Soooooo! Lots of pictures to make up for my long absence. Things here are normal. Or, normal for Tanzania, maybe not normal for Maine.
Two weeks ago a cobra slid up onto the table i was sitting at. It was dark and I just saw it move next to my arm and then ran away and the man next door killed it. It was gigantic. Apparently they are drawn to girl's voices.
We also drove around Mikumi National Park a few weeks ago which was pretty great. There were lots of animals and they were beautiful and right next to our car. It was cool to see them all, though it felt a little touristy. The animals aren't really part of the people's lives here. The Tanzanians I was with were just as excited and surprised as I was.
Last weekend we went fishing with a friend in the village he grew up in. It was interesting though I got way too much sun and was wiped out by the end of the day. We trudged through grass that was twice as tall as us and got completely covered in mud from the river banks. My friend, Hamili, shuttled across the river one-by-one in the canoe he made. He said it is full of crocodiles but I didn't see any. I was disappointed about that but I'm not sure what I would have done if we had seen one.
The picture of the little baby is Simon's daughter, Dori. She's adorable but is terrified of me and cries if I try to hold her. oh well. I am kind of scary.

There is another couch surfer staying at the house with me now. She is from Germany and it's so refreshing to have another english-speaking female friend around. We are planning a trip to Zanzibar at the end of March and maybe a quick visit to Rwanda if there is enough time in April. She lived here last year for a few months so on Monday she took me to the Tanzanian American Mall in the city. It was air conditioned. I was happy. They had a huge supermarket where we hung out for most of the day. I paid about $1 for about 10 peanut m&ms but they were the best ten m&ms i have ever had. everything was really expensive but they had all the stuff that the village doesn't. It was a nice break from village life but I also felt SUPER touristy and super rich, which i'm not. It was a materialistic, shallow comfort but I'll probably go back once more before I leave. Everyone needs a little superficial, air-conditioned comfort every now and then.
I'm trying hard to upload a video of the drumming circle that performed for us this past weekend but the internet doesn't seem to be working. It was so great. We danced all day and the musicians were drunk and having a blast. We drank locally made whiskey. I don't know how it's made I just know that it was about $4 for one liter. Next I want to try the banana-wine. I guess I'm giving up on the video but maybe I'll try again next week.