Raining

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Its been raining here in Dar.... lots of rain and then sunshine.
Also the water has been out and Im getting a little stinky.
Our toilets havent flushed in a few days, and everyone on our floor has decided the stench is better than constipation.
Next time the rain starts coming down again, Im going to hang a bucket off my balcony.
I had stored a reserve bucket but i used that already for my "Bucket bath". Oh how I miss running water!
Been eating out alot lately.
Had a wonderful Middle Eastern dinner with Matt's family, lots of falafal and hummus and good vegetarian things, that was last night. Then I went to the historically white section of town, Oyster Bay, passing the famous Coco Beach where there were several shark attacks a few years back. In that neighborhood, which has fancy health clubs and you begin to forget what country you are in, is a shopping/eating/surealist carnival center called "the Slipway." There I met with the group from Brown University because it was someone's birthday and we had fancy desert of rasberries and creme brule. Of course, everytime I hear about things like that (for instance, there is also sushi open for lunch in the Slipway), i always get excited about something that will remind me of home, and it is always just too far off from what its supposed to be. The rasberries were not rasberries, but red fuzzy berries that maybe have a rasberry gene in them and were just grown in this soil so the taste and texture is dramatically different? hmm, i dont know. Its like when I had waffles at the City Garden right in the middle of this meandering sprawling city. The "waffle" was smooshed and really dense and chewy, more like a chapati with indents in it.
Of course none of these things are complaints. Dont think that i would rather have rasberries and waffles and running water. Of couse not. It wouldnt fit here.
So as you can tell Im just taking it easy this weekend. Recharging because I was not so alert last week, the after effects of the malaria medications i think. these medicines, they are really wrecking us i think.
this week there is a big arts festival in bagamoyo, about an hour from here. thinking of going on friday. ok, wish i could put on more pictures, its just so damn slow....

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Photos

out of order-my amazing invention
be glad im not showing you our toilets at the dorms overflowing with crap...hmm...maybe i should. this here is my invention for keeping up the toilet in my hotel in tanga, ironically one of the snazziest places ive stayed in.