Merry Christmas

I returned Wednesday from Zanzibar. It was a wonderful break. I didn’t do much this time – only a trip to the Prison Island (which never served as a prison),some snorkelling and a beach party. Zanzibar is an island province off the coast of Tanzania. Originally, it was part of the Sultanate of Oman and Zanzibar. It has been governed by the Portuguese, Germans, and English at various times. Just after it’s independence in the 60’s, it joined with Tanzanika to form the country Tanzania. It’s really a nice place, with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I spent most of my time in Stonetown, the largest town, and on the northern tip at Nungwi and Kendwa.

Most of my time was spent with some people I met last year who live and work there. We walked around, drank some beers, talked a lot, and generally enjoyed ourselves. It was pleasant and got my mind off Congo.

Now I’m back and it is hectic. We have 22 expats leaving this month, and 27 arriving! This planning is taking a lot of my time. There are also quite a few changes in the programs.

Fortunately, Laurence from Paris did some great work to advance our salary study. I must finalize it and make a tour to announce the changes in both the salary and function scales. And Anne, the person who will be picking up the finances, arrived Wednesday. This is going to change my life!

This will be the 4th year that I spend Christmas on mission and I love it. We are all away from home, but with each other. This year we should be around 13 at the house for the event. I think that I bought enough gifts in Zanzibar for everyone. If not, I will find some things here – being a primarily Christian country, the shops are already decorated for Christmas. And I will probably go crazy fixing food as I did the other years. It is relatively quiet in Congo for the moment. I hope that it remains like this so that we can enjoy the holidays. I really am an old child!