Yesterday I sat in on a rehearsal Mrs. Venter was having with some of the younger and newer members of Mascato. When people initially join the choir they often have virtually no musical training, so she starts with them from scratch. Since they were all new members I hardly knew any of them – I recognized a couple, but Rosaine was the only one I knew by name. But then, about halfway through, someone very familiar showed up. It was the Queen of England himself, MacDonald! For those that don’t know, when Mascato came to Canada three years ago, MacDonald stayed at my house.
After rehearsal, MacDonald and I went over to Mrs. Venter’s house for tea and rusks. After that, MacDonald and I went for dinner at Ocean Basket for some feesh and cheeps. Last summer, MacDonald had been telling me about how he was becoming a Bahai, which is a religion that I knew very little about. On top of that, MacDonald has been known to tell a tall tale or two in his time (alliteration much?), so I wasn’t sure how much I believed him. However, right at the end of the tour, he introduced me to his former English teacher and mentor, who was, herself, a Bahai, originally from Iran, who fled during the revolution (Bahai’s are brutally persecuted in Iran nowadays). After this, it seemed that MacDonald’s story might actually be viable. Well, now it seems that MacDonald is a full-fledged Bahai, and was telling me a bit about his new religion during dinner. It’s quite interesting – they believe that Moses, Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha, Krishna and so on were all prophets of the same God. Moreover, they believe that while it is the duty of mankind to seek out God, God is actually an unknowable entity, and God will only reveal himself gradually through the prophets that he sends. Now, I’m not about to become a Bahai, but it sounds like a fascinating religion, and to his credit, MacDonald did make some strong points.
Today, I made my first solo trip into town to post a couple blog entries. I also wanted to stop in at Mr. Price, but it was so full that they weren’t letting anyone else in. Note to self – don’t go to the shops on Saturdays. Around 2pm Mrs. Venter came by to take me to rehearsal. It was supposed to be a rehearsal for new members and old members together, but unfortunately, the choir is having a bit of a post-tour lull, so there were very few old members there. After the rehearsal, Garth and Dollar mentioned to me that they might stop by at my place. Then, there was a whole bunch of talking going on in Afrikaans, but it seemed that plans were being set into motion. Before I knew it, half the choir was coming over to my house for a party! (Though I suspect a lot of the new girls only wanted to come because the Afroshine boys were going – one of them actually asked Dollar for his autograph!) Anyway, after stopping for some snacks at the Pick ‘N Pay we got the party going. It was interesting to see how the girls all went straight for the kitchen and started preparing food. I tried to help a little, but it was clear that I was just in their way. The party didn’t go late at all because a lot of people had to get back to Walvis Bay, but it was still fun to have everyone over and just hang out. Garth and Dollar stayed a bit later and we just hung out and talked. Apparently I’m playing a gig with Afroshine on July 13th! I just hope they’re not expecting too much from me.
-Joel.
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