victory lap

We've just finished our History of East Africa final exam, turned in the last of our Culture & Religion of East Africa class essays, and we're freeeeee! There will be celebrations tonight! (I rocked the exam essays, by the way. I definitely used the simile of "dessert" in reference to the scramble for Africa. Yes indeed.)

We also sent off 21 ballots yesterday. 21 out of 25 potential ballots is a phenomenal turnout. It cost us about 80 bucks USD to send the DHL package, but god it's worth it. At the DHL office I met the dude who's the point person for the Obama campaign in Zanzibar. He's a cool cat. He's got a speech all prepared for when Obama wins, and he told us how there'll be a victory lap march around the streets of Stone Town, which he will lead. He also plans to run for president of Tanzania when he's a little older -- I'd place him mid-twenties, so he probably ought to garner a little more political experience first. Oh, and they were selling these wicked Obama kangas that said Yes We Can all around the edges, but since I'd just forked out 85,000+ shillings to send a frackin envelope to the US, I didn't exactly have cash to spare on frivolities like Obama kangas, however cool they might be. The moral of the story is: VOTE! We did it for $5 apiece from halfway across the world, so you have no excuse not to if you're 18 or above!

Yesterday was Cara's birthday, so we threw her a sort of surprise party -- namely, we all showed up to Amore Mio (the amazing Italian restaurant from our first day in Stone Town) for dessert, then waited around for Kowalski to lead her there under the semi-false pretense of a scoop of icecream. D Sperls bought us two cakes to share (lemon and chocolate) and three scoops of icecream each. A bunch of us went out to dinner with Cara too -- I got a traditional Swahili dish of kingfish and plantanes that was incredible enough to warrant a blog entry mention.

We're starting our week of Free Travel tomorrow. A bunch of the girls (me included) are traveling to Nungwi, the northern tip of Zanzibar, which is packed with inexpensive bungalows and lovely beaches. Should be good fun. I'll try to limit my debauchery. The promise to come back alive still stands.

I posted a few (not lots, so don't get too excited) photos to my flickr, so if you wanna see me with a decapitated chicken or thrilled to pieces on top of a camel, go find the proper link on your righthand sidebar. I don't have the right plugins on these computers to be able to rotate the sideways pictures... sorry about that!