Double Lunch Date

This story takes place at the Catholic Church Parish Life Center in the boma with one of the two district priest that rotate through the villages to give services. There are not enough priests for even a third of the churches in Chitipa so they rotate around the villages. Church is normally conducted by devoted village individuals, including women.

I was biking from the boma to my village when a truck drives up from behind me and pulls to a stop next to me. It is one of the rotating reverands. He offers me a ride and since its the hot season I accept even though I'm over halfway home. We throw my bike in the truck bed and drive to my house. But he is very excited to meet me and offers to feed me lunch at the Parish Life Center then take me to Kaseye to see the Catholic, girls secondary school.

I agree, much of our life in Africa is based on spontanaity...and the fact that we are poor and never turn down free food. Before lunch we are sitting on the back porch of the Life Center, looking out over the small walled in back courtyards. They used to grow crops but in the dry season it is just a patch of land with some trees. We sit on cushioned chairs, watching a herd of goats bleat and nose around the yard, occasionally hopping up onto the brice lattice porch railing. I study the barely visable white bugs crawling trhough my cushion and onto my arm rest. It was not so long ago that I had a nghtmare fight with bed bugs for about three weeks. You never want bed bugs, they are hell and make you itch, miserable and in my case perpetually paranoid.

The Reverand and I casually sip ice cold cokes, another luxury for me. The Life center (and therefore the priests) are very Bwana (rich/hotshot), with refigerators, cooks, electricity. Suddenly the Rev says,
"Oh Look, a snake."
"Where?" I say, a little shocked he doesnt freak out like most Malawians.
We stand at the rail and he points with his coke. I shake my head,
"No, thats a camellion."
Its huge, the size of my open hand, and weighing at least a pound. He is neon green with little speckles of blue, red and a few other colors around his bulging eye ridges. The Rev shakes his head.
"Yes, that is a camellion, but that is a snake."
Its then I spot a green mamba coming across the yeard, about five feet long and skinny as a stack of three pencils. Observing a little more closely, I begin to notice that the Camellion is looking dazed, weak on its feet, like it may have fallen out of the tree it was under...or was bitten by the venomous green mamba...Its staggering a bit, swayign from side to side, the normal pendullum back and forth, forward walk of a camellion not in evidence. By this time the herd of goats is on the move. They are bleating and walking towards the camellion, but it does not move. The goats appear equally unaware of the snake as they do the camellion. One goat even stepps on it. It doesnt move. The snake however, is spooked by the goats. It darts back and swirls up the truck of a small tree.
Suddenly both the Rev and I are worried that the snake is going to kill one of the goats. Luckily, they pass without incident.

Just then the cook calls us in to lunch. We go inside and sit down at a huge table, layed with a feast. Bread and butter, soup, rice, nsima, beef, chicken, mpangwe (greens). I cant help but think that someone outside is enjoying their hearty lunch too.