Hi Everybody - I have far too much to tell and I know I'm not really going to begin on here, but I thought I'd at least say hi.  I've been in Africa for about 2 weeks now.  I had a great time with my parents while they were here - we went to Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Mwanza, and safaris in Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Serengeti.  I'm in Arusha now (where the program is) and everyone else is here now too.  We start orientation today.  I've picked up a lot of swahili so far, and i'm really excited to start learning in the actual classes.  I've taken tons of pictures, but it'll probably be hard to upload them while I'm here... 

Zanzibar was amazing.  We stayed in Stone Town where there are all these little cobblestone streets that go in all these random directions.  People are sitting around every corner.  The Arab influence there is very apparent - in the architecture, attire, and the call to prayer that you hear several times a day.  We went on a Spice Tour while we were there, which was really interesting.  Got to see how all kinds of spices and fruits grow, and the boys who were following out tour guide made us all kinds of souvenirs (hat, basket, bracelet, etc.) out of coconut palm leaves and other leaves and things. 

I really liked Mwanza and Dar too.  I met lots of people that my parents knew a long time ago...saw their old houses, schools, other nostalgic places...  We ate lots of really good fruit and other food from the vendors. Mwanza has huge rocks - bigger than any rocks I've ever seen.  There are lots of rocky cliffs and people have built little fragile-looking houses on every last inch of space.  The population has increased from 30,000 to almost 1 million since my dad left.  The lake (Lake Victoria) is beautiful...

Safaris were fun, but 3 days were enough.  i'm not enough of an animal lover to be super interested because after a while, everything starts to look the same.  we did see some interesting sites though.  We saw: elephants, lion family, cheetahs, hyenas, zebras, wildebeest, hippos, flamingos, lots of other birds, buffalos, giraffes, crocodiles, baboons, velvet monkeys, and others.  Our guide was really nice.  We stayed in the lodges, which were really really nice.  I loved Ngorongoro because the view is amazing from the top of the crater, and inside, it's really cool to see the 360 view and think about all the animals w/in it. 

Hmm...other random stuff...the people are really friendly.  All the Indian shopkeepers respond to me differently than they do to the non-Indians, which is cool I guess.  In Zanzibar, I took pictures of little kids, who then kissed my hands which made me feel very....ah...it's so ridiculous how little so many of these people have.  I can't wait to start teaching and really getting to know some of them individually.  I've seen a lot of other interesting and very different things, but I can't remember everything right now, and this is getting long enough....email me if you like (at the jamarshi@stanford.edu because I can't access gmail from here) and I'll try to respond when I can.

I'm in London now at my aunt's house.  The flights were good - watched 50 First Dates on the plane.  I think we're about to go out now, and my cousins will be here tonight, which will be fun.  I'm going to Tanzania on Sunday, but my parents are leaving here on Friday to go there.  I guess I don't have a lot of news yet since nothing eventful has happened yet.  I started taking malaria medicine yesterday and so far i haven't had a reaction, so that's good.  We're going ot Tooting now, which is supposed to be a smallish version of India-town.  more later.

Today hasn't been very interesting...I picked up some papers for my dad, tried to set up a print server, and did a little more on the website.  It's not quite finished, but it's up and working.  You can see it at www.legacyhotel.com if you're bored.  The font at the top isn't right right now, and not all the pictures are on there.  I think my mom and aunt and uncle are going to Osceola tonight, but they'll be back tomorrow.  I have a travel clinic appt in the morning, but then I will get to see Daniel and maybe Jason.  Mom's birthday is on Thursday...I need to figure out what to give/make her.  Probably should make a trip to Hobby Lobby.  Other health news - I quit taking Sulfasalazine because I had a bad reaction to it so I can't take it anymore.  Sulfasalazine is a DMARD (disease modifying agent) that makes sure my psoriatic arthritis doesn't spread to other joints or get worse.  It was the 2nd best thing for me to take.  Methotrexate would have been better, but I can't take it because I won't be able to get the necessary blood tests in Tanzania.  But now I can't take the best drug or the 2nd best drug.  And I guess there isn't anything worth taking as a 3rd best drug because the doctor said to just keep taking the pain killer/anti-inflammatory medicine without adding another DMARD.  My toes still hurt even when I take the pain killer, but it's not too bad, and it doesn't really interfere with my working out in the gym or doing anything else, so I guess it's fine. 

oh i have to go