Just before 10:00 a.m. I went up on the front veranda to wait until Ray came to take us to church, and there was Noriko Noda, a Japanese woman I had met briefly the Sunday before. At that time we have only exchanged names and told each other what we were doing in Arusha; she is a physics and mathematics teacher in a secondary school outside the city. When I excused myself and said I was going to church, she expressed interest, and I said she could join us the following week if she wished. I hadn’t spoken to her since, so I was surprised that there she was ready to go with us. Since Ray’s taxi couldn’t comfortably take all of us, we had already arranged for a second car, so adding Noriko was easy.
We were some of the very first ones at church, mainly because after all these years, I still take stated times for events as real times. Before more people arrived I took a photo of the flowers up front, as I love the arrangements different people bring. Noriko also decided to take a photo. I hadn’t asked Noriko about any religious affiliation I was pleased that she seemed very at ease. Gradually the church filled up, and the usual service began.
After the service, everyone always mixes and mingles over coffee or tea out on the brick terrace in front. Of course, there were people with whom Ron and Colette knew or were connected because of their many years in the Congo. Colette spotted on of the members of the women’s group who was wearing a spectacular dress and somehow got into a conversation about cloth and tailoring which lead to an invitation to go shopping the next day. In all my years of knowing Mary, I had never learned that she is an accomplished seamstress and her daughter is an international fashion designer.
As before, Sharon offered to take us somewhere to eat. Noriko needed to return to Kundayo to work on lessons, but the rest of us decided to try George’s, the place we were last Sunday again. We were joined by another couple and a young woman, Rachel, from Canada who is here working with the only program for autistic individuals that I know of in Arusha. Rachel is also a dancer and gives free ballet lessons to children in her spare time. One of the joys of being here is that there is always someone new and interesting to meet.
Ron, Colette, and John all decided to order the special grilled lamb with mashed potatoes, cooked greens, and a big Greek salad for 30,000 Tsch. The plates were huge as were the servings, so each brought about half of their food home for a meal on Monday. John was feeling very guilty for spending approximately $15 on his meal, but I asked him where he thought he could get such a dinner at that price at home, and he realized he couldn’t. I myself had modestly ordered one of the build-it-yourself salads, which was so huge, I brought more than half of it home with me. Everyone was having a terrific time and Colette commented on how many little children there were running about. There must have been 20 or more between the ages of toddler to 10 years, and they ran in and out (Georges is completely open on the garden side), playing on the swing set and with each other on the terrace. I had never seen so many families with small children in a restaurant before, and it was lovely to watch. No one fussed, cried, called for a parent, or threw a fit, and sometimes the bigger children picked up and carried the smaller ones. We were definitely not in America.
It was mid-afternoon before we returned to Kundayo and took naps, after which we spent more time with Ron and Colette, catching up on family news and filling in the details of the years we have been apart. I feel sad that I missed so many years of being more closely connected with Colette, who truly is a remarkable woman.
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