My Zanzibari Brothers

I shamelessly swiped this picture from Steve Wehmeyer.  We've had this maddening day trying to sort out absurd last minute troubles with the upcoming Zanzibar trip.  I think we were both about the end of our tether (although not as bad as it was on our first trip when Wehmeyer's ulcer was killing him and I had a constant run of cluster headaches).  In the midst of the chaos Steve sent me an email with the header: why we do it . . ..  Figuring it was some inspirational message about teaching I opened the email and instead was very pleasantly surprised to see a picture I'd never seen before of our friends Seif and Abdul.  When we saw them in May, Seif gave me a big bear hug and said, "I've been waiting all year for you to come back."  Soon, my brothers, soon.

This must have been snapped on our spice tour two years ago.  I can tell by the hats, not Abdul's classic Zanzibari hat, but instead Seif's one made from coconut fronds (there's a picture of me wearing that same hat, although not looking nearly as handsome - or happy).