Category: culture
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E. Glimpses of Predeparture (intro.)
Introduction: Numerous excerpts from old journals kept in Tanzania and Zimbabwe where I once sojourned have already been posted on this site. These include pieces in ‘Scraps from Tanzania Notebooks’, ‘Scraps from Zimbabwe Notebooks’ and in ‘Scraps of Memoir from Afar’. In taking a second look at the transcripts of journals from those years, I…
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F. Scraps of Memoir from Afar (intro.)
“Who’s the guy?” the bald man asked in heavily accented English as Brandee broke away. “My friend who’s going to Africa.” “Africa?” He shouted above the din, “What to Christ for are ya goin’ to Africa?” “He’s a teacher,” said Brandee, lighting a cigarette. Mugging a scowl, the heavyset man reached out as if to…
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F. Scraps of Memoir from Afar (con’d)
Later in the afternoon on the terrace of the Manor Hotel, Mariam was on her third beer, while I was sipping ginger ale. Suddenly the sky darkened and whirlwinds of dust were blowing in the street. Amid the tropical downpour that followed we watched passersby running for cover. Then without warning a black bird flew…
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D. Notes from Zimbabwe (intro.)
Introduction: It was in the midst of Tanzanian celebration of Zimbabwe’s independence in April 1980 that I was first attracted by the possibility of living in a free yet economically developed African country. The prospect came sooner than expected. In January 1982, I landed in (then) Salisbury, the capital city of Zimbabwe, with a 3-year…
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D. Notes from Zimbabwe (con’d)
“We always catch the BOP Evening News.” Alexander hit the volume button in time for the drumbeats heralding the satellite feed from Bopupatswana, South Africa. The news led with images of a burning car. “BOP News always has the gory detail,” said Rosie, scratching her nyloned toes under her recliner. “They show the corpses of…
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C. Vignettes from Nigeria and Tanzania
Introduction: In 1977-1978, sponsored by a Canadian NGO, I taught in a boys’ boarding high school in northern Nigeria. Looking at my grainy 110 photos of that era, I am struck by just what a wildly colourful place it was. Nigeria, at that time, was in the midst of an oil boom. That boom financed…
Coprolites in Amber (etc.) 