Moses' Boma in Longido

Moses' Boma in Longido, originally uploaded by Benjamin Long.

Hello all, the Maasai village was amazing and I think I have set something
up to stay in the town Longido (name sound familiar). The Maasai boy that I met is named Moses and he is now a good friend. He has helped me in many
situations were people are trying to take advantage of me. I slept in the
boma (hut) behind me in the picture. I may have slept for an hour but the
cows outside kept me up. I slept on a board covered with leather which they
called a bed with two Maasai warriors (Moses was one and I don't know the
others name. They are not allowed to sleep in a boma without another
warrior present. I had an amazing couple days at the Maasai village and plan
to go back and heard cattle with them. I am going to a Maasai wedding with Moses.
I will take pictures. I will leave you with what just happened to me walking
from one end of Arusha to the other in search of a internet cafe.

NOISE!!! There are tons of street vendors selling everything from
cellphones, ties, American sports shirts, and my favorite corn. On every
street corner, there is atleast one lady cooking corn on a makeshift grill
made of a trash can lid with mangled clothes-hangers sitting on the ground.
The corn makes a crackling sound but there are numerous safari guides
yelling "you need safari" but then about that time the Muslim call to prayer
went off all over town which also wakes you up in the morning. Then there
are buses flying around on the wrong side of the road. Each bus has a man
that works in the back hanging out of the window yelling names of cities in
Swahili. There are dozens of them and they all go very fast and honk their
horns at everyone they and they all must be very popular. Then two french
teenage girls approach me and say there is someone following them. It turns
out there was and i yell at him loud enough for the cop to hear on the other
side of the street. he runs away. Then I find myself safely into the
internet cafe.
It was a bizarre 10 min walk in Arusha. I think I really like it here...

Tanzania

I made it. There were some very interesting people along the way. Some good and some weird. I staying at way too nice of a hotel last night and have found a cheap place to stay for now. It is similar to European hostel with all backpackers staying there. I am staying at the Meru House Inn in Arusha. My first night was rough. The hotel I was staying at was right across the street from the bus station and a club. It was very noisy and hot. It was a very long night.
It is so poor here. I thought I knew what to expect but I was so wrong. I have met a Maasai boy walking down the street. He says he wants to practice his English to become a tour guide. He wants to take me to his village that is 55km from Arusha. I have called Ole Kuney and he says he will be in town in a couple days. The maasai boy's sandals are shocking. They are a piece of rubber cut out of a tire. He has the Good part of Goodyear on the bottom. I told him what Goodyear was and about the blimp and he started laughing. I don't have much more time on the computer so I have to go.

Ready to Leave

Another Picture of my farm, originally uploaded by Benjamin Long.

Well, I leave in two days and am ready...I think. I know there are going to
be hard times along the way but I will make the most of every situation. I
fly into Kilimanjaro airport July 22 around 8PM local time. I have no idea
where I plan to stay the night. That will be the first challenge of many
throughout the year. I will then travel south 27km to Arusha to meet Dr.
Moignet Ole Kuney. He gave me a phone number and said to call him once I get to Arusha. I have no idea what to expect. He spends weeks in the bush of
Tanzania at a time and I hope to tag along with him??? "Hope" is the key
word in many of the countries I plan to visit. If everything works out, I
will not be able to post anything for a couple months but I will try to keep
everyone updated. If anything exciting happens in the states, feel free to
drop me an email. I only ask that you not ruin Entourage for me. I plan to
watch it upon my arrival back to the states in a year. Other than that feel
free to drop me an email. Bye America!