Diving into Knowledge

As I am sitting in my living room, pondering how to write next week final exams for my form I and form III students, my mind began to wander. Wandering around the brilliant island of Pemba. I have not been back to my house for over 72 hours and yet my mind is already wandering off to some other place, looking for the next thing Perhaps it is due to my living arrangement, aka the forever alone life, or perhaps it can be contributed to my soul being a legless bird who has trouble finding the right perch. My village has much to offer me, ranging from flying foxes to bush babies or even honeybees carefully nesting on a secluded mango tree in my back yard. Exciting as my village can be, there is just more to Tanzania, specifically Pemba, that I have yet to explore. Let's recap what has happened since the last episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to Pemba:

After returning from a week long holiday, my school was opened for exactly 3 whole days, not one not two but three whole days. During those three days, I tried my best review what was forgotten during the long break. But really what kind of student would listen to his or her teacher for 2 periods that are smacked between two really long school breaks? The result of my futile attempt was disastrous at best. The best part of the 3 short days of school was my introduction of Halloween to my Form I students. I had to act out being a zombie/ghost/ghoul for the students to understand Although none of the student caught on with the whole Trick-or-treating thing, although there were plenty of snacks at my house, o well.

For the majority of the week following Halloween I was cooped up in my house. I finally had time to do some serious cleaning and exploring the labyrinth that is my house. This can mostly be contributed to the fact that I had some important visitors from the Peace Corps. They swung by just to check out if I was alive or not, needless to say they were satisfied that they did not have an injured or dead Peace Corps Volunteer on hand. Of course they were really surprised with the condition of my humble but spacious abode, clean but not too clean that it looked like I intentionally cleaned my house for their arrival.

For the weekend, I visited a resort with the fellow islanders. It was just what I needed after being cooped up in my house for so long. After over a year of inactivity, I decided to go SCUBA diving again. Boy was it a blast. I have no idea why I stopped doing that, but I do know that I am hooked again. I can foresee a future on this island that involves me diving a lot, or at least being in the water more often. At the resort, I had a lot of time to think, yet for the most part, I just let my brain wander freely, not caring for the mundane troubles of the world. It was a blissful experience in a place distance from the distractions of the world, separated by both a physical and a metamorphic forest of serenity. Just what I needed.

Minutes before the sunset on a walk down the beach

Such serenity cannot be captured with a mere camera phone

Sitting under such majesty can make one question many things.

But in the end, the mind just drift off to nowhere.

I can just lounge here all day long.

Now I am back to the world of examinations and deadlines. But somehow I feel very contend to be back home, to my humble spacious abode. :) Here is my bicycle that I bought from a used bicycle store on Unguja, fitted with a basket, fenders, and even lights. The ultimate in utilitarian gadget, although it is missing a rear rack.

Have a good day

Until next time,
Just Son