Zanzibar 88, Part One

In March 1988, Robert Philipson, working on a dissertation about an untranslated Swahili playwright, arrived in Zanzibar for a two-week intensive language course at the Swahili Institute, but the island had other lessons to teach. Within hours of landing in Stone Town, he found himself adopted by the baraza called "Jaws," a gathering of men who socialized in one of the public squares on a nightly basis. Very quickly he developed a special friendship with two of them: Haroub, the self-proclaimed Rasta who became an object of fascination, and Abou, the devout Muslim with a true heart. He also developed a friendship with Mwalimu Jecha, his language teacher at the Swahili Institute who put him through his linguistic paces four hours a day but also invited him into his home.Philipson also discovered Zanzibar during Ramadan, when the island's rhythms shifted—restaurants closed during daylight; he ate surreptitiously in his rented house; and he was invited to elaborate futari, feasts that were both spiritual observances and expensive domestic obligations. Philipson's homosexuality, which he'd had to submerge while conducting research at the University of Dar es Salaam, flared up through his friendship with Haroub, where a mutual sexual tension simmered beneath the surface. The magic of Zanzibar revealed itself in episodes: an expedition to Prison Island, swimming in calm waters with Stone Town's yellowing houses rising against the sky, the exotic beauty of sunset over the Indian Ocean, and the realization that speaking Swahili allowed him not merely to visit but to inhabit a place secure enough in its own culture to weather history's depredations with grace and even humor.And then . . . the sexual tension finally broke through.Music:"Bahati" — Shikamoo Jazz"Culture Musical Club - 1 - LIVE at Afrikafestival Hertme" — Bi Kudude and the Culture Musical Club"Jamba Bwana" — Them Mushrooms"Malaika" — Fadhili William"Muziki Asili Yake Wapi" — Remmy Ongala"My Angel (Malaika)" — Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba"Ramadan" — Hurairah and Rahma Tashtitiy"Ramadan (Arabic-Malay/Bahasa Version)" — Mostafa Abo Rawash"The Fisherman’s Life and Gratitude to the Sea" — Crejo Studio"Three Little Birds" — Bob Marley