Saturday, July 24, 2010

Random Snippets

Yeah, random snippets on my way from Kiabakari to Dar es Salaam via Mwanza today. If you are chicken hearted or sensitive, please do not read further after this first paragraph as some images may be disturbing to you...You have been warned!
Yesterday, my sisters prepared a farewell dinner for me and welcoming dinner at the same time for my replacement while I am away, Fr. Juergen from Nyegezi, Mwanza, who will spend two weeks and three Sundays in Kiabakari helping me in the first part of my short trip to Poland.

The Sisters are very generous in regards to food as an expression of their feelings. Particularly yesterday, on such an important occasion... Among some really nice foodstuffs, they prepared fried caterpillars, they brought with them from Zambia (the whole 50 kilograms sack!). They told me when I had them for the first time in January this year, that this is a delicacy in Zambia, very expensive and very tasty. Something like a caviar or kopi lupak coffee delicacy in other parts of the world, such is the esteem these caterpillars enjoy over there in Zambia! Well, when I decided to reset my European code of trusted foods which tells me that you don't eat insects, worms, caterpillars and that sort of creatures, I found that this smoked and then roasted or fried caterpillar tastes like a jelly (like Polish 'żelki'), or to be more general - like chewing on a water collector from an engine going to the radiator, something like this. But the taste was ok, to be honest, not bad, not ugly, though my mind was issuing constant warning - 'you don't eat this thing, you don't eat this thing!'...

Frankly speaking, these caterpillars don't look pretty on the table. See and judge for yourself (WARNING: Imminent disturbing image!)...


You may find more info on this interesting source of energy here and here and here and here.

Fortified by yummy chewy jelly caterpillars, I was able to sleep well and wake up energized in the morning. After the Holy Mass we set off to Mwanza. We had to rush as - it is becoming a habit for Precision Air to precisely reschedule flights on short notice - plane was brought two  hours earlier, instead of 2 pm it was 12 noon. So we needed to start the trip to Mwanza early, ruining my morning and parochial schedule. On our entering Mwanza, we were preceded by a three-wheeler with this message - 'Maskini hana likizo' meaning 'A poor man has no holidays'...Sounded somehow ironic considering my going to Poland...


Then, flying from Mwanza to Dar, we, the passengers sitting on the left hand side of the Boeing 737 of Precision Air, were lucky to spot tops of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro sticking out of the thick layer of clouds. The picture taken on my mobile (I was seated in aisle, so taking picture I had to lean over two passengers seating to my left, which did not make them happy) does not justice to the majesty and beauty of this spectacular view (Mount Meru to the left and Mount Kilimanjaro below the wing of the aircraft):


Have a blessed Sunday! Please, try to look in a more friendly way at all those caterpillars you may encounter in your holiday, summer trips, walks, journeys, explorations... They are good!

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