PARTY WEEK!

First of all, I must apologize for not getting my blogs done this week. Someone made the mistake of introducing me to a web site – totally tricky.com – that has 100 levels of riddles that you solve & move to the next level. Since I love puzzles & riddles, I have been obsessed with getting to the next level. In fact, so many of us are doing that here that very little work, homework, studying, etc is getting done!! But, alas, I am pulling myself away as I know many of you just can’t wait to hear what ELSE we’ve been up to!

Vann’s Sunday trip was a very long day – He enjoyed the music, dancing, worship, etc. but sometimes the horrendous bus rides here are enough to drive you nuts! Especially driving 3 hours each way on extremely bumpy roads to enjoy about 3 hours while there. But you do what you have to do!

It’s been a fairly busy week here. Several of us have been shopping for chitenges to have skirts or suits made from. The lady next door is a seamstress & is making outfits for several of us. I went to Choma (45 minute drive) last week & found some fabric, so I need to get it over there to her. We need outfits for our chapel presentation which will be the Friday after we get back.

Wednesday was Zambia’s independence Day!! We cancelled classes (we’ll use any excuse for that!) & attended the celebrations here. They were fairly low key – they had skits & dancing at the basic school here & played soccer games in the afternoon. Shelby even managed to get out there & play a little soccer!

On Friday, it was graduation day at the George Benson College. One of our workers was graduating, so we went to see her. The students graduating were all people who had finished their education several months ago, and had to take exams which take several months to grade & hear scores back from. It was VERY different from graduation at one of our colleges. It was supposed to start at 1:30 pm but as we were walking over, we met someone who told us that the guest of honor (the vice chancellor of the University of Zambia) was in Choma – still 45 minutes away. So – we turned around & went back later. The auditorium was decorated with colored toilet paper streamers wound across the ceiling. There were fluffy couches & chairs for the guests of honor up on the stage. The students came into the auditorium dancing down the aisles & as they came in a family member got up & danced with them to the front. There were no speakers encouraging the students to go out & change the world or anything of the sort. The speakers were the vice-chancellor, who bragged on the college, & one of the graduating students who chastised the college for not listening to the students concerns regarding extra tests required for graduation. I don’t think we’ll ever see that at Harding. Not twice, anyway!! The college choir sang 5 songs (The larger choir includes several of our students) & the vice chancellor bragged about the choir – especially pointing out the one our students were in. When diplomas are being handed out or awards given, the family members yell out & run down the aisles to give flowers, cakes, & gifts to their student. Quite a big deal, of course, as very few people in Zambia get to complete a college education!! At the end, they all dance out again!! Lots of fun!! Of course, our students are thinking Harding needs to make some adjustments to let their students dance down the aisles. It does lead to a more festive feeling!

One of the Zambian teachers here arranged for our group to accompany some of the George Benson College students on an overnight out-reach to a village. We made this an optional activity as it is getting closer to finals time & students are needing to work on papers, study for tests, etc. 8 of our group went with them & reported having a good time, although they got very little sleep. Apparently, the Zambians in that village stayed up a good part of the night visiting & singing, so sleep was difficult. They had a great time on the 4 1/2 hour trip back.

On Friday evening, the girls here planned a party for their Tonga tutors – which are George Benson college students. Each student here was paired with a GBC student to help them learn the Tonga language. I’m not sure how much Tonga learning is really going on, but they’ve really enjoyed spending time together. That is definitely one of the advantages of our being at Namwianga. They baked cookies & brownies all afternoon & then ate & watched “Father of the Bride” together.

On Saturday evening Shelby & Savannah both visited the Haven & brought back a toddler to spend the night. Most of the kids at the Haven have lost their mothers due to AIDS, or in childbirth, or a few of them, their parents just can’t take care of them. Some of the families will come back to get the children once they’re able to eat regular food around age 2. These kids are both extremely quiet & will hardly vocalize. This is true with most of the kids there. They just go to whoever will give them any attention. It’s really sad & I’m so tempted to come home with 2 or 3 of them!! We’re trying to at least give them some stimulation & love while we’re here. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child here, I believe it is about $50/month. I can find out more info for you!

Yesterday, Monday, we had to make a trip to Livingston to have our Visa’s renewed. It’s crazy, but they require you to show up at the immigration office every 30 days to renew your visa. Vann, Janice, Laura Oldenburg, & myself decided to make an adventure of it & we all went in to spend a few hours “away”. The immigration office was helpful & we had no problems there. We also needed to get money from the ATM’s for several people. We visited 4 ATM’s before finding one that worked & were able to get all we really needed. After that, we hit a local pharmacy to buy more meds for the clinic, did a little grocery shopping, & had lunch in a Chinese restaurant before heading home. We had to get ready for our party that night.

Most of my week has been spent preparing for our “Fall festival” party that we had last night. Even though it’s the middle of the summer here (& 90 degrees during the day) we needed to get into the “fall” spirit. We didn’t want to do anything really Halloween here as there is so much superstition & belief in witchcraft, etc, so we just focused on fun activities. We had a video scavenger hunt that was really fun, did a cake walk, carved pumpkins (small ones) & made taco soup, popcorn balls & caramel apples. I had to make the caramel from scratch with homemade Kayro syrup . It was a little grainy as the sugar here is much coarser than ours at home, but overall they turned out well. I was wishing I had written my friend, Kim, who makes wonderful gourmet caramel apples, to get her secrets. Ours just didn’t look nearly as pretty, but they tasted great. Everyone was on a definite sugar high after all that, but seemed to have a great time.

We are now looking at planning a big dinner to do before we leave as appreciation for all our workers & the missionaries that have been such a big help to us. More later as that comes together! We will probably not be doing a whole lot of other activities since our time here is winding down. Just 2 weeks from today & we’ll be leaving Namwianga. I think we’ll all have mixed feelings when it’s time to go!