Mass, Market, Match

Phew … what a day!

2 masses, all because I promised the Swahili choir that I would come to hear them. The other mass was with smaller kids in a different boarding school.

I was in awe. Both times.

The choir was as uplifting as I expected them to be after hearing them practice.

A short drive later and we were at the boarding school for primary kids. Clean, happy kids awaited father as we joined them for mass. The choir director was a young girl who took her job very seriously. I was seated behind the percussionsts who took turns beating on a homemade drum, swiveling it around ever so often just so that everyone got equal opportunity to belt out a rhythm. I so regret not shooting them, but it just didn’t seem appropriate. The little kids sang with gusto that’s difficult to find in other places. And I must say, I was impressed with their perfect responses to “what happened last week”. Father rightly so awarded them with a teeny-weeny tip for getting it right. We also met a little guy who walked in late, sat apart, and left as soon as mass was over. I would have loved to get to know his story, but from the way he was treated, he needed the space. I really hope he gets over his trauma. It broke my heart to watch a 4 year old so wary of affection.

After mass we talked with the kids, but they were too tiny to understand what we were talking about, so we switched tactics and went for photos instead. They LOVED it. I remember shooting then joining them and all of a sudden I felt 20 hands in my hair. It was so astonishing.

They danced and sang and posed and fawned over us. It was so good to see the well behaved children break out from their shy molds and become the happy, energetic bunch they are!

Breakfast was beautiful and too much for four. So glad Father didn’t let the nuns know we were coming. They prepared enough for 1 person. LOL.

A final goodbye and we were off to the school. Time for my talk. I had the same questions asked by so many kids, so I decided to have one big session to talk about everything IT. Career options, Skills, et-al. Some slept through it. Some took copious amounts of notes. I’ll count it as a win 🙂

Good deed done, Father suggested i accompany him to a shop nearby. Although I was supposed to go meet Father Tasilo, I thought we’d be back soon and headed out with Father Filbert. At a crossroad Father F decided he’s heading left and taking us to the beach. I’m glad he did. It was a chance to see the other side of Dar es Salam. New mansions, embassies, affluence. TIL that the Maori LOVE the beach. It was great to see them walking the beach in their traditional wear.

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A walk around the beautiful beach, the cove and a chance to see how differently people used the beach as compared to Europeans. I love such glimpses into culture. There were very few bathing suits. More people walking on the sand than there were in the water. Happy kids screeching with delight. Vendors hawking their goods. People posing for photos. So much life. So much respect for each other’s boundaries.

Beach to shop it was… a chance for me to fall in love with a mask.