"Seasons Come and Seasons Go" --Gillbert and Sullivan (Ruddigore)

So, a quick update.  The changing seasons here are marked not so much by changes of temperature,  but changes in trees and nuances of cacti, of course the mangos or the avocados (avocados develop in June and are plentiful in July).

Right now, the Mango trees are filling with fruit. We are pelted with uncompleted fruit on a daily basis, and there is no way to dodge their terrifying accurate shots if fate determines.  But, in our front yard, our big mango tree is almost completely devoid of mangos, the back tree is loaded.  This is the time of year when you could start singing, "Christmas times a comin' Mangos a fallin....."

Our Lemon tree is so loaded that I worry that it might be stressed.  And as I have described previously, if you pick the lemon early, it tastes exactly like a lime, and you only have  to pick up a quick bottle of gin to feel healthy and complete.

But the true sign of the season (before Christmas) is the Jacaranda canopy over nearly every street in our part of town.  It comes before the flame trees, and quickly.  John was complaining that the Jacarandas weren't blooming only a week a go, and now, they are amazing.

Jacaranda Blvd

I have spent time this past week visiting several villages that are virtually without trees with my friend Sabina... She was talking to me about this type of cactus... a truly amazing plant.  We talked about this particular cactus that has a bloom that drops but the green part  then flattens to become the next arm of the cactus.  It is like a family or a village. Sabina loves to describe things with concrete displays and this is just one of them.

Family Cactus

As you can see these pretty flower turn into their own leaves.

The frangipani ( Plumeria) is a favorite because it blooms nearly all year round, and has a light sweet smell and lasts for ever.  We have one or two frangipanis both white, but the compound has hundreds and they bloom in different colors, white, yellow, pink.

 

Frangipani

Then there are the unknown trees for me which are many --but this is the time of the year that they bloom. Other trees blooming now are the African tulip which can be blue or red.  We do not have any in our yard, but there are many many on the streets.

don't know tree

And then there are the giant allium.... I counted at least 50 in our yard alone that are blooming.  (my personal favs.)

Giant Allium

Hopefully before we leave, the flame trees will be blooming as that is for sure a sign of Christmas. We have flame trees that are more brilliant than those I have seen anywhere.  They, too form a beautiful canopy over everything they are near.  I personally will sit in wonder at the way of nature, and my good fortune to be here.

The week of Halloween

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Portender of problems to come

 Somehow, my friend Terrie and I always wind up with a disaster on our hands.  This week, that of Halloween was no different. 

Once the Blue JellyBean was fixed, I was back to my bouncy old Rav4 and no more fancy lady.  But that is actually ok.  My Rav4 and I are used to one another and we are both old together. 

On this week there was much planning to be done.  Our Youth CAB would be meeting on Saturday, a new expatriate is eager to find volunteer work with several agencies, and my computer shidas needed to be resolved. 

My first anxiety was my computer, in which, suddenly my entire iphoto library had disappeared when I tried to merge two libraries.  There were many more stories, but suffice it to say between frantic e-mails to my friends in Durham, (who kindly sent me links to try to resolve) I took my computer and all the links to our dear computer guy at KCMC and laid all the shidas in his lap.  I love our MEPI team, they are so smart, so energetic, and always so positive.  “I am sure, Mama, that we will find out what is wrong and fix it.”  And low and behold Ndmangwa did. The restore was back to an earlier date, but I had lost no photos and had some documents backed up on a flash, so now I am business as a photo freak again.  I am desperately going through an additional back up photo drive and trying to remember names and dates for them.  It is slow slow work but I’ll get through it before I die I’m sure. It was particularly reassuring to see pictures of graduations showing up again, and Christmas at the Cave for many many years.

1998 Christmas at the CAVE with DAD

Halloween was another matter.  This, I have to confess is not my favorite holiday.  I never for some reason could “get into the pumpkins” or dressing up.  I think, perhaps, it was that my mother did not either and so for all the Halloween parties that I was invited to at school, I was always the old pauper lady, or the “old woman and the shoe” meaning that I wore some old ragged dress of mother's and carried a bunch of shoes around.  But suffice it to say, this was important to my friend, and how important it was as two other “grown ups” bailed on her ON THE DAY saying that they were not “into this sort of thing” after agreeing to be part of it earlier in the week.  (and all the school kids were to come to her house--too late to change) So old me, had to be witch and sort of leaping artist to get over a table, to flick lights, and hold doors and craggy voice meanness in order to warn everyone else that things were either ok or not.  

 

Deo, the day askari is horrified at me!

there we are

Trish Gaudi (guard) Terrie, scary clown

Poor Gaudi has never done anything like this b4

 In the beginning all went well, but it deteriorated as more kids came at once, and then suddenly the power went out.  Suffice it to say, I was done when the power went out, and the last group had ripped my nose and chin off and grabbed at the candy bowl just one time too many—oh and sprayed me with water pistols full of red food dye that was on the table for me to use.  Sigh….

So I wound up with the worst back I have had since 2006!  Unbelievable, I am sidelined from running, sitting in a car, and even walking more than to the back yard.  Back on steroids for the first time since 2008, and just trying to plan a different week than last week.  My motto?  NO MORE HAUNTED HOUSES FOR ME! I even missed All Saints Sunday and “For All the Saints” and my all time favorite “ I sing a song of the saints of God”.  That is definitely significant.  For, I have loved the Saints of God for ever….”you can see them school or in shops OR AT TEA” for they’re all of them saints of God and I mean, God help me to be one, too.”  At 65, I am definitely not there.

But on to better things.  And I know it will be better.

They're just folk like me!

Drama in Greater Moshi

Kigomboni Guest House, Computer and Car Shidas!

The days after arriving back in Moshi from South Africa have been slightly less hectic, but infinitely more complicated.  My gratitude at being in our A-5 house in Moshi is always a relief.  We could even forget how annoyed we were with Kenyan Airlines and Precision Airlines when we were met by Carol at the door, and driven home to the coziness of A-5.  Rose had even picked more Easter lilies for us so the scent in the house was perfectly sweet.

Carol Sangawe our wonderful project driver

Trish at mini waterfall

beautiful views

It became more fuzzy when we were asked to set a hash on the spur of the moment.  So, all focus was on the location, the supplies, cooking and preparing for this event. Our first challenge was that our “guide” in Kigomboni Freddy was very happy to rent the guest house gazebo to us, and to take us around, but he had a particular route that he was determined to take us on, and explaining the hash to him was not easy.  So off we went.  I tried to explain that we needed to make the path a bit complicated, not to stay on main roads (main roads means dirt roads that a car could travel (basically One car) but to veer off to paths that interlocked, went through coffee trees, banana trees or fields, up and down, across streams, etc.  Freddy was pretty sure that I really did not mean that, so he kept us on main road most of the time.  Each time we asked, he was like, “no not here, later” .  Eventually we gave up and at the end of the day the path was quite easy to follow, but very interesting and beautiful. 

 

finally on a path

 

One of the dearest parts of it was coming back through an old lady’s little nyumbani (collections of two or three small houses) and chatting with her.  We returned on Sunday to set the flour over the path.

last beautiful view we saw before car shidas

Just after passing this hotel, disaster struck

beautiful guest house

The drama began on Sunday when we set the hash.  The drive up to the guest-house was without any event until just before we turned into the guest-house. Suddenly John had a difficult time steering the car.  We thought it might have been a flat, but there was no flat.  But horrifyingly the right front wheel was tilted at a strange angle.  We limped the car inside the gate with no idea of what we could do.  Freddy offered to find a “fundi” (fix it man) once we had set the hash, and we gratefully agreed

For hashers, you know that you set the trail with flour. 

Flour marks the trail

 At certain points you make an X with the flour and that means that you have to search in all directions to find where the flour picks up. 

The X 

 The problem with this area is that people are quite suspicious of the motives of the white people, and you have to explain to them that the flour and the X’s have nothing to do with Their land, but only marking a path. So, you have to explain to everyone you meet that this is just a fun outing for a bunch of young and old walkers and runners where you are setting a pretty trail for them to explore the area with.  You ask their permission, they say “yes” and then the problem can be that after all that is agreed on, someone else comes along, sees the flour and is horrified and scruffs it out.  Or, even more likely, children come along and scruff it out, because that is what children do!  So, often, hashes are comprised of desperately searching for flour but it has been wiped out.  The potential at this hash was great for losing the flour.  But, everyone was very pleasant, as there have been several hashes at this area in the past.  Even so, John put a lot of flour down, and we decided to put only a few crosses.

Freddy talked with several people along the way about finding a fundi, and was given lots of advice.  When we returned to the start, he left to find the person, and we greeted the guests.  
 

Trish and John and William...what to do

fab place to party!

 Everyone was shocked at the appearance of “the blue jellybean” and agreed that it would probably have to stay for a few days in the mountains.  But as luck would have it, the fundi had been teacher for the government in mechanics for years and was now retired but teaching mechanics at the vocational school just down the road.  He agreed that one of the “tie bolts” had been sheered, and he would have to trie to cobble something together with parts that he had in his tool kit. He managed to piece together an old bolt that had no threads, a nut that was a bit too big, some sort of electrical tape, and put the wheel in the proper place.  He said to us “pole pole” (go slowly slowly) down the mountain” And hope for the best.  When we limped back to our house, John’s remark was “TOO MUCH DRAMA”.  I had no idea what he was talking about, until he explained just how badly the bolt fit on the car and how lucky we were to be both alive and down the mountain.  So there we are.  Drama. 

Fancy lady?  don't turn around because the slit in the back .....oops

My friend Terrie loaned me her saloon car for a day, and I got to be a “fancy lady” and now thanks to Deo our mechanic, the blue jellybean is back in operation.  YEA!

Our Car mechanic Deo with Terrie and Nikoli

Onto new adventures!

Durban-Fourteen Years Later

John & Trish Cuban Food Happy Times

 

Our last visit on this whirlwind visit to Nairobi, Capetown and Durban was both nostalgic and peaceful.  Durban is remarkably changed.  Umhlanga Rocks doesn’t even resemble the little town to which we were assigned when we attended the World AIDS Conference 2000.  We understood that our old Oyster Box Hotel was still standing and I actually got a glimpse of it as we drove to the airport this morning.  It looked quite small amidst the massive shiny buildings of the posh suburb.  Our cab driver pointed out all the new buildings as well as an enormous casino perched up on a hill that is self contained, with gambling, hotels, massage parlors, multiple entertainment sites, glitter and glam.  (Sounded horrible)

The Quarters Hotel

We stayed in a very nice hotel, the Quarters, located up higher in Durban and in just a few steps, beautiful views of the ocean combined with magnificent houses and private schools.  Once again, we entertained one of the KCMC trainees—a lovely young man taking his training in oncology at the University of Kwa Zulu Natal.  We had a delicious meal at the hotel, and nice chat until I suddenly was “hit by the wall” and started falling asleep right at the table.  I have not had that happen since I was in Amsterdam in 1992, and it was so embarrassing that I had to apologize, say goodnight and zip to our room where I promptly fell asleep and locked John out.  Some time later I vaguely remember waking up, seeing John sitting in a chair working on his computer and asked him what he was doing there in the room.  That is all I remember!  Chalk this up to old age, and so much travel, and getting up at 4am many mornings in a row.

View Downtown

Because it was such a short trip, while John was in meetings, I walked and walked.  In this location there was no feel of crime or anxiety that I might be mugged.  And walking is a wonderful endeavor.  I met two very nice people, both men who were eager to carry on conversations.  The first was an older gentleman named Peter who became my personal escort to the post office.  Turns out, his first cousin was Richard Harris.  He didn’t divulge this information until well into the walk where our conversation involved wonderful exchanges about life in Zimbabwe, Durban, Capetown, family, the US, becoming older, computer saavy, personal likes and dislikes.  And, then he chatted about his cousin and his theatre accomplishments, as well as his love of alcohol.  We chatted a little about AIDS, the International Conference of 15 years ago, and his hopes for a cure.  I pinched myself, thinking about the good fortune I have had over the years, to travel so much and to meet such wonderful people, purely by happenstance, or one simple question, “Can you tell me where the nearest post is, where I might buy some stamps?” 

Name of lovely Anglican Church

Anglican Church

Words for WWI dead

Words at Chapel

My eyes lit up at a lovely small Anglican Church with beautiful mosaic and ceramic tiles on the outside.  Peter noted that this church held the names carved in stone of all the South African soldiers who died in World War I.  We had a chat about the horrible war, and he was also aware of how it nearly ended after the Christmas “truce” in 1914 that found British troops and Germans playing soccer in France.  I told him about the John McCutcheon song that my brother Jim sings each year at his Christmas Concert and also about the Book “Silent Nights” that describes how the “peace” movement continued until the generals had to pull the troops that had been involved and replace with new troops that had not been a part of this miraculous moment. 

The post office was equally entertaining.  I apparently made the day of my postman.  He said that he had never sold postage stamps for postcards to the US, or for that matter, anywhere.  He had to find them, and to inquire about the price (checking in a book for the most up to date cost.)  I loved it, and apparently so did he.  He told all the other clerks about my visit and they all laughed and clapped.  I hope this is not a sign of the times, when postage stamps won’t be available. 

On my way back to the hotel, I met another gentleman who heard me greet a security guard.  He thought perhaps I came from the UK!  No one has ever suggested that to me, so we wound up chatting right there on the sidewalk for another 45 minutes or so.  This gentleman had worked in the sugar industry in Capetown, Durban and Malawi.  He was the epitome of the old colonialist who had worked hard and played hard.  He had been in a terrible auto crash when he was quite young, had tremendous head trauma, been in a coma, had to completely rehab, and had taken up marathon running to bring himself back.  He spontaneously showed me his head scars and his neck where lots of surgeries and work had been done.  There may have been one or two screws loose, but he was just delightful.  He couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful Malawi had been, where he had visited a wonderful area on Lake Malawi with fabulous all night bars, live music, sitting around just in plain shorts and t-shirts.  Perhaps I should have been worried, but he was clearly harmless and absolutely happy with his life as a pensioner and runner.

view of city of Durban

view Durban with new "football stadium"

For my friend Gordon

Mandela fence....locks bought to benefit breast cancer

City cities of Africa

Cannot get away from the Zulu's or Shaka

Durban may be a city that is much more well to do, but there were certainly street people.  The higher crime is nearer the waterfront, and I was not going that direction.  Only a few people were begging in our area, and as usual that makes me sad, but it was astonishing the difference in feel of Durban to Capetown.  I thought about our trip to the big Juma Mosque, of the influence of Ghandi (attacked by white settlers in 1897 but went on to be an important character in demonstrating for equality) in the area, and of our visit to the old “Souk”, to Shakaland, the snake park, and most especially our taxi driver James who had made our family visit to Durban so special 15 years ago.  No one has forgotten the World AIDS Conference in Durban.  And most people I talked to said that it remained a special moment in time for them.  They especially noted that it highlighted Durban and South Africa in a promising way, in particular because so many companies were selling “rape insurance” and cautioning participants to “stay away”.  Thank goodness we did not, as our lives were forever changed.

Capetown Perhaps the most beautiful city in the world

UCT old Hospital and side of Table Mountain

Sunset over mountains outside Capetown

Our trip from Nairobi to Capetown was marked by attention to Ebola.  I spoke to one of my Kenyan Airline flight attendants as she double gloved before she cleaned the toilet.  (which was not dirty ) and she just said, it is protocol and best be safe.  As we arrived in Johannesburg, we were given the usual survey (all airports have the same variation on a theme now) and this time our temperature was taken by our eye.  I have a bit of a wacky eye right now from all the dry dusty air in the airplane and on the road and wind in Nairobi so I kept thinking...hmmmmm.  But all was well and we ventured on to the next  hurry up and wait for our Capetown flight.  Of course we flew in on a spectacular day, and when we arrived, John went directly up to the perfect replica of my brother and said, "hi Vic" (I heard Hi Rick!) so I was stunned.  But as I got closer, I saw that he was indeed Vic our host at the lovely bed and breakfast where we are sadly getting ready to leave.

Here is Vic.  He & Trish (yes really) own the Koornhoop Manor House

Vic drove us to the B&B and chatted all the way.  As he and John talked, he remembered him from the previous visit and they had a great laugh about life and all that had gone on.  I was stunned by the beauty of the house, and of the proximity to University of Capetown Medical School and hospital.

Koornhoop B&B with mountain behind

Beautiful Koornhoop with lovely yard

We barely had to cross the road to be at the hospital

This hospital's history is quite interesting.  It was the home of the first heart transplant and as well the fist CT Scan.  We did not take the museum tour as John had taken it in the past and said.....read about it, even though it is interesting.

Heart Transplant Museum Sign

The hospital was founded by an interesting man, J.M.B. deWet, who had apparently blue eyes.

Note Blue Eyes!

Nice thought.  Wonder if the hospital was integrated?

We had a nice wander around the grounds.  We were not allowed far into the Medical School and Hospital without a badge and were told not to take pictures so this was the best that I could do.  When we ventured out of the Hospital, we ran into a graveyard.  It, too was locked, but we wondered if the graveyard and hospital were connected in some way.

graveyard, hospital

New Hospital &graveyard

Clearly the reason the graveyard was locked was because of the street people.  I think that was the most unsettling thing I felt about this part of Capetown and probably would feel the same all over.  I just didn't feel as if I could be alone walking around.  The streets were not crowded and teeming like other big city streets, but people seemed to be driving to a location and then driving or riding the bus back.  It was odd.  I went running with John for two days, and I was quite glad that he was with me.  We heard that crime was pretty high in this area, and that again the issue of young men with no jobs was a huge reason for it.
But, nonetheless we coped.  We had a lovely dinner with the main mentor for our Tanzanian trainees Andrew and his wife Helen.  They have a stunning house overlooking the mountains and were just delightful.

View from Andrew and Helen's house

I found that Andrew had grown up listening to the music of Roger Lucy, one of my featured musicians for my Apartheid Resistance Music paper.  We had a great chat.  He also had listen to Rodrguez's music and never dreamed until he saw "Searching for Sugarman" that Rodriguez was not equally as popular in the US as he was in Apartheid South Africa.  Quite amazing story.  So we had a delicious dinner (beautiful salad which, unless you go without good greens for some time, you don't know what you are missing--we were in heaven!)

We actually got to sleep in and go for a nice run, had a very nice breakfast, and then lunch at a fun restaurant named Mimi's.

John & me Mimi's

This is for Isaiah....they also served Vegan and many other diet types....Ostrich burger, Lamb burger, and if we were there for dinner on Wed-Sat, Moroccan food.  That was what we wanted, but oh well.

The point of being there was of course to see and treat the Tanzanian Trainees.  We had a fabulous and joyous dinner before which John had met with each one individually and in a group.  Nice evening.

Esther's huge pizza

Dani leans in, John trying to do his lean in

Great group shot....Kajira taking a selfie!

So, now we are off to Durban.  Maybe it will be less windy.  But we will so miss this lovely B&B

Table Mountain