Meanwhile

...MasterM is playing Rugby in Zambia...

Yes, you did read that correctly, Zambia not Tanzania.

MasterM is playing for the Dar-Es-Salaam Leopards in Lusaka

which makes him an International Rugby player - no?

MrsM diffidently suggests to MasterM that if he is planning to travel around Africa he should keep an eye on the news. MasterM knows exactly what MrsM is worried about and points out that the Ebola virus outbreak is closer to London than it is to Zambia or Tanzania. MrsM checks the map of Africa and sees that he is correct - which is one less thing to worry about so she can concentrate on crocodiles, malaria and mad taxi drivers.

Meanwhile

it's Friday night in Tanzania...

MasterM
Here is a picture of
the Indian Open Air Bingo
It's a sight to behold!

Starters
Blasted prawns
Salt and Pepper chicken
Paneer samosa
Cheese naan

Main course
Lamb rogan
Chicken sookha
Garlic naan

Drink
Kilimanjaro X

MrsM
(in garden, under cherry tree)
We're having fish cakes...how lame is that?

Meanwhile

...Mwanza, near the Equator,
MasterM is messaging his parents...

MasterM
Just so you know,
I have come up to Lake Victoria.
My mate had a return ticket
that he couldn't use so I took it.
In Mwanza now.
I have a first class sleeper cabin
tonight across the lake.
Should be an experience!!

MrsM to MrM
Where even is Lake Victoria?

MrM to MrsM
DO NOT GOOGLE IT

but MrsM does...
and spends the rest of the evening
thinking about life jackets and crocodiles.
It's not easy being the mother of MasterM.

MasterM, Bibliophile

Man Reading

John Singer Sargent

MasterM will be setting off for a period in the bush soon. His main concern is not heat, flies or chance meetings with rhinos but having nothing to read. MrsM suggests a kindle and MasterM politely declines on the basis that a kindle does not fit his image. MrsM retreats gracefully and recommends the excellent local hospice book shop.

After a concentrated half hour MasterM left the shop with the following books:

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning

Laurie Lee

Born Free

Joy Adamson

Out of Africa

Karen Blixen

Jock of the Bushveld

Percy Fitzpatrick

Cry, Beloved Country

Alan Paton

Hangover Square

Patrick Hamilton

Dubliners

James Joyce

Burmese Days

George Orwell

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Beware of the Dog

Brian Moore

The Night of the Generals

Hans Kelmut Kirst

Ice Cold in Alex

Christopher Landon

Ill Met by Moonlight

Stanley Moss

The Great Escape

Paul Brickhill

633 Squadron

Frederick E. Smith

The Dirty Dozen

E.J. Nathanson

The Blue Max

Jack D. Hunter

The Dambusters Raid

John Sweetman

MASH

Richard Hooker

The Colditz Story

P.R. Reid

I can remember talking to a teacher when MasterM was 10 and expressing concern that he did not enjoy reading. The teacher, who was old and wise, reassured me that, although MasterM was not reading the sort of books I expected him to read, he did in fact read a great deal. When I thought about it later I realised that he read newspapers, particularly the sports sections, and non fiction books including war stories but he did not read Heidi, Little Women or Jane Eyre which I subconsciously expected him to enjoy because I had when I was his age. After that I let him get on with making his own choices and I have ended up with a son who reads voraciously. Sometimes, parenting by neglect can work wonders.

Men in Black

MasterM is wearing a vintage double breasted jacket
which was made for his Great Great Uncle Alan
before an invited lecture tour in the United States.
MrM wore it when he was the same age as MasterM.
I told MasterM to hang the jacket up afterwards
because one day his own son might want to wear it.
He looked quite aghast at the thought.

Meanwhile

...in Tanzania,  MasterM is messaging MrsM...

MasterM
Can't decide what to have for dinner...
Aromatic Pig Hoof
or Spicy Chicken Claw

MrsM
Spoil yourself.
Have both.

MasterM
Check out these kikoys!
Want one?

MrsM
Yes please!!!
(Can I have more than one?)

MasterM
Look what washed up
at the end of my street
after the flood last week!

MrsM
Come home immediately.

The 'Varsity Jug

MasterM and his great friend Manu organise an annual golf tournament between the University of Stellenbosch and their local rival, the University of Cape Town. His main concern while we were in South Africa was the famous silver trophy, the 'Varsity Jug.

MasterM modelling a nice line in golf shoes

Stellenbosch won the last round of this prestigious competition which surprised everyone, especially the Stellenbosch team. There was a strong performance in the bars of Stellenbosch that night and the trophy was paraded through the town. For reasons which are not entirely clear one of the team members then slept with the trophy. Unfortunately, it was in a folding bed and when the aforementioned person got out of bed the next day he forgot about the trophy. The bed was put away and the historic trophy was squashed as flat as a pancake causing great consternation. The immediate solution was to ask the person with the strongest hands, a water-polo player, to wrench it back into shape which, unsurprisingly, caused more damage. By now it is a trophy with an identity crisis because it is closer to a plate than a jug. MasterM phoned around the specialist shops and was advised to take it to a garage for panel beating. It was resurrected as a jug with vintage features just in time for the next round of the competition. Panic over.

After repair...

** Many thanks to MasterM's friend for the top two photos **

MasterM, employee

MasterM has a job!
On the edge of Lake Tanganyika.
He will need veldtschoen and khaki shorts.
It is a very exciting opportunity
and, as he says, if it doesn't work out
he can always write a book about it.

MrM and MrsM toast their son,
amazed all over again.

If you have been reading for a long time
you will remember the day
that MasterM left school.
I don't think even he expected to end up
on the edge of Lake Tanganyika
but he does have some experience of giraffes

The Away Fixture

MasterM plays for the Dar Leopards these days.
It is hard rugby but a good way to make friends.

I had a shock when he sent these photographs
because I did not recognise him to start with.
I remembered the schoolboy rugby player
and he was not there, however hard I looked.

He tells me that he has to run onto the pitch
holding the hand of a little child.
I smile because it wasn't that long ago
that he was a mascot himself.

They are playing the Arusha Rhinos this weekend.
That's Arusha near Mount Kilimanjaro.
It's the local derby so it should be a close match.
If you are in the area do stop by to cheer the Leopards.

*****

We are not sure who took these photos.
I will print a credit as soon as I can.

Meanwhile...

...in South Africa...

MasterM has graduated.

MrM and MrsM open a bottle of champagne
and toast their son and his degree
in accountancy, economics and law
which was taught in Afrikaans,
a language he does not speak.

They are so very proud of him,
this exceptionally determined young man
who makes his dreams come true
by hard work and self belief.

Who knows what will be next?
There will be more adventures,
you can be sure of that,
but now is a time to celebrate
and recognise this achievement.

and in another part of the forest

MasterM has been travelling in South America
acting as translator and guide
for friends from South Africa,

Here they are in the silver mines of Potosi, Bolivia,
a place of noise, dirt and danger
which made a great impression on them all.

Tonight he is back in Stellenbosch
and messages to ask my advice on design.

What colour embroidery should he choose
to go with his maroon golf tie?

I suggest yellow for an 'unforgettable' effect.

I did not know what it would be like to have an adult son
but I did not expect to be thinking about golf ties.

In South Africa.

The Battle of Cute

It's Wednesday evening
and MrsM settles down to
a brutal session of internet warfare
with MasterM in South Africa,
no holds barred.

MasterM opens with the dog/cake gambit:

MrsM responds hard with puppies,
lots and lots of puppies.

it's a strategic move
she knows it's too early to win...

MasterM cranks it up,
he's feeling confident now...
he thinks he can force MrsM
to play her winning card

MrsM brings out the piglet in socks...

surely this is Top Cute?

But no...

MasterM spins in his response:

the sad spaniel puppy

MasterM wins The Battle of Cute.

Again.

Meanwhile

... in South Africa
Cheeky the little red car
has gone to the Great Scrapyard
after an encounter with the bottom of a ditch.
Thankfully nobody was hurt.

MrsM thinks that there are times
when it is very hard
to be a long distance mother
and distracts herself with a new iPod

MasterM send photos of his new car,
Sifiso the Night Warrior,
watching the sunset in the mountains.

MrsM
Who is Sifiso named after?
Sifiso Myeni the famous footballer
or Sifiso Nhlapo the BMX star?

MasterM
Neither...
but Sifiso Nhlapo says that
the most important person
in his life is
his mum.
I respect that.

MasterM, paparazzo

Sangria

Serve with
slab of watermelon,
cinnamon stick,
large paper peacock
and a splash of chutzpah.

MasterM, trail runner

MasterM
Check out this crazy trail run.
We ran for three and a half hours!

MrM
I don't know where he inherited
his running ability from.

As the only other runner in the family
MrsM tries to look modest.

Meanwhile

in South Africa...

MasterM is improving his resume...

MasterM
I'm getting some marketing experience!

MrsM
Which one is you??

MasterM
You'll have to guess...

MrsM
The one between the two guys wearing shirts.

MasterM
How did you know??

MrsM
I recognised the knees.

MasterM
Now I've got a complex about my knees :-(

MasterM, big brother

MrM and MrsM put on their brave faces
because the dreaded day had arrived
to tidy the cupboard under the stairs
and they emptied it out
and took away much rubbish.

At the very back they found
a little plastic roundabout
which was the same
little plastic roundabout
that MasterM gave MissM
on the day that she was born.

And MrsM remembered MasterM
in his corduroy dungarees
sitting on the hospital bed
with the present for his new sister
looking rather overwhelmed
by the strangeness of it all.
And it was as though it was yesterday.

Meanwhile

...in Cape Town...

MasterM has been celebrating Valentine's Day.

(Hashim, you are not what I expected....)

Meanwhile

...in Mozambique...

MasterM is perfecting
his networking skills.

Men at Work

MrsM and Colin the decorator
consider the traffic sign
which was behind the bookcase.

Colin the decorator says
"I expect it was a prank"

and MrsM thinks
"You.Have.No.Idea."

and hears music in her head
all the way from Stellenbosch.