What can I say? There's a resemblance.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Back For More Lazy Days in Zanzibar
So I've been asked to put more pictures of me on my blog. I've been reluctant to do so for a while now and I couldn't figure it out. But it finally hit me. It's because I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed of how many pictures catch me asleep. I mean it. I bet half of the pictures from my latest R&R find me asleep. Jeremy came with me to Zanzibar this time so he kept catching me unconscious. But you know what I've realized? Whatever. That's who I am, it's what I do.
This first one mercifully gets me awake and actually moving. This is in Stonetown, the major city of the island. In the background is Mercury's Restaurant, named after Zanzibar's most famous native, Freddy Mercury of the band Queen. Strangely, I've probably been in that restaurant 10 times and I've never once heard Queen on the sound system. They play everything else from Enya to electronic dance music. Anyway, in the extreme background is the harbor and the fish market.
I love my new knit hat. I picked it up in Stonetown from this Rasta guy named Zacharia who was carving figures from ebony and rosewood. Freaking sweet guy! But now when I ignore the solicitations of the street vendors who push their products harder than my mom did on a certain October day in 1980 I get, "what kind of a Rasta are you, you don't look out for your Rasta brothers?!" Whatever. I like my hat anyway. It keeps my hair off my neck so I stay cooler. I know what you're thinking...how could I get any cooler? I know, I know.
Well, there I am, at rest in what is apparently my natural state. I'm asleep in the lobby of our Stonetown hotel waiting for the taxi to take us up north to the Promised Land, Nungwi. It's a land flowing with milk and honey, beer and seafood, beaches and girls. See, understand why I was asleep? I had to save my strength.
The other person asleep is Nancy, a lady from Colorado we met who is backpacking around Africa for a few months. She tagged along with us for a few days then went her own way.
Breakfast in Nungwi
I have to admit this one might as well be a sleep shot. I fell asleep on the bow of this wooden boat on the way back from a snorkeling trip. The sail kept hitting me in the face, otherwise this would be just another picture of me dozing through my vacation. If you look closely you can almost see the angst in my countenance over being rustled from my slumber.
On the snorkeling trip we met Lital from Israel. She works as an event planner there and was just on vacation like us. We hung out for a few days in Nungwi and hated to say goodbye when we left. She definitely measured up to the reputation of Israeli women for having fiery personalities. Super cool and fun to be around! 
In this one I'm over a quarter of a mile out on the water. A storm came through the night before and low tide was REALLY LOW afterward. There were all kinds of starfish and little fish trapped in puddles. Fun stuff.
This is the morning I got sick. I caught some type of flu-like mess and was down for the next three days. I think I do look kinda green. So I slept all day for several days. I know, completely out of character right?
Ahhhh, vacation. Gimme a break. I was probably still sick in this one. Sick people should rest you know.
It was nice to have my little buddy keeping me company under the chair.
OK, there's no excuse for me.
This first one mercifully gets me awake and actually moving. This is in Stonetown, the major city of the island. In the background is Mercury's Restaurant, named after Zanzibar's most famous native, Freddy Mercury of the band Queen. Strangely, I've probably been in that restaurant 10 times and I've never once heard Queen on the sound system. They play everything else from Enya to electronic dance music. Anyway, in the extreme background is the harbor and the fish market.
I love my new knit hat. I picked it up in Stonetown from this Rasta guy named Zacharia who was carving figures from ebony and rosewood. Freaking sweet guy! But now when I ignore the solicitations of the street vendors who push their products harder than my mom did on a certain October day in 1980 I get, "what kind of a Rasta are you, you don't look out for your Rasta brothers?!" Whatever. I like my hat anyway. It keeps my hair off my neck so I stay cooler. I know what you're thinking...how could I get any cooler? I know, I know. Well, there I am, at rest in what is apparently my natural state. I'm asleep in the lobby of our Stonetown hotel waiting for the taxi to take us up north to the Promised Land, Nungwi. It's a land flowing with milk and honey, beer and seafood, beaches and girls. See, understand why I was asleep? I had to save my strength.
The other person asleep is Nancy, a lady from Colorado we met who is backpacking around Africa for a few months. She tagged along with us for a few days then went her own way. Breakfast in Nungwi
I have to admit this one might as well be a sleep shot. I fell asleep on the bow of this wooden boat on the way back from a snorkeling trip. The sail kept hitting me in the face, otherwise this would be just another picture of me dozing through my vacation. If you look closely you can almost see the angst in my countenance over being rustled from my slumber.
On the snorkeling trip we met Lital from Israel. She works as an event planner there and was just on vacation like us. We hung out for a few days in Nungwi and hated to say goodbye when we left. She definitely measured up to the reputation of Israeli women for having fiery personalities. Super cool and fun to be around! 
In this one I'm over a quarter of a mile out on the water. A storm came through the night before and low tide was REALLY LOW afterward. There were all kinds of starfish and little fish trapped in puddles. Fun stuff.
This is the morning I got sick. I caught some type of flu-like mess and was down for the next three days. I think I do look kinda green. So I slept all day for several days. I know, completely out of character right?
Ahhhh, vacation. Gimme a break. I was probably still sick in this one. Sick people should rest you know.
It was nice to have my little buddy keeping me company under the chair.
OK, there's no excuse for me.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sweet Corn!
We had sweet corn for lunch today! After 14 months of roasted dry deer corn, today we had corn that tasted like it came out of a North Carolina field. I didn't even realize I was missing sweet corn. It was amazing!
Kinda makes me wonder what else I don’t realize I miss about home. I think I prevent myself from craving lots of things by avoiding them mentally. I probably did it actively when I first got here and now do it subconsciously through repetition. Maybe it’s a coping mechanism or something. I guess I just know that I don’t live in America anymore and I can’t afford to think about the things that I could really miss.
You know, it’s weird. I don’t have access to any of the comforts of the Western world and the food here leaves something to be significantly desired, but for the first time in my life I am satisfied. Really. That’s not to say I don’t desire things for my life, things like a family and…well, I think a family is all I really want. But I mean I don’t constantly ponder what I don’t have and what I think I need. Maybe it’s robust American advertising that creates in us the false insecurity that insists it can be sated by consumption. Maybe contentment with little is a natural characteristic of our psyche and being in a place where “little” is all that’s available has brought me back to that natural state. Maybe it’s the fact that I live in a place where you can see first hand that we as Americans really are more wealthy than 99% of the world’s population. Maybe it’s easy to appreciate the advantages that I’ve had when so many people around me don’t have, will never have, anything similar. Or maybe I’m just growing up (but I doubt it ☺). Whatever the reason, it’s a fantastic feeling to be SATISFIED.
At the risk of triggering a deluge of cravings, I wonder what else I am missing about home and don’t realize. I guess I miss driving on asphalt and covering 45 miles in like 30 minutes. Then again, I bet if I was back in the US I’d miss driving a four wheeler to the Eritrean restaurant in town for njera and tibs or spaghetti. Grass is greener kind of thing I guess. And really, what’s the reason to get so far so fast? What’s 45 miles away from me that I need so badly to get to? If NC had dirt roads with pot holes (I wish…more like mud pits) instead of pavement maybe we would live closer to each other, in tighter community where we don’t only see our favorite people for a couple hours in the evening after work. I guess my mind has wandered into the front yard of the popular discussion that sounds something like, “Are we really better off being ‘better off’?” That’s not really where I want to go. Though I have thoughts on the subject that I would NEVER have entertained a year and a half ago, that’s not my point. Honestly, I don’t know what my point is. I’m only sort of meandering through the saplings of a newly planted forest of consciousness. It’s just that I’m curious to figure out what else I’ve sealed off from the forefront of my mind like schizophrenia.
Yesterday I thought I noticed the faint scent of decaying leaves and I realized how much I miss wandering through NC mountain trails. I guess I miss a lot of things about my home but I’m content not to dwell on them right now. Can you believe that? I almost can’t. But I’m confident I’ll appreciate those things all the more when next they’re reality and not merely reminiscence. Until then I’ll be satisfied with stripping sweet corn cobs. Oh this incredible sweet corn!
Kinda makes me wonder what else I don’t realize I miss about home. I think I prevent myself from craving lots of things by avoiding them mentally. I probably did it actively when I first got here and now do it subconsciously through repetition. Maybe it’s a coping mechanism or something. I guess I just know that I don’t live in America anymore and I can’t afford to think about the things that I could really miss.
You know, it’s weird. I don’t have access to any of the comforts of the Western world and the food here leaves something to be significantly desired, but for the first time in my life I am satisfied. Really. That’s not to say I don’t desire things for my life, things like a family and…well, I think a family is all I really want. But I mean I don’t constantly ponder what I don’t have and what I think I need. Maybe it’s robust American advertising that creates in us the false insecurity that insists it can be sated by consumption. Maybe contentment with little is a natural characteristic of our psyche and being in a place where “little” is all that’s available has brought me back to that natural state. Maybe it’s the fact that I live in a place where you can see first hand that we as Americans really are more wealthy than 99% of the world’s population. Maybe it’s easy to appreciate the advantages that I’ve had when so many people around me don’t have, will never have, anything similar. Or maybe I’m just growing up (but I doubt it ☺). Whatever the reason, it’s a fantastic feeling to be SATISFIED.
At the risk of triggering a deluge of cravings, I wonder what else I am missing about home and don’t realize. I guess I miss driving on asphalt and covering 45 miles in like 30 minutes. Then again, I bet if I was back in the US I’d miss driving a four wheeler to the Eritrean restaurant in town for njera and tibs or spaghetti. Grass is greener kind of thing I guess. And really, what’s the reason to get so far so fast? What’s 45 miles away from me that I need so badly to get to? If NC had dirt roads with pot holes (I wish…more like mud pits) instead of pavement maybe we would live closer to each other, in tighter community where we don’t only see our favorite people for a couple hours in the evening after work. I guess my mind has wandered into the front yard of the popular discussion that sounds something like, “Are we really better off being ‘better off’?” That’s not really where I want to go. Though I have thoughts on the subject that I would NEVER have entertained a year and a half ago, that’s not my point. Honestly, I don’t know what my point is. I’m only sort of meandering through the saplings of a newly planted forest of consciousness. It’s just that I’m curious to figure out what else I’ve sealed off from the forefront of my mind like schizophrenia.
Yesterday I thought I noticed the faint scent of decaying leaves and I realized how much I miss wandering through NC mountain trails. I guess I miss a lot of things about my home but I’m content not to dwell on them right now. Can you believe that? I almost can’t. But I’m confident I’ll appreciate those things all the more when next they’re reality and not merely reminiscence. Until then I’ll be satisfied with stripping sweet corn cobs. Oh this incredible sweet corn!
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