sand. chillax. palllllllllllllllllm trees!

Jambo from a sweet beach in zanzibar!
Habari yako?
I am writing on a friends laptop on my bed in a sweet thatch hut. The walls are straw and then have a canvas striped inside lining. The roof is all thatch and it is amazing. The beach is the whitest sand and the water is even clearer than the florida keys… the best water I have ever seen! Our hotel is basic, but nice… the restaurant is over priced like woah, but the food is good and best of all, western! No more rice and stew for this week, thank god. We also have hot water- I really had forgotten how amazing a hot water shower, actual shower head and all can be! We have done a whole lot of nothing, just sitting on the beach for the last 3 days and it has been fabulous.

Getting here was quite a trip, we left Usa at 6am on the bus to Dar, 9 hours away. We got to Dar and were lucky to have made friends with the woman sitting in front of us. We shared a taxi with her to the ferry, where we had a time of it trying to get tickets for the ferry. After a 9 hour bus ride, dealing with frustrating people was the last thing I wanted. Every book and every person we had talked to told us our tickets should be $40, so we were livid when they tried to make us pay more. I argued til I was blue in the face, even busted out some Swahili so they would know I wasn’t some stupid tourist they could just cheat. I gave them the right amount, telling them finally it was all the cash I had. They yelled at me and told me they were losing mony because of me, and I said whatever, and we left with our tickets. Worst. Really. But truthfully, that was one of the first times ive stuck up for myself travelling. So that was cool. Usually im just a pushover and pay and don’t argue.

We got on the ferry and after only a few minutes, I knew it was going to be a long hour and a half or so. We ended up eating and snack and talking a lot, trying to distract me from the rocking that was turning my stomach. But soon after we left the port, I had to head outside. I didn’t get sick, thankfully, but I knew just being in the wind and somewhere I could see the horizon would make a huge difference. It did, and I felt a lot better, but still not to best. The fact that I had been awake since 5 and sat on a bus for 8 and a half hours, and it was now late afternoon didn’t help. BUT, we made it, and Stacey and I celebrated our forth of july…. Sadly yet again without fireworks, second year in a row, boo…. Watching the sunset on the Indian Ocean. Pretty sweet really, I cant complain. We got into port on Zanzibar island at about 6.30 or so, went through immigration (another stamp in the passport! Woooooooo) and then argued again about a taxi price up to the north coast. Finally we settled, though it was still more than we wanted to pay. But by this time it was getting dark and just wasn’t worth it anymore. We did exactly what Baba had told us not to do, got in a taxi with two drivers. But, we made it up to the north coast, to Kendwa beach and since then things have been great.

We have had a lot of fun, met cool people, and enjoyed the heat and sunshine. I did really well with using sunscreen and rationing my time in the sun…. until today. So im a little red now, but have some colour now at least for the first time since college really… Ireland was oh so dreary! Yesterday was a national holiday, saba saba or seven seven, though I still maintain that 7/11 is still the best day in july… We had a great time at the huge party our resort threw, dancing and watching others dance. The locals came out like crazy for it. Watching a bunch of Tanzanian… or are they Zanzibarian?... boys dance is pretty ridiculously entertaining. We were amazed at how close they dance together, like up on each other. Guys in the states would never even dare. Also, we were intrigued, and pretty disgusted at the number of mzungu (foreign) girls who were grinding up on locals and even kissing them on the dance floor. Now we know why they offer marriage proposals and other inappropriate offers…. Some mzungu must take them up on it. Worst. I mean, not that there is anything wrong with the locals… but I don’t think I need to offer a huge explanation opinion on this one. If I offend for whatever reason, pole sana…. (im sorry for you…. Meaning, im sorry you fail to see what im intending, not im sorry I offended…)

**since we are on the note of pole, I have to tell you I think it is my favourite Swahili word. I love that there is a word that does actually mean im sorry for you…. Like when someone is sick…. In english, im sorry implies a fault of the person saying it, like im sorry I bumped into you. And when someone is sick and we say, im sorry, the often response is ‘its not your fault’ but in Swahili, you only use pole in those cases… when its not anything you have done… when it is not an apology. So good. So good. pole you had to read such a long description.. haha**

Tomorrow we leave here and head down to stonetown, where we will wander the windy, tiny streets and eat some street food… along with major doses of pepto. I am excited to see the markets and just how different it is from Arusha. Stonetown is 90% muslim, so the environment will be a little different. We have loved seeing the little girls here in their beautifully coloured dresses and scarves wade into the water. What a contrast to us in our itty bikinis. Speaking of bikinis, my bikini bottoms got stolen one night from our porch. Pretty livid. Katie said she heard American voices really close and so I interrogated the groups of American boys, telling them the prank was over, I wanted them back. After breakfast I came back to find them on the roof of our cabana. Haha. Still don’t know who took them, or why, but glad I got them back. Katie, wasn’t as lucky- hers are still missing. She has been wearing her knickers on the beach the past 2 days haha.

Overall, it has been a good break. I am slightly worried about what my students have been learning while I was away, last time I missed school and went to Emma’s they were given crazy homework that was nothing like the lesson I had left. Oh well. On Friday we will leave stonetown and head back to Dar, celebrate my birthday, then take the bus back to Usa Saturday. Will be good to be back.

OHHHHHHHHHHH. And I realized as soon as I posted the last post that I put teeth in the title but didn’t put the teeth story… haha. Opps. So for those avid readers who are a bit confused, here you go:
On Thursday of last week one of my students lost a tooth in the middle of school. He left the room and didn’t tell me where he was going and came back and just showed me the place where his tooth had been. At this point we had finised the lesson and were just kind of hanging out. I asked him where the tooth was and he told me he had thrown it on to the roof of our classroom! Why? I asked. The class collectively proceeded to explain to me the tooth tradition of Tanzania, or atleast of usa. Apparently every lost tooth must be thrown up into the air and into a high place so that a bird can come a take it away. Then the bird will bring you back your new tooth that grows in. I then explained to them about the tooth fairy and how we get money left under our pillow in exchange for our teeth. They were amazed and excited! They asked if the tooth fairy came to Tanzania and I said I didn’t know but I didn’t think so, that the birds had the tooth fairys job. It was a great conversation haha. And had I been a reallz awesome teacher, I would have told them this before he threw his tooth and then I could have told him to put it in his desk and maybe the tooth fairy would come to school. And then I could have played tooth fairy… but at the same time, I didn’t want kids pulling their teeth out intentionally so the tooth fairy could come, nor the disappointment when I left and the tooth fairy stopped coming. And I really just didn’t have the heart to tell them to truth about mamas and babas in America being the tooth fairy…. Its not like I could equate it to santa clause and they would understand…. So… maybe they think America has a fairy that flies around and takes teeth- it wont kill them to think that…. Haha.

Alright, too long. Sorry to keep you.
Life is good. where the hell has it gone though?
24 on Friday. Im old. : )
Xoxo. Nakupenda.