10/4 & 10/5

we arrived on pembe abwe yesterday around noon after a four hour boat ride from zanzibar. the boats were small and traditional looking, but with motors attached. i could feel the sun cooking my skin slowly and had to consequently switch seats with somebody who had been sitting under the tarp ceiling. the boat stopped halfway, and four students jumped into the ocean to go to the bathroom. we had to jump from the boats and walk to shore when we arrived, through hot murky sea water filled with seaweed. we then were reconnected with our large luggage (that we had been without for two weeks) and had a quick orientation with mike peterson, who owns the section of the beach we will be living on this week, along with the safari company we will be using for the two weeks after. then we were allowed to divide into groups for our huts. i didn't want to stay in the far-away hut i ended up in, so i'mn staying with four other people in one hut nearby (lisa, heather, kim, jazz), which should be great. the sun here is strong, and i am currently suffering from painful burns on my back and the backs of my legs. tomorrow i will wear my long pants (thank you, aunt julie!) and t-shirt in the water when we go snorkeling. we snorkel every day for two to three hours, depending on the tides.

the housing situation is pretty nice-- running water and everything, right on the beach, etc.-- except for one thing: bugs. there are inch long ants that have huge pincers and make a solid crunch when you step on them. there are also large spiders, small scorpions, lizards, and the occassional millipede or bumblebee. there are also bush babies and monkies outside, which sounds lovely, but theyu're loud as heck at night, and i suspect one of them of pulling some of my clothes from our outside laundry line. we sleep on mats on the floor, except i don't have a mat, so i sleep on my sleeping pad with a mosquito net tucked around me. it always manages to be either too hot or too cold, and right now i can only sleep on my stomach, since everything else is burned. that last paragraph was pretty negative, but it's really not that bad, plus the coast is so beautiful and it's nice being in such a secluded area. i have been reading 'orlando' by virginia woolf at night. my head lamp is my new most treasured possession.