Pretzels

I turned 33 yesterday, but you'd never know it because I look good for my age. I am also modest beyond my years. I am told by others on this trip that 33 is supposedly the best year of your life. They read it in a newspaper article that may or may not have been written by a 33 year old man. Regardless, I won't argue with that notion. The 2 other guys on this trip that are 33 haven't worked a day since reaching that milestone, and for the first 6 months of my 33rd year I won't be working either. Instead, I am currently 'roughing' it on the island of Zanzibar. It was pretty tough spending my birthday on white sandy beaches, swimming with dolphins and other tropical fish, and going on a sunset boat cruise, but I was up to the challenge. It actually was a bit difficult spending my first birthday away from home. I enjoy having my mom cook a birthday dinner and spending time with family. There are definitely times on this trip when I have felt lonely despite all the fun I am having, and even though it was my birthday, yesterday was one of those days. That is, until I was given the gift of pretzels. You know, for all that is great about Africa, they don't sell pretzels. Cookies, chips, and crackers...yes. Pretzels....no. I had mentioned a few weeks back, that I didn't want a birthday cake. I just wanted some pretzels. Our tour leader left us a week ago to fly home to England for a wedding. She returned a couple of days ago to join us in time for Zanzibar. So as they were singing happy birthday to me on our boat cruise, she had me close my eyes so she could give me a birthday present. That present could have been just about anything, but she then asked me to open my mouth and fed me a pretzel. She had gone to 4 different grocery stores in London in search of pretzels to bring back to Africa for my birthday. Penn State was the brand of pretzel. Made in England and meant to pay homage to the place where pretzels are correctly made in the USA. They were delicious. That was an amazing birthday present and definitely put a smile on my face for the rest of the night.

So we head back to mainland Tanzania tomorrow and I will be heading to the Ngorogoro Crater and Serengeti over the coming days. Hope all the fathers reading this post have a fun Father's Day, and may the Baltimore Orioles keep on winning. Cheers.