Zanzibar for Obama

If the rest of the world could vote for the American president, I'm pretty sure the race would have already been decided. I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with taxi drivers and shop owners, coworkers and strangers, children and adults, about everyone's favorite candidate - Barack Obama.

In Stone Town, there is a tree right in the middle of a park that bears a painted portrait of Mr. Obama. When I came back by this tree later in the afternoon, the concrete base around it had been spray painted with the phrase, 'OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT'.
While I admired the artwork, Masoud Salim, the self-proclaimed director of the 'Zanzibar for Obama' campaign, introduced himself to me. He gave both my friend and I his business cards (conveniently printed on the back of an old menu from an Indian restaurant) and was thrilled when my friend pulled Obama's book, 'Audacity of Hope', out of her beach bag.