Zanzibar

I went to Zanzibar last weekend, from Saturday October 21st to Wednesday October 25th. It was wonderful, relaxing and helped me get over a little bit of homesickness I has. I took some pictures, and if you go to http://flickr.com/-a- you can take a look at them.

Saturday I left the University at 6am with the intention of getting a ticket for the 7:30am ferry. This didn't work out, but I got a ticket for the 7:45 ferry and therefore it was ok. I was able to sit on a bench on the second level outside the cabin of the ferry and watch as we left the harbor. I also was able to take some pictures of the other boats as I left the harbor in Dar, and also when I arrived in Zanzibar. I saw a wakeboard boat when I was arriving in Zanzibar, which made me laugh.

I met up with Kara and Kelly, two people who are also international students at UDSM through different programs. We dropped off my backpack at the Pyramid Hotel and went exploring. Kelly has been to Zanzibar before and knew her way around fairly well. We wandered around through the maze-like streets for a while. We found a market that was like Kariakoo except twice as busy. We bought a mango and some starfruit. Finding the mango was exciting because it means that mangos will also come in season in Dar and I will be able to buy them and eat them. We wandered around trying to find our way back to the hotel then for a while.

We were extremely confused and mixed up, which happens because the streets are tiny, unlabelled and you can get lost without even knowing it. We had stopped at a corner and were considering which direction to take when this old woman came up to us. We greeted her respectfully and went through the long process of greeting in Kiswahili, and then asked her for directions to the main road. She laughed at us and told us to find someone who speaks "kizungu." Here is where I will give you a little Kiswahili lesson. In English, the word for Kiswahili is just Swahili. As you may have noticed, I refer to it as Kiswahili. In Kiswahili, putting the prefix ki- before a nationality creates the word for whatever language is spoken by that nationality. For example, Kiswahili is the language of the Swahili people. Kiingereza is the language of the English people (Ingereza is England). So kizungu is the language of the white people (ki + mzungu = kizungu). So there are a few funny things about this interaction. First, that we had three people with a marginal knowledge of Kiswahili, at least enough to ask for directions and understand them and she wouldn't give us directions. Second, that instead of just saying she wasn't going to give us directions or didn't know, or didn't understand us, she told us to find someone who spoke kizungu. Either way, we laughed and awkwardly went wandering off through the streets.

We found our way back, and went to eat lunch. After lunch we met up with Amanda, but not the Amanda from my program. Different Amanda. (I know, it's confusing). We took her stuff to the hotel, and then walked around a while again looking at the buildings and shops. By this time we were all tired, so we went and took a nap.

For dinner we went to Forodhani Gardens. Forodhani Gardens is a public park on the harbor in Stone Town. At night, vendors set up stands along the waterfront and sell fish, octopus, squid, lobster, chicken, and beef shishkabobs, felafel, chappati, naan, sugar cane juice, fried potatos, Zanzibari pizza, ice cream, fruit, soda, water, candy, and I'm sure there's some foods I've missed. It is cheap, and decent food. We ate our dinner, talked to some of the Maasai, and with each other. I got to know everyone better, which was good.

The next day I went to the east coast of Zanzibar with Amanda, and Kara and Kelly went to a northern beach. We stayed in the village of Bwejuu at a place called Mustapha's Nest. It was a very relaxing place, run by a Rastafari family. I read on the beach, picked up sea shells and swam in the ocean. In the evening we ate dinner, and played Jenga and checkers and listened to some drumming before going to sleep. Jenga is actually a Kiswahili word. I believe it is the noun "building."

Monday we returned to Stone Town and met up with Kelly and Kara again. That afternoon and evening we wandered around more. I saw the house that Freddie Mercury was born in, and it was very, very exciting. I saw the place where he died when I was in England for Jterm, so this was just coming full circle in my journey of Freddie Mercury. I ate lunch at a cheap Indian restaurant, and that was good. I took another nap in the afternoon, then went to eat dinner at an Italian restaurant. After dinner we went to the restaurant named after Freddie Mercury, Mercury's, and relaxed on the deck over the ocean and talked. We met some of the German international students and talked about how their trip was, and watched the last bit of the sunset. We watched an episode of the West Wing back in the hotel room, four of us piled on a double bed. It was fun.

Tuesday was another day of relaxing. I went and sat and journaled in Forodhani Gardens, got lost in the maze, and ate lunch at the Radha House vegetarian indian place again. I met a Muslim man who told me he lived in Canada. I saw his Canadian drivers license, so I believe that. He also told me that his uncle is Jakaya Kikwete, the President of Tanzania. I'm not sure if I believe that one. He also told me he knows Jane Goodall, that his family's house in Dar is near hers, and that he volunteered with Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots organization for a while. It was pretty entertaining. We had a good conversation. He told me he was on Zanzibar for Eid, and was building a house for himself. On of the fun parts was that he was wearing bright orange basketball shorts under is kanzu (long white gown-like piece of clothing that Muslim men wear) and when pulled his kanzu up to sit down, you could see them.

That night was Eid. And Zanzibar certainly knows how to celebrate. During the day, everyone is dressed up, everything is decorated. Young children go around all dressed in their best clothes, asking for money. My Canadian-Tanzanian friend earlier that day said that kids usually get 50 to 200 Tshs from anyone they ask, depending on how wealthy the person is. The little girls get their hands and feet henna-ed, and really like to show it off to people. We ate dinner at Forodhani Gardens again, and it was packed. We ended up sitting down with a Muslim man, his wife and four children. That was really cool because we got to ask them questions about Eid, and how Eid is celebrated. It seems to be a really big family holiday.

Later on we went to get ice cream at Amore Mio, and ran into some of the other international students who told us about a huge field that a party was happening at. So we walked over and checked it out. It was about the size of 3 soccer fields, and covered in rows of booths. There were booths selling food of all kinds, plastic toys for kids to buy, carnival games, and soda vendors. There were also three large fenced off discos with loud music blaring from them and light rigs over them. We didn't go in because we figured we would never find each other again if we did. I was entertained by some of the men who would go up and down the rows of booths doing magic tricks. The thing was, they were all doing the same trick. A trick with matchboxes where they make the matches disappear and then reappear in a different box. It made me laugh, because you would watch the trick at one table, and then walk ten feet and see it again. And they would pick up their little tables and move, but it really didn't do any good because everyone was doing the same trick. Very funny.

The next morning, we got up really early to catch the ferry back to Dar. I met a man from Milwaukee and a man from Neenah who are here travelling with a Tanzanian friend of theirs. It was interesting talking to them, because we talked a little bit about the upcoming elections and had a good discussion. We disagree, but not angrily.

Zanzibar was just what I needed. I felt so much more refreshed and relaxed after going there. That and October is winding up so I am starting to feel like I will be going home really really soon. I've been a little homesick, but I know that it won't be long till I can see my family and friends again.