Valentine's Day

February 14, 2018, Wednesday

Valentine’s Day in Iringa. It seems strange how far my life has spun out since I was a small child in Oregon, where perhaps the biggest event of my life was picking strawberries each June.  I’ve spent many Valentine’s Days in Africa in the past 50 years, but this one in Iringa is the best so far.

John decided that he wanted to visit the prehistoric rock paintings at Ipoleke this morning, so Andrew, our current taxi driver of preference, picked him up around 9:30.  That left me alone to work on photos and check out somethings on line. Meanwhile John was marveling at the paintings and also connecting with the guard/guide there, who happens to be a Mennonite pastor from Mbeya. He has moved to Iringa to start a church here. Go figure. Tanzania is full of Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans and an assortment of pentecostal churches, but not Mennonite.

Bwana John on a rock.

The Ipoleke Rock

Fellow Mennonites

Prehistoric paintings

After visiting Ipoleke, John went to Commonwealth War Graves - Iringa War Cemetery, a WWI cemetery. There are both British and German soldiers buried there as well as a few more recent Europeans who died in Iringa. John found it very interesting that the Commonwealth still pays for the upkeep of this cemetery, as it does for other such sites in former colonies.

Iringa's Commonwealth cemetery

By the time John returned, it was lunch time, so Andrew took us to the Greek church where there is a small restaurant. All the tourist information we had read had led me to believe this would be a small, tucked away, sparkling clean place in Iringa town itself. In actuality, it was at a well-worn church in a large field, just outside of town.  Out on the terrace there were several very old men and a young American couple, who apparently had also read the same guide books as we had. John had to hunt down someone to take our order, Greek salads, which turned out to be alternating layers of sliced cucumbers tomatoes, and red onions, with some chunks of cheese, and a few olives on top. Not quite what we had expected. However, with a drizzling of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, the salads were tasty enough. The homemade rolls on the side were excellent.

The Greek Club

My Greek salad

After lunch Andrew brought us back to our hotel, where once again we read and napped until early evening. At 7:00, Andrew reappeared and drove us far to the other side of Iringa and out into the countryside where a well-reviews restaurant, Mama Iringa’s is located. John had actually gone there on his way back from Ipoleke in order to make reservations for dinner because of it being Valentine’s Day. I was very surprised at how far out in the cornfields this place was. It was after dark but when we arrived and entered into the central courtyard.  There were candles and other lights on at the restaurant, which is mainly out on a terrace, facing the center garden. Several guest rooms were around two other sides of the rectangle. It was quite a magical scene.

Since it was Valentine’s Day, we decided to indulge in several courses and some Dodoma white wine for me. We began with a very tasty bruschetta, followed by eggplant parmesan. Our main course was a large ham, olive, and artichoke pizza, with a perfect crust. Finally for dessert, John had homemade pistachio gelato, and I tiramisu. The food was much more subtly seasoned than our American Italian fare and absolutely excellent.

Enjoying dinner at Mama Iringa's

Who could imagine the disconnect in being out among the cornfields in a fine Italian restaurant with a crowd of Tanzanians and wazungu celebrating Valentine’s day? One very young couple, who just had to be Americans, walked in holding hands with the woman carrying a red rose. The young Italian family next to us kept busy entertaining their toddler and hushing their infant, who was incredibly vocal—not fussy, just trying out its voice. A Chinese couple we have seen elsewhere in Iringa was there as well. And there were several large tables with mixes of Africans and wazungu having a very happy time. How different from the blandness of Spokane!

“Mama Iringa" herself, an actual Italian woman, was circulating among the guests, most of whom seemed to be good friends with her as well as with each other. It was good that John had made reservations, as the place was full.. It was well after 9:00 p.m. until we were ready to leave and bump through the darkness, back across Iringa and to our hotel for the night. This was definitely a Valentine’s Day to remember.