This panda is doing just fine

Another lazy Sunday. Gotta love lazy Sundays. The weather has become almost idyllic lately, now that the rainy season has essentially ended (seeming a little early) and the cool season has started. Usually by mid-morning the morning clouds have cleared and we have bluebird skies and bright sunshine. The air is also a perfectly comfortable temperature and the humidity, on most days, is at a manageably pleasant level. Think early summer in Toronto.

I woke up at a leisurely hour and had a late breakfast with the family. I’ve never seen so many people chowing down on bread, margarine, jam and tea. Same food as always, just more people. After breakfast, Deo headed into town with a friend and I enjoyed the morning doing some stuff in my room. As I have a corner room with huge windows on both sides that open fully, I was able to sit on my bed with the sun coming in the room and a nice breeze blowing through and almost feel like I was sitting outside.

Mid-afternoon I poked my head out and found nothing happening in the kitchen. Not surprising, since no one was around. I assumed that because of that, the “housegirl” would not be preparing lunch, so I decided to head out for a walk to get some exercise, check out a bit more of the neighbourhood, and find a bite to eat.

I ended up at Panda Chinese Restaurant, the only Chinese joint in Moshi (and out of town at that). And when you’re the only joint in town, you can pretty much charge what you like and the tourists looking for Chinese will pay it, so that’s exactly what they do. I spent a whopping $10 on lunch, which is almost four times more than I’ve paid for any meal since being in this country. And they were all out of mapo tofu. The food was good, but I don’t feel any pressing need to go back. I assumed that the luxury gated house across the road must have belonged to the owners of the restaurant. This is one panda that’s not at all endangered.My next mission will be to find El Rancho, the Indian restaurant with the Mexican name.