am wasn’t breaking too many rules!!  So after 2 rounds Massimo went to pay and they were 20 birr (1.30AUD) each but a local had just paid and he was charged 15 birr.  Well Massimo didn’t like that and let it be known that as well.  After a little bit of debating and ribbing back and forth in good fun, the beers became 15 birr and everyone was kept happy.  But it isn’t unusual to have a farangee cost and a local cost and certainly Ethiopia isn’t the only one to have adopted this process.  While we were having the beers we would get hit up from buying jewelry to wooden head pillows, which Massimo bough both, but there was one lady trying to blindly over charge Massimo for a bracelet to which he replied it wasn’t Christmas!  It was so funny and the poor Hamar lady had no idea what he was talking about, but he did end up buying it from her, but not for the price that she was asking.  I got sucked into a letter that was written in English asking for sponsorship for the local football club.  They had a signup sheet, with a list of all the players and their playing numbers, the kid there was number 9. and a sheet where you put your name down and how much you donated, so it looked as above board as it was going to get in Ethiopia so Josephine and I both contributed money, so hopefully it wasn’t a scam and the money does get to the club. 

So back in the cars and back to camp just in time for lunch.  Cook has been pretty good with all meals except the porridge that he cooked this morning was a bit of a hit and miss with the group.  I don’t eat porridge anyway, so it made no difference to me.  Free time and time to try and get some blogging done.  I can feel the days slipping by and I am falling more and more behind in my blog.  Not from lack of wanting to get it down, but is a power issue, not being able to recharge or after a busy day I am just too tired at night to type it up.  Needless to say my notebook and my written notes are my lifeline and I know I have enough information on there to complete the day, but when we have massive days like yesterday that has so much information I feel BAD that I am not getting it typed up that day.  I know I will eventually get back up to date, but this doesn’t help the ‘moment’.   

We were super lucky that the Bull Jumping was still on today, we were super lucky that the event was literally across the river from our camp and we were super lucky that the river, after 2 days had subsided enough for us to be able to walk across it to be able to even get to the event.  There was a 4WD that tried to cross the river this morning that got stuck and Gilly and friends had to help them get out – which for them is good as they were rewarded with some cash for their efforts.  As the event was so close to camp we could hear the women’s bells around their legs, they are so loud as they walk, they have approx. 20 bells per leg and they are around the size of a .20c piece so you would expect a bit of noise from them I guess.  Also there was a lot of horn blowing and whistles and it sounded awesome from the other side of the river.  So at 2pm Gilly came back for us to head over and watch the festivities in the lead up to the main event.  So we headed over the river that was a raging torrent 2 days ago.  There was still running water in some sections of the river, but certainly nothing to worry about and we ended up having to take our shoes off and wade through the mud and water.  I am sure my travel doctor would have had a heart attack knowing I was walking bare foot in mud in Ethiopia. 

The atmosphere was in full swing when we got there.  There was the whipper from yesterday already there and around 15 women all dancing with their bell legs, whistles and horns all going berserk.  We were the first farangees there, so we were able to pull up a great pew and just sit and take it all in.  There was a lot of the same stuff from yesterday with dancing woman in a circle, but there were no dancing men today.  The mood would change and the crescendo would change to manic to restful to manic again and the single ladies were trying to stir up the whipper so that he would start hitting them.  The girls even BYO their own whips and they must have picked them all from the same tree, as he would strike them the branch would break into a few pieces – dodgy whips.  When Minaloo arrived, he had also bought along some camp chairs, so we were able to get closer to the action and be more comfortable.  That’s Gap Adventures for you people always thinking about our comfort. 

I stuck close to Gilly as he had only just finished his own Bull Jumping experience personally himself around 10 weeks ago, and the whipper was a guy from his own village, so he was able to get us up close and personal to some of the things that were going on.  He also took my camera and got some great people shots that the tribe didn't mind him taking that a farangee just wouldn’t have been allowed to take, so I BIG thank you goes to Gilly for this up close and personal touch that I know the other guys just wouldn’t have gotten.   

So after some more preparation, the whippers getting face painted and the woman getting some more whipping it was time to walk the 10 minutes to where the cattle were waiting and where the actual jumping would take place.  I told Gilly to keep my camera and I would take video of the event, so that I would have both mediums.  Sometimes a picture cannot give you the noise and atmosphere of what is happening at that point in time, this was definitely video footage material.

As we were waiting for the BIG event we had made some friends with the kids.  They were really interested in a few bruises I had on my arms, as my skin is white and I had black spots.  I have actually got them from kids poking me, so I demonstrated this to them and they were just fascinated.  They also taught us a song in their local language, which also video, so I will make sure I load it all on Facebook to share it all with you.  Nothing like local interaction when there is no money or ulterior motive.  The kids were really sweet and quite clingy which I was fine with; everyone needs a little hug every now and then. 

So to remind you the Bull Jumping is a rite of passage for men coming of age and must be done before a man is permitted to marry. The man-to-be must "jump the cattle" four times to be successful (only castrated male cattle and cows may be used to jump over). This test is performed while naked (except for a few cords bound across the chest) as a symbol of the childhood he is about to leave behind him. On completion of this test, the young man joins the ranks of the maza - other men who have recently passed the same test and who spend the next few months of their lives supervising these events in villages throughout the Hamar territory.  The cattle are held still by maza, so the physical risk is limited. The ceremonies end with several days of feasting, including the typical jumping dances, accompanied by as much sorghum beer as the cow-jumper's family can provide to the visitor, which is what we saw getting prepared yesterday. 

Once again I was lucky to have my camera in Gillys hands, as there is a special ceremony only for the Hamar that involves the whipper and the jumper sitting feet to feet on the ground and then the relatives surrounding them in huddle style where they perform secret man’s business.  Well Gilly got the camera in there and I got some unreal pictures of, yes his penis, and what they did was things for luck using rings etc…  I didn’t quite get the full story but I got the pictures and once again awesome thanks to Gilly!  You rock!

On the day of the initiation itself, the Maz are charged with the important job of steadying the cattle over which the novice must jump. Late in the afternoon, they line up some beasts side by side ,one holding the head and another the tail of each animal and hold them closely together in a specially chosen area which has a clearly marked symbolic entrance at one end and an equally clearly marked exit at the other. The most recently initiated Maz greased with oil and charcoal circles the animals.  The young man is then brought in, totally naked, his arms pinioned by two of the Maz. When they release him, he runs speedily towards the cattle, jumps onto the back of the first cow and then runs across all the remaining animals. At the far end of the line he jumps down, turns around, then leaps back up again and repeats the routine in the other direction. Altogether he makes four runs and finally - if everything has gone well – there is a lot of dancing and excitement.

For the Ukuli to fall during the jumping is considered bad luck - and for this reason, great efforts are made by the Maz to keep the cattle still. A single fall incurs no penalty and is blamed on the movement of the animals. Any boy who fails to complete his four runs, however, will be publicly humiliated: he will be whipped by his female relatives in the middle of the initiation ground and thereafter, for the rest of his life, he will be teased, insulted and beaten by both men and women. Understandably, few novices allow themselves to fail in this way – luckily we didn’t see that happen today!

I tell you though if you weren’t paying attention you could have missed the whole thing.  The jumper doesn’t waste any time and it is all pretty much completed within minutes for the actual jumping event.

It was AMAZING to see and it’s another one of those things that Minaloo said is rare for his tours to be in the right place at the right time and to have it directly across from camp was an additional bonus. 

So after 4 hours of seeing this amazing ceremony we were some of the lucky ones that didn’t have to fight the crowds to get back home, it was like a mass exodus of a concert and man we had worked up a thirst.  BUT as mentioned before the generator doesn’t switch on till 7pm, so no cold beers, so Minaloo, Zeme and I headed into town to the ‘bakery’ and got a beer along the way from one of the bars.  We literally only stayed for 2 as we had to get back to dinner, but it makes you appreciate when you get a cold beer in Ethiopia it is a pretty special occurrence.

So after two MASSIVE days with the Hamar people and our last night in Turmi this place will certainly leave a lasting impression on me.  With our camp site by the banks of the river, under massive mango trees, hearing the Columbus monkeys in the trees above us at night time and amazing people – what else could you ask for from a tour and a destination?  I officially LOVE Ethiopia.