Zanzibar is Wunderbar

I guess its a good sign that I have been so busy doing things that I've been unable to post an update. As it stands, the last two weeks or so have been really hectic. I don't think I have any crazy anecdotes to share, but I can at least say what I've been up to.
First and foremost, I'm done with training. That was 10 weeks of wonder, it was. The language sessions were great though, whenever I use Swahili the Tanzanians get all amazed and impressed. Goes a long way, knowing the local language. Who would've thought...? Anyway, we had a big "swearing-in" ceremony to formally conclude our training. The American ambassador came, as well as some Tanzanian govermental officials. To me, it felt like a lot of pomp. Seriously, we've only been here 10 weeks, and all we've done is sit in classrooms, really. But hey, if they want to pat us on the back already, so be it. After the speeches, I said my goodbyes to Mama Mipawa. That was pretty hard, I couldn't say that I would visit, as I will be 2-days' travel from her. She gave me a goodbye gift of a local shirt, I'll try to get a picture taken of myself doing something fabulous in it.
The day after the ceremony, Peace Corps began to drive us to our sites. However, they only have so many drivers, so they had to take us in stages. The lake region group (of which I am a part) was going to be the last group to go. That means that we had an entire free week in Dar. And what does anyone with a free week in Dar do? Goes to Zanzibar! We had to brown a few noses, makes some promises, and fill out some forms (I have been assured that I will be no stranger to forms by the time this two years is over...), but we were granted 4 days to stay on the island. We took a ferry across (we got it for 1/3 of the price by knowing a little Swahili; man do tourists get the shaft...) and then a two hour bus ride to the northern tip of the island, to a little beach area called Kendwa. Look at the pictures, but I will try to explain anyway. White sand, that clear bluish-green water color, palm trees everywhere. Let me say this, when I signed up with Peace Corps, I was not expecting to have a paid (yes, they gave us a substantial per diem) trip to a resort. We were laying on the beach, laughing about what a difficult job we have now. We went snorkeling one day, ate fresh fish, squid, prawns, octopi, and got tan, all on the Corps' dime. Sweet deal, no? After two days at Kendwa, we went to the old capital of Zanzibar, Stone Town. That place was crazy, from the stories I've heard of old Italian cities like Milan or Venice, I think this might have been similar. There were these tiny alleyways that served as the streets for the entire city, spiderwebbing everywhere and surrounded by multi-story buildings blocking out the light. I believe the word is labyrinthine. We wandered around for a good three hours, taking random turns and getting lost. The exciting part (mom, dad, don't read this) was that cars and mopeds would be just flying down these alleys and we would have to plaster ourselves to the walls to get out of the way. We stumbled across an old church that once served as a slave auction house, and we passed by Tippu Tip's former residence (slavery is/was a huge part of Zanzibar's culture). In Stone Town you could see the impact of the Arabic people that came from Oman and wherever else mixing with some Indian influence, and also colonial British occupation. Here more that anywhere else in Tanzania did I feel the weight of history and culture, it was pretty powerful. By the way, the mainland of Tanzania was formerly called Tanganyika. In the early '60s, it became independent and merged with Zanzibar. This (TANganyika + ZANzibar) formed Tanzania.
After we (reluctantly) returned from this little vacation, we got all ready and packed, and this morning we headed out from Dar. We are staying the night almost smack in the middle of the country, in a town called Singida. The roads have been dirt, rock, and severely potholed for the last several hundred kilometers. Good times. One thing I discovered that might strike you as being a bit obvious is that developing countries are bad places to be prone to motion sickness. The car ride today was bad, but the ferry back from Zanzibar, wow. The ocean was really choppy, and for two hours it felt like we were on the worst rollercoaster ever designed, like someone designed it to make people sad instead of happy. At one point the staff passed out little bags for everyone, since so many people had asked for them. Again, good times. In three days' time, I should be at my school, Ihungo Secondary, getting all moved in. Everyone who has seen Bukoba tells me how jealous they are of where I will be. So that means you all should come visit (unless you are prone to motion sickness, or dislike really awkward bus rides).
Oh yeah, I forgot. As a group, before we left Morogoro, we spent a weekend on safari at Mikumi Nat'l Park. Again, I posted some of the pictures. It was cool to see all the animals that we did, but what I enjoyed more was all the singing our group did as we drove around the park, mainly Bon Jovi or Journey. It was one of the last times we were together as a group, so maybe the animals took a backseat (figuratively). We saw two lionesses just post-hunt and feast. They were funny, at first we thought maybe they were dead from how still they were. Turns out that lions just eat until they can't move. Like I will do at Jack-in-the-Box when I get home.
That's it for now. My new mailing address (please please please send me letters) is:
Ihungo Sec. School
c/o Robert "Masanja" Farris
Box 95
Bukoba, Tanzania

Take care, and be well. Let me know whats up in your lives. Blogging is a two-way street, people.