Eid Njema!

Today is the second day of the post-Ramadan holiday of Eid. Yesterday
was an eventful and exciting day for pretty much everyone on the
island. For a couple of weeks now, people have been buying new clothes
and tons of food in preparation for the three day holiday. When we
woke-up yesterday, zayneb had a tray of sweet breads and cakes for
breakfast, (which we took a picture of, but alas! Our memory card is
kaput so I don't think we can post it). She then proclaimed my outfit
unsuitable for the occasion, in fact I believe she announced that I
couldn't wear rags on Eid. So she dressed me and slathered me in
perfume, which has become a habit of hers, much to both Chris and my
chagrin. So as is my habit, I packed a change of clothes in my bag and
went off to visit our friends Claudia and Saidi's family in the middle
of the island.

We went first to Saidi's aunt's house. They (his two aunts live there)
are both transplants from Pemba and struggle with life here in
Zanzibar. They live in a traditional mud and stick house with a
thatched roof, no running water etc. but they met us with holiday
greetings and food.

[There's a phenomenon here where people own plots of land but don't
live there. Instead they allow other people to live there and look
after the land but the people who live there cannot build permanent
structures in case the owners want to return. That means that they
can't build houses with actual walls. It's a strange system to me, but
it tends to mean that even if you can't afford land, you can still
build a home, unlike in America.]

Anyway, saidi's aunts speak a Pemban Swahili which is so similar to
singing it's incredible, I couldn't understand a fair amount, but it
sounded beautiful. They were lovely and sweet and invited us to visit
again before we returned to America.

Then we went to Saidi's brother's house, where we were also welcomed,
fed tea and sweets (so many sweets!) and treated to the tradition that
I liken to caroling. A group of young men (followed by a swarm of
young excited children) go door to door and play drums and sing for
the family in exchange for tea, sweets and/or money.

The afternoon was taken up with resting from the eating and then going
into town for the festival and celebrations. It was essentially a
county fair feeling without the rides but with the different games
(ring toss etc.) and an incredible amount of plastic crappy toys from
china. One of the traditions is that you give children money on the
first morning of Eid, so if a kid is lucky they can get enough money
to buy a ton of plastic toys that will break the next day. It was a
bit overwhelming, but i do love the atmosphere at fairs and everyone
is dressed up in their fanciest so it was fun.

A quick note on dressing fancy:
When people decide to dress up here, they do not, put on a clean
blouse and a pair of ironed pants. They wear gowns. Serious gowns that
I would never have an occasion to wear. Even in everyday life, we
Americans dress like slobs in comparison, a thing I think people don't
understand because we don't have to dress like that, we can afford
better. This has caused me some considerable amount of discomfort as
Zayneb insists on me dressing up to the point that I, as I mentioned
have taken to carrying a change of clothes and, like some mzungu
superhero, change in ATMs and cars.

We went out at night, to a club called Mercury's as in Freddy Mercury,
yes of Queen. Apparently he was born in Zanzibar and it's the club.

We've finished at the school and are going to spend this week figuring
out our next step and renting a motorcycle to tour the island! Much
love, annie