From breakfast today at the rooftop terrace of the Clove Hotel here in Zanzibar, we saw the candy cane-looking towers of a Hindu temple nearby. Becca was already planning on going there, but I got excited just looking at it. As we made our way to the temple, it began raining. The really neat thing about being out in the rain here is that, for most men at least, life just stops (many of the women, it seems, are not slowed by a little rain). Everyone gathers under the nearest awning and just chats until that particular cloudburst has passed. It's sort of like a party game, meeting new people every few blocks.
Inside the temple was beautiful. The courtyard was full of color, with insense burning at the altars. I left an offering with Shiva to assure a safe trip for Becca and me. On our way out, a Zanzibarian Hindu explained to us how the Indians were the original colonial power in Zanzibar, only being supplanted by the British in the last few hundred years.
Soon, we were lost in Stone Town. Looking for the Anglican Cathedral, we were directed to St. Joseph's Catholic church, a beautiful place of worship. A church baliff, fittingly named Joseph, gave us a peek inside. In one the naves, the parishoners had constructed a model of Golgoltha's lair that was clearly the pride of the congregation. I really loved the Marian images around the church, and I wonder which incarnation is most salient to those on Zanzibar. On the way out of the church, we met the friar, dressed in bright green.
Tomorrow, we will head to Kendwa, in the north part of Zanzibar for three days on the beach. Have a good one, everyone!
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3 comments:
So, I have a few follow-ups:
1) Gologtha does not have a lair--sorry Dad, my old testament in a little rusty--it is the hill where Jesus was crucified.
2) Becca and I understood the Hindu man somewhat differently. She recalls him saying that there were many Indians here while the British where here.
So, I have a few follow-ups:
1) Gologtha does not have a lair--sorry Dad, my old testament in a little rusty--it is the hill where Jesus was crucified.
2) Becca and I understood the Hindu man somewhat differently. She recalls him saying that there were many Indians here while the British where here.
Loved your description of the "party game" under the awnings. Making the most of chance encounters is what makes traveling worthwhile.
Golgotha certainly sounds like it should have a lair, perhaps because we talk of the Gorgon's Lair after the story of Medusa. Looked up Golgotha. Apparently it means "place of the skull." Ominous.
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