Friday 5 November. Assembly

Hongera Les!....sikukuu ya kuzaliwa furahi. Siku sana.
Congratulations....old boy...oooops....OH WISE ONE! Happy birthday. Have a great day.

6am....a knock on my door: farewells..."safe journey....have fun...take lots of pics"....then Elena and Camilla were gone!
...Suddenly my phone rang: Mum!!! Great timing....sooooo good to hear her voice and news from home!
Arriving at school by 7:40am we had plenty of time to wander the garden and take photos of the girls with the blooming sunflowers.

I was telling the girls that Gemma loves sunflowers then tried to explain that she was in the air on an airplane coming to Egypt, Turkey then Africa. They struggled to understand completely but foucsed on the fact that Gemma would be in Tanzania. They demanded that she should be coming to Morogoro and to SEGA. They couldn't grasp the concept of Top Deck Tours but understood that she was on safari and should be visiting me and SEGA. When I explained that I would see her on Zanzibar....they all decided that they should come with me.....!
I hadn't experienced a morning assembly and so was treated to my first one. The National and School Anthems and two talks were given ....The whole assembly was run for and by the students and the student leaders. Very impressive! (...and I managed to get most of it on video!)

We were treated to fresh mndazi (doughnut like) for morning break with black tea but for lunch we had Ugali, sauté cabbage/vegs and meat saucey. Whilst I was waiting for my lunch the girls taught me how to prepare mbele: spinach like but with narrow, elongated pointy leaves.
I sat with Madam Grace (Biology) and she was sharing about the wedding she is going to in Dar this coming weekend. It was the first time I had had a chance to talk socially with her.
I found it difficult to concentrated on her story whilst trying to maintain some semblance of control over the slippery, unfamiliar textures and method of eating. Only able to use my right hand (I sat on my left one so I wouldn’t accidently use it!) I was very challenged by two main issues:
1. Preventing the food slopping down my white shirt and into my lap and
2. Being able to eat the two large, tough chunks of meat!
The meat was tasty, as was the sauce it was stewed in however, I couldn’t think of a way to pull it apart OR remove it from the hard gristle which was adhered to its side! I’m still not sure what would have been the solution for overcoming the latter challenge because I chose to offer my meat to Babu Yona as a gesture of respect (and also because he loves meat!) I made him a very happy man as his smile stretched almost as wide as his earlobes are long!