A Letter To Shaun

You really develop a love/hate relationship with Africa after living here. It is a beautiful place but at the same time a very ugly place. Stunning beaches, shades upon shades of blue and green water, white sand and thousands of palm trees. But also AIDS, poverty, malaria, and disease. You can have the most serene moment spoiled by absolute trajedy. I have had staff die from AIDS. More than once I have given someone the day off because their child has died. Malaria is common. I don't think I will understand this place even twenty years from now when I look back at it in retrospect. It is without a doubt the craziest place I have ever been. These people survive on less than what is in your trash can right now. Yet they have some of the most abundant resources on the planet. Most of my staff make around $60-80 per month. And many have to feed and clothe a family on that. So you can imagine the expression on their faces when I (embarrassingly) tell them that I paid $280 for my iPod. Or $1200 for a camera lens.



I am still struggling to find my place here at the resort. I am running it. I am somehow holding it all together. And somehow it is holding me all together. But I don't understand how. I am in a really strange place emotionally. Not a bad place. But understanding what is going on around me is challenging to say the least. Most of my staff has not had education past Standard 7. Many have had no education. It is something that we totally take for granted.

In many ways I will miss Mafia. But there is a part of me that wants to take the film out of the camera, point it over my shoulder, and take the picture. Leaving it all behind and taking nothing more than a memory. I will miss the people and the friends that I have made. But I think that I won't be able to easily look back. Because I will probably know where my next meal is coming from. I will probably be making more than $2 per day. I will have the security of living in the USA. And when I think of them I will be wondering if they are still alive. Statistics say that ten of my staff of fifty will die from AIDS. So which ones? How and why? Which ones are sick with malaria? It's all really surreal. Because you don't see any of it at the resort. The resort is polished. It is luxury. It is not Africa. It is $440/night for a couple. Africa is the guy who didn't come to the resort today because he had to walk 10 miles to get some expired American asthma medicine for his sick and dying grandmother. It will cost him a couple days pay. And it will be a tax write-off and a charitable deed on paper for an American pharmaseutical company.

I am learning a lot about food here. There is a lot of African influence in Caribbean food. A lot of the recipes that I am collecting are very similar to the ones found in the Caribbean. Same recipe - different name. The African food is a bit spicier. Lots of influence brought here by Indians and Arabs during the slave and spice trade. I have Jon bringing me like $200 worth of books about African food and history. So I am pumped to have things on the way that will keep me busy. Not that I am not busy enough already.



I like working in Third World kitchens. Because I can get away with a lot of shit that I couldn't get away with in places like USA. I remember talking with you at Pebbles about contracting a charter boat fisherman so we could cut out the middle-man. And I remember the tremendous amount of red tape an expense involved in doing it. It is really frustrating. I have fish delivered strapped to the back of bicycles. It is fresh as. But can you imagine that scene in Winter Park? I kill my own goats, chickens, ducks, and guinea fowl. They are delivered to the back gate alive. Nobody gets sick. Working in places like this allows you to get in touch with your food. Most Americans are completely out of touch. And the problems that we have right now with obesity and diabetes are largely attributed to that. Even my dishwashers can fully dress a goat or a lamb.

Most of the younger generation along the Swahili Coast have lost touch with old-school Swahili recipes. They favour the fish-n-chips that is starting to come into the big cities. Once Tanzania can afford KFC and McDs all the authentic recipes will die. There is no interest in their preservation. So I have been hunting down all the old mommas and picking their brains. I pay them $1 for a recipe. Their recipes will die with them. The young ones aren't interested. I am trying to preserve their food and history. There isn't a whole lot of info out there.

So.......all is well. I just need a day off. Four months now without one. 110-hour weeks. I'm looking forward to a trip to Central America. I crave Cuba too. I need Cuban cigars. Cuban rum. A Cuban sandwich. And a Cuban woman. Not necessarily in that order though. Give all my love out. I will see you guys around April. Will try to stay for a month or so and then I will probably jet to Alaska again.

Peace.