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Archive for April, 2007

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Good cop, bad cop, just plain weird cop

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007

I met the Mystery Birthday Boy the next morning over breakfast.  He was interesting enough…the son of a Zanzibari woman and an African-American soldier, he was adopted by the-now German ambassador to Chile (if I remember the story correctly.)  When his mother died, his family contacted him to inform him he had property on the island, which he now co-owns with his fat Muslim uncle (with something like 3 wives, all with whom he claims to be in love with.)  I don’t remember Mystery Birthday Boy’s name, so I’ll just call him MBB.  And as far as my rash goes?  What was on my arm was starting to dry up already, and the roof of my mouth was less inflamed.  I’ll never know what it was, though. [read on]

Benadryl, take me away!

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007

The next morning I woke up, refreshed, although the quick reflection of where I was reminded me of the past day’s events and my ongoing concern about finding a replacement brake handle for my Vespa.  I made a deal with the guy at my hotel, who was headed back to Stone Town, to buy me a handle while he was there that I would then install myself.  That worry behind me, I spent the morning and a better part of the afternoon enjoying the beaches that Zanzibar is famous for. [read on]

Jenna Evans cruising on a Vespa

Thursday, April 5th, 2007

To my pleasant surprise, the man I gave the $10 to showed up the next morning on schedule, so I left with him to get my scooter.  He hadn’t gotten the license, as I had hoped, but said he would take care of it that morning.  We approached a few guys standing around a scooter, undoubtedly the one I would be taking.  He told me to wait there while he went for my license.  Completely baffled as to how he could get me a license without me being there, I started to argue with him.  The guy with the scooter now wanted nothing to do with me, so we left.  [read on]

Spices, a slave chamber, and a $10 gamble

Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

The next day brought Eid al-Fitr, the entire reason I had traveled so intensely for three days to get to Zanzibar.  I spent the morning exploring Stone Town, navigating through the narrow alleyways, visiting old Sultans’ mansions, trying to determine which house was actually where Freddie Mercury was born, and admiring the locals celebrating their holiday.  The women were dressed in beautiful, colorful new dresses, and the boys and men wore crisp, white long dress-like garments (called shalwar chamiss…or something like that.)   The little girls were dressed in their new dresses as well, with their faces made up beautifully and every hair in place.  Everyone was looking their best for this celebration to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting period. [read on]