A bit of several things
Over the past few days we've done a bit of everything. We took our "Stran Cruiser" on a couple outings by ourselves to do errands. Olivia has been calling it "the vehicle". She will ask, "Are we going to take the vehicle". It just sounds funny. We payed for it today...yes, the dealer let us take it home last week and trusted Keith to pay this week! Pretty nice. Keith is driving very well, considering a new city to find our way in, driving on the opposite side of the road, shifting with his left hand, pedestrians everywhere and roundabouts. We learned that traffic lights are called robots and overpasses are called flyovers. In the downtown, autos spew out diesel smoke and you can see many people riding in backs of trucks. At every light one could buy anything from puppies to cell phone cases to DVD's. At least we can honestly say no because we don't have a TV yet!
Heather enjoyed returning to the same church we went to last week. She knows some of the hymns and likes the Zambian singing. She was able to meet a couple girls that she hopes to be friends with.
We have been around CT a bit more and we have discovered several banana trees, one we just picked a huge clump of bananas from. We have lemon trees too so now I can add fresh lemon juice to my recipes. Keith found a few tiny frogs at the edge of our pool. The kids liked watching them. They need to go once we have the pool operational. Too cold for upkeep right now. Hee Hee to those sweating it out! The weather is like those great spring days that are sunny and warm. The heat will come, I'm sure. The kids have taken a basket and collected many blossoms and seed pods. Sitting on the front porch you can see blossoms of orange, red, yellow, blue, purple, fusha and white. It seems like every tree and bush blooms. It is very beautiful.
Have I mentioned that several Zambians work here? We have three guards/gardeners/gate keepers who rotate shifts. A nice lady works as house help. She cleans and is starting to cook a few lunches of Zambian food. Two men work in the AZ office. This is expected for a ministry like ours. It feels a bit strange but they have good jobs in a climate of 60% unemployment and we learn Zambian culture and some local language. Zambian pastors come for classes and teams from the States use this as a hub for activity. So there are always people coming and going, whether Zambians or Muzungus (foreigners). We sat in on the 'culture training' today as part of our orientation with the short term team. We found it very interesting and helpful in knowing how we are perceived and how we can interpret others intentions. We learned some pleasantries and respectful ways to greet and interact. The relationships are more polite and formal than what we Americans are used to. It is rather nice to be conscious of manners and respect. For example, women will take your hand in a handshake and curtesy. In the market men call us Boss and Madam. Elders are highly respected and those younger need to show that to them. People often go by Mr. or Mrs. and the last name. ' We have lost some of these ways to show honor to people and its nice. It was nice to see Kelly try out her greeting, handshake and curtsey.
Heather enjoyed returning to the same church we went to last week. She knows some of the hymns and likes the Zambian singing. She was able to meet a couple girls that she hopes to be friends with.
We have been around CT a bit more and we have discovered several banana trees, one we just picked a huge clump of bananas from. We have lemon trees too so now I can add fresh lemon juice to my recipes. Keith found a few tiny frogs at the edge of our pool. The kids liked watching them. They need to go once we have the pool operational. Too cold for upkeep right now. Hee Hee to those sweating it out! The weather is like those great spring days that are sunny and warm. The heat will come, I'm sure. The kids have taken a basket and collected many blossoms and seed pods. Sitting on the front porch you can see blossoms of orange, red, yellow, blue, purple, fusha and white. It seems like every tree and bush blooms. It is very beautiful.
Have I mentioned that several Zambians work here? We have three guards/gardeners/gate keepers who rotate shifts. A nice lady works as house help. She cleans and is starting to cook a few lunches of Zambian food. Two men work in the AZ office. This is expected for a ministry like ours. It feels a bit strange but they have good jobs in a climate of 60% unemployment and we learn Zambian culture and some local language. Zambian pastors come for classes and teams from the States use this as a hub for activity. So there are always people coming and going, whether Zambians or Muzungus (foreigners). We sat in on the 'culture training' today as part of our orientation with the short term team. We found it very interesting and helpful in knowing how we are perceived and how we can interpret others intentions. We learned some pleasantries and respectful ways to greet and interact. The relationships are more polite and formal than what we Americans are used to. It is rather nice to be conscious of manners and respect. For example, women will take your hand in a handshake and curtesy. In the market men call us Boss and Madam. Elders are highly respected and those younger need to show that to them. People often go by Mr. or Mrs. and the last name. ' We have lost some of these ways to show honor to people and its nice. It was nice to see Kelly try out her greeting, handshake and curtsey.
posted by Keith and Linda Stranberg at 1:44 PM
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