Juma is 8 years old!

Juma turned eight! It was the last day of school, too; what better birthday present is that? Well, even better than that is that Justin came down from Pemba, suffering two awful ferry rides on a choppy sea, just to be here for two nights to celebrate with us.

On the first night, Juma's actual birthday, we ate out at an Italian restaurant (pizza! gnocchi! three types of bread!) then had a birthday cake (unfrosted, at Juma's request).





The next day we took a boat ride with some of our friends out to Changuu Island, about 30 minutes away, for a relaxing picnic and swim at a little beach.

Abdul, who lives downstairs, and Najesh, who lives across the street, came along. Juma's known these kids since we lived in this same house in 2004, when they were all just toddlers. They had a blast playing in the ocean and then in the sand.






And of course Juma's namesake Juma came along, and helped him stay warm in the wind after his swim.



Our newest friend, Chase, also came, for her very first trip to one of the outlying islands in the archipelago. (That's me, Sarah, in the picture, by the way, the one with the shaved head and sunglasses.)

sailing the seas

One of Juma's classmates had a birthday party yesterday. We met at a beach called Mbweni, where the tide was so low, we had to walk to the end of the pier and then be ferried to the boat on kayaks.



We sailed to a sandbank--actually using the triangular-shaped sail Zanzibari boats are known for; ate, swam, and snorkeled;







and motored back with the sunset in the background. Gorgeous.

friends weekend

Two of my classmates who are working in Dar es Salaam came out to Zanzibar for the weekend, and we had some fun showing them around town and going to a northern beach.

This thing-a-ma-job Juma is holding is to help you take bucket-showers, but Juma used it on the beach.




These pictures are in Forodhani, a area right on the seashore that was fixed up last year to look nice like this. It's very popular with both tourists and Zanzibaris in the evenings.





These are from around Stone Town.







These are the crazy, scary steps up to our apartment.




And these are from Nungwi, a village on the northern tip of the island.

my fellow students

I popped over to Dar es Salaam to meet my professor/advisor, in from the states, as well as the other students from my cohort who are here in the country on internships. It was so fun to see them, since I had said goodbye to them all in December, not knowing if I'd ever see some of them again. (Though the international public health world is pretty small, so I'll likely run into them in one capacity or another in the future.)



They are, from left to right, Sarah, Ashley, Chase (also living in Zanzibar), Peter (my professor), and Aliya.

anniversary

Happy anniversary to Justin and me!

Eleven years!

back in Zanzibar

We've been back in Zanzibar since June 25.

Last weekend, a couple of my friends from school who are working in Dar es Salaam came to visit. I had a lot of fun showing them around the island, and Juma had a lot of fun playing with them.



We took them up north to a beach, where we lounged in hammocks, played Marco Polo in the ocean, and watched a gorgeous sunset on the water. The next day, I became a tour guide and took them around town, being sure to hit all the "best" places. As in, the best gelato place, the best pizza place, the best Zanzibar food place...