Jambo! Yesterday we walked around Dar which is the biggest city in Tanzania. It was alittle overwhelming at first because cars drove so fast and the streets were so crowded. We did alittle shopping. Their main thing to sell are Tanzanian textiles and khangas, which are maerial that all the women where that have specific patterns to match a specific swahili saying. Everyone wanted to talk to us because they were either curious about us or they just wanted to use their English. We did stand out and it didnt take me long to realize that we were the tourists or even white people on the streets. It was fun though. I never really felt too uncomfortable with all the attention but just overwhelmed. We then met with the director of a local HIV/AIDS clinic. This was by far the most favorite part of my trip before. He was so informative about how the culture and the disease have grown into the pandemic it is today. He was so upfront about his opinion on why the styem of treating and preventing the diease has not worked in Africa. I left that place with a whole new understanding of the degree to which HIV affects lifes but also how the government combined with the culture fosters the spread of it.

After that we went to the Carver's market where wood carvers sell all there piece of wood sculptures and other pieces mad out of ebony. It was really cool. Later we went to the Minister of Transportation's house to stay the night. We were greeted by armed guards but other than that everything was very pleasant. We were also invited to be involved later in the trip on a session of Parliment. This is really cool because they will announce us to the entire congregation and we will be on Tanzanian television. Im really excited.

Today we woke up early and took a ferry out to Zanzibar. It was a 2 hours trip but it wasnt too bad. The heat here is unbelievable! It is almost sufficating....and I thought Georgia was bad..yeah right. Enjoy the weather yall because this place is hot!!! Anyways, Zanzibar is SO beautiful!! The water is crystal blue and there are all these old fishing boats the litter the ports so it looks really cool. We checked into our hotel which is the nicest place I have ever stayed in. Nt because it is luxurious but because there i so much history and really cool artifacts all over the place. The hotel is over 600 years old. After that we walked around town. The town is So cool looking. It is full historical old buildings overlooking the ocean. The culture is mostly muslim so most people are dressed from head to toe with blows me away considering how hot it is. We had a nice lunch in the courtyard of an old fort. Later we walked to the town garden that overlooks the ocean and watched to sun set. It was amazing! While we were sitting there a man with 5 young children walked over to us and asked to sit down. He just wanted to talk and show off th children (which were actually not his but his nieces and nephews). The kids were so amazed by us. We took some pictures together and talked some more. I was really expecting the man to ask for something but he never did. He just wanted to chat. He then said he wished we had more time to talk because he liked us and wanted to become friends. Again, I just felt so fuzzy for these people. We then had dinner off of street food. Now, according to all the travel books I have ever read about street food they have always insisted that it is not a wise choice, but Ryan insisted that we try it so we did. They had all sorts of fresh seafood and fish that were kabobs and cooked, lots of fried stuff, and other stuff I was not sure of. I was bold and tried the King.....something fish. I cant remember. It was ok....but we shall see how I feel tomorrow ;) We had so many people coming to say hello. Everywhere we go we always hear Karibu (Welcome) Mambo or Jambo (hello) or we just hear people saying hello in English. These people are truly very differnet from many people I have ever met. I am so grateful to have met these people because they give me a new understand of human nature and what we are truly capable of as a society.

Well tonight we are going out on the town!! We are going to go see some live music and maybe some dancing. But not too crazy because we have to leave by 9am for a spice tour on the island. Until next time. Lala salama!