I've seen the Zanzibarbarians

The second term of school ended on Wednesday, and all went well. My students did fairly well, but more importantly, Leah rocked my exam. She has been studying very hard, a habit I think she's picking up from my constant reading in the house. She's such a good girl.

Friday, April 15th was my 24th birthday! Happy birthday to me. I'm getting old. It was fairly uneventful. On the eve of my special day Yeager, Margaret, Chris, and Dre came over, and on my birthday morning they all made me pumpkin pie and sang to me. IT was very sweet. That was all that marked my birthday. From there Chris, Dre and I caught a semi hitch to Karonga during which I made several thymine dimers (that's a sunburn for you non-science nerds). It was Dre's first hitch ever. I think she enjoyed seeing the lake as we climbed the escarpment.

That night we stayed at Kaporo Secondary School (Yeager's old school) in Karonga. We stayed in the teacher's lounge, but didn't sleep. We were all so excited to travel to Zanzibar! SATURDAY: The next morning we jumped the border to Tanzania- legally of course. At the border Dre was robbed of about 4000 MK, which is not a huge loss but enough to be annoying and create a sense of violation. What a nice welcome to Tanzania. Because of this, none of us were going to trade money unless it was at a bank.

After going through immigration we took a bus to Mbeya. This was when we still had fairly high hopes for the travel... When we got there, Chris and I found a currency exchange shop to obtain some TSH (Tansanian shillings) while Yeager and Dre got Dre a SIM card for her phone. She wanted to be able to make calls from TZ. After putting about 2000MK of units on her phone she found that it wouldn't work on her phone. They wouldn't give her a refund. That was the second time Dre was robbed that day.

We hurried to the Mbeya train depot, where the departure time was originally scheduled at 2:30pm, to find thatthe time had been changed to 8:00 pm. Alright, that's cool. After staying for a few hours it was changed again to 2:30 am (Saturday morning), with 8:00 am written for the arrival time in Swahili. What?!?! Dre, Yeager and I went out for a beer while Chris watched our luggage. What a trooper. Around 9 or so, as everyone was starting to go to sleep they brought a TV into the depot which they turned on to the annoying commercial channel at a very high volume. [We are expecting a small population of Mbeya to suffer from hearing loss within the next decade.] Later, that channel aired a program showing parliament voting on God knows what new laws to pass. Shoot me in the face. Also, the bathrooms were nightmares - the most disgusting I've ever experienced. Think of the worst portopotty magnified by 10. It felt like I got many communicable diseases every time I entered the forsaken room. Everything was wet, no toilet paper, afraid to touch anything, almost gagged from the smell. During the night there would be wafts of potent bathroom smell permeating the entire depot.

In Mbeya it's cold due to its relatively high elevation, so everyone covered themselves in their chitenjes, looking like mummies. The wrapped bodies on the floor combined with the luggage everywhere gave the impression of a natural disaster victim's ward. All the white people (the four of us plus some Europeans) formed an azunzu [African word for white people] fort with our luggage and cuddled for warmth. This is the first time I've snuggled with complete strangers for comfort.

SUNDAY: At about 4 in the morning, the train still having not come, Dre and Yeager went to the bus depot to buy tickets to Dar es Salaam. We got on the bus around 6 and headed north. It was great to be free of the train depot! The bus stopped at a rest area around 9 and Dre and I visited the little girls room. While others were doing their business I grabbed some crisps to eat and share on the bus. Dre changed and I waited for her. We were the last ones out of the bathrooms and noticed, while on the way back to the bus, that it was no longer there! Luckily, Yeager stopped the bus before it got too far away, and Dre and I ran after it. Soon after, we had to stop to weld the chassis together, or at least that's what they said they were doing. This is Africa.

We finally made it to Dar es Salaam around 9 that night. The day was saved by going to dinner at a wonderful Indian restaurant at some Indian fraternity house. It was also nice to have a beer that wasn't Carlsberg! MONDAY: The next morning we caught the ferry to Zanzibar. From then on the trip was amazing. The ferry was fun and it was exciting to see little islands on the way to Zanzibar which is itself about 12 m wide and 50 m long or so. When we landed and got through immigration we took a taxi to the eastern side where another PCV had already procured a place to stay at a nice village called Jambiani. It was the most beautiful beach I've ever seen! Iv'e only seen pictures of this kind of thing!

Jambiani is the place where dreams are made. The sand is bleach-white. The others said it's even whiter than beaches in Hawaii. I wouldn't know, but it was certainly something to behold. The night we got there, we were joined by 3 other PCVs who had just ascended Kilimanjaro. They said it was a feat, but a wonderful one. I'm jealous! I'd love to do that, but I should probably start with Mulanje and work my way up. I digress... That day I also had my first swim in an ocean. Who knew my first ocean would be the Indian? It's salty! ( I know, duh, but it was surprising despite my knowing the fact) I loved the waves, albeit small ones, crashing over me making me bob like the little Sara-buoey I became. It made me giggle, especially as it washed me ashore. I spent much of my time in Jambiani searching for sea shells to bring back for gifts, as well as having some for myself. They were everywhere! I gave some to my teachers and to Leah upon my return so they could have a little something from Zanzibar. They seemed grateful.

Every day in Jambiani we walked to a nearby tuck shop to buy chocolate. I ate more moo pies during those 3 days than I had in my entire life proceeding. I'm pretty sure they gave me a tummy ache. One night we met a local man to make dinner for us. It was the biggest, best seafood schmorgasboard known to man! To put it this way, I as actually able to say, "Please pass me another lobster." I will probably never again utter that sentence unless referencing this evening.. I ate two lobsters, a few handfulls of prawns, and a black snapper. That is not including the soup, rice, chips, and eggplant on the table. It was a meal I will never forget. My tastebuds can die a happy and fulfilled death. Other than that epic meal, the east coast was enjoyed by relaxation, seashell searches, bananagrams, and good conversation. Oh, and beer. Did I already talk about the beer? It's not Carlsberg! Safari and Kilimanjaro beers were alipo in the house throughout our stay. Whether the bottles were full or empty depended on the time of day. The last night we ate at a nice beachfront restaurant. I had the octopus sandwich. I tried to eat as much octopus and calamari as possible. Oh, I almost forgot, during low tide you could walk for about a kilometer before reaching the water. Near the low-tide water the natives had built seaweed farms that they collected and sent to Japan - it made me miss sushi!

THURSDAY: We left for Stone Town on the west side (where the ferry comes in) in the morning. Four of us (Dre, Chris, Elizabeth, and I) took a hitch while the others got a taxi. We got there for free, but I'm sure there was some sort of drug trafficking going on with our driver. Oh well, we got there. Upon arrival we headed to the hotel, dropped our luggage, and hit the town. It didn't take the boys long to decide sticking around with the girls was a bad idea, especially when the girls are shopping-deprived women just set loose on a sea of beautiful things to buy! They departed soon after the shopping commenced.

The shopping adventure started with scarves. Beautiful ones. Then, after entering about 10 shops on the street we set out to find the old slave market. The slave market was so humbling. One of the buildings is now a hotel, restaurant, and curio shop. In that basement were the rooms where the slaves were kept 2-3 days before being sold. The rooms were maybe about 10x10ft and 15x20 ft and held 35 and 75 slaves respectively. Many died in the rooms. outside was a memorial showing the pit where slaves were shown and sold. There were statues of slaves chained around the neck and wrists in the pit to show what it was like and to pay homage to the past slaves. A church was built on the site after the closing of the market. The main front altar was built upon the spot where the slaves were whipped. The church was beautiful. Livignstone was also involved with the abolition of the slave trade there. That man is associated with every place on the eastern coast of Africa it seems. After the slave market we went to the actual market to buy cloth and spices. I found some nice fabric and bought many spices for Mom, Dad, and Grandmother.

FRIDAY: In the morning Chris and I took the ferry back to catch the train (yes we decided to try again) in Dar. We barely made the train and there were only economy class seats available. This was the only time during the trip where I broke down. All I wanted was a bed. Oh well. I didn't sleep during the whole 27 hour train ride, but it was ok. From Mbeya to Karonga, crossing the boarder, and returning home all went well.

Now it's back to school. The students are getting ready for their exiting exams, and they're really buckling down to study. It's good to see their motivation. Now if I can only get through teaching Reproduction in Form 4 without it getting too awkward...