Monday, November 29, 2004
Sunday morning, and I surely did see the sun come up this morning. Last night was the annual Mwanza Charity Ball, put on by a laundry list of local companies, mostly foreign. So it attracts lots of ex-pats who manage the gold and diamond mines, safari and communications companies, things like that. But it is a taste of western civilization after a long draught here in Africa. Most men were actually wearing ties and jackets, the women in attractive gowns. The excellent band played mostly old American standards - lots of Elvis and rock and roll as well as disco and even a few slow numbers.
The Peace Corps kind of has a special status in the circle. They know we have little money, so we are invited and given a substantial discount. It was a great break for us, and there were nine of us there, four who are finishing heir service and will be leaving Africa next week, and five of us who are halfway throug. I really enjoyed the chance to do a lot of dancing to a live band. But somehow, our group has never really jelled here, and last night a split into an "in group" and a smaller "out group" seemed more apparent than usual. It doesn't bother me too much - I'm the old guy and so don't expect to share the social interests and concerns of singles in their 20s. But t does bother some others, and that is too bad.
We all stayed at the Ball until it shut down at 2:00am. Then the "in group" that is camping out at Steve's site (I no longer have the largest house of the group) went to a night club. Kathleen & Kim & I went for coffee and a sandwich at the local casino and talked until about 3.
Then I walked the two blocks to K&K's hoted with them for security and took a taxi from there to Peter's where I intended to spend thenight. Peter works for a mining company, and has a big place that is sort of a crash pad for the company's geologiests. We sometimes go to use his internet facilities and to stay over on special occasions, like watching the debates and election returns.
As usual, Peter's security guards let me into the compound with notrouble. But then we found that the house was locked up tight. Clearly Peter and Alistair had come home from the party, gone to bed and were asleep. The guards do not have a key to the house. Pounding on the door was futile. After failing to come up with any other aceptable way to rouse them, I decided that I would have to take a taxi all the way hom. It is only moneyafter all. But I could not get an answer from any of the three taxi drivers I have in my cellphone. Too late in the morning. It isn't safe to walk the streets at night to find a roaming taxi, so I ended up staying on the porch with the guards, sleeping (more of less) on a broken chair until daybreak.
But hey, the Ball was worth it. And now I expect to have a rather laid-back and low key day to Recover.
The Peace Corps kind of has a special status in the circle. They know we have little money, so we are invited and given a substantial discount. It was a great break for us, and there were nine of us there, four who are finishing heir service and will be leaving Africa next week, and five of us who are halfway throug. I really enjoyed the chance to do a lot of dancing to a live band. But somehow, our group has never really jelled here, and last night a split into an "in group" and a smaller "out group" seemed more apparent than usual. It doesn't bother me too much - I'm the old guy and so don't expect to share the social interests and concerns of singles in their 20s. But t does bother some others, and that is too bad.
We all stayed at the Ball until it shut down at 2:00am. Then the "in group" that is camping out at Steve's site (I no longer have the largest house of the group) went to a night club. Kathleen & Kim & I went for coffee and a sandwich at the local casino and talked until about 3.
Then I walked the two blocks to K&K's hoted with them for security and took a taxi from there to Peter's where I intended to spend thenight. Peter works for a mining company, and has a big place that is sort of a crash pad for the company's geologiests. We sometimes go to use his internet facilities and to stay over on special occasions, like watching the debates and election returns.
As usual, Peter's security guards let me into the compound with notrouble. But then we found that the house was locked up tight. Clearly Peter and Alistair had come home from the party, gone to bed and were asleep. The guards do not have a key to the house. Pounding on the door was futile. After failing to come up with any other aceptable way to rouse them, I decided that I would have to take a taxi all the way hom. It is only moneyafter all. But I could not get an answer from any of the three taxi drivers I have in my cellphone. Too late in the morning. It isn't safe to walk the streets at night to find a roaming taxi, so I ended up staying on the porch with the guards, sleeping (more of less) on a broken chair until daybreak.
But hey, the Ball was worth it. And now I expect to have a rather laid-back and low key day to Recover.
