Apparently the high in Zanzibar will be 90 degrees fahrenheit today. Sounds lovely. In the new world it's been drizzling all day. Rain can be nice as long as you don't have to fight against it, as long as you are sedentary and in league with the vague depression it demands. Of course, by depression I mean no connotation of sadness, only lethargy and maybe a down-comforted anhedonia. But I am at work, and have to abandon the islay tonight (if only briefly).
How do you find the women in Zanzibar? I understand that you're there for research which is an inherently impersonal enterprise, but you too are a man. Do you feel an alienation from the people because you are there to study them? I imagine when you go out socially and you tell them that your relationship with their culture is objective study it must put a damper on conversation. That which they are so steeped in they are unaware of, you are chewing on. Are you always looking for clues in your social outings? Little hints or subtleties of interaction that while not being directly applicable to your grand work may elucidate, indirectly, some more concrete element?
I suppose cross cultural (even academic) dating is no more alienating than the objectification and analysis that goes on within a culture.
But at the same time there's the advantage of geography! Romances that occur on extended trips are always the most intense because you know it won't be long until you have to say adieu and that pre-ordained pain guarantees suffering, and suffering is a synonym of Passion. Maybe you should even look for someone on the far side of a language barrier. Just think, you'll always have Zanzibar....
I eagerly away your reply.
-Robert de Saint-Loup
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