I really love mangoes. I was in India for my birthday two summers ago visiting my Aunt Dora, and she bought me all the different varieties of mangoes so that I could try each kind. I made sure that on my birthday I ate as many mangoes as possible because they just don’t taste the same when they are ripened in a box then bought from a grocery store in the US. Lucky for me, Dar has lots of mangoes and it is starting to feel like my birthday everyday because I am eating so many!
I’ve even made a new friend named David who picks out 2 of the best mangoes for me then cuts them in such a way that I can eat them on the spot. That’s all I’ve been wanting and my co-workers are starting to wonder why I am eating so many mangoes… But I’ll probably keep eating them until I get sick.
Mango trees are all over Tanzania. I like searching for them along the road during long bus rides or my daily daladala commute. The best ones to spot are really tall and broad with tons of fruit. As one of my former friends once said to me, imagine if we could talk to old, big trees—think of all the history they have seen and gone through! I think that mango trees have always been my favorite because in 2nd grade I wrote a report about them… did you know that the mango tree gives fruit 3 times in 2 years and different parts of the tree fruit at different times, which is why one part of a tree can have fruit while the other parts don’t? (I actually don’t remember that from 2nd grade—someone recently explained this to me)
I don’t know how long mango season will last here, so I will continue to gorge myself… it’s hard not to when they cost less than 40¢!
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