Somewhere over the rainbow

No, I have not left yet: I go tomorrow. But I woke up this morning thrilled to see a perfect arc of a rainbow across the western sky from horizon to horizon, and immediately grabbed my camera and ran outside in my nightgown to shoot it, oblivious to the rain. It rains so little here in LA it's rare to see a rainbow, and even more so a complete 180 degrees. My friend Susana once told me that in Sierra Leone where she comes from they say the rainbow signals that an elephant is giving birth, which I guess is a good thing. I do hope this is a good omen for my journey.

Frankly my dear, it's the gear

Before I put even a scrap of clothing into my suitcase, I am carrying miles of cables, and tons of transformers, electronic gadgets, and music recordings.

I've got a cute little “netbook” laptop (Acer Aspire), and charger, iPod & charger, several sets of earphones, digital camera and charger, DSL cable, plug adapters, flash drive, extra SD card, a CD /cassette/radio player and batteries for Samba, for use in rehearsals with the band, knife-proof money pouch, and some nifty new sandals. Am I ready for anything? No. I have no clue what I am going to bring to wear. It seems the weather in Nairobi is colder than even L.A. is this winter, and rainy. So instead of shorts and tank tops I need to bring full-on warm winter clothes, socks, sweats, plus the said tropical outfits for Zanzibar's alleged heat and humidity (but you are supposed to cover up to respect the Muslim traditions!) , and then a one-day layover in London, where it seems they just had a blizzard. I am hoping for at least one day at the famed Indian Ocean beaches, but does one have to swim in a hijab?