Weekly Sneak: Shopping for Politicians

That was my title for this week's article: Shopping for Politicians. The East African has a fetish for improving upon the titles I give to my articles, so I though I would pre-empt them this week because I know whatever comes out on Monday will be designed to titillate beyond any charms that the article itself possesses. Sigh.

Moving on. Having been told numerous times never to fall for a politician or a party, and having done so regardless...let's just say I got a little familiar with the idealist-horrified-cynic cycle of political faith. But giving us is for quitters, so rather than wallow, I have found a silvery lining for this particular cloud. Been kicking this idea around for a while that we need to get beyond the party method for organizing political movements. I don't know yet what this beyond will look like, but it will lack the all-or-nothing element that partisanship brings to democracy:

"This is a very real dilemma, the perpetual quest for a political party that is not likely to crush you with disappointment at its folly. Or, failing that, a politician who doesn't make you slightly ashamed to admit their acquaintance in public. Or failing even that, at least a group of people who don't make you want to tear your hair out and wear ashes at the thought of them reaching the top levels of public office. Politicians are such fickle creatures- idealistic and hardworking one moment, stealing public funds and abusing their powers the next. Even grouping them into parties doesn't seem to help much- if anything it is a liability, they do goad each other on so."

Like crabs in a barrel. To illustrate this point, I jumped off with the CUF situation. Naturally, I checked my Facebook account only to find an announcement from one of the CUF worthies that suggests that either the situation is about to escalate in Zanzibar, or it is effectively over for Mr. Hamad (CUF-Wawi) and his supporters. Love it or hate it, politics is never really boring is it?

The Zanzibar Ferry Accident.

One of my biggest challenges in media work is nurturing an ability to filter noise and information, and sift down to nuggets of truth... or at least truthiness. Information overload is not a new notion, people have been talking for a few years now about how technology affects our lives.

But an analysts' job is to whittle things down to the marrow, scrape away the make-up from the face of the story, massage deep into the tissues of a situation. And timing is everything. I haven't been able to distill much that I am confident about with the Zanzibar boat capsize from social media, so I maintained radio silence. However, this week in The East African I do want to state categorically that somehow, we are all involved in this.

"There are a hundred choices to be made in a day and living in a developing country means embracing the fact that creative “solutions” to everyday problems are necessary. And we have to admit that we are allergic to regulation for all kinds of reasons, most of them good. There isn't a regulatory authority in Tanzania that has managed to impress us with its strength of character, nor its diligence, and we are well aware that greasing the right palms makes regulation more of an ideal than a reality in our society. So we conduct business our own way, taking chances."

While I don't doubt that there are people who are directly accountable, I have said before and will say again that crucifying one or two officials is not particularly helpful in the long run. It is part of our performance politics. What is far more important to me is: what have we learned here that will cause us to behave better next time. I worry that the answer might be: nothing.

And while it is well and good to shrug fatalistically and argue that we don't have much control over our lives simply because we are "poor," I simply can't do it. Tanzanian lives should be valued. And they should be valued by us. We need to stop with the chakachua kila kitu business model.

Karibu Tanzania...

The Board of Tourism has been trying to brand Tanzania for a long time. While I think it is ridiculous in a third-world-shady way to brand an entire country, it is a necessary evil of the modern tourist industry. Since we do put a quarter of our landmass under protection so that we can pimp... I mean conserve nature, we might as well get some crispy fresh dollars out of the process. They have come up with a slogan and I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised.

Tanzania: Feel great with friends.

No references to Kilimanjaro, no tacky animal print, no saccharine Zanzibar myth-making. Just a focus on the people and the quality of your experience here. Another way of saying: Karibu. I could live with that. If you want to comment or suggest an alternative to the people in power, email them at: brand@tanzania.go.tz

The Leadership Question

Couple of nights ago, a group of thirty or so folks gathered in a meeting room at a hotel in Dar es Salaam, convened by YES Tanzania*. The organization had put together a discussion involving four panelists: three parliamentarians from three different political parties, and one free-range blogger/columnist who doesn't quite know how she ended up there. The discussion topics: Leadership, Energy (electricity, really), Constitution and Loliondo. Oh, and Chatham Rules applied which basically means that I can tell you what went down but I can't tell you who said what. Sorry.

As these things go, it was an intensely informative experience and I am still digesting. But I'll give you at least one impression per issue discussed:

1. Loliondo: I am so glad we talked about it. Everyone wanted to talk about it. We'd either been there, or knew someone who had been there, or were skeptics about the whole thing. What was really interesting about that topic was the fact that we were all more keen to share thoughts and experiences than to condemn each others' competing views. I think that maybe we needed the catharsis of free and open dialogue. Democracy in action: not contention, not consensus, but freedom of speech, in search of understanding.

2. Energy: uh, guys. This thing is one complicated ball of knotty problems that leads straight into the heart of our obsession with corruption, lack of accountability, reformist agendas in the current government and the ins and outs of professional politics. Not only did we meander back in history to 1992 when the first power shortage crisis hit the country, we got a glimpse into how things really get done in this country just by listening to one industrialist, one banker and three politicians recount the events of the past nearly twenty years while give some personal commentary. In a nutshell, don't get too excited about this problem being solved overnight. It's going to require some serious muscle.

3. The Constitution: Constitutional law is not for the faint-hearted. This topic was fielded by one particular politician who rapid-fired in Kiswahili over a broad range of issues about the Articles of Union, the Union itself, the legal soundness of our Constitution and a host of other things that I am not sure I can even begin to explain here. It's complicated? Doesn't even begin to cover the nuances of the multilayered cake that is our legal foundation. Wow.

4. The leadership question: well, this was my area of "expertise" actually. As the only civilian on the panel I was duty-bound to push the question of what leadership actually means for people in the public life. And what that, in turn, means for the people whom they have sworn to serve. What I hoped to convey in the discussion was that leaders need to be exceptional. They need to inspire us and make us confident of their principles and character. They need to rise above the demands of populism, of pettiness, of selfish desire in order to reach for the ultimate goal- real public service, and a legacy worth the sacrifices. I sort-of managed that (because public speaking is one of my seven circles of hell) but I didn't have to worry- between the moderators and the professional politicians things got taken care of.

I despair, sometimes, as maybe you do. It can be hard to believe that any of the political craziness is going to result in anything good. I mentioned that the other panelists were from three different political parties. Well, I wish you could have been there to see what collaboration looks like when politicians show that Tanzania matters more to them than differences in ideology. Socialist, conservative or liberal- in the end they all turned out to be Republicans. I found that reassuring, even if I am not naive enough to think that these magical moments of conviviality can be allowed to see the light of day in our current political environment.

Let me conclude with this sentiment: leadership isn't a superpower. Some people have it more than others, which is good because someone has to do the dirty work of governing. Awed as I might have been by the strong Alpha/Beta Male waves of political accomplishment in which I was smothered, I did get to glimpse one thing: they're just people. Unexpectedly sweet**, and subject to all the same vagaries of life that you are. If they can do it- heck, if I can dare to join them in a debate- then you can damn well believe that you can too.

Well, you can try anyways :)

*YES Tanzania is a registered non partisan and non profit organization that intends to bring together, network and provide positive - constructive platform for Tanzania young senior executives from public, private and civil society to discuss, connect, celebrate and showcasing their achievements on various leadership based issues for better Tanzania.

YES's Philosophy is "To enable young executives to stay connected and to become better leaders, as well as to promote thought leadership and constructive engagement”

** Yes, I am aware that I shouldn't get too fond of politicians. But I was literally in the middle of three vortexes of intense Tanzanian Charm Offensive of the political Super variety. I didn't stand a chance.

Goings Ons

I meant to update the blog but you know what they say about Good Intentions. I had a thingy written up for April Fool's day, and another thingy about women's work and then I thought maybe tackle politics again or something then I got distracted by the offline life and that was that. As a peace offering, here's some stuff I have been marinating that hasn't made it to blogpos/rant status yet. I thought I'd put them down as questions and take the "social" bit of social media for a spin:

1. Have you ever noticed that women are excluded from the streetlife and Kijiwe culture? What do you think about that, and what it does for women's participation in politics/public life? What is a woman's work in this decade, anyways?

2. So there's oil in Zanzibar, and gas and stuff, that's going to be explored anytime now. To share revenue, or not to share revenue- now that's the questin? Apparently natural resources are not a Union matter. I want to hear from the Mainlanders: fair? Not fair?

3. Speaking of: is anyone still interested in dissolving the Union? I mean a Mainland movement, since Zanzibar hasn't exactly been shy about telling us exactly where we can shove our Muungano these past couple of years.

One new development with the blog is that I have recently begun to sell my soul at roughly 800 words a week to the East African. Cross-pollination between media or something of the sort. I tried to keep it under wraps for a while since I'm still figuring out how this thing works (ie. surviving frequent deadline-induced panic attacks). Now that I think about it, trying to be undercover about writing a weekly column in a regional newspaper is not the brightest idea I have ever had. So I'm coming clean... for accountability's sake ;) And on that note, I have homework to do and bail-money to save up for so let me get cracking.

Elections 2010: Seen Around Stone Town

I noticed walking around Zanzibar that the posters were telling a story. In Bongo, you can't look anywhere without His Grinning Beauteousness plastered all over the city in various 'warm and thoughtful' poses. Every. Hundred. Meters. But in Zanzibar...

This gentleman noticed me taking pictures a month ago (I wasn't as stealthy as I had hoped). He made sure to insert himself in the frame to direct my attention to the candidate of his choice whom he referred to reverently as 'our chairman, our beloved leader.' Where do we get our political terms from, Maoist China? Honestly.

I saw these gentlemen last week and stealthed a picture using the old 'I'm just texting, don't mind me' trick. It is very weird to see the Forces of Peace, Security and Stability in such number in Zanzibar.

Especially when there are guns involved. World Heritage Site, anyone? Check out the condition of the various posters.

You Are What You Eat?

Food has been on my mind a lot lately. Over the last month I have fielded questions about what makes up authentic Tanzanian food. It's a pretty interesting question, culturally-speaking and I think it can probably be answered about 100 different ways... Octopus curry, for example, might be common on the coast but you'll be lucky to find a Lake Zoner who will cheerfully eat sea food. Best way to figure the answer out is probably to just travel the country and eat. Simple.

But if you can't get around it all, Chef-in-training Issa has put together this impressive food blog in Kiswahili. Hidden between posts about apple-carving and thai dishes are excellent recipes for some staples like maizemeal ugali, chapati, maandazi, dagaa etc. The man loves his food, and judging by his following he's an institution :)

Not Like Sheikh Yahya

Our resident celebrity "master" of the predictive arts, Sheikh Yahya Hussein, has a habit of forseeing political performance long after the election results have been announced. He also likes to plays it safe by stating the obvious.

Why let him have all the fun? Since we have a month to go, this is a good time to read some tea leaves of my own:

1. Jakaya Kikwete is going to be re-elected as President. Tanzania always re-elects the incumbent. Besides, there is no viable candidate for the Union Presidency outside of the CCM yet. This won't be the case in 2015 and 2020 if our opposition keeps maturing (which is hardly guaranteed by the looks of it).

2. Jay Kay is going to win with maybe 60-65% of the vote. Of course CCM knows it can't reproduce it's ridiculous 80% win from 2005 even though it has plastered Jay Kay all over anything that sits still long enough. There is nothing like staring at an incumbent's feet of clay for five years straight to kill off any romance.

3. Which means that Dr. Slaa (Chadema) will come second with maybe 10-15% of the vote, and the other stragglers will split whatever is left over.

4. Maalim Seif (CUF) is the next President of Zanzibar, unless something dramatic happens between now and October 31st.

5. Opposition is going to increase its presence in parliament significantly- it may even work it's way up to 25-30% of the Bunge if voters wield that pen right.

6. These elections and the next five years will really test CCM's powers of cohesion. CCJ might have been an aborted exercise, but I predict that the first real splinter group is likely to appear before 2015.

7. Without a doubt there will be, um, 'discrepancies' in the poll numbers as they come in. But thanks to our friends in the IT industry and the nascent movement of independent citizen oversight and reporting, rigging this vote is going to be tougher than usual. This is good: some jobs are just too important to leave to a state organ like the National Electoral Commission. No chads will be left hanging...

Overall, October 31st is going to be about consolidating the inroads made by the opposition, considering policy and ideology along with political personalities, and opening up Tanzania's democratic spaces: local government, parliament, media- especially social media.

Speaking of social media, Uchaguzi2010 is working as an online aggregator of online election coverage. The blog lacks an 'about us' section, which I find problematic, but the content is all referenced. The best part is the GoogleDocs candidate list, which should become very interesting as of October 31st 6:00 pm onwards. The Revolution is being broadcast: tune in, think, connect, vote, report.

Elections 2010: Zenji

I did the usual survey of political opinions in Zenji while I was there the past week. From the man on the street, it sounds as though the predictions for the coming elections are positive. Taxi Driver Number One told me that Zanzibaris were only waiting for the elections to formalize the coalition government since Maalim Seif is the favorite candidate. Taxi Driver Number Two confirmed this, and the only CCM member I could corner said something along similar lines. Other things that I learned: Zanzibar is interested in renegotiating the terms of the Union in it's favor, consensus politics are preferable to oppositional politics, Eid ul Fitr gets celebrated for four days straight (!), the Zanzibari/Zanzibara distinction is alive and well.

The mood on the island was quite relaxed as far as I could tell, even though there were more campaign posters than there are Zanzibaris. Upon leaving, I got a bit of ribbing about not hanging around to see the vote... but much as I would love to watch Zanzibar ease in a genuine coalition government, elections is no time for a mainlander to be hanging around without a press pass.

Back in Dar, I got The Question from the two drivers I regularly work with and one electrician: what's going on in Zenji? In the discussions, seems like everyone is interested and invested in the outcome of this election, and the overall message is quite clear- party politics are all well and good, but this time around people are voting for individuals. Evidently, the High Court needs to get on the independent candidate wagon already...

Five Days in September.

Last week I had every intention of blogging on a daily basis. I thought I might ease one or two mild bodily discomforts while learning what this thing called Afrikan Yoga is all about. Certainly, I was looking forward to having a lot of quiet time by the beach to do some writing and thinking and resting and all that good stuff that one associates with a retreat..

...not so much. Who knew these things could be so exhausting?

Day one was fine. I felt like a beached whale trying to do the samba but that was only to be expected after two years of inactivity. Besides, there were six other retreatees to meet and get to know. And lots of fresh teas to consume: cinnamon, vanilla, lime, lemongrass... Babuu, a bouncy young entrepreneur with pecs the size of grapefruits and a plot on a spice farm, would get his mama to brew up some teas for after the evening practice with stuff he picked fresh as we watched him.

On day two I saw the right side of 6:00 am for the first time this year when I woke up for morning meditation... and learned to my surprise and through powerful experience that meditation should come with a mental health warning. I was slightly more graceful at yoga (think gimpy manatee), but the day passed in a haze of total highness brought on by excessive deep breathing of fresh air and consumption of herbal teas. I am starting to understand why some yogic types float and twinkle their way through life sustained by nothing but water and sunshine.

On day three, total system shut-down. Yoga done right is holistic, which means that you experience a lot of physical as well as emotional and psychological sensations as you open up to the practice. Physical detox is hard. While I wasn't as sore as I had expected to be considering the 4+ hours of practice per day, I was certainly ready to rip out someone's liver and eat it raw. Not quite the tranquility I was expecting...

...but on day four, I woke up in peace. I spent the morning smugly enjoying the sensation of being ten kilos lighter and the afternoon being kneaded into a coma by Asha, the most nurturing masseuse who has ever laid hands on me.

Back in Bongo for 24 hours, it is already getting hard to recall that sense of total relaxation. So, what is Afrikan Yoga* in a nutshell? Basically, like any yoga, it is a mind-body system of practice with a spiritual component to it. A couple of hours per day composing blogposts in my head hasn't yielded an answer on how to describe the philosophy or sensations of Afrikan Yoga. So I won't bother trying to reduce the experience. I'll just say this: it is fantastic, and I am hooked. You should try it. Especially if you are African.

There will be some more Afrikan Yoga information/opportunities in the next few months- I'll keep you posted.

*Tamare Smai Taui. Also: there are pictures but my intertubes connection is so slow that I was re-incarnated three times before the damn thing realized it couldn't handle so much data.

That Hudu That You Do So Well...

Pablo The Afrikan Yoga Instructor puts it this way: Hudu is African Tai Chi. And that's some of what we were doing today on the beach in the morning. I cannot answer the question "What is Afrikan Yoga" yet, and I suspect that a week is too little time for me to understand enough to offer a comprehensive answer.

But here's some of what I have picked up so far: this is not a variant of yoga as we understand it, meaning that it does not spring from Hindu tradition. It is in fact called Tamare Smai and springs from ancient Egyptian philosophy. Did the image of Yul Brynner in a loincloth just pop into your head? That's what happened to me. But we're talking about Kemet here, and further back into exogenic creation mythologies. So why bother with terms like Yoga and Tai Chi? Because these are terms that are more widely understood, saving the Tamare Smai practitioner precious explanation time that could be used for meditation.

Thus, most of the movements I know as sun salutation from my brief affair with Ashtanga Yoga I encountered as the Journey of Ra this morning. Which brings me to the second important point: like any mind-body practice it only looks peaceful and easy to the uninitiated. One of the little secrets that yogic types like to keep to themselves is just how much of a physical wake-up call a person's first lesson is. Your body gets an opportunity to vent at you for all the ills you have put it through.

Apparently the old body's not very happy with me. In our first session I felt every single cigarette, every late night and bad posture, every skipped meal and ill-advised "one for the ditch" in my recent past. I discovered I weigh as much as a baby elephant when trying to do my push-ups off the floor, that no amount of exhaling was going to get my fingers to meet my toes in a sitting leg-stretch and that even my fat-tired Suzuki has a nimbler turning circle than my spine.

And we're going to do it all over again this evening...

So. Afrikan Yoga Retreat eh?

Yup. I am in Zanzibar for the week being introduced to Afrikan Yoga courtesy of Umoja Travels in exchange for a slow version of live blogging. The barter system is alive and well :) But honestly, James didn't exactly have to twist my arm. I have a very healthy 'alternative' side that made resisting the offer of a restful retreat in Zanzibar doing two mind-body training and healing sessions a day completely impossible. Also: Afrikan Yoga? I want to know what that is. The free 45-minute massages included in the package had nothing to do with my decision...

My friend James Chagula, who is based in London, started Umoja Travel (website under construction, link will come later) with the intention of putting together packages that afford his clients a chance to experience the Tanzania he knows and loves rather than the rather frightening "Africa" that is so often portrayed in non-African media.

His philosophy is based on personal experience. He found that what affects him most profoundly in his travels has been the people he meets- the human connections that get forged across our differences. Hence the name Umoja Travel, paying homage to the connections of our human experience.

Also, he's had a long-term interest in mind-body practice and this is the first Yoga retreat put together under Umoja- an experiment, if you will. A couple of Facebook messages back and forth between us about a month ago and here I am with our teacher Pablo and a group of ladies from London treating my body to healthfulness while ignoring the thoroughly captivated fishermen watching from the shack twenty meters away.

And you know what? It is perfect. No televisions, free WiFi and I haven't heard a single truck, voice raised in anger or vuvuzela in the past 24 hours. The permanent knot that lives in my upper right shoulder is about to get an eviction notice.

Happy Holiday :)

It is so easy to live in Dar and forget to go to Zanzibar just for the pleasure of it, so imagine my delight when one day I opened Facebook and a seven-day holiday dropped into my lap from out of the blue. I am going to be here, doing this with these lovely folks for the next seven days*.

As I write this I am on the ferry staring out at flying fish and the traffic jam of ships waiting for space at the port. I am trying to calm down after being brutalized by our No Self Respecting Bongolander Ever Stands In Line If She Can Shove and Elbow Her Way Onto A Vessel policy. I don't know why, for such polite people, we turn into that girl from The Exorcist when there is travel involved.

'Twas a minor inconvenience in an otherwise awesomely-timed trip. The tail end of Eid el Fitr in Zanzibar? Partay! I remember tickets costing about 25,000 shillings last time I took the boat, but I only paid half of that for this trip. Even cooler: free complimentary breakfast in the waiting lounge. I think Azam might be running a holiday special, which is bogglingly decent behavior to observe in a business. In my experience public holidays = stratospheric price hikes in the transport sector.

This year we can thank Pastor Crazy for raising the issue of religious tolerance... and encouraging a few of us to do some interwebs reading on Islam. I don't suppose it was his intention to shine a light upon either issue or give anyone cause to ponder them. Heh. Evidently you don't have to belong to a faith to appreciate the good it has to offer in spiritual or mindful practice. You just have to be a half-way decent human being. Ukarimu is a rare quality, and a difficult practice for most of us, but it is beautiful at heart. One of my favorite things about living in Bongo is the way that Iftar is shared across faith and class, offered in generosity and friendship.

So a belated Eid Mubarak whatever your faith may or may not be, and I hope you have had a long weekend filled with generosity and friendship and excellent feasting. I sure did :)

*Lots more info on this in the next few days.

Odds and Ends.

I was going to blog about the Union this weekend since we got Monday off and it seemed an opportune time.* So of course Tanesco cut off my power during the crucial hours of the national Union celebrations and my ISP has tanked because Seacom checked out sometime on Friday and who knows when they'll fix it. Ah, the little joys of depending on one flimsy little undersea cable. Which means that I'll have to share my rather pungent opinions about the Union, and the looming specter of the East African Federation, another day.

On the burger front, the quietly competent Palm Beach Hotel does a pretty mean sandwich accompanied by fries. It might just be the best commercial burger in The City, and is certainly a good reason to skip the traffic madness out of town on a weekday evening. Very fresh, generous portions, totally palatable the next day. The only gripe is they could leave the onions out of the patty- but I'm a purist that way.

I gotta pay my dues to the Mutual Appreciation Society and create a link loop of love right here. Isn't that artwork fantastic?

Speaking of underground fantastic, if you are on Twitter and a TZ politics junkie you need to follow this account.

And one last bit of shameless self-promotion. Watch this space.

*Don't you just love diplomatic missives? Such pretty language to remind Tanzania precisely how generous the US has been to her lately, lest she forget.

Independent candidates again, and a free earworm.

I have been finding the political news a bit snoozy these past few weeks, just can't bring myself to care much about Mpendazoe's defection to CCJ. Can't bring myself to take CCJ seriously, for that matter. The closer we get to elections, the more confused and impotent the opposition becomes- an amazing feat of sprinting towards the bottom before the race has even begun.

This week, however, has been pleasant: first we got a minor update on the impenetrable Zanzibar situation. I don't know how Zanzibar manages to be so byzantine, but they are going to put together a Government of National Unity soon without any of us political outsiders ever getting the real story. While I wish them the best, I am itching with curiosity about the whole thing: what does it mean for CCM? Who will be the next President? What did Karume and Hamad say to each other behind closed doors? The last time two Tanzanian leaders (one of them a Karume) whispered and shook hands in secret we ended up in a Union, referendum be damned. So yeah, I am a little intrigued.

Another issue close to my heart got an airing: the question of independent candidates. We all know that it is The Establishment's Banana Republic behavior that is holding everything up, but I have faith in Chief Justice Ramadhani and his crew and I don't expect them to drop the ball on this one.

Speaking about the health of our democracy, apparently the idea of following Em Pees around and asking them intrusive questions is not a bad one. Pity these kindsa studies are so costly. As Abba said: Aaaaaah, aaaaaaah! All the things I could do! If I had a little money!... (enjoy the earworm).

M. G. Vassanji was in Dar es Salaam, and he said the same thing as Yoda

I was lucky enough to meet and chat with the award-winning author M G Vassanji over the weekend during an event organized by the Soma Book Cafe. It is always fascinating to meet successful artists and get a sense of the individual behind the creative work. I found Dr. Vassanji to be quiet, thoughtful and sensitive- and very patient with some of our clumsier questions such as "Is this your first visit to Tanzania?" And although I have heard this sentiment before, Dr. Vassanji's advice to aspiring writers resonated: just do it. That's the achievement worth working towards.

Flying back from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam yesterday was an experience. As we sat on the tarmac in the Coastal Aviation puddle jumper- barebones conveyance, no air conditioning in a sardine can with about fifteen passengers- we were delayed for nearly an hour because a Boeing that was meant to take off before us couldn't leave due to debris on the runway. The Zanzibar airport authorities were supposed to have taken care of the problem two hours ago. Instead, we got treated to the French accents of the Boeing pilot declaring: "Welcome to Zanzibaaarrr, welcome to 'ell" over the radio. Its official: Hell is a gorgeous tropical island.

As my boss had said earlier on during the day, it was surprising and perhaps instructive that Zanzibaris had come out en mass in support of Maridhiano had not once protested the lack of power on the island. This is the second month running since the undersea cable from the mainland snapped and here we were waiting for someone to clear pebbles off the runway so that a Boeing could take off, while hundreds of stranded tourists- the red blood cells of the Zanzibari economy- sweated out their bottled water in the airport lounge behind us. This island wants economic autonomy. Really?

"Do or do not...there is no try." Yoda said it, a nuclear physicist-turned-author-said it, sometimes that's just the way it is.