BLOG 4 … 12 Feb 2012
A hot sweaty night lying on the sheet under the net, and noisy too, being Saturday. I woke several times because of dogs having a fight, and once again, that lion-like grunting over towards the lake. What can it be ?
Up late this morning, 6.45, as breakfast was at 8, and then I was going to the Anglican church. It is actually the Maseno Diocese cathedral … next to the diocesan dentists, where we used to have our teeth done ! I still have some of the fillings, good after 45 years ! I got there just at 10, but it didn't matter … it started late ! As the askari at the guest house had said to me, 'we Africans are very bad time keepers' !! We filed in about 10.15 … several hundred heads turned to see who this white face belonged to and held out hands to shake mine. Being a good Anglican, I sat right at the back (that's an Anglican joke for those who are not !) ….besides me were a young lady with an adorable little boy who gazed at me with his thumb stuck in his mouth. I don't recall seeing any other African thumb sucking child … perhaps it is discouraged.
The service was very joyful, with a choir singing their hearts out, accompanied by drums, bells and tambourines, and an elderly African lady playing the organ. Lots of swaying of the congregation and waving of arms. The service was led by a man wearing a blue stole like mine, and we sang hymns, listened to a sermon lasting 50 minutes (!) and prayed … and I didn't see the end of the service, as after more than two hours it was still going strong and my tuk-tuk driver was there outside, so I had to go.
Lunch at the guest house, and then a nap under my net in the heat of the day. Having a shower after my nap, I saw my tooth-paste which had melted yesterday into a runny sort of cream, and 'set' during the cool of the early hours, was runny again ! It barely stays on the toothbrush.
This afternoon is windy; a hot and humid wind coming from the west over the lake. I expect the water is very choppy; wouldn't like to be out on it in a canoe ! The palms outside my window flutter and rustle and a large frond has just hit the ground. The 'lawns' around the guest house are dry and the Kikuyu lawn grass is crisp and burned in the heat, but will soon green up once the rains start. There are strips of flower beds bordering each lawn, with shrivelled gerbera's, unflowering day lilies, Madagascar periwinkles, ground orchids, hibiscus and of course, brightly coloured purple, pink and orange bougainvillea. The last seems to keep its coloured bracts all through the dry season.
Off to Pauls for supper and to see his family. He is sending a man to 'escort me' !! Hmmmmm.....
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