I do see some funny sights as I travel around this city. The other day I saw a yellow taxi cab with grass growing on its roof. It apparently is designed to keep inside the cab cool. It certainly needs some help as these older model of taxis have no air conditioning unless you wind down the window.

There are some signs that keep me entertained but unfortunately I have forgotten them all. I guess I should remember to write them down in my notebook. A dental practice was called Pearl Dental Care but that one is  more clever than funny.

Then there is this restaurant. With a name like this I am not sure I am game to eat there.

I am back at Lochumlo's  and trying to figure out how to  pack in such a way I bring everything home with me.

It is not that I have bought much apart from a few packets of biscuits (nine), some sweet and sour snacks, some other sweets and maybe  a jar of jam. It is all the things that I have been given like the scarves, pestle and mortar, clock and wall hanging. And then there is the homemade jewellery someone thought I could sell at home. Ki korbo.

That aside I went back to my old favourite church today to see my church planting pals. There I saw an amazing jack fruit tree. Some of the jack fruit were growing out of the trunk. I have never eaten jack fruit because they  are ripe in summer but I have been told the fruit although very tasty has an unusual aroma.

I caught the bus home and stopped by at the devil's mall to use the conveniences. I thought that was a good reason anyway to go inside. And while there I had a cup of coffee. I also went to the supermarket and bought six packets of biscuits for the price of five.

They were completely re-organising the supermarket. I was immediately suspicious and thought the worst which shows you the effect  living in an unfamiliar environment  can have. I thought maybe the change around was to keep customers confused and disoriented. Instead of jumping to scurrilous conclusions I decided to ask a shop assistant. She led me to someone who was supervising. He assured me it was the first time the shop had been changed around in eight years and he was sorry for the inconvenience. I told him I was not inconvenienced just curious.

After I left the mall I walked down the road towards the cycle rickshaw stand. On the way I saw a fine fellow having a snooze on top of a wall. He looked so laid back and comfortable I decided to risk making a scene and took a photo.

I made it home and after a while Lochumlo also arrived. With a smirk on her face she asked me if I had been to the devil's mall. She prefers to call it S**** C****. I said I took the bus that goes that way. "Did you go inside," she pressed.
"I had a coffee."  I forgot to mention I needed to visit a small room. I wondered why she was asking me so many questions but then it is a joke between us how much I do not like the place but often go there.
Anyway she eventually confessed she had been there too and had seen me. I was very relieved at that point I, as always, had told the shameful truth.

I bought some sapota this evening. They were twenty rupees, which is about fifty cents, for six. They are a sweet musky tasting fruit. The texture of their flesh is similar in some ways to a pear. I quite like the flavour but not as much as I like guava. They have between  one and six very hard shiny black pips that look a bit like a bean seed.

The fruit is actually a berry off the sapodilla tree. Apparently they are native to the Mexico, Central America area but can be found throughout Asia.

The fruit are full of vitamins and unfortunately glucose so they are good for athletes. I just ate three for the purposes of research so I guess I should go for a run around the block now.

Lal brother, helped by Blesson brother is  turning the back yard into a vegetable production area. However, it is a very challenging project.  The soil, gluggy when wet, sandy when dry, is partly against them. Trees planted around the boundary of the property shade the growing area. The area is covered in weeds. The topography of the area is not helpful either. When it rains the area turns into a pond as it is lower than the path outside the fence and  the fence line where the trees are planted.

Just before the thunderstorm last week Lal planted ladies finger and coriander seed. I went out for a look and found a number of young plants. It was very exciting to see something  growing outside in a hot climate where they are supposed to be planted. The rain had washed away some of the soil from around their roots so we replaced that.

The plants are growing fast and I would like to stay on to see them come into production. I get maybe one fruit a week off each one of my ladies finger plants growing in pots in a tunnel house at home. That is an optimistic kind of estimation. In reality that only happens when the weather is hot for days on end. It would be interesting to see how well they grow in their natural habitat.

Tomato plants, beans, chilli and egg plants are also planted. The egg plants have been slow to set fruit but now have some growing.

We are trying to come up with a plan to protect the garden from the rain that will come in the monsoon season in about June to July. I suggested building the area up and making a border around it with bricks - a kind of raised bed. There are some bricks out the back. Whatever solution we think of involves lots of time and hard work or else money. Ki korbo.

Ladies finger seedlings

The egg plants are setting fruit.

A view of the vegetable production area with tomatoes in the foreground, okra seedlings in the bare land and egg plants behind them.

I think I have been very remiss in not devoting a page to my beloved guava. The first time I remember eating guava was on a family holiday when I was very young. I'm not even sure I was at school. Mum must have bought a tin of them for us. From that moment on I have always loved them. I think it is the large seeds I like best although these days biting onto one of those could be disastrous for teeth.

Imagine my joy on arriving in Hephzibah in 1992 to discover I could buy them fresh. 

Fresh guava are a little bit like feijoa in that they have a scent and flavour that is almost like a perfume. I do not know how better to describe their unusual taste. A lot of that flavour is found in the skin so if you peel them it is not as strong. I like them ripe but the locals often eat them when they are green and crunchy with what is called chaat Masala, a salty spicy mixture. I also like them stewed for breakfast. In fact most days I have guava, dhoi ( yoghurt) and muri (rice bubbles) to start the day.

 

I usually buy them green and eat them when the skin turns lemony yellow. Sometimes the flesh is pink but more often it is white. From the outside it is impossible to tell the colour of the flesh.

They sell for about $1 a kilogramme. I was going to buy some one day and realised the price for me was different for a local person who was also buying. The seller agreed with a sheepish grin he was charging me more and let me buy the guava at the same price.

 I have had a few adventures with the fruit. Interestingly although guava was the last thing I ate before a food poisoning episode in 1992 and the first thing I brought up when the vomiting started, I have never lost the taste for guava.

In 2008 just before I flew home I made some guava jam. Foolishly I put it in my hand luggage. At Singapore airport the security people would not let me pass through because I had liquid in my hand luggage. The liquid turned out to be my guava jam. I was tired through lack of sleep and argued the jam was not liquid but to no avail. The jam stayed in Singapore. I very grumpily boarded the plane. My friends Gayleen and Angam who were with me are able to have a good chuckle about it nowadays but I can assure you at the time it was not a laughing matter.

I do not want to get into the habit of checking with google every five minutes but I found out that guava are very good for you. They are rich in Vitamin A and C, but also have other goodies including folic acid, potassium, copper, manganese Vitamin K, and an antioxidant called lycopene that helps in shielding skin against damaging UV rays.