Downs . . . and ups

Monday, September 3, 2007

It is the beginning of a new week. We are pretty discouraged and feel really cut off from our previous life since there is no internet still. We won’t feel like this forever but we aren’t so happy at the moment. We also haven’t had a lot of experiences connecting us to this culture and community. I guess that will come yet too. All four of us walked to the main road and went by mini-bus into the city center. This was my first experience on the minibus. As soon as the van pulled up, everyone crowded in. One man grabbed Brendan by the arm and was trying to shove him in the front seat. I quickly grabbed him back and insisted that he would sit in the back with us. There were at least 15 of us all crammed into the van. We were desperate to get a few more things at Shoprite. We were able to find quite a few things that we needed, but it ended up costing more than what we had with us. So I had to leave a few things in the cart and come back for those another time. Pretty frustrating. We were able to get a taxi with all our things which brought us right to our door.

Peter found out some bad news though. We had heard there was a MEF bus that takes kids to their schools. We had hoped this would be an option for us since we have to rely on public transportation. However, the bus does not go to Lechwe School. If we so desired, the bus would drop the boys off across the street from the school and they would have to make their way into the school on their own. If they were older, I may consider that but I don’t trust my four and six year old to cross a busy street, walk down the road and into the schoolgrounds on their own. In addition, the bus would drop them off at 6:45 a.m. and their classes don’t begin until 7:20 and 8:00. So now we are scrambling to work out how the boys will get to school every day. I think we will have to rely on taxis since taking a minibus would mean catching one then transferring to another. Trying to figure out school and transportation is stressing me out!

Peter was able to get the name and phone number of a taxi driver that MEF recommends. He was also able to work out our cell phone issues so now we actually have the means to call a taxi. We have a ride worked out for tomorrow, the first day of school. Joe will come pick the boys and I up at 7 a.m. and take us to Lechwe. I will stick around the first day and see how the boys adjust. Then he will come back to get us at 12:30 when school lets out. We have made arrangements for this week, although he will need to pick me up and bring me home because I don’t intend to lurk around the school all week. If Brendan begins afternoon activities, these taxi rides are going to add up very quickly!

The boys spent the afternoon playing on the football (soccer) field with the other kids. Jason ran around with the big kids for quite awhile, getting a kick or two in. Brendan made friends with a boy named Gideon. He has been very kind to Brendan and Jason. He taught us how to say hello in Bemba: Ulishani. Upon the advice of another MCCer, we are insisting that the boys play outside with their friends instead of inviting them in to play with all their toys. Most of these kids don’t have toys and to see all that our boys have may be overwhelming. When Yachya and Nila came over the other day, things got a little rambunctious and it was really hard for Jason to share and to have them in their personal space. As much as our boys want their new friends to come in, I don’t think that is best right now. In time, as we learn who the boys are and they become friends, instead of a mass of boys who are interested in the mzungus (white people), that may change. It feels selfish but I trust the experience of those who know more and will go on that for now.

After the kids went to bed, Carl Stauffer came to visit. Carl is the MCC Regional Peace Coordinator and is based in Johannesburg. He shared his story with us and how he came to be in this position. He was interested in Peter’s dissertation and was familiar with the theologians Peter was reading. It was just good to learn from his wisdom and get his perspective on MEF and Peter’s role here. I think I truly must be an extrovert because I am always encouraged and revitalized after interactions with people. Unfortunately, much of my week has been with the kids and setting up our house and doing laundry and boiling water and killing mosquitoes and shooing out crickets and cleaning up mouse droppings and lamenting how dirty the boys always are and figuring out transportation and loathing my unwelcome fast from the Internet and email. I keep reminding myself that I’ve just got to make it through the first month and things will settle into place. It won’t always be this new and difficult.

Tonight there were two lizards on the ceiling, one in the boys’ bedroom and one in the dining room. This morning Jason woke up saying that there was a lizard in his room last night but we didn’t believe him. We had convinced him that he was just seeing the ties on his mosquito net. We’ll have to tell him tomorrow that we believe him now!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

It was the first day of school for Brendan and Jason. Both were very excited and Brendan was a little bit nervous. Jason could wear whatever he liked but Brendan wore his school uniform. He looked quite spiffy, I must say. Today will be the only day that his shirt is this clean and stiff, I guarantee that. Joe came in his taxi and Jason was his cheery morning self, greeting Joe enthusiastically, asking him how he was doing, and making introductions all around. A prefect showed us to Brendan’s classroom, where we were pleasantly surprised to find Mrs. Lubamba as his teacher, the same lady who gave us the tour last week. His regular teacher is in the UK on maternity leave and will be back second term. I think it was comforting for him to see a familiar face. I then took Jason to his Upper Nursery class and met his teacher, Ms. Pieri. Because Jason’s class begins half an hour later than Brendan’s, he got to play for awhile with the other kids on the playground. He was confident and friendly and a bit surprised that some of the other kids were crying or a bit shy. After a few minutes, I asked if he was ready to stay by himself and he said he was ready.

So I left and found a bench on which to sit and have my own thoughts. I spent the morning at school, not knowing if the boys would have difficulties adjusting and because it was just too complicated in terms of transportation. Instead of viewing it as being stuck at school, I tried to see it as space for solitude, away from our home and all the things that need to be done there. I was reflecting first on Psalm 46 that begins, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Then twice it repeats, “The Lord Almighty is with us.” It seems I am needing to be reminded of that a lot this week. Then I was reading II Cor. 12:9 where Paul is talking about the thorn in his flesh. And the Lord says to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” It is hard for me to say with Paul that I delight in weakness, hardships, and difficulties. But I find hope in his statement, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” I don’t like this feeling of being weak, or rather, that my ever-present weakness is made so evident. But if it allows Christ’s power to rest on me, then perhaps I should make friends with this weakness instead of trying to hide it.

One of my tasks this morning was to buy a speedo for Brendan as well as a sweater for his uniform. It was a bit chilly this morning though it heats up during the day. I was hoping to be able to pay for it at the school (I had enough cash along!) but ran into a snag. Apparently there is quite a bit of counterfeit money being circulated in the Copperbelt region. Therefore the school is not accepting cash. Instead, I have to bring my invoice to one of two banks, neither of which is the bank we are attempting to set up an account with, pay them and then return the deposit slip to the school to show that I have paid. They wanted it done today and I explained that it just wouldn’t happen. So I have a day of grace and can do it tomorrow. They kindly explained that I could pay by check as well but since it takes about a month to open up a bank account here, that is not an option either.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

The boys had their second day of school and they had no problems being left there. When Jason came home, he was in tears because he has to sit criss-cross applesauce and he doesn’t like it. Brendan earned a badge for helping clean up the classroom. Brendan is having a harder time making friends at school but it will come in time.

Good news: We now get water where the washing machine is but the pressure may be too low to make it work. In any case, using the spin cycle is working fabulously. Also, Peter did some tightening of screws and now the shower head works in the tub. He used it for the boys’ bath tonight but the pressure was quite low. At least it is something.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Peter and I took the boys to school in the taxi and then we walked 45 minutes into the town center. I took care of the deposit for Brendan’s school uniforms at the bank and then we went to try to set up a bank account at our bank. We had to wait quite awhile but it wasn’t a zoo like it was when Peter was there earlier. We journeyed on to an internet café where I was able to quickly peruse our emails. We may be able to take our computers there and use their internet, which would make it much easier to blog as well as respond to emails. Our internet is supposedly going to be up and running next week sometime. It has been down for over a month but I hear that it was a pretty good connection before that. I am not holding my breath. Our next stop was Shoprite and I was able to locate a few more things I had been looking for like mozzarella for our weekly pizza night, and APPLESAUCE! That is very good news for our boys who absolutely love it. When the boys came home from school I told them they could have applesauce for lunch and they were ecstatic. I was told that I was the best mom ever and that I was totally cool and so on and so forth. I’ll take the affirmations even if they are applesauce-related.

This afternoon the maintenance men came to work on our plumbing issues in the kitchen so hopefully that will be fixed. They also repaired the screens in our kitchen which will keep out a ton of mosquitoes. The screen was ripped right where the big leak is located so it is a spawning ground for the mossies (as our British friend calls them).

At the store I got a real ironing board instead of a miniature one that killed my back, and mouse poison for the little critter that leaves droppings all over my kitchen. Things are looking up!

Friday, September 7, 2007

Jason was not happy about being at school today. The novelty of going to school wore off quickly. He was “cross,” as his teacher later put it, for awhile but then was OK. I attended the school assembly since I was there already. I found it quite interesting. The children stood with their hands at their sides and sang the Zambian national anthem. I was struck with how many times it mentions God and even says something like “Praise to God” in it. We also sang “Kum ba ya” and there was much talk about good manners. Freedom, God, and good manners, all seem to be meshed together. Peter commented later when he had returned from yet another trip to the bank, that the hour that he waited in line was spent listening to worship music on the bank sound system.

On our first day of school, while waiting an extra half an hour for the taxi guy to show up, another mom at the school introduced herself to me. Anita is an Australian who has lived here for about four years. Her husband works for the mines. She has a lot of compassion for people who have just arrived and offered to have me over for coffee and to drive me around Kitwe and show me where everything was. So I gave her a call and set up for us to meet this morning. There was another new woman at the school as well, an Afrikaner from South Africa, Margaret. In between locating coffee shops and restaurants and clinics and stores, I got an education about Afrikaners and their perspective on Zambia. Margaret was stating matter-of-factly that the Zambian teachers at Lechwe aren’t as good as the ex-pats and everyone breathes a sigh of relief if they get an ex-pat teacher. She then took us to her lovely, large home and we had a cup of tea. Anita was great about answering my questions regarding Lechwe school and how things worked. I feel comfortable calling her with more questions and reminders about where certain things are. It is good to have a new friend at the school. Later, when I picked Brendan and Jason up, Margaret came over to chat with me and it felt good to have someone I knew a bit instead of being the odd one out.

In the afternoon, I rarely see Brendan. He makes his own playdates with friends on the complex. He arranges to meet them at the basketball court or football field at 15:00 and then we don’t see him until dinner. Jason often plays outside on our porch with a few friends. If there gets to be too many, he gets agitated. Today he played with a little boy named Lazarus all afternoon. Jason actually shared his matchbox cars and they got along really well. Brendan has a friend that is about 11 or 12 that he plays basketball with. I don’t know his name yet. He also hangs out with a boy named Gideon who comes over quite often. When the boys come over, they call for me, “Auntie, Auntie, I need some water.” Brendan loves his freedom and being able to explore within the walls of the complex. Tonight we couldn’t find him and I was a little anxious so we started dinner without him. He came about fifteen minutes later and we had a little talk about how he needs to return home when it starts getting dark, which is around 18:00 or so. The boys are absolutely filthy everyday. I still catch myself telling them to try not to get so dirty but it is a lost cause. Everything is so dusty as it is the dry, hot season. Come November, everything will turn to mud. So much to look forward to!


Saturday, September 8, 2007

I hit the ground running as I had big plans for the day. I did four loads of laundry, including all our sheets. I made banana bread and cookies in the morning. I did some ironing on my new ironing board and I didn’t get a backache. Peter hung up more hooks for things, swept and mopped the front porch, watered the lawn, and gave the boys haircuts. After lunch, I washed my hair and made French Bread. I wasn’t exactly pleased with how it turned out but nobody complained. It was just a lot denser than I had anticipated.

In the evening, Jimmy came over for Sabbath meal. We had worked out ahead of time what Brendan was going to read so that went more smoothly. I haven’t had much time with Jimmy so I was glad to have him over and hear more about his family and story. He is fun with the boys and they like him. The evening was cut short because of a text message he received that two of the participants had gotten in a fight. They are supposed to graduate from the peace program in a month but it seems there is still work to be done!

It’s been two weeks in Kitwe and three in Zambia total. I admit that I was looking at the next three years with dread but now I think I’m going to make it. You know me, if I can make banana bread, things are going to work out. Game on!

Sunday, September 9, 2007

I got up early and went to church with Jimmy Juma, as well as Jenny and Liz, the two Brits on campus. We left at seven to walk to catch the mini-bus, waited in the mini-bus until it was full, rode it into the town center, then walked across downtown to where the church is located. We arrived around 8 and the service was already in full swing, having started at 7:30. If we would have arrived any later, we would have had to stand but we were able to get seats. The church, named Bread of Life, is a Pentecostal congregation that meets under a big tent. They outgrew their other facilities and are in the process of raising funds to build their own building. It was an interesting experience but didn’t connect too much with my current expression of spirituality and worship. Finding a church for our family may prove difficult, especially having heard the frustrations of other MCCers on the field. We hope to visit a number of them and see what is the best fit.

I made another batch of banana bread, this time to distribute to new friends. I had the three loaves marked out for certain people but when I delivered the first one to our new neighbor, Carmen, she had another ex-pat visiting. Scott is from Vancouver and is often by the basketball court, giving lessons to the boys. He is on a one-year assignment with an NGO out of South Africa that does sports ministry. Carmen is from Seattle and will be here for a year. She is doing some teaching and will be required to quite a bit of traveling, which she didn’t find out until she got here a week ago. They both seemed very sweet and appreciative of the banana bread. When I came home to retrieve my final loaf, our next door neighbor came over and introduced herself. Her name is Aline, the mother of Yachya and Nila. She was in Oman for the last two months visiting two of her daughters. She is quite a mix of nationalities, having a father who is half Italian and half Congolese and a mother who is half Belgian and half Rwandan. She was born and raised in Congo. She was ashamed of her English, French being her first language, but it was not difficult to communicate with her. Jason announced that we had made banana bread so we chose to give her the last loaf. I will just need to make another batch and deliver loaves to the people I had originally intended.

It is the end of our third week and things are beginning to feel a bit more normal. I’ve got a system for the kitchen, schooling is worked out for the boys, we are starting to make friends, and generally feeling a bit more settled. I don’t know if we will ever adjust to the smoke and fumes we are inhaling on a daily basis. We are adjusting to a new normal, one that includes sporadic water, occasional hot water, taxi service, and no internet access. I have done some indepth blogging over the last few weeks to paint a picture of our world. You can hear our emotional highs and lows and how we seem to be evening out a bit. But hopefully this shows you a bit of our life and what we are doing. Thanks for praying for us, as I’m sure that is what has sustained us through this initial culture shock!

Yikes!!! Peter just killed a spider that was humongous!!! Oh my goodness! It was at least 4 inches from leg to leg and it was fuzzy and it held its belly off the ground. Lois said that kind wasn’t good. But Peter killed it with a shoe and we are now breathing a little easier. His comment was, “That kind of spider belongs behind a glass in the zoo!” Nothing like a little excitement on a Sunday night!

P.S. I have pictures I want to attach but it isn't working right now. I hope to send those soon!