Tiddly jelly

I was due to chat to my colleague Paul in Germany but kept having to juggle the time as I was working on a complicated financial task. He said trying to talk with me was like ‘trying to pin down jelly.’ It was very fair. We had a great chat to lift the spirits with Paul telling me about how practising Buddhism helps him hugely to manage the stresses of his senior role.

Lundula’s parents had a lavish 25th wedding anniversary party tonight at one of Maputo’s big hotels, and I was invited. It was essentially a replica of their 1994 wedding complete with ceremonies, cake and reception at the same hotel they’d celebrated the original. Judging by the hotel decor in the videos playing on screens, as expected it was harder to throw a sumptuous bash in postwar Maputo. They made up for it in spades, and it’s certainly the most lavish wedding I’ve attended. I’d discovered mould on my suit as I was fishing it out of the wardrobe so had to cobble together some semblance of smartness from other items. It seemed to satisfy Paulo as I climbed into his txopela, and he labelled me ‘bonito’.

I hadn’t had any alcohol since New Year’s Eve so I let loose and definitely boarded the tipsy train. It was an enjoyable night with a great gang of new friends. I was perturbed at one point that when Return of the Mack starting pumping around the dancefloor and I started grooving, that the group around me weren’t reacting and maintained blank stares. Then I realised they were all around two years old when it was released.