Mon 4 Apr

Though there is no teaching this week, the college is having a kind of "open day" everyday. Students and staff have rearranged classroom furniture and hurriedly prepared wall displays.

For some reason the English Department students have come up with showing movies on an enormous plasma screen amid a room of traditional household objects –basket work, a water jug, a spear – you get the picture; quite surreal.

I'm soon adopted as a guest of honour. I'm led around, like royalty, with my hands firmly behind my back listening to someone explain everything in more detail than I care for and then unwittingly I find myself sat in the front row of some sort of presentation ceremony. When the trendy guy in a baseball cap comes and asks me my father's name I just know I'm about to get a certificate – but there's no way out. The inevitable certificate thanks me for my "great efforts which helped…" and then goes on to say "whatever we say, however we express it…we could not evaluate your achievements". I must add this to my CV.

I am set on Zanzibar, but I've not heard anything recently from Johan - I will follow up in the next few days. Salim/Salma have been very quiet for a long time - I'm a little worried. They never replied about the web domain and also ignored an email telling them I'm coming to work on the festival and will need somewhere to live. I'm looking forward to fish stew (and a few other things).