Police and Chickens and Ninjas oh my

Twas keen for a quiet weekend after the antics of last week. However, I was woken up at 3am by the sounds of marching and male shouting/chanting coming closer. I’m a bit jumpy lately so needless to say I freaked, started dressing told Francoise ‘get some clothes on its finally happened, the rebels are coming’...we soon realised our new flat is near the Police college so it was just random drilling they are doing. Phew. That day we went off to the big clothing market to see if there was any warm gear for Kili climbing... hmm, might keep looking for a bit. Rest of the day chilled out then had some friends over for sundowners as a semi-flat warming. Fanta and Konyagi is a dangerous mix.

The next day, after stopping a random curious child who lives in the compound with us sneaking into our house, we wandered to the vege and livestock market in town. I’m fascinated by the way chickens are transported by some people here. A gaggle of chooks have their back legs tied together and then sqwarking in outrage are put in a big feathery lump into a plastic shopping bag...I didn’t see airholes, yo. Walking out of the market, I almost bumped into a woman wearing the full black burkha with just two eyes peeping out. This is insensitive, but they really do look like ninjas. Maybe I shouldn’t have gasped that out loud though...

I didn't gasp later but was intrigued to see lots of orange overalls that prisoners wear here hanging on a railing down town. Either someone there has a laundry contract with the prison or else some recent escapees are chilling out together.

Later that day went for a run in our new surrounds, past a blue spider-wasp the size of my finger, past the herd of goats eating everything in their path, past the ‘Moshi Club’ with the rarefied gentry playing golf and past the guy yelling ‘I LIKE WHITES!’ enthusiastically at us. We finished by jogging past a huge CCM rally with crowd pleasing colours and music. As we ran past them my IPod flicked to the South African anthem ‘Shosholoza’ . Interestingly the Zulu word Shosholoza can mean ‘make way for the next man’. What that portends for the election, I cannot say.