Thursday, February 5, 2009

New Years onZanibar

My good friend and fellow volunteer Albert had reserved 16 rooms at a Pemba resort for three nights on the northern coast of Zanzibar for the New Year and forty-some close friends planned on spending days sipping on sugar and alcohol filled drinks and bringing in the New Year on Zanzibar, it sounds good right? New Years on Zanzibar.
Sorry mom and dad I didn’t bring a camera and most my stories…well… I don’t want to bore you so, I best feel a picture will describe my experience on Zanzibar.



After our stay on Zanzibar it was back to the main land of Tanzania and we had a week conference in Dar es Salaam for our Mid Service Conference and medical check up. The conference was a lot of fun to see and exchange remarkable stories with all the volunteers I trained with in September, October, and November of 2007 many of whom I hadn’t seen since our training. It was also nice to get a full check up from our Peace Corps medical unit; it’s always good to know your running on all cylinders.
The best part of the conference was the place we stayed at right outside the city-center of Dar es Salaam. It was a hotel/camp site with full bath facilities, camp sites, wood huts with a bed, bar, and a beach on the Indian Ocean. The resort had just changed management a year ago to a newly wed couple from Zambia/Peru; they had friends staying there that week for the holidays and a wedding from Zambia, South Africa, Czech, Tanzania, Namibia, and England. So the week was spent sharing good stories, games of cricket on the beach, company, and cuisine with people just as diverse as the places they call home from Professional African Hunters to people operating non-government organizations. It was a serendipitous joining of star crossed friends, which made me, redefined what it means to be truly welcoming and cordial. After our conference in Dar es Salaam and a memorable going away party from the people at our hotel, it was back to Mzumbe with time to start preparing for the new school year.

School has since started, a week behind schedule do to food not being delivered to our school cafeteria. It seams the problem is solved for now… This year I am teaching form III Math, a much easier syllabus to teach than my A level students but I do enjoy the students more. I am looking forward to working with my students this next year and still can’t believe that I am on my downward side of my two years here. Am I going to be ready to leave in November?

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