Nungwi Zanzibar: Mr. HQP

Nungwi Zanzibar: Mr. HQP.
Dec 13
I woke up at lunch and went to the beach at Nungwi Zanzibar for the afternoon.  I spent a couple of hours laying in a hammock watching the tide come in and out and then went to sit in the sand.  A local tout came and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride in a boat for the afternoon.  I told him about my night last night.  He had big eyes and was impressed.  When he knew I was not going to buy a tourist boat ride from him he told me he weed from Mt. Kilimanjaro.  I told him I do not smoke weed.  He left…  I get offered pot about three times a day.  Yesterday I met a guy who was overly enthusiastic to meet me.  He actually tried to meet me the day before when I had my backpack on as I was arriving but I knew by his fake enthusiasm that he wanted to find a way to sell me something to get his hands on my money.  Yesterday in his enthusiasm he asked me what my name is.  I told him.  I asked him his out of politeness and he told me, “You can call me Mr. HQP.  That stands for High Quality Products.”  I actually appreciated his effort at that point for creating a crafty name, but told him he had nothing that I wanted.

The white tourists are showing up in Nungwi Zanzibar.  I have been one of a handful on this beach for a couple of days, but they are flocking in for the holiday season.  I do not feel like having the dry conversation about where I am from, what I do for a living, and how long will travel for.  But people want to have that conversation.  I like to play games and try to escape their questions.  Today Fey and I were sitting on the beach talking about the white girls and perving them to make cultural comparisons when a guy named Jonathon came to try to befriend us.  By ‘befriending us’ I mean me, because Jonathon looked at me and not Fey for the whole time he was talking to us.  I just wanted to hang around with Fey…  Jonathon, in his nervousness asked us if we are from here.  I know he is just trying to be friendly, however I could not help but play games with him.  I told him, “Yes, I am from here.  I grew up in the village just down the road.”  He laughed and asked how Fey and I knew each other.  I told him we are bothers.  He asked, “Twins?”  I said, “Yes, but different eggs.  It was quite a shock to our father when we came out like this and dad had an awful lot of questions for our mom.”  Realizing I was a dead end, Jonathon eventually went to leave and I felt bad for it.  But, ‘Jonathon, I am just not interested to meet you.  I am not interested in talking about the rain in Europe or the university education you have.  Maybe someday I will be lonely and wish I had you as a friend, but I am just indifferent right now.  I used to be like you man, but I am just not anymore.’  So, Jonathon went to sit down with the girls that Fey and I were perving and made friends with them while Fey and I sat there like lumps on the beach in Nungwi Zanzibar.  Jonathon will probably end up sleeping with one of those girls, and I will not.  And as much as I would like to as well, I am just not willing to put in the ‘western world utopia in Africa’ time right now for some self satisfaction.