surprise surprise

hi! my friend ch was leaving so i changed my ticket and left with her the next day! so now i'm home. i surprised my parents and called sebby to pick me up from the pgh airport... they were really surprised. it was a good way to leave and avoid a lot of the sadness and dread of leaving a place and a whole existence. i didn't get to say goodbye to lots of people, for the better i think. i have to call ju from here because i didn't have the heart to tell her that i was skipping town early because she was taking her finals... i was happy to minimize the wanting to puke/leaving feeling to 24 hours instead of a week or two... and it was nice to chat with ch on the plane about other things until amsterdam and not really think about leaving...

now i'm home. nice to see mom and dad and sebby. but everything here is big and fast and i'm a little bit scared. hopefully, it'll go away in a week or so- otherwise maybe i'm going crazy.

i hate transition... but at least i have more time to get over it/spend time with people- instead of rushing etc before starting school at the end of august.

thanks for reading my things... it's helped me a lot and made me feel in touch.

so i hope i see all of you soon... i have to get my cellphone working again- then i'll give you a call... but i've really been moving pretty slowly.

love, ganga

mr. sunshine

yay! rainy season's finally and officially over... i've been saying it in hopes of it going away for weeks, but it was finally gone when i got back from zanzibar. the road that we live on is dried up in all parts that aren't under a tree.

zanzibar was beautiful and the conference was super busy and a lot of work, but fun- nice to meet different and interesting people. i was getting sick of arusha so it was nice to get out and have conversations with new people. the lawyers at the conference were from different african countries and malaysia and they were all very nice and friendly. the only person i didn't like was the bossy lady from canada... she was really anal and reminded me of most things that i hate about home.. for meals, i used to sit away from the dining area and at a coffee table with a view of the beach and different people would always come and join me. the man from malaysia is president of a human rights place there, and also a poet and was nominated for a nobel prize for literature and he was really nice to me and would come and chat with me and gave me a book of his poetry and a pin that says 'no detainment without trial'... i didn't go to the beach at all because you had to take a security guard because of muggings... it was fun but so busy, i was happy to leave a day early. but i overestimated how much time it would take for me to get to the airport. and then i wasn't allowed into the airport for two hours so i sat outside of it and read... and then this old man who's ancestors are mostly from oman and a little bit from india invited me to sit in his office and chat for an hour. he was really friendly and told me about what he thinks the important things are in life... i met a lot of kindred spirits on the trip and it really made me happy.

then friday was j and sg's wedding. it was fun to spend the day with her and she looked really beautiful in her dress. ch was her maid of honor and had an applegreen dress made. the wedding was a lot of them being on stage and a lot of pictures being taken, and speeches made. her parents had sent a letter which they read out loud in both english and swahili. i'm really happy for them.. now they're in zanzibar on their honeymoon.

the new person from canada that'll be here for three months is supposedly arriving today. i feel bad because none of us know anything about when or how he'll get here. i hope everything works out for him.

my swahili teacher that was sick passed away last week. i had just sent him a text message two weeks before and he wrote that he was doing well. he had a really positive attitude about his sickness. it makes me sad to read my swahili notes and see the stuff that he wrote in my book. i hope his family is doing okay.

ju gets back in a week and a half. i can't wait. i like work and stuff but something's a little stale about arusha for me. i get mad to have too many aquaintences and not enough real friends.

it seems like now i'll stick to july 1st for coming home because time is passing so quickly, but we'll see.

i'm thinking of maybe climbing kilimanjaro with my swedish friend before leaving...

not much else. love, ganga

giraffes

hi!
in zanzibar, left at 6 this morning and now it's almost evening. the travel here wasn't nearly as dreadful as i had imagined... the ceo's nice and friendly and it was easy...

went to arusha national park on saturday with two guys, one from lebanon and one from ethiopia- that swedish friend ka and i met last week. i also invited ch's boyfriend's sister to come. it was really fun. those guys were really friendly and informational and t's sister knows a lot about animals. the safari was nicer for me than the one with sebby because we got to get out of the car and walk to fun places- a waterfall and then up to about 15 giraffes that were really sweet and pretty. and we saw lots of flamingoes up close too.

was tired after that day...

so i'm here, and the conference isn't until the day after tomorrow. all i had to do was give a disk and some papers for bulk photocopying to the zanzibar law society guy that's putting everything together.. he's really nice. i can't really lay out in a bikini though because there's a sign near the pool that says if you intend to go onto the beach by order you have to take a security guard with you... and i don't want to do that. so i just sat by the pool with my clothes on and read a little bit. i have to say, it's really funny to be at a beach resort by myself. i mean the ceo's here, and he's really friendly and asks me if i've eaten yet and stuff, but i would rather just pretend that i'm by myself. i talked a little to the head lady from canada who works at the bar association that's sponsoring this conference and she invited me to go to town with them, but i said no- so i must not dislike being by myself that much...

it's really peaceful and pretty and hot here. when i went to the national park, the lebanese guy told me that there's an arabic saying that there are three things that can cure stress: greenery, water, and a beautiful face...

i forgot to bring my malaria medicine for this week... oh well. who cares, it was starting to make me crazy anyways...

i tried zanzibari prawn pilau for lunch which i didn't get a chance to try when i came with seb and it was good but for some bites i felt like i was biting into sticks of raw spices... a cat came and sat next to me while i was eating because it wanted food, but i kind of liked the company.

i'm reading a book called burmese days by george orwell, it's pretty good.

lots of love, ganga

thanks

first of all, a million thanks thanks thanks to anyone who sent a donation to my mom for the hiv ngo. already, 3 people sent, and it's such a lot of money when converted...i really appreciate it and feel touched and happy. thanks a lot.

so let's see. yesterday we got really worried because we thought my roomate a was missing. her boyfriend had come by very concerned on sunday night saying her phone was off. but we had all gotten a text that said she'd be in moshi for the week... then he went to moshi and looked everywhere for her, checked her work there and her friends' houses and the hospital because that's where any foreigner would go if something serious happened. so after i spoke to him, we sat around being worried and talking. then sg called mama ukio who's kind of our program's head person here and she said that she had told her that she had a family emergency... so we didn't know what to think. anyways, then her boyfriend contacted the u.s. embassy to see if she had left the country, and to check the hospital in arusha... anyways, he called me this morning and told me he got an email saying she's ok and not to worry. apparently, they had just split up for good the day before. i just saw her online and she told me to make people not worried and that the truth is she's out of the country for a family emergency... so either europe or america i guess.

i leave at 6 am on monday morning to go to zanzibar for a conference for most of the week. i'm dreading it because i'm only going with the ceo and i don't know him very well...oh well. oh, and it'll be soooo boring staying in a hotel room by myself and having absolutely no friends. but that's an experience i guess. and the conference should be interesting. it's an east africa access to justice/legal aid conference and there will be people from lots of countries...i don't know if i have nice enough clothes with me. i hope so. i'm happy that mom sent some skirts with sebby. because with the coldish weather/unpredictable rain , i've been dressing like a garbage woman. hopefully it'll be warm in zanzibar...

then i will get back thursday night- and j and sg's wedding is on friday!

st got tested again and found out that he still has malaria- can you believe it? it seems like it's been a month. also, my swedish friend k has an amoeba stomach problem but now she's feeling better...

i'm happy it'll be warm when i come home. am i coming home soon? i can't decide if it's soon or not.

going to a birthday party at s's for his new girlfriend's birthday tomorrow. it should be fun. she's cooking i think. she's half danish and half tanzanian.

ok. it might be a while before i type again because of the weekend, then conference, then wedding.

lots of love, ganga

mambopoasafihabarinzuri

hi!
i don't even know if you read this anymore because i write less frequently and have been here for a while now... but let's see. there must be something that i can tell you.

i had a good weekend. friends with s again and his friends. spent time with all of them this weekend. a slept at my place this weekend. i think it's because s's cousin ro is staying with him for the month, and i bet she's scared to sleep there when a boy has to sleep in the room with her, since the bad thing happened. ro's really nice though and i'm sure there's nothing for her to worry about, but i understand why she'd be uncomfortable...

went and played pool/mostly watched her and ro play pool on saturday afternoon and then we went out with others after hanging out at s's apt for a little bit. one kind of weird thing happened that ended up being joke. i was talking to ro's twin brother for a little bit, then basically they all started lying and saying that one person had aids, and then that person would say another person has aids. then ro's brother pulled out a piece of paper that was his hiv test results that said negative. that surprised me a little bit. but maybe he had just gotten tested so happened to have it with him. i don't know if what i just wrote sounds confusing, but i don't really feel like explaining- anyways, it all turned out to be joke and they were all lying to see who could be more convincing or something. it wasn't a funny joke- more confusing than anything else.

one thing i realize but don't like about being friends with people from here is this assumption of money and sometimes i feel put in a funny position. with friends, i don't mind and i feel comfortable explaining how i feel...but i don't like it when friends of friends just openly ask for money. one of a's friends texted me yesterday implying that she had to ask me a favor, but we're not friends at all and have spoken almost never. i'll have to learn how to say no i guess, but i know that i'm going to hate it.

it's a totally different attitude about money here..it's common for girls to go out with people etc. all because of the money (having things paid for or actually getting money)...it's kind of sad but people really don't have money so i guess those things seem relatively harmless. ro showed me pictures of him and his twin brother as guides for mt. kilimanjaro with two women. and one of them was his 43 year old girlfriend from finland and she paid for 2 years of his university... he was kind of laughing about it but it was true. and i guess the brother was the boyfriend of the other woman who was 38. ro and his brother are both one year younger than me.

so i think i'll be in cleveland for the next four years... social work and law..should be pretty exciting. i hope i can do it- i'm bad at staying in the same place for long time, and i'm bad at realizing the importance of things that i should...

there's a new person from canada that'll be coming to live in our house next month and he'll be working here too, so we'll overlap one month.

going to zanzibar mid next week for that conference and then will come back thursday night so that i can make it to j and sg's wedding next friday.

housemate a was sick with amoebas last week..now she's better.

hope everyone's doing well! love, ganga

may

hi.

yeah, so my boss said i can leave early at the end of the conference to make it back for my housemate's wedding. and they're not doing a reception at the house anymore. now it'll be an actual wedding, she's having a dress made and everything... i'm so excited!

i said bye to drew this morning. he was here for a few days. it was a lot of fun. i had never really spent time with him before, so it's funny to think that he's had a longish glimpse into my life here. he's really nice and sweet and cooked a big indian dinner for all of us the other night. and he's actually a great cook, almost as good as jen! it was nice to see someone from home.

the weather's killing me lately. i can't stand the rain. and i'm so cold. i started wearing my fleece this week for the first time. and it's only going to get colder i think. i wish i brought more warm clothes. i feel like i dress in layers of garbage. just kidding.

not much news. might try and go to moshi this weekend. a little bit sick of arusha. we'll see. there are no more holidays this month and next. only 2 months left. time passes so quickly.

been hanging out with k, the swedish girl that's going through a divorce. she's really nice and we can laugh really easily together.

going to meet her for lunch now.

hope everyone's doing well