True stories with a twist!

Posts tagged ‘safari’

THAT CAN’T BE YOUR NAME

Meet my brother, Jerry as he continues his travels in Africa. This photo was taken in Zambia. My brother is on the left.

Jerry travels to Africa frequently because of his work with SHAREAFRICA, an organization helping AIDS orphans. SHARE builds schools and feeds, houses and provides clothing for over 200 orphans in Kenya. (For more information, see the website: shareafrica.org.)

After a recent trip to Kenya he and his companion, Usha,  took a side trip : a safari in Zambia. One afternoon while sitting on a restaurant’s verandah eating lunch, a monkey suddenly swooped out of a tree, landed on their table and grabbed a piece of pizza out of Usha’s hand. The restaurant manager observed this interaction and came to their table with his apology.

“I’m sorry about that monkey disturbing you, he said. “I am going to assign a special guard to you so you will not be bothered by animals any more. He will stand by your table until you finish your meal.”

And he did. The fierce looking guard in the photo did an admirable job and they were no longer interrupted by animals during that meal. The animals seemed to know this guard, and stayed clear of him. At the end of the pleasant, peaceful lunch Jerry said to the Zulu, “I would like to thank you. You have done a wonderful job protecting us. I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Jerry.”

“What?” said the Zulu. “That cannot be true. MY name is Jerry.” And then he asked in all sincerity,”Why did your parents give you an African name?”

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CARING, SHARING FRIENDS

“Oh, is this the weekend of the big wedding? I can’t wait to hear about it on Monday!”

This is what each friend tells me. Such enthusiasm. Such great friends. Such caring.  I’ll tell them every detail after the weekend. They’ll be spellbound when I describe how the couple arrived at the reception.

As with most special events, although the planning goes on endlessly, the actual event seems to last about twenty-five minutes in real time.

After it was over I asked myself,   Who did I speak to? Did I remember to see everyone? Did I miss any of the hors d’oeuvres?”

Monday morning I meet my friends at our “Politics Against Politicians” meeting, knowing how much they’re looking forward to hearing about every aspect of the wedding.

I hope I remember everything. They’ll want to know all the details.  When I arrived three of them were already seated, but the meeting had not yet begun.

“How was the wedding?” asked Margo.

“Oh, yes, chimed in Sabrina, we want to hear all about it.”

“Tell us everything,” added Diane.  “It was a beautiful wedding, I began. The weather was perfect, and the…”

“Oh, I can just imagine, interrupted Diane. When my sister got married last May it was a picture perfect day.”

“You’re so lucky, re-chimed Sabrina, Our wedding took place on the rainiest day of the century. We could have hired gondolas to help people get there.”

Before I could get another word into their wedding memories Margo abruptly changed the theme of our discussion.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you whether you heard last week’s debate. I thought it was repetitious. Nobody made a point we haven’t heard before.I am getting discouraged.”

I’m the one who is getting discouraged. They all dismissed my wedding stories after I said; wait a minute; what did they give me a chance to say?

My feelings might have been hurt a little, but all is not lost. I’ll have another chance. Just wait until I tell them about my upcoming Safari to Botswana.

They will be so fascinated to hear about it.

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