Is this what going crazy feels like?

I think it's probably fairly routine for all of us, from time to time, consider the current state of our own sanity.  Or maybe that's just me...  But regardless, the weekends in Mogo are shaping up to be a real test to my mental tenacity.  The deal is there just are not that many people around or things going on during the weekends and it's starting to make me go a little crazy.

Wait, revision: there are almost NO people around on the weekends and there are ZERO things going on.

You know how they say that babies will die if no one touches them, because they need the human interaction.  Yea, that's kind of how I feel right now.  Not just that I don't have "things" I could be doing (I've got plenty of both mundane and relatively fun activities I could occupy myself with); it's that I am starved for human contact.  I could go on a long walk somewhere or tooling around town, but I simply cannot bear the thought of one more afternoon spent alone amidst people that so clearly feel at home here right now.

If you're starting to be concerned for my mental wellbeing, rest assured you're hearing the most extreme, but also honest, version of how I feel.  I do have a couple of co-workers I occasionally go out for a beer with and my neighbors are wonderful and I do spend time with them.  But overall it's just nowhere near enough to sustain the level of human interaction I apparently need.

I'm not averse to time by myself; some of that I like, some of that I need.  But my introverted tendencies have long since been satisfied and now the extrovert in me is kicking and screaming to get let out.  I could delineate all the reasons why it's so hard to meet people here (I live far from town, work in a very small office that doesn't interact with any other departments at the university, people go to Dar for the weekend, etc. etc.) but the point is this situation cannot keep up this way.  I can't mentally handle it.  It makes me feel crabby and lonely and isolated - and I can't go through feeling this way every single weekend I'm here.

I guess the best thing I can think to do right now is a dual-strategy: 1) make every effort I can to find some people to hang out with.  This can be hard for me, because my introverted side comes out when I'm in new situations and I can be a little reserved.  Time to get over that.  2) try to recalibrate my social needs a little more. What I mean is that in a normal life in the US you have friends you see on a daily basis, here friendships or special outings or events might be more spread out, but they also tend to be bigger (i.e. going to Zanzibar for the weekend, not just out to dinner).  This isn't the best strategy, but trying to get myself to adjust to lonelier times in Mogo, in exchange for more exciting times of travel and adventure with friends might help.

To any friends who have lived outside the US, any advice on how to deal with the loneliness factor or make friends?