To the Editor:

I’m sitting on my bed, tightly tucked into my duct-tape patched mosquito net with the Arabic words for “God is good” sounding through the street with the 8:00 p.m. prayer call. I haven’t stopped sweating in two weeks, unless you count my hours logged at the only air-conditioned internet ‘cafe’ on Unguja island (Zanzibar, Tanzania).

My room temperature right now is reminiscent of the third floor of Mitchell House in early September last year, except here I have the permeating smell of jasmine flowers, which my host family gives me to fold into my clothing to assuage the oppressive humidity. I know that tomorrow morning I’ll be woken up by the 5 a.m. prayer call, then again at 6:27 (precisely) by vigorous sweeping in the street below. For the moment though, I’m thinking about the postponed puddle jump, how men’s hockey fared against UNH, spending 24 hours in Wal-Mart, and a certain hip-hop hippo. Yes, here in my hands I have a copy of the Jan. 27, 2004 issue of The Student.

For two-tenths of a second I get the impression that I might look up and find myself in Commons or hanging out with Helen and George, but the contrast is shocking and I’m very quickly brought back to my new reality. Life here in Stone Town (also known as Zanzibar City) is so completely different from anything I could imagine that I haven’t been able to process my reaction to being here. Catching up on things at Bates remind me of how lucky I am to have this experience, and refreshes my perspective of spending this semester abroad.

I suppose squat-toilets do have their advantages, conservative, Muslim-appropriate muumuus appear to be making a modern comeback, and I’ve learned to respond to calls of “Hey, Mzungu!” (translation: ‘Hey you white person of European descent!’) with “Hey, Swahili!” Nonetheless, I still can’t help but miss home and Bates.

I’m definitely excited for senior year, but reading the few issues of The Student that I have here makes me realize the extent to which I’m being pushed from my typical “comfort zone,” and how amazing my time here is and will continue to be.

It’s refreshing to be reminded of my ties to a community so entirely opposite from my current home.

-Marselle Alexander, ’05

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