15th February 2010 - Green everywhere

Happy Valentine’s Day to all. I hope everyone enjoyed the day yesterday.

We’ve had some lovely rains in the past two weeks; none was too hard or destructive but nice and gentle just when needed. The green everywhere is so soothing to the eyes, and the little wild flowers that have begun blooming are so pretty. There are many butterflies and moths, and hordes of insects. One morning we found gazillions of little black bugs all over outside, and inside wherever they could manage to get in. They have an odor which isn’t all that pleasant, so we’ve been trying to get rid of them little by little. I don’t know where they hide when we sweep. When we think we’ve got them all swept up and turn around, there are a bunch more. It’s obvious that every living creature likes the rain as much as we do.

My flowers are beginning to bloom and they are lovely. They are a very common flower and grow very easily and fast; I don’t know what they’re called (maybe some kind of zinnia?). I should have put some more manure around when I planted them but I didn’t and even so they are still nice for the eyes. I have them in three different places: by the septic tank , on the side of the house, and outside the wall in front of the house between the gates. The ones on the side of the house are really spindly since the soil there is a mixture of left-over cement from when the house was built and pieces of rock. Still it’s amazing that they’ve grown at all.

I want to share with you an incident of a morning last week, one that happens over and over and typifies the spirit of hospitality one meets so often here in Tanzania. I had just arrived at school and was walking toward the teachers’ office when I met a woman. She is one of many who are working on the school compound, cleaning up the construction mess, carrying cement or water or whatever else needs to be moved from one place to the other, or doing any other odd job that might need to be done. These women come every morning with the hopes of being hired for the day, in order to get enough money to buy what is needed for herself and her children. She was carrying a cup of tea and a few maandazi (something like bread but is fried, maybe more like a doughnut) on a plate. When we greeted one another, she held out the tea and maandazi and said, “Njoo, tunywe chai,” meaning, “Come, let’s go drink tea.” Of course I thanked her, and then continued on my way, marveling all the while. Even after all these years of living here I still don’t have that same kind of spontaneous reaction that she has, the one that invites another person to share whatever she has.

Yesterday we were in church for three hours at a special Mass for the children who were joining the Holy Child Society. There were probably about 40 of them, dressed in white shirts/tshirts, some with yellow skirts or trousers, and all with a yellow headband on their heads. They danced in, and danced to all the songs that the choir sang, and were they ever dear. Some started out barefoot and some with shoes but by the end there were more bare feet than not. It was obvious that they had practiced a lot, and their gestures followed the songs so nicely. Everyone was so happy and joyful and singing and swaying along with the children. It was the long windedness of the Padre and the chairman of the parish council that made the time seem long; watching the children was a joy.