Departure and arrival
Not a good start: sitting on Air Egypt aeroplane for 2 hours without explanation (except in Arabic and inaudible English) as to what was going on. Made up time, and they held back the connection for us; we were corralled into a holding pen, and then sent dashing off to the Dar es Salaam plane, with minutes to spare. Minutes gave way to 10s of minutes as the luggage made its way at a more leisurely pace. A gentle start to not being a European in an Anglo-European context where you’re a not-quite-fitting-in person in a radically different culture. Refreshing.
Zanzibar is laid back and congenial. Martin (of whom more later) met me off the boat, and we spent the next four hours touring Stone Town, shaking hands with ½ the residents, drinking coconut milk out of a coconut (you drink it on the spot, then hand the shell back for them to scoop out the flesh, which they then hand back to you. Nothing at all like the coconuts you buy at home; refreshing and delicious.
Afternoon spent interviewing the potential students, talking to the other people here. the idea of community service is one that comes naturally to people, and there are a lot of low profile but active projects going. Zanzibar City (Stone Town is the ancien quarter) is a typical 3rd world town, you might say, with potholed roads, and things not working, but place still has a busy, thriving air.
I have since revised my thoughts on “third world”- not because it is politically incorrect, but because it is rather perjoritive. This world has much to teach us about the basic business of living, which is what we’re all on earth to do, so there’s nothing “third” about that. “Developing” and “emerging” have similar connotations, as if ours is the way of life to which all should aspire. (In this context, see thoughts on John Gray, which will be posted some time). I think the simple comparisons between rich and poor are sufficient, so long as these terms are taken to apply in a strictly monetary sense, but money drives everything these days (at least in the “rich” world), so we can take that as read.