Sunset to Sunset

A mixture of ruminations and impressions this evening...the amazing sunset last night, as we sat

on the patio of the Chinese restaurant...a fitting closing to an extremely full day...

The peace and quiet of the hillside as I ate breakfast on the veranda at the Treehouse B and B, while Maddie slept in a bit longer. (Maddie is a rising senior at Wake Forest U. who has been in East Africa for a month and is, at present, my roommate. And we are having a ball getting to know each other. It's like having another granddaughter.) Bird sounds were incredible and varied, and the wind chimes added their accompaniment to the morning symphony, while the vast variety of vegetation provided a feast for the eyes, as the muesli, homemade yogurt, and mangoes fed my stomach. Pure ambrosia!

The villages where we met with the four Tanzanian bibis (grandmothers) in their homes, receiving the gracious largesse of their hospitality and coming to know their stories a bit better...realizing, in their telling and our hearing, that all of us indeed share a common humanity. A grandmother is a nyanya or a bibi.

(Top row: Rosa and Devota;

second row: Martha and Angela)

The children everywhere and in general, very quiet and well-behaved in the presence of adults, though when in a crowd, they are noisy, laughing, typical kids. One little boy, Petri, kepy wanting to touch my hair, and I later learned that my straight, white hair is very atypical for Africa and the children were very amused that I am white from head to toe.

Litter pretty much everywhere in the villages. Why is no one teaching about sanitation or doing anything about it? Fostering the pride of keeping the community nice? Are we talking about Maslow's hierarchy of needs here, with prople so busy taking care of basic needs that nothing else enters their minds? But wouldn't it be possible to emphazise both? Poverty is grinding in so many ways, damages self-esteem, makes people feel less-than...and it is generally agreed that order outside leads to order inside...I know it doesn't feed or clothe or shelter but wouldn't it give HOPE that things could be better? I just can't help wondering...

Tired...hungry...pizza for supper (it was actually very, very, very late lunch!) and then back to the Treehouse in time to watch the sunset from the veranda...as my "day" was braketed in two glorious settings of the sun in this far-away place.