stinky room

so i never saw maputo, only at night, but i figure i was staying in some sort of foofy neighborhood that looked like rio. but pemba is cute. beach town, more mud-huttey than i expected, and a lot of american tourists. they drive on the left here, which makes me wonder, at what border do they decide to switch sides (in congo you drive on the right)? i'm on the beach in this little residence called 'wimbi sun' next to a brightly lit casino, and this tasty restaurant called the dolphin hut. at first, i was worried when i saw "dolphin steak" and "dolphin burger" on the menu, but they are just referring to their name, duh. kids roll in the sand while you eat lunch under a thatch hut. beer is cheaper than juice or fanta. my room is really big, has air conditioning, a whole bunch of harsh fluorescent lighting and hot, running water! there's a plastic patio chair and a matching table. my bed is actually two twin beds sideways. my bedside lamps plug into empty holes in the wall that pretend to be outlets. my phone is a decorative phone. it has buttons, a receiver, but no cords connecting anything. when you walk into the front door you think, oh, there's no one at the front desk, but no, the young muslim dude is usually on the floor praying while watching american tv. superbad was on yesterday. today, notting hill.the maid guy comes and wipes the floor with a rag under his barefeet and walks backwards to the door to make sure to leave no footprints. now that's service.



so i read in the lonely planet guide that you don't flush toilet paper down the toilet. you put it in the trashcan that's usually next to the toilet. so, that's why all these these bathrooms are so gosh darn stinky! same goes for my hotel room. only my hotel room doesn't have a trashcan, it's just a bucket. a lime green plastic bucket with a butterfly on it, fluttering happily next to a little smiley asian girl holding flowers. there's a chinese price tag on it and underneath the picture it says "best wishes! i feel dreams, i am hapiness, i am fairty [sic]" um, this bucket does not smell at all like what it describes. it takes very little to attract flies here. why did i ask the management to only come clean my room every 3 days? i go to the bathroom a lot. enough said.