Week 2

Hamjambo rafiki!

Here's the second chapter of the ongoing epic. I'll admit there's a bit less variety to this one, but no lesser amount of adventure. The big development since my last post has been the start of my two-week homestay. I'm currently residing in the home of Mama Zulekha and her extended family, a three story complex with a central courtyard. My family has been very accommodating and gracious; when it comes to food, I have no lack of volume. Breakfast is usually bread of some sort, papaya, scrambled or boiled eggs, and the classic Zanzibari spiced tea. Dinner usually consists of papaya, bread, meat (mostly small, whole fish), and tea. Last night I had some excellent homemade pilau (spiced rice) with beef in celebration of the Islamic Friday holiday. When I'm not gorging myself on food, I'm usually loitering in the courtyard near Mama's lawn chair. As the matriarch of the family (with 11 children and many  more grandchildren), she runs the whole show every day from the comfort of her chair. The primary business out of the house is the production of Chosticks, sweet strawberry-banana flavored popsicles which are distributed to a variety of unspecified locations. I've become privy to the recipe, but don't plan on relinquishing it anytime soon. My Kiswahili is still an ongoing struggle; it seems that about two-thirds of what we learn passes in one ear and back to the nebulous region of my short-term memory. Nonetheless, progress is being made and I managed to interview Mama on her family tree (for an assignment) today around lunchtime. I was also up bright and early this morning for a trip to the market with Sister Nuru. Admittedly, it's been a bit tough acclimating to the new lifestyle, but comfort comes with time and routine. If nothing else, I'm definitely strengthening my calves between the ski exercise machine and squat toilet.
Beyond the homestay, things have been fairly routine here in the last week. Kiswahili class twice a day, interspersed by daily lectures at the Institute of Marine Sciences and other talks back at the SIT classroom. Presentations have ranged from the post-colonial history of Zanzibar and Islamic culture to sea turtle management and commercial seaweed production. We get free-reign time around lunch to explore town and grab a bite to eat, the favorite stop being Lukmaan's. For less than 5,000 shillings (less than $4 US), you can get a large meal of rice, meat, and bread. We're quickly getting spoiled by the cost of food here. The girls on my trip are also going crazy over the cheap, comfortable pants which abound in the local shops. While the shopping bug hasn't caught on for me yet, I do have a pair pair of pants currently being made by the local fundi (tailor). The SIT guys and (myself included) went out the other day and bought lengths of fabric for custom clothing orders. The cloth is cheap and the fundi is very willing to take any basic clothing orders we bring in. By the end of this trip I will definitely have a fully customized local wardrobe.
As I mentioned in the last post, our entertainment last Saturday was a dolphin-spotting trip in the morning and a visit to a commercial butterfly production site in the afternoon. We didn't end up getting to swim with the dolphins, but we did manage to see plenty of Man o' War jellyfish. My classmates also managed to photograph me sleeping on the boat (just like the whale watching experience in Iceland). The butterfly center was really cool; a Scottish researcher managed to get local villagers to collect and culture local butterfly species found in the Jozani Forest for international export. One example of the many fledgling sustainability projects here in Zanzibar. Thursday was an all-day field trip to several small villages along the eastern coast to see seaweed farming in action, as well as a turtle sanctuary and local fish market. Seaweed production is an up-and-coming industry here, with dried red and brown algae being sold for commercial use abroad. The clumps are grown on lengths of cord suspended in potholes carved into the sheltered seagrass beds. Great for seaweed, but not so great for the seagrass. In the village where the turtle sanctuary was located we also walked through a local boat-building site. Those men were definitely masters of their craft. Lastly, while visiting the fish market at the end of the day, I was blown away by the sight of two gorgeous Emperor Angelfish on a stringer, waiting to be auctioned off as food. After eating a rabbitfish for dinner the other night as well, I'm getting accustomed to seeing valuable aquarium specimens used for a more classic purpose.
I'll end the post here, since I need to spend some time on the big assignment for our upcoming coral reef seminar while I have an internet connection (today it's at the Green Garden Restaurant). I hope all is well back state-side and wish the best to the on-campus Carleton crew as the year kicks off. Don't have too much fun before winter term. Baadaye!!