There
are certain moments in our lives when the social reality of this place just
hits you so hard you can do nothing but laugh (or cry, depending on your mood
on that particular day…)
1) When
a visitor comes, and after supper comes out of the shower dressed up, hair
done, make-up on, and innocently asks, “So where do you go for drinks in the
evening?”, to which you can only reply, somewhat apologetically, “Um… it’s my bed time in half an hour….”
2) When
someone proposes a trip to the ATM (70 km away), and you reply “Ooooooo I would
LOVE to come! I’ve never been to that
ATM before! I hear the bank is even air
conditioned!!”
3) When
an entire table of people can become completely entranced by the suspense of a
bubble of honey growing on a bottle opening - growing…. growing… and finally popping – at which point everyone
flops back in their chairs with a sigh, contented with that bit of lunch time
excitement. (Jokes… the real fun was afterwards: Making fun of ourselves for
doing the above!).
4) When
a tourist naively asks, “So what is there to do in this town?”, to which the
hostel manager looks slightly panicked, before replying, “I quite enjoy the
hardware market….”
(As a
side note, this is my favorite town to visit, because yes, the markets are amazing! As is the selection of chocolate. And sometimes you can even find olive oil in
the shops!)
5) When
a monkey sneaks up behind you as you sit quietly with your newspaper and your
early morning coffee, leaps onto your arm, and snatches the toast and jam right
from your fingers (as recently happened to me one rather amusing weekday
morning).
RIP
little Fabien…. We will miss your
antics!
(And I
am sorry for chasing you and my toast around the garden. Though I am more sorry that I then turned
around and realized the carpenter had just arrived. He now has all the evidence he needs to
confirm: Mzungus are crazy.)
