spam

Dear blog spammers,
Please curl up and die!

You think if I click my ruby slippers together 3 times and say "there is no place like Zanzibar, theres no place like Zanzibar, theres no place like Zanzibar." that I'll be able to stay? Lifes never as simple as a movie. Time to pack it up and start eating with a fork again.

Happy Birthday

I'm 24 years old. I can't believe thats almost a quarter century. I don't feel that old! The question is what to do today. I asked the friends that I'm staying with if there is anything to do in Zanzibar that I haven't done already. I was thinking a movie theatre, or bowling, I don't know what. But there is nothing. Especially during Ramadan. Everything is closed. I thought of doing something touristy like scuba diving, but I guess the quran forbids swimming while you're fasting because you might get water in your mouth. So my friends won't swim with me or scuba dive with me. Now I'm thinking of going to the Jozani forest to see the monkeys. I like monkeys.

Futari

Futari is the word for the food you eat to break your fast at the end of the day during Ramadan. I'm not very good at fasting. You see you're supposed to wake up at 4:00am to eat breakfast and pray. I've only managed to do that once. So by the time afternoon rolls around and the sun is at its hottest I need water at least! Everyone in the family that I'm staying with seems to get a kick out of the fact that I have to drink. They're always asking me if I'm fasting. When I say yes they say even water? And then laugh at me when I say no. Supposedly no good muslim gets hungry or thirsty during Ramadan. As one man told me "its quite a miracle. We're never hungry."

At the end of the day I enjoy the Futari. We all sit in a circle around the different plates of food on a mat on the ground. Men on one mat women on another. We wash our hands and then eat with our fingers. We eat rice with fish sauce, sweet bannanas cooked with coconut, sugar, and spices, potatoes with beef masala, and all sorts of deep fried cornmeal and potatoe goodies. Yesterday they even made spaghetti especially for me. I even got to eat with a fork! It really does feel good at the end of the day to fill up an empty stomache.

Ramadan

The muslim Holy month of Ramadan started today here in Zanzibar. I'm now staying with a local family named the Awaths. They are a muslim family and are observing Ramadan. So I'm excited to get a first hand view of celebration. Mostly it means that muslims are fasting during the day and only eat after sunset and before sunrise. They also obstain from things they might normally be their vices like smoking, drinking, or for women dressing without a head covering. So its time to break out the long skirts and head coverings. I'm also praying for each of them during this time. I haven't quite made up my mind yet whether to fast with them while I'm praying for them. But if anyone else wants to be in prayer for my friends the Awaths I'm going to list their names so you can choose one of them and pray for them during Ramadan that they would come to know the true living God. Their names are Sakina, Fahmi, Mohamed, Mohamed, Mohymed, Cholo, Ipti, Amina, Josh, Tamima, Bighani, Suleem, and... I can't remember her name but she is Suleem's wife. There also two more brothers I can't remember the names of I'll add them to the list later.

I just came back from a 9 day stint on the east coast fishing village/ tourist haven called Jambiani. I think I came out with some great images of people harvesting seaweed. Life there revolves around the tide. When the tide is out You can see almost the entire village in the tide pools collecting something. It's either seaweed, clams, seaslugs, worms for fishing with, coconut husks for making rope, or fish. Everything has its use.