E & J Adventure

April 15th
Evan arrived!! We (Evan, Nicole, Megan, and I) met up in Tanga and Evan and I HUGGED like we haven’t seen each-other in nearly 2 years!! It was wonderful and so weird to see him in the flesh; I was so happy to see my brother ;) First, we started out by sitting next to the ocean at a beautiful park next to the beach. From there, we went to the hostel and dropped off our stuff. We then headed to the grocery store for snacks and stuff; I stocked up on SO much food because I hadn’t had money or been to Tanga in forever. We also had to take him to get plates of fruit and fresh fruit juice because it is the greatest ‘restaurant’ ever. After finishing our errands, we returned to the hostel and had some drinks and hung out for a while. Thereafter, we went out to dinner at Raskazones which is the best Indian food in Tanga and we had a delicious meal. I can’t remember what we had but everything was so good and I hadn’t been there for so long I was excited to eat there again. After dinner, we returned to the hostel, hung out, and watched a movie…we were exhausted from the day and full of food. Perfect first day to the beginning of the great E & J Adventure.

April 16th
We began the morning with the fruit plate place again. We walked around Tanga, went to the market for fruits and vegetables, and bought traditional Muslim outfits to prepare for going to Pemba Island. After finishing up our Tanga activities, we got on a bus to go to the village. When we arrived at my house in the village, I introduced Evan to my Mama’s and they were so happy to meet him. All the kids also came over to meet him. For dinner, we made the best home-made tomato soup and grilled brie cheese sandwiches. They were incredible; I’m craving some right now! It was so fun because we made dinner outside; we took all our cooking ingredients and utensils outside and sat around the fire. The meal was also accompanied with a delicious beverage and half of the movie Bucket list. It was lovely night!

April 17th
Palm Sunday. My counterpart wanted us to attend church, so we went but we had forgotten that it was Palm Sunday so the service was extra-long. Though the service was a bit long it wasn’t that bad; I haven’t been going to church that often so it was nice to go again and everyone was super happy we came (had never been for Palm Sunday and we took pictures too). While we were at church, Megan arrived at my house and was hanging out when we got home and then soon after Nicole came over again too. It was great!! We hung out and I had the kids clean my house for cookies. We had invited 2 of my favorite students and 1 teacher over for an ‘American’ dinner. The 4 of us spend the afternoon making dinner and had so much fun. Not long before we finished making dinner, Tullo, John, and Editha arrived. We drank sodas, hung out, chatted, and enjoyed each other’s company while we finished making dinner. We made spaghetti, cooked carrots, green beans, and garlic bread. Again, so delicious!! It was the first time Tullo and John had eaten spaghetti and they loved it. They had been wanting to try it for so long and it was fun to have them over and see them so happy just hanging out with a bunch of Americans and eating spaghetti. After our guests left, the most random thing happened: Nicole and I made up a dance routine to a Lady Gaga song (yes, like we were 12 years old), haha. It was awesome! We also actually ended up taping it; so silly!

April 18th
We woke up, they girls left early to go back to their villages, and we had breakfast; not too early. Then we headed to the Secondary School to show Evan the school and because I had biology and a meeting with my FEMA Club. Everything went great at school. I returned my Biology Exams to my form 1 students and Evan sat in on my class while we went over the exam answers. After Biology, we met with my FEMA club. I just instructed them to be prepared to teach their health lessons after I return from my vacation/conference. On the way back from school, we stopped to have maandazi (‘donuts’) and tea. From there, we stopped by my house for a moment and then went to meet with my health group for a very short meeting. A few of the members met Evan and then just Evan and I left because they were going to continue the meeting without us to prepare for Evan’s official welcoming lunch the next day. We were home by mid-afternoon and constantly had visitor’s one right after the other, including the little kids coming over, so there wasn’t much time for rest. Just as it was becoming evening, we took a walk through my village, so Evan could see the village ‘night-life.’ When we were out we sat outside with one of my Mamas and her family; Evan tried a couple meat skewers (most likely goat) while I had 2 glasses of hot milk. Upon returning home, I’m pretty sure we finished watching Bucket List, crashed, and went to sleep after a long day.

April 19th
We slept in a little bit this morning and took our time leaving the house. We visited the Health Dispensary to say hello to the staff, but there was only one on duty that day. As we walked to the center of my village, we said hello to a few other villagers and then headed into town for lunch. We went to a place called Mkurumuzi to have pork, bananas, and beer. It was delicious. We made our way back to my village after lunch to meet up with my health group again for Evan’s official ‘welcoming’ lunch at 2pm. We were still full from our lunch earlier and eating was the first thing we did; we had to stuff ourselves full of rice, meat, and potatoes. After introductions and eating, the group secretary explained about the group a bit and we just chatted about America and Tanzania. The meet and greet was wonderful; short and simple but splendid. At home we again had visitors, so we played Frisbee with John, Tullo, and the kids. We had a fun time and the kids got a kick out of playing Frisbee. For dinner, Evan and I made pancakes and they were SO good. I have been meaning to make them since I have been here because they are so easy to make but I never had. I put honey with cinnamon on them and they were scrumptious. I don’t know why it took me so long to finally make them?!?!

April 20th
We left the village in the morning and went to Tanga, got fruit plate again and stocked up on necessities like snacks for our trip. We also used the internet to plan the first leg of our trip (make reservations, etc.) and then went to the airport to go to Pemba Island. We got to Pemba early evening, got to our hostel which was nice and put on our Muslim ‘outfits.’ We went out for dinner around 7pm and EVERYONE loved how we looked. All the locals complimented on how nice we looked and how appreciative they were that we were respecting their religion and culture by dressing appropriately. We had a typical Tanzanian dinner of chicken, fish, spiced rice, and vegetables. And it was amazing because as we were finishing our dinner the ‘Call to Prayer’ sounded from the Mosque and our dada (‘sister’/waitress) invited us to pray with her. So she put out a praying rug for us and we all prayed the evening Muslim prayer together. It was such an extraordinary experience!! In the evening, on the way back to our hostel, we walked around town and experienced a little Pemba ‘nightlife’ and ate some street food again, aka fried foods and I had hot milk again :)

April 21st
Our day started with free breakfast at the hostel and then packed up to roam around town and see where our next adventure would lead us. Well, it led us to rent a Vespa! We got a great deal but the stupid Vespa didn’t even have enough gas to get to the station so we had to get help and push it there to even start it, haha. Evan did all the driving and at first we had a few ALMOST ‘accidents.’ BUT don’t worry we were fine!!! After we got going and got out town we headed to the most north beach and it was easy riding. The ride was through beautiful lush island-ness; GORGEOUS. But we cant say we didn’t have a few lil’mishaps along the way…I can’t even explain it as well as I would like, but it was a HILARIOUS!! The best moment was when we were getting close to the beach the roads started to turn from dirt to sand, so we….well, kind of…..fell over a couple times. Un-hurt though!! When we got to Verani Beach, we checked into our hostel and were the only people there. It was perfect because we had the whole beach to ourselves. After another typical Tanzanian (yummy) dinner of rice, beans, and vegetables, we laid on home-made wooden lawn chairs and just talked, drank, and watched the sunset, sky, and stars. Perfectly lovely evening.

April 22nd
Breakfast first, then started our way back to town. We had to stop to get gas again but we made it to the gas station without trouble! YAY! It was the craziest and funniest ride back to town because we got stuck in a rainstorm and had to pull over to take cover under a tree. It was so funny how wet we got and what a mess we were HAHA. We eventually made it back to town, dropped off our luggage and tried to make it to some ruins via our Vespa before we had to return it but the roads there were so bad and we got lost; no one we asked knew how to get there, so we ended up turning back without seeing them. THEN, our Vespa broke down half way back and it took 4 hours for several passerby’s and the Vespa company to fix it and get us back to town. Oh geez. That short jaunt was quite an undertaking because we almost ‘died’ (NOT REALLY) a million times because of the road and the water (since it had just rained) and then it broke down. We had many laughs!! I’m giggling right now! Two seconds after getting back to the Vespa office and returning our vespa we had to jump on a bus to take us to the ferry docks about an hour south of town to make our ferry to Zanzibar the next morning. When we got to the ferry town, we got a hostel (Panorama Hotel) and got a great deal to stay there because it was the off season. It was beautiful; it was a great room, beds, HOT shower, had a view, and a balcony with a hammock. For dinner, we had street food and then went back to the hostel to hang out on the hammock and drink. That night we also got to talk to our Moms and Maile! YAY!

April 23rd
That morning was great because we were able to sleep in late in the most confortable beds and left about noon to catch our ferry to Zanzibar. Thankfully we were undercover while we were waiting for the ferry because it poured down rain, but it cleared up before we boarded and it didn’t rain while we were on the ferry. Got to Zanzibar safely around 5ish and went straight for coffee and internet. We had trouble leaving the café because we were so loving the coffee and free wireless internet. But eventually we had to walk around to find a place to stay for the night. We actually had trouble finding a place; we didn’t even think about it but it was busy for the Easter holiday. We eventually found a place; it was comfortable place and got a nice room. For dinner, we went to the famous gardens where there is a mass of street food, like seafood, local bread, soup, meat, Zanzibar pizza, wraps, sugarcane juice, etc. We spilt everything and ate so much de-lish food!! For a treat on the way home, we went to Mercury’s Restaurant to have a drink and to watch a band, but it was expensive and SO overcrowded with tourists that we didn’t stay long.

April 24th
Easter. We made it a ritual of starting our day with coffee and wireless at Zenji Café after breakfast. At 9am, we went on the Spice Tour which was so interesting. It was my second time going and I loved it; you learn so much about how spices are made, where they come from, and how they are used. I bought SO MANY spices and more ‘Chanel #5’ oil. We also visited the Persian Baths that were built in the 1840. At the conclusion of the tour, we had lunch where they used many of the spices described on the tour. The food was great, of course. After the tour, mid-afternoon, we got a taxi to take us to our hotel at the most northern tip of Zanzibar. The Amaan hotel was great (hello AC); big rooms, hot showers, nice beds, the works!!! The food at the hotel was expensive and touristy so we went outside the hotel to the ‘village’ and had a great Tanzanian meal made by a mama (she made the best cooked cabbage ever!) and hung out with Rastafarians. We had a fabulous time with the guys and took a bunch of pictures :) We didn’t stay out too late, went back to the room, and went to sleep so Evan could go diving in the morning.

April 25th
We slept through our alarm but Evan still made it to meet with his diving company and I got the free breakfast real fast before going over to meet up with him. I went on the boat with the group and worked on my tan (which was very successful) since I wasn’t a certified diver. The boat ride was fun and I got a great base tan (so important!). After we got back, Evan chatted with the diving guy and rested, while I continued to work on my tan until late afternoon. Thereafter, we got a late lunch at mama’s again and I picked up a beanie one of the Rastafarians made for me (Tanzanian colors). That evening we signed up for parasailing for the next day and then went to get dinner at a ‘touristy’ spot. Though frequented by tourists, the food was OUTSTANDING and right on the water. It was a gorgeous evening…I’m pretty sure Evan put up pictures of our food on FB. After dinner, we took a walk along the beach and called it a night.

April 26th
Can’t start a day without breakfast…such a good continental buffet free breakfast. Then we went parasailing. SO MUCH FUN!! It was like we were flying. I LOVE IT!!! After parasailing, we waited for a taxi (for way TOO LONG) to take us back to Stonetown. We stayed at the Zenji hotel and ate at the gardens again (to irresistibly delicious to eat anywhere else). We chatted with some Rastafarians again and then found our way to the Old Fort (aka very old castle). There is a restaurant inside and it was practically empty, but we had a couple drinks and played pool, just Evan and I; we had so much fun (but I lost both games, dang-it!).

April 27th
We didn’t plan this day very well, so it ended up being crazy. We went to a travel agency to get tickets to Arusha to go on a safari but the flights were earlier than we thought, so we had to hurry around Stonetown so Evan could see some of it and then we went to the airport to get on our plane just in time. When we got to Arusha, we easily found a place to stay which was great (Arusha’s Backpackers Hotel). But then we had to plan our safari for the very next day and it was already early evening. So in short …it was crazy and stressful but we finally got it planned, ate at our roof-top restaurant at our hotel (convenient and good food) and went to bed exhausted!

April 28th – April 30th
Got up in the morning for breakfast and got picked up for the safari at 9am. We used the same company as I did with my dad, which is a great and reliable company (Vitoria Expeditions). The first day we went to Arusha’s National Park, which I hadn’t been to yet. I really enjoyed this park and had a great safari driver/crew. That night we had dinner with our driver and cook/assistant. We had a really intriguing, fun, and light-hearted conversation over drinks and then went to sleep in our tent. The second day we went to Lake Manyara, had a great day seeing animals, and at the camp that night we saw the same performing group I did with my dad, but they had added routines. They were amazing and we have fun trying some of their tricks and dance moves with them and our driver and cook. Fun night! On the last day, we went to Ngorongoro Crater. We saw a bunch of animals and also paid to go into an actual Masai camp. It was extremely interesting and I learned a lot just by observing the culture (note: in my village the Masai is not well-liked). I was happy to see first-hand how they lived and worked. Overall, the parks were great, we saw a lot of animals, most of which I saw with my dad (so refer to that list in the earlier blog), but we also got to see the White & Black Columbus monkey at the Arusha National Park. They were SO CUTE and I was excited to see such a cool monkey I hadn’t seen before. That evening we stayed at the Arusha’s Backpackers Hotel again and went to sleep exhausted.

May 1st
Another day we did not plan well…or at all. We got up and had breakfast. We thought we could just get tickets from Arusha to Dar that day, thinking there was no way everything could be full. Well, we were wrong. Eventually, we ended up getting Evan on a one-way flight to Dar (there was nothing else availably for me) but he had to make his flight to America so got him on there ASAP. So we ended up having to split up in Arusha and say goodbye….a few hours earlier than we expected but at least he made his flight!! I, on the other hand, had a very trying, stressful, and exhausting day but eventually made it back to Dar that evening. And happily ran into a friend of mine, so we got a hostel together and got dinner. I was so happy I ran into him at the hostel because then I didn’t have to stay by myself, YAY!

End of the E & J Adventure.

May 2nd
My friend and I got up and went to the Peace Corps office to get work done before our conference the next day. Stayed there most of the day and got to our hotel where the conference was being held just before dinner.

May 3rd – May 5th
Stayed at the hotel for our COS Conference, which was great but weird. It was the last time I will see a lot of the people in my group. We hung out every night and had a swell time, especially the last night!!

May 6th – May 8th
Still in Dar. Friday I went back to the office to get work done and ‘clean’ my computer with no luck. It still has so many viruses, it’s practically useless and may become that way until I get home and go to BestBuy so the GeekSquad can rescue my computer…blah. I have also been trying to get my camera fixed because there is a ‘lens error.’ AKA the lens won’t come out, so that is why I still have not left Dar because some is working on my camera. I want (HAVE to be able to) take pictures of my last months in village/ of Peace Corps experience.

As of now:
- Everything is great, REALLY!
- But I am still really stressed out about:
o What I still have left to do in my village
o Whether or not to bring my 3 cats home
o Fixing my computer/hard-drive/flash-drive/camera/everything that could possibly contain a stupid virus
o And saying ‘Goodbye’ to my village…I don’t know how I am going to do this.

**2 MONTHS AND 19 DAYS UNTIL I BOARD A PLANE TO AMERICA**

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL MY FAVORITE MAMAS!!
XOXOXXOXOXOXO,
Jessica