Journal Entry

Where will W&L take you?, originally uploaded by Benjamin Long.

This is an excerpt from August 6 in my journal. It is when everything became overwhelming.

It is amazing how one 15-minute walk can summarize my two week stint in Africa. I leave the mission with 100 screaming children all yelling “Bye Mzungu Bye Mzungu” (Mzungu means white tribe). They swarm me as I walk all wanting to grab my hand or just simply touch my skin. The very young children still cry when they see me, but not today. I make it out alive and start my hike. There is a Maasai women staring at me along the path. I am used to it by now because everyone stares at me.
There are 6 or so men building the district commissioner’s house along the way. They all stop what they are doing to stare at me. One yells, “Hello,” and I reply, “Habari.” (Hello is Kiswahili) They all laugh and continue to stare until I am out of site. I think I am in the clear when I see two young Maasai boys running on a path the intersect mine just ahead. I know what is getting ready to happen and I know what they want, money. They put their hand out and start saying, “give me money, give me pen, give me, give me, give me.” I say no many times but they proceed to follow me picking up rocks along the way. I know what is going through their minds… “We can take this Mzungu”. Keeping in mind these boys look about 5 or 6 years old but they look about 10 because almost all of the children here are anemic. I stiop walking and tell them to put down the rocks and to go back to their ingishu (cattle) they are herding up the mountain. About that time, their little brother comes running up the path. He couldn’t have been older than 4 years old. He is wearing a tattered piece of cloth that is wrapped around his body with no shoes, under garmets, just one piece of cloth. He has snot pouring from his nose pooling between his lips which is quite common with most children his age. When I see the young boys coming, one of the original two says, “Look, good picture, very sad right, give me money.” There is no shame in any of this.
This weekend I took the Dolla Dolla (bus) from Kimokouwa to Namanga with my friend Luka. I had slept about 4 hours the previous two nights in a boma with 2 morans (warriors) on the same bed of sticks covered with goats hides. I had went on a 12-hour hike up the mountain to orpul the day before and needless to say was is a terrible mood before I even got on the bus. I crammed into the bus with people being packed on top of other people. We manage to squeeze 22 people into a van the size of a Volkswagen van. The Maasai lady to my right and the two in front of me had very small babies on their lap. They all smile and start begging. Two of the three stop after I repeatedly say no about ten times but one continued. She then took her baby from her lap and put her on my lap. The baby was maybe 1 year old with snot pouring from his nose and water running from his eyes which could be the early signs of river blindness. I was filled with guilt, sadness and anger. Guilt that I have been so very fortunate, sadness at the very dim future that lie ahead for the child, and anger at the l;ady for having no shame in using her suffering child for a handout.
Back to my walk, I made the boys drop the rocks and go back to their cattle. I continue to hike with many foreign sounds of nature causing me great fear and wonder. Lizards are everywhere ranging from an inch to a foot long. Baboons are calling to each other ahead signaling my arrival. Many birds are chirping melodies I have never heard before. The ridges are filled with cattle and goats and their bells give a constant background tune to blend in well with the wild birds. The cow-bells give a slow and steady ring while the goat-bells have a much quicker pace. Combined, they transform the red dirt, acacia trees, huge volcanic boulders and brown grass into my retreat from the constant depression I feel below.
Hiking is my retreat from constant depression and eyes constantly fixed on me. No matter where I am at, people just stare at me. Here on the mountain, upon a volcanic boulder about 50 ft. high suspended in air, I am happy and at peace. I can hear the sounds of Maasai boys above me singing songs as they tend to their cattle. The sounds of the bells still fill the air and a warm breaze is blowing up the valley. I am tired, sick, depressed, homesick and scared most of the time but moments like this make all my troubles disappear…

Maasai Wedding

Maasai Wedding, originally uploaded by Benjamin Long

The wedding was a very interesting 48-hour period. The ceremonial dancing starts the night before the wedding. There was a full moon that night which gave a great atmosphere once the singing and dancing began. This was only my third night living with the Maasai so I was still a little nervous and naïve about what was going on. The morans started dancing around 8PM. They continued to dance until around 10PM when everyone crammed into the largest boma. The boma was about 15 feet long and 10 feet wide, but we managed to fit about 40 people into the boma. It was very hot, smoky and loud as many elders were very drunk. An elder blesses the marriage and hands a calabash of milk to the groom. The groom takes the first sip and the bride has to finish it. While she is finishing the milk, everyone inside the boma yells out their wedding gift for the couple. Some give a cow, goat, or donkey along with various other items. I thought this was great, After someone would yell out what they planned to give everyone celebrated. Moses, who was my host for the wedding, was behind me. I was minding my own business and heard him yell something. The next thing I know every person inside was staring at me yelling something in Maa that I could not understand. Moses then yelled something else and that is when my heart stopped. Everyone in the boma mobbed me. They were rubbing my body, yelling and singing. I was terrified because I did not know what Moses said, what the people were saying or what in the hell I was gong to do.

I later found out that Moses originally promised a coke for the bride and groom from me, but then changed it to a case of coke for the whole village. We had not discussed this beforehand and I was just as surprised to be giving a case of coke as everyone else. The elders seemed to be impressed by this and made me sit next to them. They brought out a 5-gallon bucket or honey beer. I really did not want to be drinking the Maasai local brew but there was no getting away because I was surrounded. They poured about a liter of the honey beer in a rather large cup and gave it to me. I looked like urine, smelled even worse and there were pieces of leaves and roots floating in it. I tried to refuse but the drunken men got very mad. So, I closed my eyes and took it down with one big gulp.

Ten minutes later, my head was spinning and I was very drunk. This is usually how horror movies begin and I was uneasy. Finally we left the smoky boma t o head toward Longido. Only we were not going home. About 1km from the boma, we came upon 30 morans eating meat. Of course, we had to eat meat with them. After eating Moses went back to dance some more and I walked home with two other morans. I was drunk off Maasai local brew and wandering through the bush after being in Tanzania for five days. It was a great beginning to the trip.
The dancing went until 4Am and then we arrived the next morning at 10AM to continue dancing all day. I tried my dancing jumping skills and ventured into the middle of the circle the jump. I almost fell the first time but then I got the hang of it. It was a great day and I stayed until dark.

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!