I was supposed to attend an all day “Fimbusa” which is an event where the ladies of the community educate a future bride on sexuality and what is required in marriage. However, the ladies who were going to take me had to attend a funeral instead. I was looking forward to what I would learn but that will have to wait for another time. Since we had a free evening, we called up Jerry and Brenda to see if they could join us for our Sabbath meal. Luckily, they were free so the family came over. The kids had a great time playing, Peter and Jerry finally had the chance to meet, and Brenda and I enjoyed ourselves as well. I am so thankful for a family that we can connect with where we all like each other. Not always easy to find.
On a side note, I made black bean and rice enchiladas and they were fabulous, if I do say so myself. This dish used to be made quite easily in the States, but requires more effort here. First, I have to cook the black beans (came in a care package!), make the tortillas, and make the salsa which all require a bit of work. Then cooking rice, grating cheese, and assembling it all. A missionary from Texas is leaving Zambia in a few months and she gave me several bags of corn tortillas that she hasn’t been able to use. I cut those up and made tortilla chips, which again, takes time. But the end result was delicious!
Friday, April 25, 2008
It has been a relaxing sort of week for me. After the hurry and scurry of the last month, I had more time to myself. Peter and I went out on our monthly date, for breakfast this time, while the kids were in school. I spent two mornings reading Peter’s dissertation. This was a gift I gave him his last birthday. Seven months have since passed but I still have five more to make good on my promise. I promptly fell asleep a few pages in, and when I sheepishly revealed this to Peter, he said, “What did you expect?” I’m just not used to reading academic work anymore but once I got into the flow of it, I actually enjoyed reading it. There’s still a lot more to read but Peter spent three years writing it, the least I can do is read it.
In the evenings, our family has been listening to the Chronicles of Narnia on CD. It is produced by Focus on the Family and it is a dramatized version of the seven books. We have made our way through the first three and have now begun “Prince Caspian.” We have to pause it every few minutes and explain to the boys what has just happened but they love it and ask for it every night. We have all been enjoying it. My favorite line is when the children first meet Aslan:
“A lion! Is he safe?”
“No, Aslan is not safe, but he is good.”
There are so many things that are excellent, like Aslan singing Narnia into existence, and Aslan insisting that he only tells people their own story, not anyone else’s. It is fun for Brendan to make the connections and say, “That kind of sounds like how Jesus is.” Wonderful!
On Friday, we joined a group of Christian missionaries at Mindolo Dam, a few kilometers outside of Kitwe. They gather there every Friday to eat lunch together, swim, and let the kids run wild. It is a very serene place with lots of open spaces. The kids had a great time and I enjoyed visiting with the other moms: one from Sri Lanka, one from India, a Canadian, and a Dutch woman.
Marja (Netherlands) and Apple (India)
Brenda (Canada) and Anita (Sri Lanka)While I have been relaxing and socializing, Peter has had a hectic week. He taught last week and so all the things that he couldn’t do while teaching an intensive were put off to this week. In addition, he is gearing up for Africa Peacebuilding Institute (API) which is six weeks of intensive classes for about 35 participants from all over Africa, beginning May 5. He has been working out visas, scheduling lecturers, arranging housing and transportation, and so many other things. Next week, key peace people from MCC are gathering in Kitwe to talk about . . . peace stuff, I guess. I’m looking forward to seeing these friends once again. All that to say, while Peter works, I get to play!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
After a Sunday School series at Pasadena Mennonite Church on honoring the Sabbath, we began a Sabbath ritual on Saturday nights to prepare ourselves for Sunday, a day of rest and worship. We try to have people join us for a meal on Saturday nights, which adds an element of celebration. Last night, we invited the Khongwir over, missionaries here from India. They are a sweet family and we have enjoyed getting to know them. The children, Yobel and Charisma, carpool with us, and Jason will often go to their house in the afternoons to play (and eat ice cream!).
The church service today at St. Andrew’s was led by the youth and it was good. They did a skit that had Brendan attentive (something hard to do at church these days). The worship seemed alive in a way that it hasn’t been for awhile, or maybe it was just me. Peter has started coming out to help me teach the little guys Sunday School. Now I can continue with the story while Peter chases down the two and three year olds that wander away from our little group sitting under the tree. I appreciate the support and he often comes up with an idea or activity that we can do when I have run out of ideas. He seems happy enough to miss the sermon each week. J
After church today Richard, one of the men Peter has spent time with, came over to chat with me. To my embarrassment, he said that he had seen my cooking show on TV. But then he asked after our piano and was wondering if it was in tune. I told him that I have been looking for someone who can tune it since it came from Lusaka, four hours away, on the back of a truck, but the nearest tuner I found lived in Ndola. I made contact with this guy and he said he would call if he was ever in Kitwe but I hadn’t heard from him since. Richard said he could tell the piano was out of tune and revealed that he tunes pianos. He offered to come and tune it for me! Apparently, he used to play jazz at one of the clubs in town many years ago. All the guys he used to play with are all dead now. In fact, most of his friends have died. He is probably in his early fifties. Though it was not mentioned, I suspect AIDS. I can’t imagine being that young and having all your friends dead.
Today there was supposed to be a couples seminar consisting of both the men’s and women’s fellowships at St. Andrews. We weren’t planning on attending but we were constantly approached and urged to attend. We have been hearing about this joint meeting for a few months now but no date was selected for the event. They finally found a date that worked and a venue where it could be held. Since it was at Mindolo Dam, and kids were not allowed to attend, I asked Jerry and Brenda if they would babysit our kids (they live quite close to the Dam). They were delighted and our kids were all bouncing off the walls with excitement. But then we got a text message last night that the event had been postponed because people needed more time to come up with the $25 fee. Postponement happens all the time here, it seems. No big deal. But we don’t have a nanny or anyone else to stay with our kids so it is a bit more work for us. Plus our kids are not so keen on postponement of fun playdates. So I called up Brenda and invited our whole family over instead and they warmly welcomed us. So we spent a delightful afternoon visiting with each other while our kids had a great time playing. I’m pretty sure our afternoon together with another couple did more to enrich our marriage than a seminar at church!
We hurried home to have dinner with Carmen and Adrian (love my crockpot!) and then played games together in the evening. Adrian got his first win at Cities and Knights of Catan so congratulations are in order for him. Carmen has begun her many travels all over Zambia for her work so we have to grab time with her when we can. And with hosting company from MCC this week, we won’t see much of Adrian. I am so thankful for these two good friends. When they join us for dinner, they aren’t guests, just part of the family. And so that was our Sabbath this week. Not so much a day of rest this time around but one of celebration and connection and worship.
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