Meanwhile

it's Friday night in Tanzania...

MasterM
Here is a picture of
the Indian Open Air Bingo
It's a sight to behold!

Starters
Blasted prawns
Salt and Pepper chicken
Paneer samosa
Cheese naan

Main course
Lamb rogan
Chicken sookha
Garlic naan

Drink
Kilimanjaro X

MrsM
(in garden, under cherry tree)
We're having fish cakes...how lame is that?

Meanwhile

...Mwanza, near the Equator,
MasterM is messaging his parents...

MasterM
Just so you know,
I have come up to Lake Victoria.
My mate had a return ticket
that he couldn't use so I took it.
In Mwanza now.
I have a first class sleeper cabin
tonight across the lake.
Should be an experience!!

MrsM to MrM
Where even is Lake Victoria?

MrM to MrsM
DO NOT GOOGLE IT

but MrsM does...
and spends the rest of the evening
thinking about life jackets and crocodiles.
It's not easy being the mother of MasterM.

Tales from Tanzania

Tinga Tinga painting

Leopard

Mohamed Saidi Chilamboni
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

oil enamel on canvas

*****

MasterM

Isiah is my taxi driver and he is a crazy guy. This one time we drove from the Peninsular at night and it was total gridlock so he drove on the other side of the road. Not just that, he drove on the pavement of the other side of the road. A policeman saw us and hopped over the barrier to stop the car. Isiah had to hand over his driving licence and pay 5,000 TZS fine (£1.50) then he drove on a few metres and got out of the car. "Just wait there Mister MasterM" he said and then he went back and gave the policeman an extra 5,000 TZS to get his licence and we set off again at top speed moja kwa moja on the pavement .

MrsM

What does that mean?

MasterM

Straight ahead in Swahili

or you could just say

straighty, straighty.

MrsM

Right.

MrsM remembers how carefully she supervised MasterM crossing the road when he was young and wonders if she was too protective.