Seasick but not homesick

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Had another incredible day yesterday that began at 7:00 with an impressive breakfast of mango, homemade bread, a fried biscuit of fish and potato, a tomato, and ndizi (bananas). Then off to Swahili class. The quick five minute walk from my house to our classroom is really nice and takes me through a beautiful part of Stone Town. I thought that I'd never learn how to navigate the notoriously random and haphazard street pattern but even after a couple days, I'm recognizing where I am fairly well.

After two hours of Swahili, we grabbed our gear and walked to the beach where we took an hour trip in a boat to Prison Island. Famous for its former prison, coral, and tortoises, we got to experience all of them.

If I was to go to jail, I don't think I could think of a better place to than Prison Island. Basically, it’s a tropical paradise, with it's ocean breeze, palm trees, and a gorgeous view of Zanzibar City, Who'd want to escape that? Snorkeling was good, though not as exhilarating as last week's trip. The water was unsteady too, lots of waves, and after an hour of being rocked by the ocean, I felt seasick. But there were some cool brain coral, starfish, butterfly fish, and angel fish, well worth the unsettled stomach.

And then we got to see some massive tortoises at the island's turtle haven, which also functioned as a turtle petting zoo. Some of the buggers were a century old and three feet tall. They gave us some spinach that we could feed them, so much fun. My favorite part was throwing spinach branches into the cage with all the baby turtles to watch them crawl all over each other to get a bite of it. Baby tortoises are really freaking cute and if your wondering what to get me for my birthday…….

Anyways, I really enjoy walking around Stone Town and exploring. Today, while exploring the market, meet a man who gave me an informal tour of the doors of Zanzibar (which are fabulous, I might add). The people here are unnervingly kind. The biggest mistake I've made thus far with the locals came on my second day when I refused to follow a man who offered to take us to our destination. I know it sounds sketchy but this is kinda how it is. Zanzibar is probably one of the safest places I could be in Africa. Yes, Tanzania has crime and danger, especially in the big cities like Dar. But there are no serious political conflicts here, no religious schisms, no historical sociocultural divisions. As tourism has increased on this island and Zanzibar assumes an identity more hospitable to Europeans (meaning whites), it's easy to feel safe here.

I came to Africa for a reason: I wanted to study the development of underdeveloped nations, the culture of Tanzania, the lives of those in absolute poverty, the lessons that America (an myself) can learn from the rest of the world. Yet now I'm wondering whether I'm in the right place for these questions. Zanzibar is so nice, maybe too nice, for me to answer these questions.

What I mean to say is that a lot of the time, I don’t really feel like I'm in Africa. I'm not in a stick hut looking out at wild gazelle and giraffes mashing corn meal, as some of you presumed. I'm in an incredible house in a beautiful town on a tropical island, nothing like what I expected. Here, the culture is a combination of Arab, Indian, European, and African influences fused into a unique, unpredictable style. Which isn't to say that I regret my decision to study abroad, quiet the opposite. By the time this is over, this'll probably be on of the most rewarding things I've done with my life. To me, this isn't the Africa that I expected. Sorry for the long post, take care yall.

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