White man stuns African Maasai tribals by speaking their language, ends up becoming honorary member of tribe

Although a new language is considered a great addition to a person's skillset in an increasingly connected world, going for one that isn't very popular can be tricky. But a polyglot named Ari Smith aced the language of the people in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya. Smith, who already has conversational capabilities in 62 languages, took it as a challenge to take a trip to a region in Kenya where the Maasai people dwell.

The tribal community speaks a language that is not known by the majority of polyglots either. Smith documented his interaction with the people from the Maasai tribe on his YouTube channel Xiaomanyc. In the YouTube video, Smith enters the Maasai village area with a translator from the Maasai tribe. The spear and stick welding men welcome Smith with open arms and smiles on their faces. Smith witnesses a bunch of rituals of the Maasai people that he had never seen before. It all starts with the Maasai warriors dancing and jumping high, pulling in Smith to join the fun. "The warriors prove their manhood by how high they can jump and as you can see I was clearly not up to the task," Smith says in his voiceover as he tries to keep up with them. "But one thing I am good at is languages and finally I decided it was time to say something in Maasai."

As soon as Smith started speaking their language, the men of the tribe looked at him with warm smiles on their faces, thrilled to see a foreigner conversing with them in their native tongue. They kept pulling Smith in for handshakes and hugs as he conversed with them further. He revealed to his hosts that he had arrived in Kenya a day before filming the video and he was leaving the country the very next day. Smith also revealed how he had assistance from a Maasai friend who helped him learn the language over the phone. The translator who shows Smith around the village also informs that although many houses do not have running water or electricity, the Maasai people have smartphones.

Soon after this, Smith is taken on an interesting tour around the Maasai community's village where he finds livestock and huts made of mud. He also briefly interacts with the women of the village and meets the elders of the community. One elder stuns Smith by claiming that he had killed a lion once and has five wives with whom he has 30 children. The next part proves to be a bit too much for Smith and his cameraman where the Maasai warriors drink raw blood drained from a goat since it is treated as a delicacy in the community. They later skin the goat and roast it for a meal. Smith also gets to witness a bonfire and naming ceremony before departing. 

In a separate post that Smith shared on his Instagram account, he posed with the Maasai warriors, wearing their traditional garb and jewelry for a picture. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience surprising Kenya’s hardcore Maasai people by speaking their language and then becoming an honorary member of their tribe. These are some of the most fearless but also the nicest people on the planet and I will remember my time with them always," he wrote in the caption of the post.