19. A Few More Tales: East Africa a New Life Adventure


A tale that I want to tell is about a science lesson that I wanted to teach about “Heat Transfer”.  I lectured the class on this principle and demonstrated how you could actually see this happen. I took the class to our house where I had everything set up. Showing them the ice I had carefully collected and the ice cream mixture I proceeded to turn the crank. When the ice cream was frozen, Barbara and I served the product to the students. My lesson was a waste of time. The students were overwhelmed by the  feeling of something cold in their mouths. The comments were “It is Hot” the lesson in heat transfer lost to the sensation of something cold.


Many tales of East Africa are left untold but there are tidbits that need to be mentioned, like the open air museum documenting Iron Smelting dating to about 1200 AD and Fort Jesus, in Old Town Mombasa, that the Portuguese started building in 1593 to drive out the Arab Traders. 


One interesting tale was about our trip to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to arrange a visit to Zanzibar. In order to get a visa I had to sign a document agreeing that I would return with the “same wife”. I was rather fond of Barbara, I didn’t mind signing at all.  Once in Dar Es Salaam however, we were unable to make arrangements to get to Zanzibar. The closest we ever came is the Zanzibar chest we brought back from that trip.  YES, I did bring Barbara back with me!    


Ironing with the Charcoal Flat Iron. It took a while to get used to compared to the electric iron at home. This one you did NOT want to turn it up on it's end while you adjusted the garment, as all of the hot charcoals would come tumbling out!

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