Week 2 - The Rasta

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I have been going to the Forodhani gardens most evenings to eat because it's cheap, quick and buzzing with people. Here they BBQ meat and fish while you wait, usually served with chips or chapatis. There are people crushing sugar cane to serve the juice chilled and others selling sweet masala tea, cassava "crisps" and roasted nuts.

I was late going to the gardens one evening, not that this bothered me - there was still some food left. I bought octopus and chapati and sat (with many locals) at the table for the masala tea stall. It's nice to sit while eating and you can watch the world pass by. After a while I was joined by a Rasta who was very keen to tell me he was from Lagos (ie not a local)... he'd seen the world... fallen on hard times... etc. Eventually he got to the point. He wanted me to give him money for food. He spoke slowly and often slurred - I wondered if he was on drugs. Of course it was entirely my choice but he would just keeping telling me about his time in prison, and how he used to be a drug dealer in Amsterdam, and how he could simply rob my watch off me if he wanted... until I agreed. Oh for social skills. I'm sure others would have dealt with this a lot better than I. After half an hour I had eaten my food, drunk 2 cups of tea and only then realised that the crowd had thinned out. There were no other Europeans around, some stall holders were already packing up, and the next thing I wanted to do was walk home (safely). Reluctantly I gave a stall keeper some cash and asked that they serve the Rasta whatever it would buy and hastily made my exit. However I did feel rather uncomfortable about the whole thing and have been ill at ease since. A few nights later he accosted me again but without being so pushy... and this morning I bumped into him in the street market a bit further out of town. He was brighter, chirpier and more friendly. This time he wanted me to buy him some "Bob Marley" printed scarves TS500 ($0.50) each so he could sell them to tourists for twice that... So we bought 5 and he happily went off to see what he could achieve. (I can't imagine that'll be the end of it.)


Week 2 - The Rasta

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