Pooped on Again, a Spear Fishing Re-do and Hijacking Plans

Wow. It is insanely hot here. Insanely hot. From about 7 am to 4 pm it is completely miserable. At all other hours it is only slightly less miserable. I don’t know if I will survive.

Although, the heat has afforded me the opportunity to stagger around with a carton of milk in my hand, drinking occasionally and proclaiming aloud, “It’s so hot out here…Milk was a baaaad choice.” Nobody’s gotten that one yet but I’m going to keep it up anyways because you know what? It’s funny to me.

Ahhhh, nobody gets me.

But enough with the complaining, here’s what’s been going on around Namumu lately…

Junior, the young boy next door (Innocent’s replacement) is growing up right before my eyes. I’ve seen him take his first steps and speak his first words. He gets cuter and fatter every day. His aversion to pants is still as strong as ever.

I really love that little guy, even though he pooped on me. Again. I picked him up the other day and boom, it happened. I should’ve seen it coming, though. I couldn’t even get mad at him. It’s like I always say, “Poop on me once, shame on you. Poop on me twice, shame on me.”

My army of girl readers is going strong and has even been growing as of late. Wendy is knocking out chapters of “Mercy’s Birds” like it’s her job. Vivian is stuttering less. So, if I don’t go insane from reading one crappy young adult novel after another things should keep on just fine.

I was visiting the Peters, two kapenta fishing camp owners I mentioned some time back, and they informed me that their son was returning from South Africa next week and is an expert spear fisherman. They told me to come over to fish with him sometime. Man, I’m excited. After my aforementioned fishing failures with Clivet aka the Sweater I am looking to step up my spear fishing game. I’ll keep you updated.

Our water system hasn’t broken down in a few weeks, so that’s nice.

Finally, I had an awesome follow up conversation with Zenzo, one of Namumu’s accountants, concerning local traditional marriage issues.

We were riding back from town in the Namumu vehicle. Wendy, my number one reader, was in the car, coming home from school. I had given her a newspaper to read through and she was asking me questions. She started reading an article about terrorism and plane hijacking.

“What does ‘hijacking’ mean?” she asked.

I started to explain to her when Zenzo cut in, saying, “You know, Sam, traditionally it is acceptable for a Tonga man, when he identifies a Tonga woman that he wants to marry, to get three or four large friends to “hijack” that woman, perhaps when she’s out drawing water, and to take her back to his home where he can negotiate with her family over the issue of marriage."

So, as it turns out, I might not even be needing the support money to buy a Tonga wife, I’ll only need three or four strong friends. And saving money is always good, right?