Hapana Mwisho

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."-Nelson Mandela

After one long journey I am back at home.

We left Peace House on Wednesday Aug 18 and had a 9 hour bus ride back to the coast. We presented our research projects to a handful of University of Dar professors on Thursday. Jarod presented first. We thought things were going well until the Dar professors started tearing into everyone after their presentation. They were ruthless! There were actually no bad comments after my presentation (I was sweating) probably becasue it was perfect. Haha- but I think they like it becasue it was sort of technical and had something to do with thier definition of engineering. These guys were definetly easier on the American students and were totally ok with ripping the Tanzanian students apart. After everyone presented, a professor did tell us that everyone did well, and this was just thier way of showing their support....good grief.

We said goodbye to Joel after we had lunch that day. He was not able to go to Zanzibar with us because he had to travel home to visit his mother who was ill. The rest of the remaining group had our last dinner (thank heavens) at Chickin Hut in Dar, then got on the boat to Zanzibar at 6 am on Friday.

We arrived on the tropical island around 9:30 and had breakfast. This place is paradise. Think white sand beaches, palm trees, sun, heat, blue-green water and local fisherman scattered across the sea. After we ate, we headed to the Tembo Hotel- the place where Kurt had made reservations for a night. This hotel was beautiful- arabic decorating, big pool, and it was on the beach. Too bad we never got to use the facilities. Apparently we didn't have reservations (even though the prof. talked to them on the phone AND e-mailed them). We figure that they booted us becasue we only wanted to stay there one night. So the Tembo Hotel recommended another hotel and we ended up staying there. It was also super nice, and I got a queen size bed to myself!

We walked around Stone Town (where we got off the boat) on Friday and on Saturday we ventured off to the east side of the island to the beaches. We got on a Dalla Dalla in Stone Town that was headed to our hotel. The Dalla experience is different on Zanzibar becasue you are pretty much sitting in the back of a flatbed truck that is covered and has benches. The ride was great- until we got about 15 minutes outside of town. I swear they just cram as many people as possible into these public transportation devices! Bryna and I were practiacally sitting on top of one another, and my back was jammed into a wooden post. Soon after I lost feeling in my legs. I guess it's all part of the experience...

An hour and a half later we arrived at our resort. Talk about my wildest dreams! (Thanks NSF). We stayed in little huts on the beach and ate delicious meals in the lodge. We went swimming in the ocean, tried to teach Damson how to swim, and Patty and I took advantage of the pool. I finally got my few hours of sun on the beach in this summer!

None of us wanted to leave the next morning. If I had my way, you would be able to find me still laying under one of the cabana's on the beach. But we headed back to the port and got on the boat back to Dar. Patty, Bryna, Kurt and I picked up our bags that we had left at Damson's house and all of us headed to the airport. Bryna and I left first to go to Nairobi, Kenya then on to London. All of our flights went off without a hitch and we made it home safely.

In the words of Damson and Cara's attemted Swahili translation: 'Hapana Mwisho'- it is not the end. I hope I get to see all of my Tanzanian friends again. This trip was life changing and an awesome experience. We are so lucky and aught to be thankful for all that we have, becasue many other people we share this earth with aren't as fortunate.