Visiting

January 3, 2018, Saturday

Elizabeth paid us a surprise visit this morning. She texted me at 7:00 a.m. to say she was coming into town and would drop by. I asked if she had a ETA, and she did: around noon.  Just in time for lunch, I thought. We often run over to the cook shack for kuku na chipsies when Elizabeth or others drop by, but this time I decided to order something from the kitchen here at Kundayo: maharage na wali (beans and rice). (I love the way they make their red beans here.) When Elizabeth arrived, she seemed in a hurry and only wanted to measure me for the dress she wants her tailor to sew for me. However, since I had already ordered lunch, she stayed for that and then hurried on her way to the big market to buy dried beans to take back to her store in Namanga. There she’ll divide the big bag into smaller bags to sell in her store up on the border with Kenya. Since every little supply store is pretty much the same in their inventory and prices, I don’t know how she gets customers to buy from her instead of someone else. She seems to be doing well though, as she is wearing some very smart outfits when she comes.

Once lunch was over and Elizabeth was gone, we took a taxi into town to Fifi’s. The young woman who was making some little outfits for Peri had told me they were finished, and I was eager to see them. I am very pleased with the two small dresses, which are in different styles and fabrics. If it wouldn’t spoil the surprise of the gift, I’d post photos, but that will have to wait until I get home and Peri is wearing them.

Then, I had a real lemonade with ice cubes in it—very rare here—while John walked over to the next street to hunt for more mango jam and a bottle of South African wine to be a gift to the friends we are having a special pizza dinner with Sunday evening. Since John knows even less about wine than I do, I gave him a price to aim for, and he returned with a bottle of shiraz merlot. That’s a new blend for me. We’ll see what our friends think.