Peter left Sunday morning for a week in Zimbabwe. Of course, that means it is time for things to break. Here is a list of the things that were broken:
The shower head: At least I can still take a hot bath.
My croc (shoe): Rhonda brought me a spare pair since I wear them every day so I’m OK.
The porch light: a never ending saga.
The internet at MEF: it is rainy season so what can you expect?
And . . .
Brendan’s big toe. He was playing soccer barefoot in the front yard and apparently missed the ball and dug his toe into the ground. Georgi, my Australian doctor friend was kind enough to drop by and take a look at it. She got on my computer and wrote out an order for an x-ray. We made an attempt to get it on Saturday morning at the Occupational Health and Safety building but that office was closed and soon discovered that all the other xrays in town were either closed or broken. So we tried again Monday morning but were told to come back a few hours later. We finally got the xray (paid only $8!) and took it to Georgi. The principal of Lechwe is also a doctor apparently and he saw Brendan limping around and wanted to see the xray. Even though the bone was chipped, he said it would heal just fine. Georgi was a little more concerned but after consulting with another doctor, thought it would be OK as well. Brendan’s big toe was bandaged to his neighbor toe and wrapped up. Brendan wished he could have a cast and crutches but no such luck. It’s been a week now and it has healed quickly. He is still mindful of it but can walk normally. One thing fixed . . . but the rest will have to wait until Peter gets home!
Jason had problems of his own. Monday he came home from school with goopy eyes . . . pinkeye. I guess it is going around Lechwe. A quick trip to the pharmacy in town and we got the eye drops necessary to deal with it. Friday he got his hand shut in the car door at Mindolo Dam. Apple had frozen hotdogs which we put on it and, after five minutes, he was ready to go swimming. We are waiting for one more tooth to fall out. It is one of his two front teeth and his adult tooth is growing already in front of it. I think he is tired of me telling him to wiggle his tooth. At lunch the day before Peter left, Jason commented, “My tooth is overflowing.” We were puzzled by this statement until Peter made the connection that Jason got a filling last week at the dentist. I guess he thought it was done filling and now full!
We have a new president of Zambia, Rupiah Banda. Now it will be his picture that we see posted in every establishment. The Copperbelt wanted Sata to win and so there was potential for some unrest here. But I heard that the police were out in numbers patrolling different districts and dispersing large gatherings. On Sunday morning, after Peter left, there were some riots in town center but that was quickly quelled. Given Peter’s departure, the possibility of violence, Brendan’s broken toe, and the fact that it was harvest Sunday at our church which meant the service would be extended another hour or two and I didn’t feel like hanging out with 20 children in “The Sauna” waiting for church to end . . . we ditched. In the afternoon, after hearing that all was calm in town, we drove out to Brenda and Jerry’s house and spent a lovely afternoon with their family and another missionary family. We had a time of worship as well as swimming and just relaxing together.
After a dreadfully hot weekend, the rains finally came. There was a major storm one night that kept me awake with the thunder rattling the windows. Every day there has been rain either at night or during the later afternoon. It is starting to cool off, especially at night. I actually had to cover myself with a sheet one night!
The night before Peter left, we invited Jenny, Bob, Adrian, and Violet (Adrian’s friend as well as maid) over for a farewell dinner. Peter created a mad lib about Adrian’s year in Zambia and we filled in the blanks together. Bob and Jenny each wrote poems and read them to Adrian. We will miss Adrian. Adrian exhibited much flexibility when his assignment changed days after arriving from being an agricultural consultant to being the chaplain for MEF. But God certainly knew what he was doing because Adrian wouldn’t have come if he had known he was going to be chaplain but it turns out that it was a perfect use of Adrian’s gifts. I have never seen someone so compassionate, generous, wise, and able to attend each teabreak so as to interact with MEF workers and participants. Our boys became attached to Adrian over the year as well. We will miss playing games with him the evenings and talking about MEF and how best to contribute to the institution. I will miss his saying, “Go on then,” when offered a second piece of chocolate cake. On Tuesday night he came over to say his final farewells to the boys and I. I didn’t like that one bit. But there is a good chance that we will see him again. I hope that he will come back and continue his work as chaplain here at MEF sometime in the future. But if not, he will most certainly come back to visit. When that time comes, I will have the chocolate cake ready!
Adrian enjoying his mad lib
Oma and Opa with the boys (taken July 2007)The boys and I were invited to a birthday party on Saturday for the daughter of my friend, Mavis, the one who took me to the all-night fimbusa several months ago. The boys weren’t thrilled about going but I was told there would be a jumping castle and that all the kids that the boys already know would be there. We purposely went a half hour late, at 1:30 instead of 1:00, but it wasn’t late enough. As we walked into the backyard, with toilet paper draped everywhere as decoration, I saw to my dismay that we were some of the first ones there. I also discovered it was a formal party for this little three year old complete with photocopied programs handed out. “Jumping Castle” was listed at the end of the program, right before the closing prayer. We sat in plastic lawn chairs and waited for the party to begin. Thankfully, Kieran, a missionary friend from India was there with her two small children. The two Zambian ladies that originally sat down by us left and took seats on the other side of the yard after just a few minutes. I had come to the party hoping to get to know a few more MEF people but that didn’t happen despite my attempts to converse with these two ladies before they left. Two hours after the original start time, Mavis arrived and greeted me. By then over 60 children had accumulated in the plastic chairs. The food was prepared and set out. But the sound equipment hadn’t arrived yet so we waited longer. It is truly unfathomable the patience of Zambian children. They sat quietly in their chairs for 2 1/2 hours until the “program” finally began. A prayer was said, and since Precious, the three year old birthday girl, wouldn’t come out of the house unless it was for her birthday cake, they skipped to that part of the program first. Then all 60+ children lined up to present their gift to Precious and then they were each given a little party bag. This was followed by a bit of dancing by the kids (even the one year olds can rock their pelvis!) and then it was time for the meal. I had already tired of Brendan’s bad attitude and had sent him home earlier. Jason enjoyed the dancing and provided me with a bit of comic relief in an otherwise tedious afternoon. It was nearly four and Jason was begging to go home. The jumping castle was having technical difficulties it seemed, plus it was the tiniest one possible, and Jason realized he would never get a turn anyway with 60 children all anxious to give it a go. It also looked like the heavens were going to let loose and we would all be caught in a downpour soon. When I saw Mavis come out of the house, I told her that we needed to leave. Of course, she wouldn’t hear of it. She was just putting chicken onto the braii for the adults to enjoy later. We went back and forth and she was very insistent that I stay. Finally, I lied. I told her that Peter was in Zimbabwe and would be coming home soon (vague, I know, and almost the truth even though Sunday night doesn’t feel soon enough). Ah, then she released me because it is important for me to be there for my husband (At the fimbusa Mavis taught me more than I wanted to know about the role of the Zambian wife). As we walked away, Jason looked up at me and said, “You had to lie to get away.” Sad but true. Nothing gets by that guy. The rains came 15 minutes later and it poured for almost half an hour. I wondered what happened to all the toilet paper decorations.
Brendan and Jason have been very busy digging a “swimming pool” in our yard. They picked a nice area of dirt under the mango tree. Rain or shine, they are hard at work. Sometimes they let the neighborhood kids help, sometimes not. I was glad they didn’t break the water pipe they unearthed because that wouldn’t have been fun at all. Every day they come in sweaty and dirty . . . and happy. I figure this just might be what they remember about growing up in Africa, digging in the dirt under the mango tree.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Jason slept in until almost seven this morning which is unbelievable but more than welcome because I am exhausted at the end of a long week. Not physically as much as mentally and emotionally. I am so ready for Peter to come home tonight. I don’t know how my friends who have husbands who travel do this single parent thing on a regular basis.
The boys and I went to church this morning. Before the service started, we went into the classroom to get set up. We discovered that the room hadn’t been swept in what seemed like ages so we set to work. We had just begun when a swarm of wasps came out from their hiding spot under a chair. One stung me on the top of my foot and it really hurt! Nearly five hours later it still was red, swollen and painful. Church was relatively empty but it was actually good to be back after having been gone two weeks. I was called upon to lead the prayer of intercession but this time I was prepared! I had copied a few prayers of confession and intercession from the back of the Mennonite hymnal and stashed them in the back of my Bible. I whipped it out and was thankful to be able to pray using the words and thoughts of another who could express what I would love to be able to pray spontaneously but can’t. Especially since I am usually distracted by any number of things, which make it hard for me to be fully present and worshipful. By the middle of the service, I had three more little boys in my pew along with my own two: Joseph, a two year old who knows Jason has a matchbox car in my backpack and kept trying to get it out; Stephen, another three year old and the pastor’s kid who was in tears because he didn’t want to put his money in the offering and his mother made him; and Slanda, a five year old who was annoying the heck out of Brendan and Jason. Hard to believe, but I was ready for us all to go to Sunday School. Needless to say, we held Sunday School outdoors, away from the wasps. There were twenty of us and no helper since Peter is gone. But I managed OK. The boys and I took a mini-holiday from ordinary life and had pizza at “After Ten” following church. A special treat was in order . . . for all of us.
My perspective on my week got better after talking with my neighbor, Aline. Her husband is away in Oman for a month. Her son, Yahya, got malaria last Thursday. She was only home from the clinic with him for half and hour when her oldest daughter who is developmentally disabled had an accident. Aline had noticed that the toilet had a crack in it and asked MEF to replace it but that didn’t happen for a few days. Hasila sat down and the toilet broke, giving Hasila a foot long deep gash on her backside. Aline had to rush her to the hospital where they stitched her back up. But now Hasila has to stay in the hospital for almost two weeks and since she wanders at night and is confused about what has happened to her, Aline has to be there all night and most of the day. She returns home for a few hours in the middle of the day to sleep and then her maid goes to the hospital. Aline looks utterly exhausted. So maybe I should refrain from using that word to describe myself. I’m just a little bit tired and eager for Peter to come home.
My anxiety inched up over the course of the afternoon. Peter was supposed to catch a 1:00 flight from Harare and reach Lusaka around 2:00. Then he was going to go directly to the bus station and head home, reaching here late evening. Usually, he would text me as soon as he got in the country and his phone worked again. But I didn’t hear anything. I tried calling him but got the message that his phone was either turned off or outside the coverage area. That meant he must still be in Zimbabwe. Around 6:00, when my concern could no longer be ignored, I called our Reps, Eric and Kathy, and let them know about the situation. I wanted to give them a heads up that Peter may be crashing at the Guest House tonight. Kathy understood my concern and offered to check into things for me since I have no internet access. Kathy ended up calling the Lusaka airport and discovered that the flight from Harare was delayed and still hadn’t left, five hours after departure time. That put my mind at ease, at least somewhat. But I still felt emotional from not knowing, being disappointed that Peter wasn’t coming home tonight after all, and not having any way of being in contact with him. At least I could combat my worst fears with a few facts, however meager.
It’s 9:00 and I just got a text from Peter that his flight landed. Hallelujah! Too bad he has to spend the night in Lusaka but at least he will be here tomorrow midday.
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