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| A girl from the village wearing a chitenge |
Every other Saturday, the staff
goes into Choma to run errands starting at 8 am. It’s the nearest town and about an hour bus
ride away. On the way, we picked up Jane
and May, two girls staying in separate villages here through the Peace Corps. They were amazing to talk to. I so admire their courage and willingness to
leave the comforts of home and fully immerse themselves in another culture for
two whole years. Jane is from New York
and doing healthcare work while May is from Florida and teaching. I have to say, from the experience I am
having so far, I wish I had taken the opportunity to completely engage myself
in For now, I will just absorb every ounce of
Zambia I can in the time I am here.
another culture for a more extended period of time.
Once in Choma, we went to the
open-air market to buy some chitenges.
These are what the Zambian women wear around their waists (thighs are
the provocative part of the body here so they must be covered) and what they
use to carry their babies on their backs.
After Mal and I bought a few, we walked to the other end of the market
for fresh vegetables since they are more expensive at Spar (the grocery store). I got a bundle of okra for 2 kwacha (~20
cents!!!). What I would give for fresh
vegetables to be that affordable in the States…
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| okra at the market |
After a cram-packed, somewhat
stressful grocery run (I love grocery shopping, which is why I go just about
every other day back home, so I am not great at buying enough food for two
whole weeks until the next trip) we rushed to the iSpot where we could pay for
wifi. Mal and I were able to connect for
30 min., but it was 12 pm here aka 5 am in the US so of course we couldn’t
really talk to anyone. Only Billie Anne
responded to our messages (you rock Billie!).
We then grabbed lunch: chicken spaghetti stir-fry – sounds strange but
it was oily and sooooo good. We then
quickly borded the bus because if you aren’t on it by 1 pm, you WILL get left
in Choma and have to hitchhike back to New Day.
Side note: hitchhiking on the back of trucks is how Jane and May have to
get to Choma for groceries whenever they have the can. It’s also how they planned on getting back
from Choma later that evening. Impressive.
When we got back it was time for
Kids Club. New Day hosts this every
Saturday for children from the village.
They all come to play, listen to a bible story, and be fed N’shima with
beans and cabbage (“slaw”). Many of them
do not know English and were very shy, but let us take pictures with them. This meal is typically the largest one they
will get all week, especially due to the failed crops this year because of the
draught. The amount of N’shima these
kids can consume is insane. They all probably ate double the amount that I did and I was stuffed (THAT's saying something). First, let
me describe N’shima. It is similar to
grits but a firmer consistency. Personally, I liked it. It doesn’t have a taste on its own, but the
beans and slaw served with it are delicious and salty. You are supposed to roll the N’shima in your right hand to create a spoon and scoop up the beans and slaw with it. It’s very messy, except in Jamee’s case. She somehow manages to keep her hands
completely clean while eating it. I on
the other hand (pun intended), could not.
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| Kids from the village lined up for their serving of N'shima, beans, and slaw |
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| Jamee teaching me how to eat N'shima - Francis is likely laughing at me |
Sunday we began the day with church, of course. I imagine it is similar to a southern Baptist
church experience in South Georgia for someone who is from a large church up
North. What I mean by this is it is HOT
and lengthy and you may not understand all that is sung, but there is a great
sense of community and it’s completely worth it of course. Church is normally held right off New Day
property in building with an elephant grass roof and log seats. This Sunday morning, since it was raining,
church was delayed and moved to the “dining hall.” People from the village still came
though! We began with worship, prayer,
and adult Sunday school led by Blu and translated by Hilda. We are currently reading Exodus, discussing
Moses and the Plagues on Egypt. We then
had more worship, and the sermon was led by Papa Tembo and translated by Malenga. The ladies then led some songs in Tonga and
danced out the door at the end. As
everyone filed out, they lined up so that as you left you greeted and shook
hands with everyone you passed. Afterward,
we were all worn out. I thoroughly
enjoyed the service, but sweet Agnes was climbing all over my lap, playing with
my watch and necklace during it so after I was ready to relax. We all went back to the Ark and collapsed on
the couch to watch Prince of Egypt, which couldn’t be more appropriate after
Blu’s teaching. Even though I hadn’t
seen that movie in maybe 12 years, I remembered the words and we all sang
along. Despite our exhaustion, we paused
the movie at two to go paint the teacher’s nails. They were so amazing to talk to. Hilda and Abby have been with Wes and Laurie
since they first came to Africa over twenty years ago. They are such inspiring, independent women
that clearly having strong relationships with God. Mal and I talked to them for a while and we were
so glad that we got our lazy butts off the couch to go spend time with
them. We basically relaxed for the rest
of the afternoon (I think the week finally caught up to us) until all the
missionaries and some of the staff filed into The Ark for American
Worship. We sang English worship songs,
which was nice since I don’t yet know the Tonga ones sung in church, and then
watched a Francis Chan podcast. It was a
great Sunday spent praising God, thanking Him for this adventure, and enjoying great
fellowship.
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| Sweet Agnes ("Aggie") eating her N'shima LOVE HER AND EVERYONE HERE |
