Mzuri Monday Madness

Last night, we took a break from language learning and hung out with one of our teams who is working in Nairobi. At a theater nearby, they have a special deal called "Mzuri Monday Madness." (Mzuri is a Swahili word that means "good." For example: Habari? (How are you?) Mzuri. (Good.) ah, Mzuri sana. (Very good.) On Monday nights, you can see a movie and get a hotdog, popcorn and Coke for 380 ksh (Kenyan shillings... that's about $5.80). So, we saw the new Batman movie... the Dark Knight. And two things stood out from the evening...

First, it was quite the experiment in African culture. The movie was supposed to start at 5:50. At 6:20, we stood for the Kenya National Anthem before the adverts. At 6:30, the previews started. At 6:40, the movie FINALLY started. Plus, the lobby was PACKED both before and after the movie. 4 full theaters, 8 movies, 1 door in and out. (and please keep in mind that most Africans don't believe in queues and have no concept of personal space!) One of our group commented, "Good thing there wasn't a fire. We'd have never gotten out!"

Second (and this is the part that gets a little sappy), sitting in the theater, eating a hotdog in a stadium style setting, I was reminded of a time when I was 12 years old. Growing up in Houston, my school district had a special program that if you got straigt A's you got two free tickets to an Astros game. (For those of you who didn't grow up going to Little League games twice a week, the Houston Astros are an American baseball team that plays in the Astrodome... I know it's now called Minute Maid field, but that's lame...) Because I am the classic over-achiever, I got straight A's and received two free tickets to an Astros game... two tickets: one for me, and one for my Dad.

Now you have to understand about the men in my family and baseball. For as long as I can remember, my Dad and my brothers have played baseball. Most of my childhood was spent playing on the dirt piles next to Little League dugouts. My older brother's first sentence was,
"Want your bat, Dad?" They still play Church League Softball twice a week in Cincinnati. Baseball has always been something that bonded the men in my family. But I refused to give my ticket away. I wanted to go to a game. Just me and Dad. And the funny thing is, I don't remember the game... I don't remember who played... I don't even remember if the Astros won! But I do remember sitting in the stands, next to my Dad, feeling very grown up because he bought us hotdogs with EVERYTHING on them: onions, mustard, relish, chilis...everything. I had only ever had ketchup on my hotdogs until that night. But my Dad bought me a hotdog with everything on it, and we ate them at a baseball game... just the two of us.

and a hotdog at a movie theater in Kenya reminded me of it...