All the interesting sounds...

Zanzibar certainly has some interesting sounds that we don't hear back home. Most people who don't walk or ride bicycles ride motorcycles, which we can hear much of the day. Also, there is a Mosque next to the school where we are staying and every 5 or so hours there is a very loud 'call to prayer' which lasts for about 10 minutes. There are Muslim songs being sung in the background much of the time, which give a very interesting feel to the day.

Our apartment is on the third floor of the Lewis' home, and the roof is made of tin. There are doves that live on the roof and as they land and move around on the roof there is the frequent sound of their feet hitting the tin. This is accompanied by the sound of cows mooing. The cows here seem to roam around, restrained only by a teather that ties them to the house they belong to. There is often a cow grazing on the grass floor in the half completed home next door.

We have learned, too, that roosters do not only crow in the morning hours. The Lewis' have several roosters (a decreasing number... maybe on the last one now) and they crow throughout the day and night.

While there are many interesting noises here, we are getting a great deal done, and having a wonderful time doing it. We have setup the network in the computer lab and almost completely set up all of the computers and the printer. The internet is not working here (except for the dial-up connection that we are using right now) so we have not yet had a chance to setup the internet cafe. Hopefully, the connection is repaired over the next couple of days. It is exciting to see people already using the computers to setup the library.

I (Ryan) will be teaching the teachers a computer lesson each day this week, although the lessons will be quite basic. Zachariah, the computer guy at the school, has some basic computer knowledge and I will be spending a great deal of time with him, ensuring that he is familiar with the network setup. We are also working together to setup a student data system that will hopefully be able to be used to produce report cards and student grade lists next term.

We had church yesterday and it was great. The entire service was in Swahili, with the occasional English translation by the pastor, who was very kind and introduced us to the congregation. The service is held in a tent at the school. Everyone who we met was great and we look forward to talking to them more.

Well, time to take the malaria pills! Will write again soon...

Sarah & Ryan