The boy at church who couldn’t stop smiling

The boy at church who couldn’t stop smiling

So I went to church with my host family my first Sunday with them.  Actually, it was just my host sisters and host brother, all the adults stayed at home.  The church that my family goes to is Catholic (I actually have an inkling of an idea of what is going on!) and is fairly close to where we live.  As we approached the church, people stared and I heard “Mzungu” a few times.  I kind of laughed at it, and commented to my host sister Ava.  She took my hand and said adamantly “You’re not a Mzungu, you’re now a Tanzanian.”  I love this family!

            During Mass, I was stoked when I was able to pick out a few words and actually understand them.  So I tuned out because I’m a bad Catholic.  But I wasn’t the only one not paying attention.  Kids were turning around to just stare at me (I don’t think that staring is considered rude here, so kids do it all the time).  There was a pair of siblings in front of me that would try to be sneaky in their glances and their shuffling on the bench to get closer.  Ava had to keep tugging on their shirts to get them to stop being a distraction.  I, however, was just smiling and internally laughing at them the whole time.

            My favorite part of the mass was when I saw a little boy across the aisle.  He was probably around four and was staring intently with a serious look plastered to his face.  I smiled at him, and he instantaneously broke out into the biggest and happiest smile I have ever seen.  I looked back up at the priest, and then glanced back at the boy.  He was just sitting, staring and smiling at me!  I started to laugh, looked away, got it together, and looked back.  The boy was still grinning from ear to ear!  I had to not look at him because he was making me laugh too much (like I said, bad Catholic).  No matter how long I didn’t look at him, I would glance back and see that adorable smile firmly planted on his face.  It was impossible to not be happy seeing him.

            So after Mass ended, we took the daladala (public transportation bus) back home.  We were waiting for the daladala to leave and suddenly Grinny Boy and his family were getting in.  He looked like he won the lotto.  I didn’t think his smile could get bigger, but it grew even more as he slid into the seat across from me.  I said hi to him and he just grinned, not even bothering to say anything.  When his family got out, I waved to him, and he jumped up and down waving back as the daladala pulled away.  Holy crap I love Tanzanians.