The Painful Journey Back to Zanzibar

Once back in Arusha, I was brought to my hotel that the travel agency had booked for me. Can I just say that it was the sketchiest hotel I have ever been in. When you walk in, all you see is a very dark hallway full of doors and unfortunately to get to my room, I had to walk to the other end of the hallway, go up a flight of stairs and then walk back down the second floor hallway. I only left my room to get something to eat at the restaurant that was connected to the Hotel.

The next morning, at about 7:30am, there was a knock on my door, and the travel agent in Arusha was there to bring me to the bus station. Now, when I told him about getting my ticket, I said that I wanted to travel on Scandinavian Express because I was pleased with the ride to Arusha with that company. But he reassured me that the company, Kilimanjaro Express was just as nice, so he took it upon himself to buy me that ticket. And in the morning, it was too late to change the ticket, so he dropped me off at the Kilimanjaro bus station to wait to leave. And when we boarded the bus, I was the only white, non-local on the bus, and it was packed! So needless to say, I was very unhappy with the bus company and the travel agent, but oh well!

And the day only continued to get worse when I reached Dar es Salaam. When I got off the bus I went straight for the taxi stand and found a decent taxi driver. He put my things in the back seat and I sat in the front. Then, just as we were pulling out of the station, he stopped the car and pointed to some other people. He said, “These are my friends, and they are going to the City Center as well, so they are going to come with us.” I said, “WHAT?” So I told him that I would not pay the original price we disgusted, but he wasn’t happy with that either. Then, the other people with us had a bunch of luggage and the trunk would not open, so the driver then handed me my backpack to hold on my lap!!! I was outraged! And to make things better, we got stuck in traffic for about 20 minutes! So when we got to the Jambo Inn where I was hoping to get a room, I chewed him out when he said I didn’t give him enough money, telling him how unprofessional his taxi service was. I’m sure it didn’t make a difference, but it made me feel better.

Things continued in a downward slope when the lady at Jambo Inn told me that they only have triple rooms and I would have to pay for the whole thing! Normally I would have gone to a different place, but it was already dark outside and being alone, I was not about to go around the city. And when we stayed there last time, they had a restaurant, but that night it was closed. So basically I was stuck in my room all night with three beds, my luggage, and a bag of cassava chips (a local snack).

Having a good night of sleep, I woke up early to head to the port to purchase a ferry ticket to get back to Zanzibar. But when I got to the port, the booking office was closed. (another lovely difficulty to add to my troubles) So a man nearby noticed that I was looking for a ticket, and he told me to come with him because he sold tickets. I followed him to a table that was set up, and he flat out told me that I was buying a “black market” ticket for the ferry because they were sold out and he had the only tickets left. So that made me feel really great! But I honestly didn’t have a choice because I would be stuck in Dar for another night.
Luckily, I had no problems on the ferry and I was just happy to be on the way back home to Zanzibar. It was nice however when we docked because all I did was show them my residence permit and I didn’t have to fill out any other customs information. (since I am a resident of Tanzania now) And since I was extremely exhausted, I took a taxi back to the house. When I arrived at the house, it felt so nice to be in a place that I was familiar with and knew well. Everyone was very happy to see me, and the most interested part about my arrival was that I was greeted by 3 other “students” that were staying in the house as well. There were 2 Americans that are part of the International Honors Program and they would only be in Zanzibar for 2 weeks. Then Ellen is from Norway and is learning Swahili to prepare to work at a cancer hospital in Dar for 9 months! So it was definitely a full house, but I was just happy to be back.

My Safari

I woke up super early in the morning to be packed and read to go for my safari. A "tourist" bus as it was called picked me up from my hotel at about 6:15AM and after stopping at 2 other hotels, we were on our way to Arusha. I can't tell you too much about the ride to Arusha because I basically slept the entire way and did not wake up until we were pulling into a parking lot. And once the bus came to a stop, I had to ask the driver if we had arrived in Arusha, at which point he said yes. Haha! So I walked off of the bus only half aware of what was going on. Luckily, the man who was supposed to pick me up from the bus stop was waiting for me. He approached me, introduced himself, and then asked me if I wanted to get some breakfast because we still had about 2 hours before our safari would be leaving. So we then got in his car and went to this really great place for breakfast, but after that he dropped me off at a hotel, where I would wait for the rest of the safari "participants." They also had a rooftop restaurant, so I went upstairs and waited until about 9:15AM when I went downstairs with my things to wait in the lobby.

Sitting across from me were 2 men from France and we started talking while waiting. Previously I had been told that the other people on my safari included 2 Irishmen, and 2 Australians, but I found it odd that these 2 men were waiting to go on a safari as well. And then I reminded myself that Arusha is a big hub for safari travelers. But when the guide for our safari arrived, we discovered that we would be on the same safari! I was happy for this because both of the guys were really nice even though only 1 could speak English (where were those French skills I learned in middle school?)

So we loaded all of our things into the back of the Land Cruiser, but then another one of are safarians (and yes I made that up) showed up. She was an American girl who was quite frazzled and in a very bad mood because she was unhappy with her tour operator and felt like she got scammed. I tried to reassure her that she was now where she needed to be and that things would be better now since she was with other travelers, but my consoling words did not help. After talking a bit, I found out that she was from Los Angeles, California and just got out from doing the Peace Corps in Zambia. So I would have thought that she would have a bit of patience after being in an African country for 2 years, but apparently not. Once everyone was loaded on, we were told that we had one more stop to make to pick up our last two safarians. They were a couple from Israel who were traveling for 2 weeks in Tanzania. So once we were all accounted for, we thought we would be on our way, but we then had to stop to meet the cook who would be riding separately, but had to give up the food to put on the Land Cruiser. After that, we stopped at a local "supermarket" to get bottled water, and then our last stop was to get gas for the trip. So by the time we finally left Arusha, it was about 11:30AM, and we were all a bit annoyed.

But I was happy because we were finally on our way! We would first be going to our camp to drop off our luggage and eat some lunch. And I was actually really happy with how nice the camp was because it was basically a hotel. But it again took forever to eat lunch because it took about an hour to get prepared by the cook. (We were told that he left ahead of us so he could start preparing lunch, but then we realized that all the food was with us. Talk about misconception!) Lunch wasn't overly delicious and we would later discover that none of the food would be appetizing. But after that, it was about 2:00pm and we were finally leaving the camp and heading to our first park, Lake Manyara National Park.

Lake Manyara was beautiful, mainly because it has so many different environments. When we first entered, we were in a tropical forest with tall trees and monkeys everywhere! We then went around the brush area of the park where we saw several elephants, giraffe, and a tree climbing lion that is only found in this park and is very rare! We then ventured out towards Lake Manyara which is how the park got its name. Near the Lake we saw herds of wildebeests and zebra, but unfortunately they were far away and there were no paths that could get us closer. I have to say that throughout the trip, our guide was really good with keeping to the park rules, which doesn't always happen here. Sadly, near the end of our trip in the Park, we could see heavy rain near the entrance of the park, and I prayed that it wouldn't disturb our safari. But as we were at the Hippo pond (where there were about 30 hippos just lounging in a big mud pond) it started to rain. But this wasn't just any rain; the rain was falling completely horizontal because of the intense wind in the park! So we all got out of the car so our guide could close the roof, which is off during our game rides in the parks so we can stand up and see everything! We then started to head back towards the entrance of the park. But before getting a few yards, we had to stop again, so our guide could attach a fuse to the car to start the windshield wipers (very sketchy). But thank goodness for that car, because we went through some pretty muddy roads on the way out of the park, and any other car would have probably gotten stuck.

Once back at the camp, we relaxed while we all waited for dinner, which was actually not too bad compared to the rest of our meals. Then after dinner, the Israelis (who are huge partiers!) came out with a handle of Jack Daniels! It was crazy! I mean why would you bring a handle of hard liquor on a safari!!!? But it was at this point I decided to head to bed because I could tell things were about to get crazy and I wanted to be ready to go in the morning. And things got really crazy; come to find out, the whole gang went to a local club and got completely trashed! It definitely showed in the morning as well.

Day 2 of our safari was the earliest day of our trip because we had about a 2 hour drive to reach the Ngornogoro Crater Conservation, and then another hour to get to the rim of the crater. So we headed out at about 7:00AM. And it was incredibly foggy too! I slept for most of the ride before reaching the Conservation entrance, but once we were in the park, I was on the edge of my seat because the fog was so dense that we could barely see the front of the car let alone the road! And the road would wind and curve all over the place; our lives were literally in the hands of the guide. And when we reached the rim of the Crater, it was so anti-climactic because all we saw was fog! So we began our descent into the Crater at which point the fog grew thinner and we could soon see the plants around us.

Once in the crater, we were all awestruck because it was a huge bowl with mountains all around! (New Orleans has nothing on this Crater). Not only was this our earliest day, but it was also our longest because we did not leave until about 3:30pm! And during this time, we saw so many different animals that I cannot list them all. Some of the more memorable ones include, 2 cheetahs that were relaxing on a big rock in the sun, a male and female lion on their "honeymoon" as our guide told us, and a black rhino! which was really far away, but I could still see it. We also stopped by the Hippo pond where there were about 60 hippos all piled together and boy were they loud! They made some of the oddest grunting noises I have ever heard and they would constantly splash muddy water on themselves because they don't have sweat glands. Not only can you see all of these large animals, but we also saw so many exotic, beautiful birds! I tried to take pictures of them, but as you can imagine it wasn't too easy. Probably my favorite part of this day was when we literally drove through a massive heard of wildebeests. We stopped about half way through the heard to take some pictures, but I really enjoyed listening to them eating the grass because they were so loud!

So our second day at Ngornogoro Crater came to an end, after we stopped at the viewpoint at the rim of the Crater which was fog free at that point. The view was breathtaking and I was able to get our whole safari group together for a group photo before leaving. On the way back to the camp, we dropped the 2 Frenchmen and the other American off because they were returning to Arusha to do other things, while the 2 Israelis and I headed back to the camp. And this night was much mellower, mainly because we had such a small group left, but I also think the Israelis were a bit tired from the night before. So I went to bed early that night, simply because there was nothing else to do.

Our 3rd and final day would be spent at Tarengire National Park, and I was excited about this because there would only 3 safarians with the guide making it much more personal. We left at about 9:00am after eating breakfast and packing up the car. And I think that overall, this was my favorite park for several reasons. We definitely saw the most animals in this park than in Lake Manyara or Ngornogoro Crater. There were herds of elephants with babies! We also saw several giraffes really close, and there were zebras everywhere! And I have deemed them as my favorite animals on safari. The only down side to Tanrengire was that they had so many tsetse flies, everywhere! There were so many in the park that before we left the entrance to the park, park workers sprayed our car with a chemical to keep them away. And the main reason that these flies are bad is that they carry a disease known as “sleeping sickness.” I’m sure I was bitten at least once, but luckily I had no symptoms of the illness.

As we headed back towards the entrance of the park, I was standing on the front seat with my upper body out the roof of the Land Cruiser just taking in as much as possible because I knew this would be my last chance. I was very sad to be leaving my safari trip, and I definitely agree with the travel books when they say, “you can spend days in just one park.” But my time had come to an end and we were on our way back to Arusha.

A City of Peace and Beauty

After 2 pretty boring days in Dar es Salaam, it was finally time to head up to the North so I could start planning my safari! We decided to go with a bus company called Scandinavian Express because we heard that it was more of a “tourist” bus than a local bus. And we had seen some of the local buses just jam packed with people, and the trip was going to be about 8 hours and we wanted to be comfortable. So we woke up extra early that morning to get to the bus station a little be for boarding time at 8am.

While waiting for the bus to take off, we talked with several other travelers who had traveled all over Africa. One was an American from California who was traveling from Cape Town, South Africa to Nairobi, Kenya. There was also a woman from Holland and she was heading back up to Arusha to head home, but she had previously climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was really great to hear about her experiences with that and how she loved it but would not do it again haha. And finally we met a Canadian who had traveled to Tanzania and Eastern Africa in the past, but had some pretty bad experiences so he never was able to complete his trip. For example, when he was in Malawi, he got a ride with a local in his car and midday, the driver fell asleep at the wheel, drove off the road, and they hit a tree. The Canadian wound up back in Canada because he fractured his back and was cut up pretty bad. So he had finally made it back to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The bus ride was actually rather pleasant because the bus was not even half full, so everyone could have their own row of seats. The scenery was gorgeous as well because after about 2 hours, we drove along the Great Rift Valley and the mountains just kept going and going. This was not something I was used to seeing so I took several bad pictures through the window. I also slept most of the way, which isn’t a big surprise because I sleep in almost any moving vehicle. But after about 9 hours, the bus arrived in Moshi and the 3 of us got off, said goodbye to our new friends because the bus continued on to Arusha.

The main reason we were in Moshi was because 2 years ago, Klara lived there for 6 months doing social work research. And it felt so good to get off the bus and walk around a bit to find a cheap hotel. We wound up staying at Mt. Kilimanjaro Backpackers Hotel for $5/person each night which was incredible! And because Moshi is the closest big city to Mt. Kilimanjaro, our hotel had a rooftop restaurant and bar that I headed to as soon as I put my stuff in our room. The best times to see Mt. Kilimanjaro is in the early morning and the evening when the clouds reveal the snow capped top of the mountain.

As soon as I saw the beautiful view of Mt. Kili, I fell in love. It was so majestic and breathtaking. I just wanted to sit in that restaurant all day and not do anything else but enjoy the city and the view. And as I sat there, I ironically thought of Ernest Hemmingway writing his infamous poem, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” possibly sitting right where I was. I know that is really cheesy, but that was what came into my head at that moment. And the city of Moshi was so peaceful and relaxed; people did not gauk at us when we walked around but instead just went along with their lives.

As I was enjoying my beautiful view of Mt. Kilimanjaro, I saw something incredible occur across the street. In Moshi, they had sidewalks that would sometimes be missing chunk and the cars had to drive around these huge holes so they didn’t get stuck. Unfortunately a little white car was driving down the street and slammed right into this huge hole! I got concerned for the people in the car to make sure they were okay. But then not 5 seconds after the car got stuck, about 10 men out of nowhere just came and picked up the car and moved it out of the hole making sure everyone in the car was safe. Not one person even got out of the car or had to call for help. This act just amazed me and it proved that there is such an amazing sense of community throughout the country that reached beyond anything else that may come in its way.

But day 2 was another exciting day in Moshi because we went to visit Klara’s friends from 2 years ago when she stayed there. Everyone was really sweet and welcoming to us, and then someone introduced me to a local doctor who owns an NGO. His NGO is called the Living Life Center, and he runs it on his own with one other volunteer helping him. The Doctor was retired and previously worked in the Moshi public hospital. He was nice enough to take us to his clinic and show us his facilities. At the Living Learning Center, he has information sessions on HIV/AIDS prevention and testing. They run malaria and HIV tests at the clinic, they can do minor surgeries, and several other simple medical procedures. He started the clinic because the local people of the area have to walk very far to reach the public hospital and then wait a few hours and then make the journey back home. Therefore a whole day would be wasted where the patient could have been doing work. So with his clinic, it is a closer option for small medical problems that locals may have, and even though the services are not completely free, it is a lot cheaper than going to the hospital.

I was so proud of this doctor because he is doing this out of his heart and he was completely genuine and sincere about his work at the clinic. And I have met some leaders of other NGOs while in Tanzania who have an NGO just for the money, but it was great to meet someone who really cared about the local community. So this was the most exciting event of my day; only continuing to fan my flame of love for Moshi.

That night, I decided that instead of traveling up to Arusha to plan my safari, in the morning, I would try to find a safari tour company in Moshi. Over the past few days, I had heard some pretty bad things about Arusha for tourists including scams and theft. And I wanted to avoid that at all costs. So in the morning, I woke up early and at 8:00am I started my search. I went from company to company getting different quotes and information on safari tours. I wanted a safari that went to Lake Manyara, Tarangire National Park, and Ngornogoro Crater (this is a typical 3 day safari). And after several hours, I finally found a company that gave me exactly that. Exhausted and relieved, I paid the first deposit and then went to the hotel for a nap.

When I woke up, I went upstairs to the rooftop bar for a soda as I watched Mt. Kilimanjaro be revealed from under the clouds for the last time because I would be leaving at 6:00am the next morning for my safari. Klara, Anna, and I went to another rooftop restaurant for our last dinner together. They would remain in Moshi for a few more days before traveling to Lake Victoria and then Rwanda. And that night I went to bed both anxious and excited for my safari the next day!

From Dar to Bagamoyo and Back Again

On Tuesday October 7th, Klara, Anna, and I met up and walked to the dock to board our ferry that would be taking us to Dar es Salaam. Sadly, we had to wake up really early because the boat left at 7:30am and boarding was at 7:00am. But luckily once on the ferry, I slept the entire way to the mainland even though we had economy class tickets in the “non-air conditioning” area. Once the ferry docked, we headed towards an area of Dar that had cheap, budget hotels/hostels that we could stay in for 2 nights. And the first one got the ticket at a place called Jambo Inn (not to be confused with the previous Jambo Brother’s Inn). We basically dropped our stuff in the room and then headed out to see the city.

Now prior to my trip, I had been told by some Zanzibaris that Dar es Salaam was the “New York City” of Tanzania. However, since I have never been to New York, I cannot make a fair judgment, but if New York City is anything like Dar, I really don’t have a desire to visit. Dar was extremely boring with about 5 popular “tourist” spots, but for the most part, the city was a working city that people we to during the day and left at night.

Our first stop of sightseeing was to the Catholic Church that was right on the coast near the dock. It was very beautiful and also called St. Joseph’s Cathedral (just like the Catholic Church in Zanzibar). Then we walked for quite some time to get to the fish market because Anna really wanted to see it. And can I tell you that I have never smelled something as disgusting in my life (and I come from New Orleans). Not to mention all the water and who knows what else we were walking in while at the fish market. And I was not in a happy mood after walking 30 minutes to get to the market, only to tread through smelling muck and leave after about 5 minutes.

But we then headed towards the National Museum of Tanzania where we had a conflict of interest because I really wanted to go inside and see the exhibits, but Anna said, “I’m not much of a museum person.” At this point I wanted to tell her, “I walked through a smelly fish market for you; you can at least come into a museum about the history of the country you are traveling through!” But I held my tongue. And the museum was actually really cool. It went through each age of colonialism and how the country was affected over the years, but I was still amazed at how unpreserved the different artifacts were. In about 20 years, half of the things won’t be there because they would have deteriorated. There was also a memorial from the 1998 terrorist bombing of the US Embassy in Tanzania, and I have to say that it was a little creepy. There were remains of the bomb attack including a car, bicycle, a glass window, and a statue of a woman whose arms had been blown off. Feeling a little bit sad, we continued into the “biology” area of the museum which lifted our spirits. They had a great exhibit on the development of the human and when it got to the current human species, there was only a mirror. I thought that was extremely clever.

So after about an hour at the museum, we headed to have some lunch and amazingly enough, we found a Subway! I was so excited that I marched right in and got in line. However, I was extremely disappointed when the worker told me that there was no Turkey or Ham. So I had a sandwich with pepperoni, lettuce, black olives, pickles, and “sweet onion sauce” that was nothing like what is in the US. So even though it was definitely not the most delicious thing I ever tasted, it was still a Subway sandwich. And after an unsatisfying lunch, Anna and Klara just wanted to continue to walk around Dar, but soon it started to rain, at which point we got in a taxi and went to an area called Slipways.

When we arrived, before us was a huge shopping area with a bunch of really great shops. So we looked around a bit and then had some ice cream at a local ice cream shop. We stayed here for the remainder of the night and then took a taxi back to our hotel. Luckily Jambo Inn has a restaurant in it that was still open when we arrived. So we settled down there and ordered some late dinner. While waiting for our food, two extremely drunk Americans came and started talking to us. They told us how they were traveling around filming different areas of Africa for National Geographic and that they met the Dali Lama. I seriously doubt if any of their story was true, aside from the fact that they were American.

After dinner we planned our next day. We decided to go to a small city called Bagamoyo which is about 2 hours just north of Dar. We read that Bagamoyo had a lot of history for the country because during German colonization, it was the capital of East Africa. So we set our alarms to wake us up rather early the next morning to get a good start on the day. But the first thing on our agenda was to get our bus tickets for the next morning to take us north to Moshi near Mt. Kilimanjaro. Then we headed to the dalla dalla stop to take us to Bagamoyo. Unfortunately, there was not a bus that went all the way from Dar to Bagamoyo, so we had to stop in another city and switch buses to get where we needed to be.

About 2 and a half hour later, we arrived in the very small, quiet town of Bagamoyo. And of course, right when we arrived, Klara and Anna wanted to know which direction the beach was in. We started walking in the direction that some passerby told us we needed to go, but after a few meters, we stopped to ask again. The second man we asked spoke fairly good English and told us that we needed to go back from the way we came. So we walked back and then headed in the right direction. On the way we visited an art gallery where they painted and sculpted. And one artist sculpted large busts of different political leaders, and they were huge and very colorful. When talking with the guys that created the artwork, we learned that Bagamoyo has one of the largest art schools in the country and students from all over come to learn and study there.

After a little while we found the beach, which was mainly a fishing beach with absolutely no tourists around, but just locals. It was pretty cool to see the local fishermen selling their catch with their boats pulled up on shore next to them. It really gives you an appreciation for the locals in the country and how they still have “trades” that they pride themselves in. We walked all along the coast and then went in several art shops along the way, but the art here was different than all the shops everywhere in Zanzibar. The art here was more original and had something different about it. And in one of the shops, I fell in love with a Tinga Tinga painting and I decided to buy it because I knew the money would be going directly to the artist. The men who worked in that shop were also really nice and they even played their handmade drums and sang to us.

Feeling very happy with my newly purchased painting, we headed back to the main area of town, away from the beach. However, it was about midday and it was unbearably hot outside with no shade and no wind anywhere. But Anna and Klara still wanted to “wander” around the city and see absolutely everything there was to see. So I reluctantly followed along, but at one point I told them that I wanted to stop and get something to drink and rest in the shade. So we stopped, but when we started walking again, we could not find our way back towards the dalla dalla stop. In fact, we had to completely backtrack from the way we came which made me really ticked off because I was sweating bullets and very cranky. We finally made it back to the dalla dalla stop and rode the two hours back into Dar. That night I slept exceptionally well because I was so exhausted from the day in the blazing hot, African sun.

Exciting Travels

The past 2 days have been rather exciting because I did some overnight traveling. My friend Klara, her sister, and I wanted to travel to the northern tip of the island to a beach called Nungwi. I have decided that before my time here is over, I want to travel to the North, South and East points of the island because I am living in the West. So everything in our travel books said that Nungwi is considered to be the "party" spot on the island and a very big tourist area, so we were very anxious to see what it was like. But we had decided that this was going to be a very low budget trip because it was only going to be for one night.

Our means of getting there was the dalla dalla which is the local "buses." Basically is is a long pick up truck with a covered back and benches that line the inside. This is the only public mode of transportation on the island and it is also the cheapest. So we cramped in the dalla dalla with about 17 other people for the one hour long trip up to Nungwi. It was to say the least, uncomfortable because I got car sick and at one point I could not feel my feet. I have traveled many other times on a dalla dalla, but never for this long.

But we finally arrived in Nungwi and where we were dropped off was in the middle of the local village. So we asked an old man where the Jambo Brother's Inn was because our travel book recommended it for "budget" trips. The old man actually walked us to the Inn and it was a good thing because I don't think we would have ever found it on our own. When we arrived, we asked how much and if we could see the room before deciding to stay there. The man to us it would be $45 USD for 3 of us for one night, and the room, though basic was fairly nice. It had 3 large beds all fully equip with mosquito nets. But Klara wanted to look around at some other places to see if we could find something cheaper. Anna and I eagerly volunteered to stay with the "luggage" in the shade because both of us felt fine staying at Jambo Brother's. After about an hour of looking around, Klara returned to say that all the others were $50 a night and equally as "fancy" as the Jambo Brother's. So we paid and went to our room. Unfortunately, I had to be the one to discover that the toilet did not flush, but we decided to worry about it later and head out to the beach.

The water was crystal clear and the sand was the whitest I had seen in Zanzibar. But we were the only "tourists" around, so we were naturally a spectacle for all the locals. I would say about 10 different people (mainly men) came up to us while we were on the beach to talk to us and welcome us to Nungwi. This is very common everywhere in Zanzibar especially during the low tourist season, but I have to say that after 2 or three, it gets really annoying! At about 6:00pm, we decided to find a place to have dinner and one of our "friends" we met earlier suggested a couple of places on the beach for us to eat. So we walked along the beach and found a bunch of restaurants all in a row, but in the end we wound up eating at the Fat Fish Restaurant and Bar. It had a beautiful view of the ocean and we could watch the sunset.

After dinner we walked around a big and found a pretty popular bar right on the beach and we decided to have a few drinks. Then we ran into some guys we had met earlier that day who were locals. Klara and Anna had become closer friends with them than I did because I think I was sleeping when they met us on the beach earlier that day. But they told us about a local club they were going to that had really good music, and they invited us to join them. The first place we tried to go to was closed, so we walked quite a long way to get to this other club. Now since this is a pretty rural local area that is nestled on the beach, it was really really dark, but the sky was absolutely amazing. And when it was about the darkest part, my mom calls me to chat on the phone. It was very bad timing, but I told her where I was and kept the conversation short and sweet because I needed to pay attention to where I was walking.

So we finally arrived at the club and it was a really awesome place. It was basically a Reggae Club that had all locals there. However, no one seemed to care that we were there, so we found a seat and ordered some drinks. The dance floor was right under the open sky where you could see every star. It was really great too because everyone was so nice and they all loved to dance to the music. So after being there for about an hour, we decided to head back, but unfortunately, it seemed darker walking back. As I was getting my phone out to shed some light on the road, I tripped and fell, scraping my arms and knees. I said a few choice words but I was okay. I got up and brushed myself off, but from that point on, we walked slower.

The next day we headed out to the beach again, but only for a little while because we wanted to get back to town. After another, more comfortable ride on the dalla dalla, we were back in town and it actually felt really nice to be in a place that I was familiar with. My homestay family was eager to hear about my adventures in Nungwi, but for the remainder of the day, I relaxed at home, tired from the trip.

But I am sad to say that this may be my last blog for about a week. In a few days I will be traveling to the mainland with Klara and her sister. We will go to Dar es Salaam and then catch a bus that after 8 hours will take us up to Moshi. Moshi is at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, so I am very excited to see and experience that. Then I will continue to Arusha where I plan on going on a safari for a few days. After that I will head back to Dar es Salaam and return to Zanzibar where I can tell you all of my exciting travel news. But I hope everyone at home is still doing well especially with the whole "financial crisis" going on. It is all over the news here, but not really affecting anyone in Zanzibar.

An Island Party

I must express my most sincere apology for not writing for the past week because I know that everyone at home checks my blog everyday with the hope of news from Africa, but after all, I am in Africa! So last weekend I did some pretty exciting things. On Saturday my Swedish friend Klara and I went to the House of Wonders which used to be the Sultan of Oman’s Palace (it is an attachment of the other palace I went to). It is also the first building in Africa to have a “lift” or elevator, but it is now a museum and I would definitely not use the elevator. Most of the things in the museum were fairly interesting, but the best part was the view. The House of Wonders is the biggest and tallest building in Stone Town and it is the first thing you see by boat when coming to the coast. Visitors are allowed to go on the 3rd floor balcony which wraps around the whole house enabling you to see the ocean and the island. As you can imagine I took many pictures which will eventually make it up on Snapfish. Another really exciting thing that happened on Saturday was that Klara’s little sister arrived in Zanzibar after her flight was delayed 6 hours in Nairobi! Poor thing. But she made it to the island that night and being to tired I wasn’t able to meet her until Sunday.

Now on Sunday we had bigger plans…we planned a trip to visit a nearby island called Prison Island. It was only about a 30 minute boat ride there and the water was fairly calm. Now the boat we were in was very small but it did have a motor which made me very happy. However, right when we arrived on the shore, the sky opened up and it began to pour! We stayed in the boat a little longer until the rain slowed down, and our “captain” was nice enough to take us around the island a bit. The main attraction for people visiting Prison Island is the giant tortoises that live there. In the past, the tortoises were able to just live on the beach and roam freely, but do to poaching and fishermen, they live in a reserved park on the island. This was the first stop we made, and it was by far the best part of the day! The tortoises were enormous, weighing about 150 pounds and some were that old too! We were able to fee them spinach and even allowed to pet them! They really like people and were very friendly; you just have to mind you fingers when feeding them.

After visiting with the tortoises for about 45 minutes, we continued to walk around the island. The reason the island is named Prison Island is because it was a stopping point for slave traders on their way to Zanzibar, and if they had any slaves giving them “trouble” they would leave them on that island. We did get to see some of the old slave quarters that were now turned into bathrooms…Don’t ask. Our captain left us on the main pier of the island where we saw some fishermen down on the beach below us. They had such a wide variety of fish that they caught, and I am sure that about half of them were illegal because they were so bright and colorful…not for eating. They had also caught and octopus, squid, and a blue spotted stingray.

We then decided to go lay on the little bit of sand that the island had because most of the shores were rocks. What I found interesting was that the sand was not sand but finely crushed shells that had been beaten up over the years. There were also a lot of shells and starfish lining the beach, so that kept me really occupied. Unfortunately it continued to rain all day and we would run under the pier and coral rock caves on the coast to stay dry. But all in all it was a great trip; great until it was time to leave. Since the weather had continued to worsen, the ocean, in return was choppy and rough. The ride back took about an hour and consisted of the boat literally going up on the waves and then crashing down and we all got wet. I was clinging on the piece of wood I was sitting on for dear life. At one point I even took a video of the boat and the water, that way you at home can understand what I went through. The funniest part was when I got off the boat. Because I had been used to moving up and down the whole time, when I stood up and took a step, I feel down on my butt! It was quite funny and amusing for both me and the others on the boat. And despite all of the waves, I did not get sick (probably because I did not eat anything before or during our trip).

Earlier this week I received my certificate for completing the Beginners Course of Swahili, and I was surprised to find that the certificate is very nicely made. Also, in preparation for the Ede celebration, I decided to go with one of my Zanzibarian friends to get henna. Henna is a very popular tradition on the island because there is a lot of Indian influence here. And when I went to get it done, the lady did it so fast! I only had my hands done, but the local women get their hands and arms as well as their feet and calves done. I have to admit that it looks really good on my now tan skin!

Since the local Muslims saw the moon on Tuesday night, the Ede celebration would be on Wednesday. My Ede began by being awaken from the constant ringing of the door bell. In the morning, children go from door to door asking for money or food, and the people who answer the door give them the equivalent to a few cents. So that was a lovely thing to wake up to. But for lunch, I went with Mama Rahma and some of her family members to a big family party on the other side of the Island. The house was beautiful and right on the beach. So I spent most of the afternoon walking along the beach with some of the ladies in the family, and I practiced my Swahili skills too!

Then later that evening, Klara, her sister, and I went to a big festival that takes place in town, but only during Ede. It was crazy! There were literally thousands of people in this very large field with music blaring all around. There were vendors selling food, drinks, and a lot of toys for the children because they collected all the money in the morning and then spend it at night. For most of the time, the three of us sat off to the side where we could just watch all the madness happening, but not necessarily be in it all. I have to say that it was a really great time to be in Zanzibar and witness this great celebration that only happens once a year.

So I think that is enough for now, but I am going to post another blog right after this one to tell you about some other fun times I had recently.

A little Zanizbar Culture and History for Ya!

Today I have officially been gone from the US for a month, and I don't know where the time went! I am about finished with the "beginners" course of Swahili at which point I will start with the "intermediate" course. I also learned that since I will be at the school for 3 months, I will actually "graduate" from the school and leave with a certificate basically saying that I am supposed to be able to speak Swahili haha! But I was pretty pumped when I heard that! Also, there are only a few days left in Ramadan and then it will be Ede. Now Ede religiously is only one day, but in Zanzibar they celebrate it for 4 days! And just to simplify things, Ede is like Christmas for Muslims--a time to pray, celebrate with family, give gifts (especially to children), and eat amazing food! So Zanzibar will be having a big party for 4 days next week and I am soooo excited to be a part of it! It is all the locals talk about, and some people re-do their houses and get new carpets, curtains, and paintings. Last night Hafith was actually complaining about how expensive everything is during this time; a typical dad mentality who has a 1 year old and a 7 year old.

This past weekend I spent a lot of time at the beach...go figure. But I actually got somewhat of a tan, so that was pretty exciting. The locals do not understand why "westerners" want to become darker. If you see anyone from Zanzibar by the beach, they are normally in a t-shirt and pants, trying to protect their skin (smart idea). But on Saturday, some of the people I was with wanted to go to a local market by the beach we were at. Normally this would be about a 7 minute dalla dalla bus ride, but they wanted to walk. Trying not to be the "Debbie Downer," I did not voice my concern about it being waaaay too hot to walk that far in the middle of the day! So we walked and we walked and we walked, for about 20 minutes in the direct sunlight! I was literally pouring sweat from everywhere and so were they, and it was at this point that we all wished we had taken the dalla dalla. But at least we got to the market and were only there for about 10 minutes. In my opinion, the only good thing I got out of the market trip was to discover that things were cheapest there than anywhere else because it is a local market, away from all the tourist places. The next day at the beach, I met a really nice girl from London currently living in Dar es Salaam, but she came to Zanzibar for the weekend. We talked a lot and exchanged phone numbers, so that if and when I travel the Dar, I will certainly have to give her a call.

I know that I have said that the food here is amazing, which it is, but for some reason, every night at dinner, I lose my appetite and I can't eat a lot. This apparently really bothers Mama Rahma because every night, she asks me if something is wrong because I am not eating a lot. She has also asked me a lot of questions about what I like to eat, but this is a hard question to answer because the food at home is not comparable with the food here. When asked if I liked seafood, I of course said yes and told her that I come from an area that is well known for its seafood. The very next night she cooked "seafood" which basically was a whole fish that was grilled and then cut in half. When I say whole fish, this means that it was not de-scaled, the head was still on, and it was looking right at me. So feeling rather bad that she cooked it for me, I went to pick a piece up to at least try it, but once I touched it, there was no way I could bring myself to eat it, unless I wanted to be sick. So Mama Rahma and I will continue to have this ongoing battle of trying to find out what I really like.

Also, the teacher who has been teaching us this whole month had a family emergency in Dar es Salaam, so we have a different teacher for the last week. And our new teacher is amazing! We basically just talk the whole class and don't worry too much about the book. He said that the important thing is that we are comfortable with talking basic Swahili. And to this statement, I couldn't agree more! Just in this week so far, I feel so much more confident in my communicating skills. I am hoping to continue private lessons with this teacher in October, being that the school is closed in October because it is their "planning month" (whatever that means).

Today being Wednesday, the school takes the beginner students somewhere to learn about the local area, so today we went to the Palace Museum located on the coast of Stone Town. It was fairly interesting, but I was so amazed at how un-preserved things were. First of all, there is no air conditioning in the building and therefore they have all the windows open letting in all the humid air from the ocean right in through the windows. Also, a lot of things that should maybe be in glass cases weren't. It was just amazing to me that century old history is not being cared for as it should be. But basically the palace was home of the Omani Sultan in the 1800s. Right next to the Palace Museum is the House of Wonders which we didn't get to see today, but I will definitely make my way there sometime soon. I have learned that the history of Zanzibar is completely separate from the rest of Tanzania and Africa. Mainly because they were not part of the European colonization of Africa. They had already been inhabited by the Arabs from Oman, and at one point Zanzibar was the capital of Oman. Now I have not completely figured that one out just yet? Also, the shortest war in history took place on Zanzibar, lasting only 45 minutes! WOW!

So there is your little dose of Zanzibar history and I'm sure I will find out a lot more history during my travels here. As far as my plans for this weekend, my friend Klara (from Sweden) and I are going to go to another island about 30 minutes away from the Zanzibar port called Prison Island. This island was part of the great slave trade that took place in Zanzibar, and it is also home to the large tortoises. So I am really excited about that, and I can add those to my monkey pictures! But until next time! Kwaheri!

Yay for Rotary!

This week so far has been fairly uneventful compared to my past weeks, but don't worry, I still have lots to share! First and foremost, I am an official resident of Tanzania for 2 years and it is stamped in my passport! Whoohoo! Even though I really resent the man working at the school who handles all the permits...he has a serious attitude problem. But I also finally met Stephi Said who is the lady that started the Rotary Club in Zanzibar. She is also the one that was supposed to pick me up at the airport when I arrived, but she forgot and still feels terrible about it despite how many times I have told her it was no big deal. We went to have coffee on Tuesday at the nicest hotel in Zanzibar because she said they have amazing coffee haha. Her story goes as follows...When she was my age, she and 2 friends traveled around the world, starting in Australia and ending in South Africa. But when they arrived in Zanzibar, she decided to stay for the remainder of the trip to take language courses. Then, after graduating from college she came back and started her life here, met her husband, and she now has a 2 month old baby boy. She is really down to earth and will be a big help to be while I am here.

Stephi invited me to the Rotary meeting on Wednesday, and she got me really excited about it because she said I would meet some great people from all over the island. So on Wednesday, she picked me up and we went to the Zanzibar Resort Hotel for the meeting. There are only about 16 official members in their club, where as my club in Columbia has about 40-50 members. They are also extremely laid back and very nice--I guess you can attribute that to the fact that they live on an island. Also, about 1/2 of the club are locals and the other 1/2 are Western Euro-Americans that have lived on the island for years.

For about the first half of the hour long meeting, we talked about me haha! It was quite humorous, and they were all really excited that I was there and wanted to get involved. And Stephi was right when she told me that I would get some really great connections at the meeting. One lady owns a hotel in the southern tip of the island and owns a company called Safari Blue (scuba and snorkeling trips)! And another lady works a free-medical clinic on the Eastern part of the island, so I will most certainly want to visit there. And then another woman owns a hotel in the northern area of the island. All of them told me that I was more than welcome to come and stay at any of their places any time I want. One even said, "Even if you want to just get away for a day or two and take a hot shower, you are more than welcome." And the sound of that just made me soooo happy!

For the 2nd half of the meeting, we talked about different service projects that we want to get involved in. They already have one currently in the works... There is a tribe in the middle of the island who have to carry their clean water uphill about 1.5km from a well at the bottom of the hill. The Rotary Club bought pipes and dug tunnels so the tribe will have running water that will go up the hill. I thought that was an excellent project. Another project that they want to do is work with the local Blood Bank that is on the island. This blood bank has only been here for a year and they are so unorganized and have no idea what they are doing. For example, they do not have a vehicle, so if there was an emergency on the other side of the island, they would have to take the blood in either a taxi or a dalla dalla (local bus). This thought is absolutely absurd! And another example is the fact that a lot of the locals do not want to donate blood for fear of finding out if they at HIV positive! WHAT!! Before they do anything here, they need to educate the local community about health awareness and safety. Being so passionate about this, I have eagerly volunteered to help with this project and I am hoping to meet with the Blood Bank personnel next week. So I will definitely keep y'all updated on that.

Some other general notes on the week...last night as I was sitting on my bed doing my homework, when I received another lovely visit from my little rat friend. And I have decided to take Christine's advice in naming my little friend, seeing as though I will be coming in contact with him often. I have named his Panya, which is Swahili for rat or mouse. But as I was sitting comfortably on my bed, Panya ran along the floor board under my bed...I naturally decided that it would be safest for me to simply remain on my bed. Then he ran back from the way he came and scurried behind my suitcase! But luckily Panya wanted to go in the closet that does not have any of my belongings in it, so I then just ignored it and actually slept quite well. But what was even funnier is that last night I was watching the travel channel (which I watch often) before I went to bed. The episode was about India and there is a Jain Temple there that has rats everywhere! But they are believed to be priests and elders reincarnated...haha! Luckily I am not a member of the Jain religion, so I do not have to be reverent to my friend Panya!

And the other thing is that since I am hanging out with people who are from Europe and the fact that all the locals who know English have a British accent, I am afraid that I have started to pick up on a few "British" words. So when I return home in December, y'all will have to inform me if I am speaking with a different English accent haha! But it is now time for me to go but I will of course be bringing y'all more Zanzibar tales soon! I hope everyone is doing well at home!

Family Fun!

This past weekend was either very fast or very slow paced for me. One Friday I was supposed to go to Stone Town to have some drinks with some friends of mine, but a little before we were going to leave, the power went out. Now this is a very regular occurrence here on Zanzibar and it is not just a certain area that goes out of power, it is the whole island! So our plans were canceled on the account that no one would have power. So I just stayed at home with the family and they told some stories about a power outage about a year ago when the whole island was out of power for 1 month! And it was only until President Bush came to Zanzibar and donated money that the power was restored. I thought that was very interesting and I can only pray that that incident will not reoccur while I am here.

Every year, Hafith's family gathers during Ramadan for a big family celebration with a lot of food. This year, Hafith volunteered his home for the party. The party was set for Saturday at about 6:00pm and I was unsure what time I was going to be picked up from the house I am staying in because the party was at the other house. So I did not do anything all day because I did not want them to come to get me and me not be in the house. So I just kind of lounged around all day watching TV mostly haha. But then, I ran into my little friend "the rat". As I was sitting in the living room watching TV, out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something scurry across the floor on the other side of the room. Thinking I was just paranoid, I ignored it but raised my guard a little bit. Then, I saw the silhouette of a mouse climbing up the curtain...at this point, I was over the mouse and I really didn't care what it did. So I have come to the conclusion that the rat is more afraid of me than I am of it and if I see it again, I will simply ignore it. I just went about my business for the remainder of the afternoon and then at about 6:00pm Mama Rahma's brother came to pick up me and the "maids" and bring us to the party.

When we arrived, there were people everywhere! Over 100 people both men, women, and children. The men were on one side of the house and the women were on the other, and when the time came to eat, the women ate first. The food was arranged on mats on the floor and everyone sat in a big rectangle around all the food. People really crammed in... Now when I normally eat dinner with the family, we have plates and utensil's are available if you would like to use them. That was not the case here because in Islamic culture, it is custom to eat with your hands out of the communal tray of food. So all the women around me just started digging (literally) into the food before us. Seeing the method of their eating habits, my appetite dropped severely. And the women around me noticed because they kept telling me "eat eat eat!" and I would respond with "Nimeshiba" which means I am full. But all the women were dressed in their colorful kangas making the room very beautiful and bright. Feeling rather overwhelmed by all the people, I spent the remainder of the evening upstairs in the house and up on the roof where you can see the whole island!

Feeling very tired, I went to bed right when I got back home because I had to wake up early the next morning to go to mass (at the correct Church). The English Mass was at 7:00am!! which is waaay too early if you ask me. So I had to leave the house at about 6:30am to get there in time. It felt really nice to be at the right church and know what was going on and the church itself is very beautiful and old. I put some pictures of it up on Snapfish, so be sure to check them out. Later on Sunday, Klara and I went to a "tourist" restaurant called Livingstone in Stone Town to have some drinks and talk about our weekends. And I have now tried 2 different Tanzanian beers because they do not have a drinking age here because Muslims do not drink. They were okay, but all Tanzanian beers are normally light in color (not my favorite). So basically my weekend was a mixture of craziness and boredom but a new week awaits!

"Oops..." mixed with a little "Oh Yeah!"

Last Sunday I woke up very early, took my "shower" and then headed off to Church for 8:00am Mass, which is the English Mass. Now I had already walked past the church before and the location was where everyone told me the Catholic Church was located. It only took me about 5 minutes to walk there. But when I arrived the 7:00am Swahili Mass was still going on, so I just wandered around the courtyard looking at different things when I ran into this little old lady who could tell I did not know where I should be. So she directed me to this very small chapel off the side of the church. A few other people trickled in and before Mass started, the priest came up to me and asked if I wanted to read the first reading. Having previous experience with reading at Mass at home, I of course said yes. He showed me where in the Bible the reading was and after reading it, I felt pretty confident in my ability to read it well for Mass.

So Mass started and I noticed that several things were different. For example, the parts that the entire congregation said were different and I did not know them from memory. Having gone to Mass almost every weekend in my life, I thought this was rather odd. Also, the chapel was not very decorative--there were no pictures or statues of Mary or Saints. But instead of worrying about it, I just blamed the differences on being in a very different country that could have different customs. So the time came for my reading and I think I did a pretty good job because there were a lot of names and places in the reading (of course). But when the time came for the homily, the priest said that we professed the wrong first reading at which point he read the correct one. HA! But this is where things get interesting. For the entity of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the priest had his back to the congregation?? And for communion, you were given the Body and then you had to dip it into the chalice to receive the Blood. I thought we changed these things decades ago?? But again, maybe they are just really behind in Zanzibar?

Well later that day I was reading my Tanzanian guide book, looking at Zanzibar, and I realized that the Church I went to that morning was not the Catholic Church but the Anglican Church. HAHA! The Catholic Church was a little bit farther away and I guess that the locals, being almost entirely Muslim, do not know the difference between a Catholic and an Anglican Church. So basically, my first time at a non-Catholic Church was in another country where I was a part of the service and read the wrong reading! haha...oops!

So that was an exciting start to my week, and I did go find the real Catholic Church later that day but they unfortunately had no more Masses on Sunday. I think God will understand my situation.

On Wednesday of this week, I got to check of one of the things off on my Zanzibar "to do" list. With the my school, we went on a field trip to the Josani National Park, home to the famous Colombus Monkey, very rare and only found on Zanzibar! It was really exciting to be feet away from beautiful, red monkeys in their natural habitat! Our guide however wasn't overly knowledgeable because he would speak English really well and rather quickly when we would stop in the Forrest, but when asked a question, he had a very difficult time understanding. So he basically memorized an English script of the Forrest to tell the visitors. But over all it was a really nice trip and I got to see some really interesting things!

But the highlight of my week was yesterday afternoon. Hafith who is my homestay dad took me to a spice farm on the island! And in case you didn't know, Zanzibar is well known for their spices and they used to be the number 1 producer of cloves. The farm that we went to was owned by someone in Hafith's family so it was very personal. I got to see pretty much every spice you can imagine in its natural habitat. Ranging from cadamon to cocoa to curry to Cinnamon right off the tree! It was great! At the end, the young boy of about 16 who was showing us around gave me a ring and a bracelet made from palm frons and he also made me a "crown" all from palm frons! It was really exciting and very nice of them to take me around the farm like they did. And I learned a pretty interesting fact about Zanzibar. In the 70s, Zanzibar counted all the palm trees on the island and at the time there were enough palm trees for every citizen to have 15! And at the time the population was about 700,000. Now that is a lot of palm trees!

So as you can see there are so many exciting things to do in Zanzibar and I am still having a really great time! I have put some pictures up on my Snapfish account, but they take a very long time to upload, so be patient!

Exciting Adventures Around Every Corner

Things are still going well here in Zanzibar, and I am starting to have somewhat of a schedule every day. My day normally goes as follows: Wake up at about 7:00am, get ready for school, eat a banana before leaving the house, walk 5 minutes to school, have class from 8:00am-12:00pm, then go to Stone Town for a little while (exploring and getting very lost), going back home to rest before dinner, have a big dinner, relax with the family, and go to bed at about 9:30pm or 10:00pm. Now let me break some of this down for you because things do not always go according to how I want them and that is something you learn from Zanzibari culture.

As you know from my last blog, I have switched houses so I can be closer to my school and Stone Town. I was looking forward to this change because that would mean more privacy for me and my things and a better location to go out and explore Stone Town which is the historical/tourist area of Zanzibar. So I woke up at 7:00am my first morning there to take a shower before going to school and I am very lucky because I have my own bathroom that is attached to my room and when I looked, it had a shower! This was very exciting for me because I had heard that some homes only have buckets to bathe with. So I wake up and get ready for my shower, turn the dial and nothing happened. Thinking that something must be wrong, I went to go ask Mariam (the maid) if there was something wrong. At this point she informed me that the water to the shower does not work and that I would have to use the water in the green bucket next to the shower to bathe with. Therefore, I took my very first of many "bucket baths." I do not mind so much because I think it is faster than a regular shower, but the only problem is that the water is always freezing cold because they do not have hot water in the house. But it definitely wakes me up in the morning!

The month of September is also Ramadan in the Islamic religion and is the month of fasting. So everyone in the family fasts all day with no food or water! And it is considered to be rude to eat in front of Muslims if you are not Muslim, therefore I eat a banana in my room every morning before school so that no one has to watch me eat. And the bananas here are amazing! They are little, about 1/2 the size of the bananas in America, and they are sweet.

Walking to school in normally uneventful but with several people always telling me "hallo" or "howareyou" haha! I will sometimes respond in Swahili and leave them looking very confused. School is really good because we talk about everything and laugh a lot! It is a really relaxing environment, very good for learning.

Next comes Stone Town which is beautiful and mystical because there are very tall stone buildings with winding alleyways where you are sure to get lost almost every time, but there is always someone who will point you in the right direction. But you have to be careful because there are a lot of local shops that try to rip you off and they hassle you to come in and buy their product. The other day one of them followed me at least a block trying to sell me a wooden carving that I was not the least bit interested in. But again, that is just part of the way of life here in Stone Town. I am really happy that I found 2 good free wireless Internet cafes in Stone Town, so I have uploaded some pictures onto Snapfish, but it takes a while so be patient with the pictures.

As part of Ramadan, everyday in the evening, there is a really big dinner at about 6:30pm because that is the only time you can eat or drink all day in Islamic culture. So I'm always home for that and Mama Rahma always makes really really good food! But after we eat, everyone goes into this sleepy spell and falls asleep for about 20 minutes haha! And then I normally do my homework and head off to bed for a good night of sleep under my mosquito net.

The other evening however, I came home to discover something very interesting. After being in Stone Town for the afternoon, I was pretty sweaty and exhausted. So when I came home I went in my room and went to go open the bathroom door. When I stepped my foot into the door, a RAT RAN into my FOOT and around the wall into my bedroom!!!! I did not scream, but jumped about 2 feet into the air and said a few choice words. Trying very hard to keep my composure, I quickly left my room to go tell someone about the rodent in my bedroom! Mama Rahma did not look surprised but asked me how big it was and I told her about 7 inches long. She then instructed me to close my door (which I already did) and that we would take care of it after dinner.

Still jittery, I did not have much of an appetite for dinner but was very anxious and slightly scared. So after dinner, the 3 men that were at the house entered into my room and searched everywhere for the rat, but it was never found... So they reassured me that it probably just went back to where ever it came from outside. It did take me quite a long time to fall asleep that night, and I was curled up in the middle of the bed the whole night. My mosquito net does not protect me from rats!

So as you can see, things sometimes do not run at a normal rate here in Zanzibar, but I am still loving it and meeting some wonderful people here as well! I have been to the beach several times and put my feet into the Indian Ocean! But there is still so much to explore and discover here in Zanzibar, but hopefully I will have some more exciting tales to tell next time!

Welcome to Zanzibar!

Things have definitely been "going" here, but I have basically discovered through my family and Zanzibar, that this is definitely more of a "fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants" kind of place. I never quite know what my day will encounter and what will be on my "program" as my homestay mom says. The family I am staying with is very interesting in themselves.

First of all, in Islam a man can have at most 4 wives because there are more women in the religion than men and therefore less women to get married if only one woman per man. And it is important that every Muslim experiences marriage before going to Heaven. But a man can only have multiple wives if he is able to provide and support them and any children they have. My homestay father has 3 wives and is considered to be one of the richest men on the island of Zanzibar! So this also means that he has several houses. For the first part of the week, I stayed in their new home of only 6 months. It was a beautiful 3 story home with air conditioning, electricity, indoor plumbing, and TV! The downside to this house is that it is very far away from my school (too far to walk) and far away from Stone Town which is the more "tourist" area of the island.

So on Wednesday morning at about 7:45am, few minutes before my homestay mom was going to bring me to school, she tells me that I am going to stay at another house that is closer to school and that we need to bring all my stuff to the other house that morning! Now, please understand that this was technically my 2nd day of school and I was told to arrive at 8:00am, so I was obviously going to be late. Oh, and the other thing is that I was NOT packed at all!! My stuff was dispersed all throughout my room and very unorganized, so I basically threw things into whatever was close and zipped everything up in about 5 minutes. My homestay mom and I then hauled my 2 suitcases, backpack, and purse down the winding flight of stairs since we were living on the 2nd floor. We get to the car and she realized that she has the wrong car key. Apologizing, she hurries back upstairs to get the correct key. This story makes a turn for the worse because as I am standing outside with my "life" in suitcases before me, it starts to rain...just lovely! So we quickly put all my things in the trunk and I convince her that we can just unload my suitcases out of the car when I get home from school. Phew! And surprisingly enough, I only arrive to school about 10 minutes late.

I go to school Monday-Friday from 8:00am-12:00pm where it is only myself and one other girl, Klara, from Sweden who speaks English very well. We have become friends and normally after school we will go to Stone Town and walk around a bit trying very hard not to look like tourists. I have decided that I do not want to look like a tourist if at all possible because the local people here treat you differently. For example, the other day, Klara and I were looking for a kanga for me to buy. A kanga is basically a piece of fabric and has beautiful designs on it and it also has a Swahili saying on it. You can use them for pretty much anything: a skirt, a shawl, a towel, a carpet, etc. So we went walking trying to find the best priced and best quality kanga for me. Being white and not Muslim, the shops automatically classify us as tourists and they will try to get as much money from you as possible. Klara bought a kanga in Tanzania for about 3000 Tanzanian Shillings (TNS). Every shop that we went to tried to sell one to me for 10,000 TNS! Even though 10,000TNS only equals about 10 USD, that was an outrageous price to pay at a local store! I tried to bargain with them, but they absolutely refused, so I walked away disgusted and not really wanting one anymore. I am so anxious to start speaking Swahili fluently because then I can come right back at those sales men and tell them no!

There is one other thing that happens to me multiple times a day here in Zanzibar...children staring at me and touching me! HAHA. It is like I am some kind of alien that they have never seen or encountered before. I find it very amusing, and they always say howareyou? very quickly. I normally always just shoot them a smile and they cower away, not knowing what to do.

So I am definitely having a good time so far in Zanzibar. It is extremely different here in the fact that no one rushes and everyone is very laid back. Very very different from America. Life works at a different pace here and I like it for now, but it is nice to be able to talk to people like Klara and discuss what things are like in our home countries. But for now that is all, and I will be writing again in a couple of days! I hope everyone at home stayed dry from Hurricane Gustav. I watched what little I could on SkyNews haha!

In Transit

So I am finally here! But getting here was quite the feat. Luckily or possibly amazingly, I made all my flights without any delays or cancellations. But after a 6 hour layover in Chicago, I was on the plane to London, only to be next to a man who was completely prejudice against people who were overweight or a little bit different.

Then once I got to Heathrow in London, I had to go through customs even though I was not leaving the airport, I had to recheck my luggage with Kenya Airways (the Pride of Africa--their slogan). So I did all of that and then someone directed me towards an escalator to get to the check-in desk of Kenya Airways. So with much difficulty and almost falling, I managed to get my 2 large pieces of luggage, my backpack, purse, and myself up the two escalators. Once reaching the top, very out of breath, I look to my left only to see 2 very large elevators that just came from the floor below! Oh well I thought, I was about to get rid of my luggage and be done with it...WRONG! After walking around trying to find the right desk, I asked someone where they were. This airport worker told me that I had to go back downstairs and get on the underground and go all the way to terminal 4 then go upstairs and the desk is there. You can imagine how thrilled I was to hear that.

So I do as I was directed and finally reaching a counter with Kenya Airways on it, the man tells me that they don't start checking in until 3:30pm which was 2 hours away! So I waited... and then checked in and then waited for about 6 more hours until my plane left. I know that Heathrow has all kinds of Duty Free shops, but honestly at the point I couldn't have cared less. All I wanted to do was be on the plane and asleep. Once on the plane to Nairobi, Kenya, things went surprisingly well. I was in the very front row of the plane with all the leg room I could want, and I sat next to a man who told me a lot about Tanzania.

Once the plane landed in Nairobi, I was getting very excited because I was almost to my final destination. As we got off the plane, I experienced something very peculiar. We walked off the plane and were directly on the blacktop where there were planes about 5 feet away from us. The passengers were not guided in any "safe" direction, but I just hoped that the people in front of me knew where to go. So after about 1/4 of a mile walk, I was finally in the airport. This was the first time of many that I will use the phrase "only in Africa".

The Nairobi airport was very interesting. I sat on the floor next to a cement blocked window and waited by my gate to be boarded onto the plain. Oh and the floor was the only option for sitting down. Then my flight was called about 45 minutes before it was scheduled to leave. So I went through the security and then was seated in a "holding room" with at least 100 other people who were all on different flights. And about 15 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave, an airport worker came running into the room and told us that our flight was getting ready to leave! So we walked very quickly, back outside onto the blacktop with all the planes just feet away, and I finally boarded my last plane! AMEN.

The flight to Zanzibar was very quick and the best flight of my 2 day travel! We passed by Mt. Kilimanjaro and I could see the snow topped mountain in all its glory! It was beautiful. Then we flew over water and islands started to pop up everywhere! It was amazingly beautiful. Paradise did not do it justice. And we had to fly all the way around Zanzibar to reach the island. when we landed, the airport was extremely small and quite unorganized! I went through "customs" haha and then out of the airport. Now the woman that was supposed to be picking me up from the airport was an American, but when I went outside, there was no American woman anywhere. Finally a very nice airport worker asked me if I needed help because I was just standing outside the airport looking around with all my luggage around me. (very out of place). And the main problem I was having was the fact that my US phone would not work to call any local numbers in Zanzibar or any American numbers. So this man was very nice and used his phone to call my homestay mother who he apparently knew because he perked up when I told him her name. \so he called her and spoke in Swahili to have someone come get me. And within 10 minutes, my homestay father was there to get me.

So things were a little rocky in some places on my travels over here, but I am settled in and I will definitely be writing more soon!

Kwaheri!

Why Africa?

So I am leaving for Africa in 2 days and I can honestly say I am not nervous just yet. (once I board the plane it could be a different story...) Last September I was awarded a Rotary Cultural Scholarship to study abroad in Tanzania, Africa. This is truly a once in a life time opportunity for me, and I am so grateful to have the chance to travel half way around the world!

While in Tanzania I will be studying the local language of Swahili on the island, Zanzibar. Zanzibar is about 99% Sunni Muslim and fairly conservative. I am pretty excited to get the chance to be a part of that culture. There is however one Catholic Church on the island and it is in the Diocese of Zanzibar, so I will most definitely be able to go to Sunday Mass every weekend.
While in Zanzibar for my 3 months, I will be living with a home stay family in Stone Town, Zanzibar. The family has 2 children, a 7 year old boy and a 10 month old daughter (who I am told is absolutely adorable). The family owns a catering business on the island, so hopefully the food will be appetizing. And I do know that they speak a little English, but I will be trying to develop my Swahili skills while in the house.

But as mentioned earlier, I will be leaving the USA on August 27th and after stops in Chicago, London, and Nairobi, I will finally reach my destination in Zanzibar. I do know that I will have Internet access over there, but maybe not everyday. However, I will be updating my blog regularly for those of you who want to know about all my exciting adventures in Africa! Wish me luck!