We were honored (or honoured, as I often write here) to have the Prime Minister visit PHSS on Sunday to lay the cornerstorne for the school. Actually, it's not really a cornerstone--it's more of a "plaque dedication" ceremony. I'm always a bit impressed, since in America it would be almost impossible to get this close to a national leader like this. The Prime Minister attended several of these ceremonies at Lutheran projects in the area as well as a luncheon.
I wish I could say that I'd be giving you this information first-hand, but unfortunately I didn't attend. After trying for a month to schedule the kids' birthday party (between other parties they were invited to, Mark's weekend work commitments this past month, and other stuff) I finally picked yesterday. After all, nothing goes on on Sunday around here and the Prime Minister's visit was set for Monday. Then, on Wednesday afternoon it was changed--to Sunday. I decided not to risk the wrath of the children and went ahead with the party.
Actually, it wasn't the first time it was changed. The church officials were primarily in charge of getting everything ready--and after the number of calls we got changing the date and time, we were more than happy to let them deal with it! I suppose planning
anything for a major politcal figure requires alot of shuffling schedules and timing. So Mark and Doug and the teachers headed out at about 9:15 for the 10:30 appearance at the site (it's about 30 minutes from our house to the site). On the way they got caught in traffic because...the PM was coming through. At first they were a little worried that they were going to arrive after the PM--then he drove by..going the other way. It seems as if he was already a little behind schedule and was heading to another site. So everyone arrived on time. Plenty of time. The Prime Minister finally arrived at 2:00. (hint--it's a good idea to bring a bottle of water and some reading material whenever you head out for something around here). The Prime Minister took a short tour and appeared to be favorably impressed with the project and what he heard about our mission.
I wish I could say that I'd be giving you this information first-hand, but unfortunately I didn't attend. After trying for a month to schedule the kids' birthday party (between other parties they were invited to, Mark's weekend work commitments this past month, and other stuff) I finally picked yesterday. After all, nothing goes on on Sunday around here and the Prime Minister's visit was set for Monday. Then, on Wednesday afternoon it was changed--to Sunday. I decided not to risk the wrath of the children and went ahead with the party.
Actually, it wasn't the first time it was changed. The church officials were primarily in charge of getting everything ready--and after the number of calls we got changing the date and time, we were more than happy to let them deal with it! I suppose planning
anything for a major politcal figure requires alot of shuffling schedules and timing. So Mark and Doug and the teachers headed out at about 9:15 for the 10:30 appearance at the site (it's about 30 minutes from our house to the site). On the way they got caught in traffic because...the PM was coming through. At first they were a little worried that they were going to arrive after the PM--then he drove by..going the other way. It seems as if he was already a little behind schedule and was heading to another site. So everyone arrived on time. Plenty of time. The Prime Minister finally arrived at 2:00. (hint--it's a good idea to bring a bottle of water and some reading material whenever you head out for something around here). The Prime Minister took a short tour and appeared to be favorably impressed with the project and what he heard about our mission.
Whenever we've attended something like this, I'm always amazed at how many people are attending. I don't want to say "tagging along" because I don't know what everyone's function is, or how many people are invited because it's a privilege to accompany him. Not having much experience with this sort of thing (oh, all right--having no experience with this sort of thing) I would imagine that a large entourage probably accompanies Bush or Cheney whenever they head out as well. But the "entourage" of cars filled with people is pretty amazing! In fact, we were stopped this week while the President went by. I counted 22 Landcruisers with at least 4-6 people in each one--that did not include the additional police vehicles!
I am including this one pic, however, because it is a very common site wherever we go. Whenever anything mildly interesting happens (or maybe might happen) you get a crowd watching. I've mentioned the proclivity towards gawking here and being wazungu we are often the ones being watched. This is what we see.
The site looked great. Colorful, lots of flowers, very nice! While they were waiting, Mark and Doug watched the man setting up the decorations. It was after the time the PM was supposed to arrive and he
was moving at a very leisurely pace. Doug wondered if perhaps he had an inside scoop on exactly when the PM would arrive and so he knew he didn't have to rush. Mark answered, probably not. The guy is just going about business. He'd know when he's done decorating...when the PM arrives, not when the decorations are actually all up!
I always enjoy, though, the clothing that people wear here. There is such a 
colorful mix of traditional and Western clothing and it seems as if it's all OK. While I'm personally a big fan of the little black dress as the go-to outfit that works pretty much everywhere, the color and patterns here are something I love to see. There's always a great mix of western clothing, Tanzanian style, and traditional dress. It mirrors the personalities of the people of Tanzania, I think--they are so colorful themselves and life here is definitely a mix of African and western, the traditional and the modern!
colorful mix of traditional and Western clothing and it seems as if it's all OK. While I'm personally a big fan of the little black dress as the go-to outfit that works pretty much everywhere, the color and patterns here are something I love to see. There's always a great mix of western clothing, Tanzanian style, and traditional dress. It mirrors the personalities of the people of Tanzania, I think--they are so colorful themselves and life here is definitely a mix of African and western, the traditional and the modern! 
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