Polepole

Habari from Kendwa, Zanzibar!

Story 1.
One night at the Shooting Star, we sat down to dinner next to a couple from San Diego who were also on their honeymoon. A waiter appeared carrying a bottle of champagne and four glasses. As he filled my glass I asked, "Where is this from?" He replied, "My behind". It took me a moment to figure out that seated behind him were Katie and Mark, a San Francisco couple, who raised there glasses in our direction and wished us happy marriages.

Story 2.
Yesterday we went diving. We took a zodiac ride out to an island called Mnemba, about 35 minutes of smooth sailing across postcard perfect green waters. The dives were nice - I saw a really big puffer fish in a cave (hard to say, but probably about 50cm long), a lion fish, schools of unicorn fish, a turtle with tag-along remora and what I think was a really big nudibranch. In the warm patches of water on the bottom, it was 80F. I decided that the next research project I work on will be in warm water.

Story 3.
Last night, Zack took a nap and I wandered down to the beach to watch the sunset. Dhows slowly sailed by on their way home and the boats moored in the shallows turned to sillhouettes and then faded altogether. The stars came out and the lighthouse on the island across the way started blinking. The waves curled lazily onto the beach. I realized that this was the first time I had just sat. I wasn't reading, writing, playing backgammon or scrabble. I was just sitting. Finally, the thesis, wedding and moving is fading from my body. I feel calm and quiet and incredibly lazy. It's a good thing. As they say, "Polepole" - which means slowly. I'm doing my best to heed their advice.

ohboyohboyohboyohboy

i woke up this morning, rolled over and discovered z lying next to me about as relaxed as a wooden plank, eyes blinking rapidly at the ceiling. "you 'k?" i asked. his response was something along the lines of, "boingboingboingboingboing." yes, that's right, folks. we've had our last sleep in an american bed (much thanks to larsok for sleeping on the floor last night so that we could sleep in said bed) and are merely hours away from getting in the car to drive to lax. we've sorted through our bags, repacked them and i'm about to take a shower. we're in serious, serious countdown mode. to deal, z is slumped on the couch watching tv. and i'm blogging. wheee!

yes, dealing is required. it's pretty nervewracking leaving the country indefinitely with a pack of stuff and heading for a land to which you've never been. i always get a little nervous before travel - i think everyone does. unless you're going to dayton or something.

boingboingboing.

i realize that i've been so busy i've barely had time to register the fact that i'm leaving. the lovely rr was wonderful at amber on wednesday night - she was infectiously excited on our behalf. talking to her, i rememberd that i'm g-o-i-n-g t-o a-f-r-i-c-a. uh, today. yes, that'd be today that i'm g-o-i-n-g t-o a-f-r-i-c-a.

boingboingboing.

in other good news, my cold been reduced to a lovely morning cough and the occasional sneeze. i would no longer be an assett to the tenor section of a raspy-voiced choir.

my mind is spinning too much to concentrate much longer on this post. i think i'll take a shower, change into my airplane wear, finish packing my bags, call kkr+aj and twitch some more.

boingboingboing.

Ba-bye

I have been very much over the whole bay area for the last few months. More recently, I've been trying to appreciate this place as my time here diminishes. Today, I had some errands to run in Berkeley (which, I can only hope, included my last trip to REI for a long, long, long time). As I crawled toward the bridge on I-80, I had a wonderful view across the bay to San Francisco. Some combination of afternoon light and hazy fog made the city appear as a smoky grey cardboard cutout - the kind of back-drop you'd see at a high school musical. One building, over near PacHeights, looked like it was leaning at a precarious angle toward its neighboring high rise. Even I had to admit that it was pretty. Then I got cut off by a guy on a cell phone driving a Lexus SUV, sat in traffic at the toll booths, waited for the metering lights and then got buzzed by the Blue Angels while crossing the western span. It was a fine San Francisco day. Strangely enough, I think I will miss this place - or at least I will miss the convenience of stores with food that I recognize, a bus system that mainly works, a population that mainly speaks English and a multitude of friends that are only a phone call away.

In completely unrelated news, from Mr. PressingThoughts comes the following piece of wisdom: East Bay is Pig Latin for Beast.

d'oh

my new favorite picture should give everyone puase.