Coming home again (to Morogoro)

Today is Eid (the end of Ramadan) and I have the good fortune of being able to celebrate it in Morogoro. Yesterday, I took the bus from Moshi to Morogoro and after a brief snack arrived at my old home stay around six in the evening. I was a little bit nervous when I arrived at the house, since none of the parents or their children were around. Fortunately Asha the house girl remembered me and made me feel very welcome. About ten minutes later Mama Mwandu arrived and was overjoyed to see me. Baba Mwandu was also happy to see me and shortly after he came we had Futari, the evening meal that breaks the fast. It was a great feast that starts with an evening ugi and is followed by the main course of chapattis, meat and bananas, meat and sauce, cassava, cooked cabbage, and the ever present and delicious beans. Very full and tired from the long bus ride I fell asleep not long after the meal.

This morning I went to the Mosque with the father and two house girls. We were supposed to leave at 7:30 but the taxi came at a quarter til. And baba wasn't ready until ten til. It was interesting to hear the girls chatter about him being late and worrying about missing the prayer. We arrived just before the prayers started and one of the girls in her rush to get to the appropriate spot (and partially due to poor footing) started to pray early. Fortunately, she was not hurt and was able to get to the female section of prayers. I was initially surprised to find the sun to my right as everyone faced the prayer direction, then I realized Mecca is to the north of Tanzania. Since, none of the Mwandu kids are around this year I expect to have another large meal, but a relatively calm evening tonight.