Day 41: The VIP Fumble

          Today Baba had a very important meeting with an old friend of his, Ndewirwa Kitomari.  Read and be amazed at what was supposed to be a simple breakfast date...
          Kitomari has been a very busy man, serving as chief accountant for the East African Community, Secretary of Commerce for Tanzania, then Secretary of the Treasury (Governor of the bank of Tanzania), and then later working with the World Bank in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.  He retired now, but still well connected, and Baba wanted his help with his various projects for coming back to Tanzania, including the property we want to buy in Arusha.
          Kitomari had come from Dar-Es-Salaam to Sing'isi the day before (in Meru).  Unfortunately, we could not meet him there as that was where Baba got into trouble with the British way back when.  Everyone still remembers Baba and regards him as a hero, so we've been avoiding the place.  Instead Kitomari agreed to meet us in Arusha early this morning.
          At first it was going to be breakfast, and Zara prepared a large meal, but Kitomari called to say he would let us know when he would get to Arusha, so we sat down to wait.  A little before noon Kitomari called to say that he would be at the Arusha Hotel in downtown in four minutes and why don't we meet him there.  We, however, were at Zara's in Sakina, a suburb of Arusha and about fifteen to forty five minutes away, depending on traffic.
          Furthermore, Zara had left to buy groceries, taking her car with her.  This left only one other vehicle, which was Allen, Zara's mentally disabled son.  Allen loved riding in his car, and it was a useful pacifier at times.  Today Allen was in a bad mood, and would not let us use his car, not without taking him with us, anyways.  Which left us stranded.
          Baba called Mjomba Ndelekwa, who lived near by, to see if he could give us a ride.  Unfortunately, he had just taken some medication which made him very drowsy.  But he promised to take a counteractive drug that would wake him up and come get us as soon as he could.  While waiting, Zara called us.  When she found out what was going on, she decided to rush home with the groceries and get lunch cooking, in hopes that we could entice Kitomari to come and eat at Karibu Home.
           Zara ended up getting home before Ndelekwa, so we hurried inside her vehicle.  We had to race, as Allen was hurrying towards the car, intent on getting in himself.  Just as we were pulling out the main gate, who should we see but Ndelekwa, come to pick us up.  Baba jumped out and told him the score, then raced back to the car (Allen, meanwhile, tried to get into Mjomba Ndelekwa's vehicle).  At last we were off for Arusha Hotel.  We were only thirty minutes late, virtually on time by Tanzanian standards.
          Kitimoari was waiting for us at the hotel, and was very excited to see Baba and hear all he had to tell him.  We did manage to convince him to come back to Karibu Home for lunch.  Unfortunately, the food, though cooked, was not out on the table yet.  And since, in Tanzania, saying the food will be ready in 'just five minutes!' normally really means one or two hours, Kitomari left.
          The lunch was fabulous, though.  Having only had a light breakfast, and no dinner, I was able to make Zara happy by really tucking into my meal and eating two servings.  So, for me personally, I'd have to count that as the highlight of the day.


E’ya! - Tate


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