Today is definitely bittersweet. I'm completely refreshed and ready to get back to Florida (for missed friends and family, hot water, reliable electricity, movie theaters, etc.), but I'm also leaving my second home...again. It feels like the day after Christmas- you know you can't just keep hanging out with extended family members forever, but you also know you'll miss them. Coincidentally, yesterday happened to be the Islamic equivalent to the 'Day after Christmas'. Everyone broke their month long fasting until sundown on Saturday, and my teacher's family members (I made the decision to leave Khatib's house and move back in with her and her enormous family) from all over the globe are also going back to their 'normal' lives today.

     My time with the missionaries felt so rushed. They only spent five days on the island and the rest doing malaria clinics on the mainland. It was great, though! Even though I was working hard everyday trying to establish Dhow & Jeep, I was able to work with the team in the afternoons, and the Lord used me to hook them up with a young married couple who started a Christian school / church here (only the third Christian school in Zanzibar). The wife is a nurse and was thrilled to help with the clinics. The team, led by Ron and Carol McDonald of CHARA (Construction, Health, and Relief Acts), saw over 400 people the first day! Many were treated and prayed over, there were children services at night, and we may have saved a little girl's life who had a 105 temperature. We also witnessed the construction on a school behind the church that is being built with funds from CHARA. My time, however, was split between working with the missionaries and meeting with Khatib's family and friends. It was a long, difficult process of getting his body back to Zanzibar to be buried. I won't go detail about his death here, but I want to thank everyone for their prayers and countless e-mails of support.

     As for Dhow & Jeep (pictured above is the final logo), I'll be hard at work when I get home with creating the website and marketing. With the yearly increase of visitors to Zanzibar, the tourism industry should continue to be very profitable. I'm hoping it will earn enough to fund my future trips to the island, but hopefully it will become successful enough to help fund future mission trips, which will always be my heart's main desire.

     Before I close this chapter of my travels, I'd like to leave you with this picture of me taken a couple of fur-growing weeks ago. As you can see, Chef Dave, Liquid Culture has made it's way to East Africa. Also, as I'm writing this entry,  I thought I should let everyone know that my beard is now home to three Red Colobus monkeys. I hope they don't make too much noise on the plane.