Zanzibar:

March 26th, 2007 - April 1st, 2007

Hamjumbo!

I have split this e-mail into two parts - TEACHING and ZANZIBAR - because it is a long update and this way you can choose which section you would like to read.

TEACHING

Another week has gone by and I'm feeling more and more a part of the local culture, especially at school with the kids and the teachers. I had a great week at school last week including three straight periods of Grade 7 including back-to-back lessons with the same class on Tuesday. I really feel like I'm getting through to the kids now. Everything they learn here is by memorization and they are thus unable to use their English out of the context in which they have learned it.

So, I led an exercise where I had the kids ask each other questions from the front of the class. It got all the kids speaking and I used my energy to get everyone fired up. At the end of the class instead of the usual "Thank you for your lesson sir" that the kids usually say to me, they actually sang me a song about how happy they were. It was really touching.

My teaching day was over but there was still one more period before we went home. I went to find one of the other girls who teaches at the school, Liz, but her nursery class was coming to an end. However, I was standing outside a class of Grade 5 kids and they had no teacher. So, I went in and asked them a few questions. There must have been 50 kids in the class. At first it was really rowdy. But after a few minutes things calmed down and ended up teaching them for 40 minutes about Canada, football, and other subjects I made up on the spot. The teacher never did show up... T.I.A. (This is Africa)!!!

Mid-week, I went to the bookstore and bought some new dictionaries and storybooks for kids. They were happy to receive the books. We deviated from the scheduled lesson plan and instead had each of the Grade 7 classes look up works in the dictionary. Most of the kids had never used a dictionary before.

The group who found the word first would read it to the rest of the class along with the definition. When I finished with the 7b class, I went into my Grade 7a class there was a hand picked bouquet of flowers on the teacher's table. Veronica, the teacher I work with, told me the flowers were for me from the students. This was the same class that sang me the song for the great less on Tuesday. I was very touched and it brought a few tears to my eyes. It is such an amazing feeling to know that you are making a connection with some of the students.

I also helped out my friend Liz with the nursery class on Thursday. Their teacher was not there so Liz was alone. I helped with simple math questions in first period and then after my two English classes I came back to play games. I got the kids running all around the schoolyard. I would yell a word in English - Church or tree or rock or fence - and we would all go running at full speed to that object. It was really cool. Then, at the object I would either count to 10 or recite the alphabet and have the kids copy me. Then we would run to another object. It was a ton of fun and a bunch of the other teachers came out of the staff room to watch us!

The week ended on a sad note, as another group of volunteer returned home. We had a big dinner for them at Big Bite, an Indian restaurant in town.

ZANZIBAR

On Thursday afternoon four of us - Me, Ron, Steve and his wife Marian - took off to Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania. We took a short flight on Air Tanzania where they offered "free seats" at the airport, which really meant that there was no assigned seating and that it was first come, first served. The flight was relatively empty so it wasn't a big deal.

We were met by a driver at the airport on Zanzibar, which is located just outside of Stonetown. We drove for about an hour to the absolute northern tip of the island to a small village called Nungwi. We stayed at a resort that other volunteers had recommended. Since it was the low season, Nungwi was practically deserted, which made for a nice getaway.

The beaches were white sand and the water turquoise blue. We made it just in time for sunset on the first evening and had a chance to watch traditional fishing dhows (boats) sail along the shoreline.

We ate dinner at the hotel and we feasted on seafood fresh out of the water that afternoon. I indulged in the largest jumbo prawns that I have ever seen. The dinner sat so well that I ended up falling asleep in the hammock next to the dinner table, which was overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Friday morning was bliss - we ate breakfast on the veranda of our villa before going for a walk down the beach. Thursday had been hot, but Friday was a deadly humid heat. Little did we know it would be foreshadowing for the rains that would end up plaguing most of the weekend (hence it is low season for tourists).

Walking on the beach was peaceful, few touts to annoy us. Those who did come and talk to us quickly left us alone when we responded to their questions in Swahili!

We came upon a natural aquarium with two types of turtles as well as various species of fish. We were able to feed the turtles seaweed, which was fun. Local fishermen also bring baby turtles that have been washed ashore to this aquarium. The turtles are then fed and rehabilitated and released into the natural aquarium at one year of age. We were actually able to hold and play with the baby turtles, which are kept in a separate area.

From the aquariums, we took a 2-hour tour of Nungwi Village, which still maintains its traditional roots, despite the onslaught of tourists. Like all of Zanzibar, Nungwi's population is mostly of Muslim. Thus, tourists are asked to wear respectful clothing. Sadly, way too many dudes were prancing around in tight Speedos.

The village tour was informative and we visited the house of one local woman who taught us how to grind grains and also how to weave.

After a siesta in the afternoon we were back at it not long before sunset when we boarded a traditional fishing dhow for some snorkeling and a sunset cruise. Sadly, the rains began to move into the area and it was hard to see the fish and other objects on the reef while snorkeling. In the end, we didn't even get a sunset because of all the clouds. We simply got to sail along in the boat while the clouds unleashed a downpour of rain upon us.

We had dinner at the resort again that night - I had the jumbo prawns again!

Saturday morning we packed up and our driver, Walid, took us to Stonetown. We stopped along the way at a spice plantation - Zanzibar is famous for its spices. A guide showed us how several of the day-to-day spices we use originate. We also had a chance to sample some of the local fruits. Along the tour we were shown some fire ants. Unfortunately for Ron, a fire ant actually crawled up his pants and bit him a few times.

Our hotel in Stonetown was on the ocean and it was the former US Consulate building. I was expecting more from Stonetown, but quite frankly, it was overrun with tourists (and this was the off season) while the buildings seemed to be dirty and in disrepair. We did our own little tour in the afternoon and ate even more seafood for lunch. When all was said and done at the end of our trip (and realize, a good vacation for me revolves around food) I had eaten: jumbo prawns, king prawns, barracuda, marlin, tuna, king fish, squid, octopus, crab and lobster. I would say the best part of the whole trip to Zanzibar was the amazing seafood that was available and it was for a good price, to boot.

Before heading out to dinner on Saturday night, Ron and I ventured to a nearby park where all the fishermen bring their catches and sell it to the public. All sorts of treats from the sea are prepared on skewers and then cooked while you wait on a grill. Negotiation is the key, here, for a good price. Ron and I did well thanks to our knowledge of Swahili, but we watched as other tourists got taken for a ride.

We navigated our way back down the dark alleyways of Stonetown and met Steve and Marian. Our dinner that night was at the famous Africa House Hotel on the patio overlooking the ocean. As always, the seafood was divine. We capped the night off with a traditional hooka (or sheesha) pipe.

The night would haven perfect if not for the rain. We had to run down the narrow alleys of Stonetown dodging cars and puddles in near pitch-black conditions. While Zanzibar is relatively safe, there were a few too many sinister faces lurking around the narrow streets.

The rain didn't let up all night… and it was no Vancouver drizzle either. The rain was a constant downpour that made it sounds like someone was running the shower in the next room. It was so bad, in fact, that we had to cancel our guided tour in the morning.

Just before noon the clouds cleared a bit and we were able to start our tour. The original guide was busy so he sent another guide from his company names Striker. Striker showed up wearing one of those Canadian pins that us tourists from Canada love to give out!

Striker took us around most of Stonetown, which is really only a couple of square kilometers. We visited several places associated with the slave trade - a major part of Zanzibar's history - as well as some rundown museums and forts. The highlight of the trip for me was visiting the central market where people jammed the small aisles to purchase fresh meat, fish, fruits, and veggies.

Of course, we visited the birthplace of singer Freddie Mercury, who was born in Zanzibar and lived there until he was nine years old.

There is a restaurant named after him aptly named Mercury's! We had lunch there and it was terrible. So much for all the hype...

Our long day was complete and we headed to the airport to fly back to Kilimanjaro - the closest airport to Arusha. On my way through security in this piddly-ass airport, they stopped me to check my backpack. On the way to Zanzibar they confiscated some crappy tweezers and some safety scissors that came in my pre-packaged first aid kit! I had no idea what was left that could be of danger… anyway; the lady emptied a part of my backpack and found nothing. She spoke little English so I couldn't really help her. But I had nothing new in my pack from before.

She re-ran the bag through the x-ray and started going through it again. This time, I told her in Swahili that I could do it. I proceeded to take every last thing from my backpack out of the bag and put it on the security table. This drew some curious co-workers of hers over to see what was happening. It also drew a nice crowd of tourists. Finally, after 5 minutes of looking at everything, they decided that it was my cable lock that was the item they were looking for! In the end, they let me take it on the plane.

The plane, however, was even more frustrating. It was a milk-run coming from Jo'burg then Dar-es-Salaam, to us in Zanzibar and then on to Kilimanjaro. Sure enough, the plane was an hour late. We finally boarded the plane and had taken our seats when the pilot announced that we would have to endure another delay, this one for 20-minutes.

Why?

The captain came on the P.A. an announced that the plane needed to be re-fueled, but the man who does the re-fueling at the airport had gone home for the night! So, they called the guy at his house and he was on his way back to the airport to fuel the plane. The pilot called it a first for him; meanwhile, we chalked it down as another T.I.A. moment!

When the plane finally did take off, it nearly bounced off the runway because there were potholes all over the tarmac. It was likely the worst takeoff I have ever experienced. Just as the nose was about to lift off the ground, one of the back wheels hit a pothole and caused the plane to jump. It was rather unnerving considering the other issues we had already faced.

The good news is we are back safe and sound in Arusha. I never thought being jammed in a room with 2 sets of bunk beds would be welcoming. We definitely had fun in Zanzibar, but I think the place was way over-hyped and I would have likely passed on it had I been armed with what I know now.

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