Happy 2011! I can’t believe it’s January already and that there are only a few more months left in Tanzania. I’m really looking forward to the coming year and having many more great experiences to add to the unforgettable ones I’ve had so far.
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| View of Stone Town from the Ferry to Zanzibar |
Over the past week, I was lucky enough to travel to the island of Zanzibar, which is part of Tanzania just off the coast near Dar es Salaam. The trip was part business/part pleasure since we had our Mid-Service Conference held there and also had plenty of time to relax and get mentally ready for the new year.
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| An Aerial View Of Stone Town |
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| Stone Town |
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| One of the many typical streets of Stone Town |
The group arrived in Stone Town in Zanzibar last Thurs (12/23). We stayed in a rented house in the heart of Stone Town, which was really nice and convenient. I had traveled to Zanzibar a few months ago but didn’t get to explore Stone Town at all. It’s a truly amazing part of the island, with lots of winding streets, shops, friendly people, gorgeous scenery and wonderful culture. When everyone arrived it was great to see the whole group together for the first time since Orientation, since I hadn’t seen a couple of the other volunteers since then. It was good to catch up with them and share experiences about our service so far. On Christmas Eve, our conference began with a delicious buffet dinner at one of the nicer hotels in town. Everyone seemed to enjoy it quite a bit because based on the amount of food we all ate you would think no one had eaten a full meal in 6 months!
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| The WorldTeach Tanzania 2010-2011 Together for Christmas Eve! |
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| Christmas Morning |
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| On the dhow for Christmas Day |
On Saturday, Christmas Day, we started the morning with some Christmas traditions. A few of the volunteers cooked up some home favorites, and we exchanged gifts to one another as part of a Secret Santa swap that we did as a group. After that, we spent Christmas in spectacular fashion as we boarded a dhow (handcrafted wooden boat) and sailed around the coast of Zanzibar for the day. Spending Christmas day taking in some sun, swimming off the coast of Zanzibar and enjoying the company of my fellow volunteers and friends was a truly great way to spend the day, especially when we were all quite far from our families. It was certainly a Christmas I won’t ever forget.
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| Sailing along the Zanzibar Coast |
Sunday was spent taking part in some Mid-Service WorldTeach sessions on teaching skills, recapping our year so far and gaining some other useful information preparing us for the end of the year. It was good to give some input for future volunteers and also share some teaching techniques with the group and get some feedback that will be useful when I get back to teaching at Mzumbe.
The week wrapped up with a New Years Eve celebration in Stone Town and also at a large beach party outside of town. It seemed like almost every visitor and a lot of locals were at the party, which included a fireworks display at midnight. It was a really fun way to ring in the New Year.
The next day we all returned home after an amazing week exploring Zanzibar, which is hard to believe is just about in our back yard. It was a great vacation and an unforgettable way to celebrate the holidays and start 2011. It’s good to get back to Mzumbe and get ready to get back to work. I’m really excited to get back into the classroom and finish out my service in Tanzania as strong as possible.
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