Swedes in Africa, Part II

     I had the hotel dining balcony all to

myself while eating my delicious goat stew.  I'd ordered goat because, well, it's not every day one has the choice to eat goat, and I'm always curious about the meat that is said to be the most widely eaten meat in the world.   I sat outside in the very pleasant evening air and looked over the magnificent hills of Kigali. 
     As I ate, I was forced to become aware of the music that was being played on the hotel's sound system.  It was, of ALL things, country western music, of the particularly twangy variety.  I'm not a fan of country western music, and especially not the twangy variety, but I did find it bemusing that here I was in one of the most remote cities in the world--in fact, not all that far from the proverbial "heart of darkness"--and what was I listening to but some poor soul singing about a dusty road somewhere in Nevada?  It never occurred to me that this music selection was anything other than fortuitous.
     UNTIL, that is, I was joined in the dining area by a pair of gentlemen, who certainly appeared to be professional businessman-types.  I could tell they were northern European from the little I could hear of their conversation.  Well, when they sat down, the music abruptly changed, and all of a sudden we were treated to a huge selection of ABBA songs!  I had no idea I was familiar with so many ABBA songs.  What a change from the melancholy cowboy songs to the aggressive cheerfulness of this happy group.  "There was something in the air that night . . . "  Oh, boy.
     I'm slow on the uptake.  I still didn't understand until one of the guys actually stood up at his table and exclaimed loudly "It's ABBA!  It's ABBA!!!!!  They're from SWEDEN!!!!!!!"  And when we had a brief chat, the same gentleman told me he was from the 54th state of the United States:  Sweden.  I couldn't imagine why he called his home country the 54th state of the U.S., and he told me that in his opinion, Sweden had adopted American culture wholesale.
     With ABBA still merrily singing in the background, I wondered if it was perhaps the other way around.  I also wondered what the hotel's music selection must be like and how many nationalities it could accommodate.

    



     By the way, this hotel had the coolest palm-type plant I have ever seen.  It was shockingly symmetrical, and very very cool (I thought).   It made me feel as happy as . . . . . well . . . .  a dancing queen.