Ok, after all the madness Peace Corps has put me through in the last weeks, I needed a vacation. So I've spent the last (almost) week in lovely Zanzibar. It has been awesome!! I took a spice tour and saw vanilla, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, tumeric, curry, and more being grown. I spent time at the beach, ate fresh grilled fish within sight of the ocean, saw the Anglican church at the old slave market site, saw red colobus and sykes' monkeys at Jozani national park, walked through a mangrove forest, visited one of the sultan's old palaces and the old fort, spent a ton of money, ate good food, and basically had a fantastic time. Just what I needed. I have been shocked at the way the tourists here behave. Way too many miniskirts, backless tops, spaghetti straps, and short shorts. No shame. What part of "Muslim country during Ramadhan" don't these people understand? I've even seen a few people eating in the streets, which is a big no-no when the good Muslims are fasting, which is pretty much everyone on Zanzibar. Luckily the "holy month of Ramadhan" hasn't been a huge damper on the trip, a lot of restaurants are closed during the day, but tourist places keep open and just remove the outdoor seating, and dinner is no problem.
Hopefully I'll return home to find that my counterparts have been competently continuing my projects in my absence. Fingers crossed. Last time being gone for two weeks meant I had a lot of catching up to do when I got back, but maybe things have improved in the last few months.
I am still pissed at Peace Corps for keeping me in Dodoma by myself and for generally ignoring my complaints. But I'll be in Dar at the end of the month for Mid-Service Conference and my one-year medical check-up. It will be the first time I'll see everyone from my training group since IST back in December! Maybe by then I'll find someone in the staff who will agree that this in unfair instead of ignoring the problem.
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