Free Friday

Friday, January 25, 2019

Yesterday afternoon, Mary Lou remarked that she hadn’t been out of the Kundayo compound for two days. I replied that it had been three days for me, and I was not complaining. That’s one of the wonderful aspects of being here, time and days pass by so peacefully that there is no stress level to worry about. Reading, blogging, talking with the staff and Mama, doing laundry, and cooking dinner all fill the days with enough to do. Sometimes I simply sit and watch the banana and palm trees sway in the breeze and feel contented and happy. We are far too task driven back in the States, and if our calendars are not full of appointments and projects, we worry that we are “wasting time.”  Here time cannot be wasted, only lived in.

For dinner last evening, I made my eggplant stew once again. It’s not a complex recipe, but preparing and chopping all the vegetables takes a lot of time. By the time I had everything prepped, I was drenched in sweat. It was extremely warm but I don’t know the actual temperature. Fortunately once the sun goes down around 6:30 p.m. the air cools off, and we can enjoy being outside again, so we eat all of our evening meals out at the table on our little front terrace. Our usual dinner entertainment is watching small, translucent lizards snap up the insects which fly near the outside light. We always cheer when one of the lizards gets a large moth which takes many gulps to swallow.

Dining area on our terrace.

This was the morning when Mary Lou was leaving to go on her 4-day camping safari, so I made sure I was up and dressed in time to give her a proper send off. Yesterday afternoon, the pick-up time had changed from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. so I didn’t need to get up earlier than usual after all. Mary Lou was very excited and dress in classic safari garb even with a correct sun hat. John took photos of her pre-launch and I during her boarding and departure. She can post what she wants upon her return. There was already an older couple in the safari vehicle, but I didn’t have time to ask where they were from. Poor Mary Lou may need to speak German to communicate with them. We’ll find out….

Safari Njema!

After Mary Lou left, John and I sat out on the garden terrace and processed our email and I my Facebook. Then, we decided to go to Kitamu for lunch and called Ray to come and get us. There must have been extra police traffic stops on the highway because Ray took us way around on back roads until we could exit out on the highway farther on. I loved it because in spite of how fiercely jolting the ride was, I got to see parts of our neighborhood I have never been in before. John has walked everywhere, but I have not. So, I felt as if I were getting a free tour as Ray sought to evade a police shakedown. Of course, there were exactly the same little shops and businesses as in the areas I have walked: produce stalls, seamstresses, open-air butchers, stationery shops, barbers, snack kiosks, brick and furniture makers, grain and egg merchants, beauty salons, and many, many churches both big and little. Of course the Lutheran church was by far the largest.

Kitamu was very full by the time we arrived, but there was still one unoccupied table for two back near the cooler. A young Japanese woman was seated next to us and as more people came in, she had to share her tiny table with other customers. She handled any discomfort she may have felt by putting in her earbuds and listening to Japanese boy bands (I could see her computer screen very clearly). John ordered the tilapia in coconut sauce with fries, and I got the Kitamu chicken stroganoff with coconut rice. Of course both entrées came with the requisite avocado slices. Then I really splurged and ordered a slice of carrot cake and a latté. John shared the cake, thank goodness. Then, I really increased our bill by purchasing one of the aprons the Albino Peacemakers has for sale at Kitamu. I think it is unusually lovely.

I love the fabrics these women use for their creations.

I wanted to try to walk from Kitamu to FiFi’s, where my second skirt was waiting to be picked up.  It was much cooler out today than yesterday, so walking was very comfortable. I watched each step carefully, as the badly broken concrete and random small steps up and down between shops can be killers for me. Along the way, we stopped in a stationery shop so I could buy notebooks and pens for the albino women if Mary Lou teaches them English (If not, I’ll just donate them elsewhere.), and a lovely mango and big avocado. We were carrying several bags by the time we reached FiFi’s, but I had made it successfully!

My second skirt is longer than the first one, and, therefore, ready to be worn publicly. I talked with Leonica about perhaps adding a tier to the bottom of my first skirt, and she said to bring it in and she’d see what can be done. This second skirt pleases me so much that I just may order another one.

Skirt #2

Soon after we arrived back at Kundayo, the electricity went off. This is, of course nothing unusual, but by later in the evening, John began to worry that the Azam ice cream he had in out tiny mini-fridge freezer compartment might melt. So, he asked Maso about putting it in the Kundayo freezer, which would stay colder longer. Soon after that transfer, about 10:15, the power came back on. We turned on the TV and there was Trump telling us the government shutdown was over. More good news.