Too late -- having removed our shoes washed our hands, covered our heads and walked on our filthy feet across a pristine white prayer mat -- we realised we would be working for our lunch by listening to a 20-minute rant from a toothless and fervent man. He took in Revelations, Christianity, Reincarnation, Ancient Greece and the respect which Sikhs have for All Other Religions (apart from Hinduism). At the end, he asked if any of us had any questions.
‘Um,’ said Gill, who could see Anne, having bravely penetrated the organisation was waving at us from the back of the temple, ‘Our leader says we have to go now.’
‘Yes, but does anyone have any questions?’
‘We really do have to go -- there are people waiting for us,’ added Elaine.
We scrambled to our feet, and he tried to thwart us by getting the priest to give us sweets, but we retreated down the stairs, grabbed our shoes and ran. The 4x4 man was waiting by the gate, but numbers made us brave and all he could do was bellow: ‘It will take you FIVE minutes to eat lunch.’
2. Having said all that, I did like the paintings for Sikh gurus that decorate the temple, and the fanatical man did have a beatific, toothless grin. Also, I liked the priest, who seemed to hiding his face in a mixture of amusement and embarrassment.
3. Washing clothes -- normally it sucks, but doing it in the African sun, when you know you don’t have to get your whites perfect, is OK.
4. Watching crabs on the beach. They were doing crabby things on the dry sand just above the tideline -- chasing each other, digging more sand out of their burrows and scuttling around. When I tried to get nearer they disappeared down their holes, but if I stayed still for a moment, they came out again.
Dar es Salaam
