The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
In Alexander McCall Smith’s newest book about Mma Ramotswe, it is a time of transition and unease. Unthinkable things happen. Mma Makutsi quits her job as Mma Ramotswe’s assistant detective, and Charlie, the apprentice, quits to start his own taxi service. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni feels a restless urge to try out his detecting skills and everything is in turmoil.
And underneath, amazing things happen. When you think differently, there is room for change, and forgiveness.
With Mma Makutsi back in her usual place, the heavy atmosphere that had prevailed that morning lifted. The emotional reunion, as demonstrative and effusive as if Mma Makutsi had been away for months, or even years, had embarrassed the men, who had exchanged glances and then looked away, as if in guilt at an intrusion into essentially female mysteries. But when the ululating from Mma Ramotswe had died down and the tea had been made, everything returned to normal.
“Why did she bother to leave if she was going to be back in five minutes?” asked the younger apprentice.
“It’s because she doesn’t think like anybody else,” said Charlie. “She thinks backwards.”
Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, who overheard this, shook his head. “It’s a sign of maturity to be able to change your mind when you realize that you’re wrong,” he explained. “It’s the same with fixing a car. If you find out that you’re going along the wrong lines then don’t hesitate to stop and correct yourself. If, for example, you’re changing the oil seal at the back of a gearbox, you might try to save time by doing this without taking the gearbox out. But it’s always quicker to take the gearbox out. If you don’t, you end up taking the floor out and anyway, you have to take the top of the gearbox off, and the prop shaft too. So it’s best to stop and admit your mistake before you go any further and damage things.”
Charlie listened to this – it was a long speech for Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni – and then looked away. He wondered if this was a random example siezed upon by Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, or if he knew about the seal he had tried to install in the old rear-wheel-drive Ford. Could he have found out somehow?
In another place, Charlie has just told Mma Ramotswe of his plans to start the No. 1 Ladies Taxi Service:
For a minute or two, nobody spoke. Mma Ramotswe was aware of the sound of Charlie’s breathing, which was shallow, from excitement. We must remember, she thought, what it is like to be young and enthusiastic, to have a plan, a dream. There is always a danger that as we went on in life we forget about that; caution – even fear – replaced optimism and courage. When you were young, like Charlie, you believed that you could do anything, and, in some circumstances at least, you could. . . . .
“I will tell all my friends to use your taxi,” she said. “I am sure you will be very busy.”
And oh yes, in the midst of all this, three mysteries get solved – a case of inventory gone missing, a case of a string of inexplicable hospital deaths, and a case of a husband potentialy gone astray.
GREAT summer reading, deceptively simple. You find yourself mulling over the situations, the responses and the outcomes, and trying out new ways of thinking. Give it a try – you don’t have to read the whole series to enjoy each volume.
This eighth book in the series is available from Amazon.com for a mere $12.70. It makes great summer reading.
Zanzibar for Magical Droplets
Magical Droplets asked for shots of Zanzibar, one of our very favorite places to relax.
So near, who would think this tropical paradise would be so close? Most flights from here go through Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Dar as-Salaam, but sometimes you can find a flight that goes Muscat – Zanzibar direct. So you get to go to two really cool places instead of just one.
If Oman is fusion Arabian, influenced by Africa and India, than Zanzibar is fusion African, with heavy Arabian, Indian and British influences. We stay at the Zanzibar Serena, only because we never seem to be able to get into Emerson and Green’s, a very funky hotel, every room different (and nice and large) and where you try to be for sundowners on the roof. It’s tradition.
To get away from everything, we stay at Mnemba Island, which has only one hotel on the whole island, run by CCAfrica. You have your own bungalow, which is as big as a small house, and all the privacy in the world. You can even have all your meals in your bungalow – your butler brings them. They do daily diving trips, and they have their own marine reserve with more fish than I have ever seen in one place, even an aquarium. The food is fresh and fabulous. You are treated as a cherished house guest. They tell you when you land that you will not need your shoes the entire time on the island, and you won’t believe them (the first time) but it’s true! The weather stays in the high 80’s (F) year round.
CCAfrica specializes in maintaining a low ecological profile while providing all this luxury. The bungalow is full of locally crafted goods, and the small gift shop is full of locally produced soaps, papers, textiles, crafted items. . .It isn’t easy to get reservations, as it is a great favorite with post-safari travellers and with honeymooners.
For us, the greatest luxury of all is privacy. Mnemba Island is paradise. Ahhhhhh. . . .Zanzibar . . .
Zanzibar Serena
Mnemba bungalow
Happy Birthday, Big Diamond
You were the one with all the courage, you were the one who never understood the word “no.” With your big, sunny smile, you went ahead and did just exactly what you pleased.
“Watch me! Wheeeeeeeee!” you shouted as you jumped out of the swing, breaking your arm.
“This is how you do it!” you yelled, sliding on the ice down the long wooden walk, falling and breaking the other arm.
Nothing stopped you. You look the impossible in the eye, and you spit.
And all these years later, you still do! You are the most amazing woman, indominable, unstoppable. You set a high standard for all the rest of us, with your energy, your clarity of values, and your generousity of spirit.
And today, your birthday, will also be the christening of your first grandchild.
How amazing, how wonderful. You are in my thoughts, dear sister, and I wish I could be there to celebrate with you.
Just another reason to love Q8
Kuwait Times, 10 June 2007
Camel Found
A Kuwaiti man reported to Naeem police that when he got out of his house, he saw a camel lying before his car and he tried to move the camel but it did not move. Police moved to the scene and discovered that the camel belonged to another Kuwaiti man and it fled its den recently.
My comment: I used to see camels all the time in Qatar. I have NEVER seen a single camel in Kuwait. I know they are around, just not in any of the places I have been. I haven’t even been to the camel races here!
But camels are BIG, and they are nasty-tempered. You gotta love a guy who sees a camel “before his car” and tries to move the camel. I am guessing the paper meant to say that he tried to MAKE the camel move, but the vision I have is this be-thobed, be-gutra’d guy trying to shove a camel away from his car. It just gives me a huge grin. Very brave man!
Rules of Engagement
As you know, I am from a very close, very funny family. Earthling, my nephew, just got engaged.
We’ve all been waiting. Almost from the beginning, we knew this girl was THE ONE. We almost always know. They announced their engagement by sending a series of photos of a hike they took near Google Valley in California, including the photo of the bride-elect and her new ring. We are dancing for joy, that these two dear people have found one another and are committing their futures to one another.
And – the bride-to-be has started a blog called Rules of Engagement. She is a very funny, very clever writer, and will take you step by step through the travails of an American style wedding.
Enjoy!
Alphabet Tag! You’re It!
A: Available or single — Definitely taken.
B: Best Friend — My college buddy, Alison, through thick and thin. But there are a whole band of good buddies out there. You know who you are.
C: Cake or pie —Pie, Rhubarb or Blueberry
D: Dance or exercise — Either, as long as there is laughing.
E: Essential Item — My laptop
F: Favorite color — Blue / Purple
G: Gummy bears or worms — Gummy Bears, red ones.
H: Home town — Kuwait and Seattle.
I: Indulgence — I still date my husband.
J: January or February — Both! Two of my favorite months in Kuwait
K: Kids — The hope of the future. I love their questions.
L: Life — God willing, we get the life we were created to live.
M: Marriage — Partnership
N: Number of siblings —2
O: Oranges or apples — Apples fresh from the tree, or refrigerated, cold and crispy
P: Phobias — Zombies, wild bear, things that would kill me without thinking twice about it.
Q: Quote: Of all God’s creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with a cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat. Mark Twain
R: Reasons to smile — 180 degrees of Gulf view
S: Season — Autumn – love the coolness, the hint of cold to come, the freshness and new beginnings (school starts).
T: Tag 3 people: No surprises: Skunk, Zin/1001 Nights and Little Diamond
U: Unknown fact about me — My niece thinks I am an artist; I think I just have a craft.
V/W: Worst habit —I am very focused and I really really like being alone.
X/Y: Your favorite Food — Pacific Northwest Bouillabaisse, but fish soup in almost every culture.
Z: Zodiac —Aquarius – that’s why Elijah and I tag each other.
Marriage – A Great Adventure
I remember the day we looked at each other in astonishment, the day we realized we had lived with each other longer than we had lived with our own parents. We think of family cultures as the culture we grew up in, but in our years together, we have created our own family culture, haven’t we?
We chose one another, in itself, a great adventure. We chose a life full of change and risk. We stacked the obstacles against our survival as a couple, and yet we prevailed, by the grace of God.
We laugh at how young we were to have made such a lifelong commitment. We laugh at how we walked into parenthood – no, RAN into parenthood, joyfully, with no clues as to the huge responsibilities, the agonies as well as the intense delights.
Happy Anniversary, Adventure Man. I thank God for our marriage, and our partnership.
These are for you.
Morning in the bush
Picnic Stop
The thrill of the chase
The Great Migration
Zanzibar
Emergency Lane Rant
It’s not your arrogance that drives me totally crazy, as much as the fact that your arrogance puts us all at risk.
First, you are driving too fast, and weaving between cars. Yep, it looks like fun, but you’re cutting it a little close, brother. And if you are young and have all your wits about you, you might do OK, but if you are tired, if you are drinking, if you are on drugs, your reactions are impaired and so is your judgement.
We can’t help but bear witness to your carnage along the sides of the road. It’s not like they sit there for weeks. The tow trucks haul them away, and they are replaced overnight with new, bloodier, twisted wreckage. The highways are littered with your crumpled bumpers, and shards of your shattered windshields.
Worse, as traffic piles up, and ambulances arrive to try to save those who survive the impact, no-one moves aside! When time is critical, when seconds can literally mean life or death, the ambulances are stuck trying to get past cars which won’t move out of the way.
As for the rest of us, stacked up along the highways, waiting for the wreckage to be cleared, it doesn’t help to have these drivers zipping by in the EMERGENCY lanes. Hello???? What part of EMERGENCY is so hard for you to understand?
You’re not special. We all have places we need to be. And – you are in the emergency lane. You endanger us all.
Quintessentially Doha
While all the news is about the burgeoning crop of skyscrapers in Doha, these two landmarks are located close to one another, in the old downtown Doha area, when the Sheraton Hotel was way out there – kinda like the Ritz Carleton is now, with the growth of West Bay creeping the city out closer and closer.
The first is quintessential Doha – the crossed swords on Grand Hamad, which turns into Airport Road:
The second photo is of the QCPI building – Qatar Center for the Presentation of Islam – which we all watched with total amazement as it was being built – what imagination! It gives Doha a unique skyline. Even with the imaginative skyscrapers, a skyscraper skyline is just a skyscraper skyline – it all blends. But this building – WHOA! It is so bold, so retro and so forward at the same time – I love it.
This is a view looking across the newly renovated Iranian souks – the old Souk area in Doha:
Strolling Through Villagio
As I sat in the Kuwait airport, waiting, waiting, waiting . . . .I ran into a friend also heading to Doha, and we spent some time together. For one thing, she told me about Villagio, which didn’t exist when I lived in Doha.
If I lived in Doha, this is where I would spend my summer, walking along the avenues and gondola filled lagoons of Villagio. After a good stroll, I could sit down at one of the many restaurants and cafes and wipe out all the good work I had done strolling!
How cool is this?
The lagoon winds through the Mall, and you can take a boat ride when you are tired of shopping:
I love all the attention to detail, especially the streetlights, which are lit day and night, and provide a delightful romantic atmosphere:
The perfect place for a stroll – or a 10K hike!
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