The past few days in Zanzibar have been very interesting
nonetheless. I already have so many stories to share, but only a limited amount
of Internet time. Since my work doesn’t really begin until next week when I go
to schools to meet the scholars, headmasters/mistresses, begin distributing
applications to select from a new pool of potential applicants, and interviewing girls studying STEM... I’ve spent a
lot of my time exploring Zanzibar.
The energy surrounding Stone Town is incredible. Stone
Town’s alleyways reveal much about the many historical cultural influences that
Zanzibar has undergone. I find myself getting lost in Stone Town’s winding
alleyways, passing the Arabic style houses, and a plethora of brass-studded
wooden doors. The doors of Zanzibar are beautiful, something I’ve never seen
before. Some of the most beautiful doors I’ve seen have verses from the Quran
eloquently engraved in them.
Each nook and cranny I’ve discovered through these twisting
alleyways brings something new, whether it be the scent of spices, children
reciting verses from the Quran, or even the clinking of tea cups. I eat most of
my meals in an authentic, Zanzibari restaurant called Lukhmanns (thanks to past
delegates who are so fond of it). I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner for just
2,000 TSH (less than $1.50!). Most of the people who work at Lukhmanns speak
English, though I’ve had to pick up some Swahili in order to get around town.
They think my name is Shemsa, though I’ve told them almost a dozen times it’s
Safiyah.
Yesterday I went to the main market, across the street from
the roads I was used to. I retraced a path I had taken earlier in the week
looking to buy some scarves. After making my way through the bustling crowd of
natives trying to sell me everything from bui-buis, fabrics, and roasted corn..I
finally found a scarf vendor selling beautifully printed hijabs. He initially
tried selling the scarves to me for 5,500 TSH (a little less than $3.50), but I
wanted to get a feel for how low I could go, so I insisted on 2,400 TSH. Not
before long, I turned around to see masses of people yelling and sprinting in
the opposite direction. Vendors were packing up their stands and running, fast.
Confused about what was happening, and obviously a little terrified considering
I was alone, don’t speak the language, and had no idea what was happening, I
dropped the scarves and followed the crowd: ran as fast and far as I could.
[Mama don’t freak out]
Later I learned from someone on the street that vendors had
been selling items in an undesignated area of the market, and that the police
force came and beat them out of the area…Hence all the dramatic commotion.
I retraced my steps back home and stuck to the alleyways I
was familiar with. I went from shop to shop looking to buy a pair of loose
pants because bringing denim jeans in this Tanzanian heat was the second worst
idea I’ve had in a while (not staying in Tanzania ALL summer was the first – I
love it here). I haggled down the price from 28,000 TSH to 18,000 TSH, engaging
in light conversation with the store owner until he asked where I was from. I
told him my family was from Syria, and we talked about the ongoing conflict. He
was a pro-Bashar. And looked surprised to learn I was not. Needless to say the
transaction for the pants was not completed.
Everybody here adores Obama. They romanticize him in every
way possible, putting his face on scarves and skirts. People on the street will
ask me if I’m from Obamaland, and I chuckle and say yes.
Aside from what I’m experiencing in real life, I’m also
experiencing some pretty interesting things in my sleep: Malarone Dreams
Malarone is the anti-malaria medication I’ve been taking
since I’ve been in Tanzania. I almost didn’t get the prescription this summer,
but the mere thought of me being dragged through Zanzibar with a high fever and
bursting red blood cells was enough to persuade me to get the medication.
Lately I’ve been having Malarone dreams. I might as well be
dropping acid every night before bed. The dreams are very, very vivid…basically
an amplification of normal dreams. These dreams are so entertaining and much
more superior than any HBO television series or video game. All I have to do is
fall asleep and I’m the star of my own action film. Malarone does crazy stuff
to your brain after dark. Normally I have dreams like this two or three times a
week. Here, I have almost a dozen every night. I typically wake up confused
about where I am because the dreams are just THAT real. The worst part of this
all, is that these dreams are actually really fun! None of them are scary or
disturbing, but more so adventurous and thrilling.
Last night I dreamt Michelle Obama was trying to detain me. The
dream progressed from each of the schools I attended starting with the first
Islamic school I went to in Durham called Ibad
Ar-Rahman, to AB Combs, to Martin Middle School, Cary High School, and ending
at UNC. She went from school to school looking for me. For each school setting that I was able to escape from her power,
a town in Syria was liberated. Later in the dream when I learned of the
trade-off that was happening, I started enrolling myself in as many schools in
NC as possible…just so that I could put myself in “dangerous” settings in order
to successfully escape her grip and liberate as many of my suffering brothers
and sisters in Syria as possible. It was such an exciting dream and it made total sense at
the time. Obviously, in hindsight, it’s illogical and many of the motifs in the
dream stem from things that happened earlier that day (me arguing with the shop
owner about Syria, people asking if I’m from Obamaland, etc…). But like I said,
the dream was so vivid, that to be honest, it almost feels like a memory.
PS: this morning at breakfast I stumbled upon another mzungu
at Lukhmanns. We ate breakfast at the same table and chatted about Zanzibar. He told me he had lived in Zanzibar for 7 years, yet did not speak a lick of Swahili. He also
told me he worked with holistic empowerment, energy healing, and even grilled me on if I was aware of the spirits, aware of self, and aware
of attraction. The situation was so weird that I even stopped to question if this was real life or if I was having another Malarone Dream because none of this made sense. To add insult to injury, this fool had bright red fish sauce smeared all
over this face babbling about me needing to be
aware of nonsense. I just couldn't listen to him with a straight face that when I finished my milk tea I stood up and asked if he was aware of the fact he had crap all over his face.
Note to self: stay away from fellow mzungus.
