A TRIP TO MARIAN TO BUY A SHAWARMA FOR DINNER

My first impression is noise

From every angle

Horns blare as engines rev in a mad jostle for right of way

A loudspeaker tries valiantly to compete

Ensuring that everyone around talks twice as loud

Then light

From head and tail lights moving one inch at a time

To the little lights strung up around the different kiosks

The shawarma man’s stall has no lights outside

So we stand in shadow

And watch him as he carefully wraps each package in foil and puts it in a home-made press

The smells

Fish grilling a few feet away catches my attention

Suya a few feet down

All accents on the overlying scent of fuel and fumes

It is a kaleidoscope of sensory experiences

Pictures in my head

The crowd gathered solemnly round the boli stand

As the woman turns each plantain and each fish with equal seriousness

All illuminated by a single 60 watt bulb

The people sitting around plastic tables

Ignoring the mad traffic mere feet away

As they patiently for their fish or their beer

The surge and ebb and surge as traffic lights change from green to red and back to green

Noise and lights and smells

Dash across the road, hop into a cab

The ride home

Street noises fade to background sound

I’m caught by the way the trees form an arch over the road

And the way the light from streetlights filters through the trees

Home

Slide my knapsack off my shoulder

To the couch nearest the door

And finally, taste

The creaminess of the shawarma

Washed down with cold ginger beer

To be followed by the chilled sweetness of pineapple slices

It’s been a good day

September 23, 2013