Arrival and Transition

Jambo! I am currently writing from a cafe in Stone Town Zanzibar. I ordered (because you have to to use their internet) my first coffee since flying out of JFK and it tastes great. Erica and I did a total of about 18 hours of flying - from JFK, into Dubai (location of the tallest building in the world), then to Dar Es Salaam (the largest city in Tanzania) and then to Zanzibar (a 25 minute flight). It really was not too bad. Except the fatigue and jet-lag. We left JFK in the morning and as we were approaching the night time for that part of the world, we were watching the sun rise in Dubai. Where did the night go?! We collided with it and I tried to forget that I had just watched three movies and multiple episodes of friends instead of sleeping. Dubai was quite the contrast against DAR. When we got into DAR we had to show our VISAs and get them stamped. Erica got through fine... but for some reason I needed to show them a copy of my return flight for proof of exit. I didn't have this and so they took my passport. It is just by chance (or maybe a very thorough mother) that I remembered I had a copy in my checked bag. At this point we only had an hour till our flight. I ran (away from my passport) to get it. Then the "boss" asked me questions about the program and finally let me through. That was the most exciting part. Our flight to Zanzibar was a hop, skip and jump and we could see the coral and clear blue water from the plane.  -- sorry, this is excessive plane talk. We were both greeted by a man holding a sign saying "lily morgan - 2 person." We had a crazy ride in the van to the Mawani Inn. There was soccer... excuse me, football - everywhere; mopeds and bikes and small cars everywhere. Everyone in Zanzibar plays! One thing I noticed right away was (well, besides the palm trees and warm temperature) was that all the small children were participating in things... young kids were carrying babies, cooking and preparing food, working at the markets and riding bikes on the road. It made for a fascinating and nerve-racking ride. 

The whole group is here now and it is my 2nd full day. I can't believe it. It feels like I have been here for a week or more. Because of time and battery life, I'm going to have to bullet point the rest...

- People in Zanzibar live outside... not in houses. They spend their time, all time, being under the sun and open roofs

- The cats are hungry and skinny

- It is not safe in terms of cars!

- Europeans are the typical, silly tourists. 

- The children will try to get you to pay them for a picture. 

- The food is AMAZING - mangos, sweet bananas, pinapple, on and on.

- Ernst is from Sweden and is a missionary who has living in Tanzania for years. He says that the best fruit comes from the hills west of the Serengeti. 

- The mosquitos aren't too bad... but they're there

- It is very hot. It is very hot. It is very hot. 

- Helen, our wonderful academic director, is from England but lives here now and everyone loves her (she IS a local). He is great and keeps saying, "be patient."

- Said smiles all the time. He is the adviser... he is sometimes hard to understand. 

- Be careful of the sewage pools... they have worms and maggots and stuff. Always wear shoes. 

- The average male life-expectancy is 51.

- We had our first Kiswahili lesson today and it is so exciting. All the teachers (4 of them) are natives and love to teach. 

- Today we had our first day of snorkeling. We all got stung by the tiny jellies. It was amazing and I had to catch my breath. You can see the affects of tourism on the coral from sunscreen and touching. We had a picnic on a sand bar in the hot hot sun. I got burned but not too bad (I applied three times, ma!) It felt foreign to swim among the fish in water as beautiful and clear as that. Our one guide is hilarious and loves to tell us how to say funny things and where to go and who to meet. I notice that all Zanzibarans have great expressions. Every seems so different. 

- The Italian tourists are the worst of them all. 

- Drink lots of water, use deet bug spray, try new foods, take deep breaths and don't expect a lot of yourself right NOW. 

- We keep saying, "I can't believe this is where we are. We're on a sand bar in the Indian Ocean. I don't believe it. I don't believe it." I keep thinking... I am here. Be here now. 

"kwaheri" = goodbye!