It’s surprising how quickly the days slip by and blend into each other. I amazed how difficult it is for me to remember what happened just a day ago when so much of what we do or experience is very much the same from one day to the next. Laundry gets plunged about every other day, whites one day and darks the next time. John walks every day and almost always returns with fresh produce and fruit. I now have eggplants, mangoes, avocados, bananas, green peppers, tomatoes, and a huge pineapple to use very soon. Onions, garlic, and potatoes as well as rice are always on hand. So, I think I am likely to make eggplant stew for dinner tonight.
Yesterday, John took Mary Lou to the African Cultural Heritage Centre (http://www.culturalheritage.co.tz/), a huge complex with the interior of the main building patterned after the Guggenheim Museum in New York and set in a large campus of restaurants, dioramas, and and a massive curio shop, in which one can buy thousands of different items from plastic keychains to amazing chunks for Tanzanite for only $75K. One usually cannot see everything in a single visit, but the main exhibition center is usually more than enough to occupy an entire morning. Having been to this site several previous times, I opted to stay at Kundayo and enjoy the relative simplicity of the garden here.
John had assured me that he would be back for lunch. He planned to stop by Shoppers on his return trip and buy more samosas for us. I waited and waited and waited, and finally at 2:15, I ordered an order of french fries from the kitchen. Here the fries come with a small side of Swahili salad, thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with an oil and vinegar dressing. Beatrice also gave me a complementary dish of maharagwe, red beans. So, I was having a nice lunch of my own when the two sightseers returned soon after 2:30. John had forgotten what he had told me about lunch and Mary Lou and he had decided to have lunch in the cafe at Shoppers. I was peeved on two counts: John didn’t call to tell me he had changed lunch plans so I waited for him to return, and I missed out on a chance to try the new cafe at Shoppers. The perfect french fries mollified my disappointment, however.
This morning seemed to promise another very ordinary day of reading, writing, checking email and Facebook, but among my phone rang and it was Terry Morton, who has returned from six weeks in the U.S. and a week’s safari with her oldest son. She was at The Blue Heron, an old outdoor restaurant, and wondered if I could join her for lunch and a catch-up conversation. Of course, I wanted to meet with her, so I took off on my own and had a wonderful 3 hours in the lush garden at The Blue Heron.
 |
| Looking out at The Blue Heron's garden. |
 |
| Terry at The Blue Heron on Wednesday. |
Terry volunteers on her own dime to work with a group of albino women who work in a sewing workshop and are now marketing their creations here in Arusha and through some connections in the States. The quality of their work is better than much of what one finds in the shops and markets here, and Terry has made some good connections with local businesses which now feature their wares. In the past 5 years, I have seen a remarkable growth and evolution in what these unique women have done for themselves economically.
(https://www.facebook.com/Albino-Peacemakers-1908841156023954/)
 |
| One of the seamstresses at work. |
 |
| Terry displaying some of the women's finished items for sale. |
There was much to talk about: our families, events after March 2018 both here and in the States, the market growth for the albino women at the workshop, mutual friends, Tanzanian politics, and so forth. Previously, Terry had mentioned that the women in her group wanted to learn more English, so I brought up the idea of having Mary Lou teach them for several hours each week. She’d be perfect for this, and it would give her an entree into a very unique sub-culture. So, Terry will speak with the women to find out how much teaching they want, when they would want it, and what specifically they would like to learn. I have spoken with Mary Lou, who seems very intrigued with this possible gig. Our first step will be to arrange a visit to the workshop next week, so Mary Lou can meet the women, and they can get to know her a little, too. I’m a wee bit jealous if Mary Lou does this and I don’t, but she deserves to have a very unique personal experience while she is here.
I had to call Ray by 3:00 so he could take me back to Kundayo before going to Anitha’s school to pick her up. Normally, Anitha would take a school bus home, but she has had conjunctivitis and needed to return to the doctor for a check up. So, Ray rushed me home and then went to take care of Anitha. He has since called me to report that the doctor’s report was very good. This all cost 70,000 TZsch ( $30.50) for a specialist and prescriptions, but no one wanted to risk complications.
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful with leftover choroko stew for dinner. I improved the stew with more garlic and chopped tomatoes. Then, we had the best dessert in Tanzania, vanilla ice cream with sliced mango. It was bliss in a bowl!
To learn much more about albinism and the prejudice and violence albinos face in Africa, go to this website: https://underthesamesun.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment