Babbling in Bemba

Monday, September 9, 2007

It was another crazy day. Brendan had forgotten his papers at school on Friday so there were vital pieces of information that I was missing this week. Our taxi driver was supposed to be here at 7 but didn’t come until 7:20 which is when school is supposed to start for Brendan! I got him to his classroom only to find that he was supposed to have worn his Physical Education outfit today, not his school uniform. Thankfully, I had brought it along, just in case, so Brendan quickly changed in the bathroom. I had also brought along his cosi (swimsuit) because I had heard that they may be swimming as part of their PE. I read that he needed a swim cap but I don’t have one so I hoped he would still be able to swim. Then I hurried on to Jason’s class to drop him off. I needed to get back to the taxi for a ride back home but Jason decided he didn’t want to stay at school. He proceeded to cry and scream and cling to me. I tried my best to comfort him and talk him through it but then I finally just had to leave. His teacher pried his fingers from me and I made my exit. On the way home, I read in Brendan’s papers that the afternoon activities were to start that afternoon. There are swimming and football (soccer) options for Brendan but again, I have to figure out transportation. When it came time to go get the boys, my taxi driver was late again. I had told him to come at 12:10 which would give me enough time to get Jason a little early and then get Brendan. After Jason’s rough start, I really wanted to see how he was doing. Buy my taxi driver didn’t come until almost 12:30, which was when Brendan was already getting out of class! Aaaaagh! I’m pretty frustrated with this guy, whom MEF recommended. We may need to look into other options. Jason did OK at school and only cried for a little while. Brendan came home sad because he didn’t finish his work when everyone else did and is despairing that he can’t do Grade 2. After further probing, it wasn’t as bad as he made it out to be. He has been lying quite a bit, exaggerating, and being very emotional this week, especially regarding school. We are reflecting back to him his discouragement but also making him speak the truth. He isn’t the best at persevering or pushing through obstacles but likes to be first without having to work at it. Any advice on how to encourage a kid like this would be most welcome!

We called on a different taxi driver to take us back to school in the afternoon so that Brendan could try his hand at swimming as an afternoon activity. His teacher had seen how well he swam that morning and recommended that we don’t put him in the beginner’s class, which was for his age group, but place him in the Swimming Club even though it is for Grades 3-6. The coach is very good and was giving excellent instructions to the 8-10 kids in the pool. Brendan definitely belongs in this group, and skill-wise is about in the middle of the pack. About half way through, Brendan was freezing cold since he is accustomed to Grandma Anne and Grandpa Al’s warm pool in California. I had to insist that he get back in and finish out the lesson. He wanted to give up and quit. After the lesson and he had warmed up, we talked about it further and he has decided that he will keep trying, even though the water is cold, and stick with it. Thankfully, the school policy is that you can’t quit in the middle of the term so it isn’t just me being the bad guy.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Peter and I attended chapel this morning and received a bit of a cultural lesson. The participants from Ethiopia led this morning and we learned that today Ethiopia is celebrating the new millennium! In Ethiopia, today is September 1, 2000 (although it isn’t called September, of course). They also have a different way of telling time so that when we had chapel at 8:00, for them it was 2. We laughed because they were waiting for a younger Ethiopian to arrive at chapel (no Swiss train, like at IBTS) so that they could sing the national anthem. All of the older participants didn’t know the new anthem, only the old anthem and they would be arrested if they sang the old one. We were encouraged to pray for the country of Ethiopia and to celebrate with them.

I’ve been enjoying playing on our piano, even though it is clunky, out of tune, and it sounds like the sustaining pedal is on all the time, except when you want it. My problem was that the place to hold music was short and slippery and my music kept falling off. Today I had a brilliant idea. I got two of the race tracks that the boys play with and lay that on top of the wood that was sticking out. The ridges of the tracks kept my pages from falling and I could spread out four pages instead of just one! Perfect!

It was a riddle we couldn’t solve. All week, Jason has come home from school saying that we have go to Shoprite and buy “empty ink.” We went round and round about it, forgot to ask the teacher when we were there yesterday, but today finally remembered to ask his teacher what that meant. Turns out that they are doing a letter or two a week and this week the letter was “I”. They are using phonetics so the letter I is “impy ink.” Ah, impy. A word that does not frequent our American vocabulary often. Jason was to bring something from home that began with “I” so tomorrow he will take a plastic insect to place on the table. Glad we could solve that one. If only the other riddles of life could be solved that easily!

Right now, I don't feel like I am meeting many people. Maybe because I am so focused on lining up taxis and getting the boys to and from school and shopping and laundry and everything else. The students here are graduating in a month so they are on the way out. We like Jimmy, Peter's boss, and the boys have gotten attached to him. Otherwise, it is mostly white folks that talk to us: Jenny, an older Brit here for three years; Liz, a nurse who is here for language training for a month; Scott and Carmen, two twenty-somethings from North America here for a year working with the UCZambia church. I have met our neighbor and hope to meet the Zambians across the road yet. Peter has more interaction with people. He is gone a lot, trying to help out with the different seminars happening. It all just takes time and availability, two commodities that I have less of in this early transition time.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

I got a plumbing lesson today. Likunda, the plumber for MEF, came to look into our hot water problem. With a toothpick dangling from his lip, he proceeded to give me my first lesson in Zambian Plumbing 101. Because the water is turned on and off several times a day, the problem could be airlock in the pipes so I now know how to force cold water back up the pipe and listen for pinging noises. However, he thinks the real problem is that there isn’t enough water pressure to force water up to the geyser (remember to say GEE-zer) in the attic to refill it. It is an old geyser and they are in the process of replacing all of them on campus. Over time, they crack and leak, which may explain why the ceiling in the hall closet is completely moldy. Once they replace the geyser, then we will invite the carpenter to come replace that wood. My guess is that is not going to happen anytime soon but Muyunda knows the problem and will talk to his supervisor about it. The guest house that is attached to our house is on the same geyser so the special guests that are here for the Dag Hammerskjold seminar this weekend will be taking cold showers. Until this problem is solved, our electric kettle and the pot on our stove will be doing overtime.

After talking further with Brendan, we have decided not to do afternoon activities this term. He tried to do swimming again on Tuesday but the water was too cold again and he hated it. It is hard to know when to push him to try it and when to let him off the hook. Because transportation was a pain in the neck, and Brendan has enough difficult adjustments to make, we chose to let him off the hook.

I was very frustrated with our transportation issues this week and it was causing a lot of anxiety within me. I was reading a devotional book that addressed anxiety and there was an excerpt by Dietrich Bonhoeffer that spoke to me, though I didn’t really want to listen. I had got it in my head that the only solution to my problem was for us to get a car. That is a decision made by our Reps though and not in my control. But Bonhoeffer writes, “Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they provide security and freedom from anxiety.” I was warned that a car, though helpful in some ways, won’t address my anxiety. In fact, it will create different anxieties. I am trying to accept the situation and not hold onto my solution so tightly. I still would like it but I am more realistic about how a car will help and how it will hinder and to address my anxieties separately.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Peter has been gone most of the last three days with the Dag Hammerskjold seminar. This is the Peace Center’s main event of the year and there was much to do to prepare and to make it happen. Peter did his best to pitch in and help problem solve when crises turned up; like the keynote speaker disappearing between his hotel and MEF. Turns out he stopped in at an Internet café but no one could locate him. We’ve been managing OK without Peter around, thanks to lots of neighborhood kids for the boys to play with. But this morning I kept the boys inside with me and we had a quiet morning together. We did a devotional and then worked on some crafts and had a good time. Peter arrived home around 14:00 and the boys went next door to a birthday party for Yachya at 15:00. They invited the boys this morning so I was scrambling to find a present. When I finally found one, I discovered I had no wrapping paper or tape. I tore a sheet of lined paper out of a notebook, it was the only paper I had, and used markers to decorate it. I sealed the present with packing tape. Sometimes you don’t realize what you don’t have until you need it. On the other hand, we probably have more office supplies in our house than the entire Peace Center. Peter has been in a state of culture shock over the lack of resources at MEF. He went in the supplies closet and found 3 pens and 6 envelopes. When he or Jimmy needs to use a stapler or scissors, they need to go to the secretary. There is no ruler in any of the offices. He’ll have to write more about all that. I’ve invited him to be a guest blogger because he has had a lot more interactions with others and has different experiences than me.

This weekend we finally made contact with the outside world! My parents were finally able to reach us on my cell phone. I’m sure it cost them a pretty penny but it was so wonderful to talk to them. They boys were eager to talk as well. We had a lot of catching up to do, seeing how we hadn’t talked to them in a month. That’s quite a change after living with them for a year!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Peter and I walked into town again after dropping the boys off at school. Peter was told that our bank account was still not ready so supposedly they will call us in a few days. It was a turning point at Shoprite today. I ran into someone I knew! Anita was also doing her shopping and we chatted a little bit. So nice to see a familiar face in a public place. Then when Peter joined me after being at the bank, he introduced me to Wendy, a woman Peter met at the Dag seminar and is a student at a different seminary on our campus. We also talked for a long time outside of Shoprite with a man named Archie, someone Peter met at the Zimbabwe seminar he was at a few weeks ago. Archie is an advocate for land rights and it was fascinating hearing him speak of his work and passion. My life has been so focused on getting us settled and mothering, that I haven’t had much interaction with Zambians or the good work that is going on all around us. We talked outside for so long that I was glad that I had bought boxed milk, or long life milk, instead of fresh milk. We haven’t had much luck with fresh milk as it is sour already when we get it. It’s not good when big chunks come out of your 2% milk that you bought that same day.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

We enjoyed a visit from Lois, our MCC Rep who lives in Lusaka, and Bruce, MCC Africa Director, from Akron. It was a quick trip with them arriving for dinner last night and leaving after lunch today. The boys were thrilled to have visitors, as were we. I’ve been battling nausea for the past two days so that hasn’t been fun and I don’t feel like I have the energy I usually do. The interaction with others gave me an extra boost but I was laying down in between preparing meals and doing dishes. Jason has had a series of bloody noses and we aren’t quite sure what is up with that. He had one yesterday evening, in the middle of the night, and two more today. Perhaps it is just a growth spurt, or it could just because it is so dry and dusty here. We are putting Vaseline in his nose to see if that helps. I kept him home from school even though I could have used a sick day myself. The visit from Bruce and Lois went by all too quickly. Lois did bring up our transportation issues and sees that there aren’t any good options here, like we thought there might be. Our travel budget will be spent soon if we keep using taxis for getting the boys to and from school so discussions will take place regarding a car for us.

One good thing that happened today is that our taxi driver, Joe, taught Brendan and I a few Bemba words. He was laughing very hard at me but I kept trying to say the words and finally he said that I got it right. Brendan, of course, caught on quicker than I. “Mwashibukeni” means “good morning” but apparently you use it all day. And when all else fails, say “bwino” which means “good.” My task is to remember it and say it to Joe tomorrow morning when he picks us up. I think learning a bit of Bemba from Joe will help our time pass more pleasantly, since we see an awful lot of each other during the week! I must say, he has been better about being on time. That sure helps my attitude when I get in the taxi. And now I will know some Bemba greetings to say to him!

We had an extra measure of social interaction this evening. Peter had asked Scott to stop by after his basketball practice so that we could ask him a favor. Peter was making French Toast for dinner, since I wasn’t too keen on food with my nausea, and so we set an extra place for Scott. He is living with a Zambian family on the complex and eating nshima every night so maybe this was a welcome change. We are invited to a cocktail party in honor of the new director on Thursday and, though this is not really our cup of tea, we think we need to go. We asked Scott if he would be willing to babysit our kids that evening and he agreed. While Scott was preparing to leave, our neighbor brought us more food. The other night Aline brought us a pineapple and a plate of fritters, basically fried dough. It tasted just like rollkuchen. Tonight she brought us a plate of crepes. She explained that it is Ramadan and so they are fasting during the day and eating at night and giving food to neighbors. We are only five days into the thirty day feast so we might be getting more delicious food! Interestingly, Aline used to be Catholic but converted to Islam when she married her husband from Oman. I am curious to hear more of her story. She and Scott met for the first time and began speaking in French, Scott being Canadian and knowing French as well. They were delighted to be able to communicate and I just smiled with a plate full of crepes in my hands.

We just killed the evil twin to the spider we murdered last week.