Guests

Yesterday I got the rare chance to see the Prime Minister, as well as the ministers of water, education, and various other things. They came to the next village over (Mtambula, about 2.5k away) for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a small bank and maize-storage building. They have a generator, so they had a microphone and music playing. I showed up with a friend of mine, and was hanging out in the crowd hoping not to be noticed, but I guess I stick out and the agricultural extension officer called me up to stand in front with the village leaders, school principals, and bank officials. I had heard that the visitors were arriving at 11:00 am, so I showed up then. At 1:30 they arrived, and I had been standing in the line of village leaders ready to shake hands with the ministers for about an hour and a half in front of about 500 townspeople, while a couple of choirs stalled for time by singing welcoming songs. When the ministers finally did show up, they were pressed for time, so they cut the ribbons, took a few questions from the crowd, and were off within the hour (without the long awaited shaking-of-hands). It was an interesting experience, as people here will do ANYTHING for their guests, and often end up waiting for hours for guests with unspecified arrival times. I'm afraid this is what happened when I showed up in my village a day late.