We have a car with the steering on the right side and I’ve learned once again to drive on the left, always looking out for the manic piki-pikis and bicycles that careen all over the road. Once a week or so I’ll go to the large market to pick up veggies and fruit and to one of the small grocery stores that offer a few other things.
On Tuesday morning I often go to Ricky’s Café to chat for an hour or two with other women who’ve moved here from elsewhere. Most of their families hailed originally from England or Scotland but they’ve lived in Africa for generations, either in Malawi, Kenya, Zimbabwe, or South Africa so it’s an interesting group with collective interest in what’s going on in all of those countries and in East Africa generally. But we talk about less important things, too. This week, for example, after I had mentioned my love for a certain BBC show last week, one of them handed me the complete DVD set of Downton Abbey’s first season and promised me the second set at the end of December. The second season won't be broadcast on PBS until January and February so no second season spoiler giveaways shall pass through this blog!
Most weekends Erica and Nathan are here which is always great and sometimes involves a good game of Settlers of Catan on the porch, probably the best game ever. There is one English language church service in town on Sunday, at a tiny Anglican church with an equally tiny crowd. It’s a good service, though. The Tanzanian Anglican priest has thoughtful and inspiring sermons and is most welcoming to all. Dave and I finally tracked down the sole Mennonite church here last Sunday only to discover that no one was there and the church is only a foundation with a skeleton frame but an impressive sign in front. We’ll try going back at a different time and figure out what’s going on.
Several weeks ago, Jan and Paul Swartzentruber from Columbus spent a week with us. It was great to see them both, even if they hadn’t brought out a large stack of magazines! The New Yorker, Atlantic, Harpers, the Christian Century! What a feast. And who knew Jan is a great hair stylist! She cut Erica’s hair and mine too. That was an unexpected treat because getting one’s hair cut here isn’t always easy. Their time with us gave our home a greater sense of being connected to our larger roots.
Here are Jan and Paul with Dave at his office at Sokoine University and the two of them taking a walk in the Rock Garden just up the road from us.
Paul and Jan are experienced bird-watchers and they brought their binoculars and identified the colorful birds that we saw everywhere, even on our front porch. I gained a new-found appreciation for the variety of birds around here and for bird-watching in general. Having them here was a real gift to us and I was sorry to see them go.
