Showing posts with label Matatu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matatu. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Corrupting Africans, one Fat Tuesday at a time

Happy Mardi Gras! Happy Fat Tuesday! Happy Doughnut Day! Happy Faschnacht Day!

For the past 5+ years, this has been a day of great celebration for me and, by extension, those around me. Lent is my favorite season of the year, but I have no qualms about giving Ordinary Time a good send-off. This morning, while taking a walk around the grounds, I asked Fr. John if they did anything special for Mardi Gras here. He looked at me with puzzlement (I can count on this look whenever I tell him about most of our American traditions), and I did my best to explain the concept behind Shrove Tuesday.

This man is a quick learner!

By the time I saw him again in the afternoon, he had concocted a plan for the two of us to celebrate Fat
Tuesday. We hopped a Matatu (check out the third paragraph here) to the Galleria Shopping Mall down the road and had us some decadence! First stop: pizza (one of Fr. John's favorite things!)

Then we went to a sports bar and had a couple of beers. You know, because it's Fat Tuesday. I do not know what the future holds, but I am hopeful that Fr. John will not forget the importance of Fat Tuesday!

I had somehow forgotten how much I am force-fed here in Africa. It's allllll coming back (pounds and memories). But how can I turn down such gracious hospitality?