Street Shopping in Africa

 

     I had just finished changing the sheets on the bed and was washing up before going downstairs to start breakfast when the telephone rang. It was my husband. He had finished with his business for the day and was doing some shopping in Tanzania. He wanted help picking out some things for the grandkids, so I pulled out my computer and we Skyped our way through the market stalls of Arusha.

     I met a woman named Lillian who sold us a couple of scarves, headbands and a zebra carving, and let my husband take her picture. Asante sana, Lillian.

     You can read her philosophy of life on the sign above her stall.

Money

Can buy bed, but not sleep

Books but not brain

Cosmetics but not beauty

Food but not appetite

Religion but not salvation

Luxuries but not culture

A passport to anywhere but not heaven

     Then we bought a painting from some young men who had spread their wares on hedges beside the road.

     My plan for that morning was to do some weeding and watering in my garden. Instead, I went virtual shopping in Africa. Maybe the next adventure will be hiking on Kilimanjaro. It is a brave new world we live in.