Simple Beginnings

There’s another hour before sunrise here in Zanzibar, and I can’t sleep. I finally admitted this after an hour of turning in bed, and now I’m sitting in the dark of my hostel lobby to write. It took 24 hours to get here, including the two-hour delay on my second flight, and given that I had the entire row to myself on that flight, I was out like a light. That would explain why I am now wide awake at five in the morning. But the weather is lovely, and the courtyard is open, so I can see the stars shining above me, and I could not be more content. There’s water that drops onto me every few minutes from the roof; it’s a pleasant way to wake up.

I left Denver on the 27th to visit Annika in Washington D.C. I have never been to the East Coast before, and seeing the capital was exciting. Annika and I flew out together, which was the first time I have ever flown with a friend to one of my big adventures. This eased my nerves and was the first time I haven’t had a “holy shit” moment on the plane where I realize that I actively chose to be gone for months on the other side of the world. The free wine on our first flight may have also helped with settling my nerves.

We flew for 14 hours to Dubai, and then had a heck of a time trying to find our connecting flight. We asked one person where to go to print our boarding passes and we were told to go stand in a line. So, we stood. Twenty minutes later we reached the front and were told that this was not the line we needed, that we should go down one floor and to the left. When we got there, we were told to go up two floors and to the right. Finally, we found the bus we needed and rode 15 minutes to the other terminal to find our flight was delayed two hours. We met with three other girls travelling to our program and passed the time trying to find something to eat that wasn’t KFC or McDonald’s (to no avail).

Our flight to Zanzibar was so empty that almost everyone got a row to themselves, so I promptly laid on my side and fell asleep. When I woke up, we were twenty minutes from landing on the island. We were picked up by Dr. Bob, the professor organizing the field quarter, and taken to a restaurant where we had dinner with the entire field quarter crew. After dinner, everyone found their respective bunk at our hostel and fell asleep.

It’s nearly six and I can see geckos dancing on the walls in the pale light. I wait for sunrise so I’ll be able to read and hear the morning call to prayer. Today we will be taking a walking tour of Stone Town, breaking for lunch, and then sailing to Prisoner’s Island where we’ll be able to snorkel. We’ll stay in our hostel until Tuesday, and then begin our Swahili class and move in with our host families. I’ll be sharing more when I feel inclined, so stay tuned :-)

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All my best,

Sami