Dear friends,
It seems the new year just started but already it's April! Have you welcomed the new challenges and changes which were brought by the New Year? For me there have been plenty of changes.
Twafika! ("We've arrived!")
I hear the words "We've arrived!" spoken next to me. It's time to get out of the car. We have arrived at the place where I am going to spend the next month. In front of me is a simple, small, yet urban looking house. In front of the house a bucket and lots of dishes are standing waiting to be washed by hand. The cooking will be done as well outside on a Pabula (see picture on the right.)
I am here to move in with two Zambian single ladies in order to improve my Bemba. As I arrive I receive a very warm welcome. I am confused about all the people I see and wonder how they all fit all into this small place. Soon I learn that they all belong to the extended family and we will live together. Actually, there are three families (three single moms with their four children and two servant girls.) Altogether we are ten persons. Sometimes there are even more when relatives and friend come to spend the night. Also in the daytime there is a lot of coming and going.
The first four weeks have passed very quickly. I am enjoying staying here with my new African family. I am glad that I grew up in a big family and so I am used to many things! Of course it brings a lot of challenges to live together in a small space. My privacy has shriveled to a minimum. The sound intensity has risen to a new high level. The television (yes there is a television!) is running the whole day as long as there is electricity. Every morning and late evening the whole household prays and sings together with raised voices almost to a screaming level.
Every day proceeds in a different way. I need a lot of flexibility and need to be spontaneous to get through the day.
Twice a day we eat Nshima with different side orders: Cooked Mandioka-leaves, Pamkin-leaves, Inzwa (flying Ants), and very beloved are the Caterpillars and Kapenta (small fish which you eat with eyes and bones.) Very bravely I eat everything. That doesn’t mean that I enjoy everything, especially the fried caterpillars. It’s not that they are not tasty, but they have spikes. And if your food stings you even before you have it in your mouth then it’s just strange. Can I ever get used to this food? My method is to eat it wrapped in a big ball of nshima. That’s actually a good spike damper.
No water in the house
There's no water in our house. Theoretically there are water pipes. After all we are living in a small city! But there are so many burst pipes that there is no pressure left so most of the days water doesn't come. Either we get water from such a place where the pipe is burst or we collect the rain water from the roof by putting out all the bowls and buckets we have. How glad I am that we are in the rainy season! Beside the shower is a bucket filled with water.
On the way
We are on the way to the tailor. Because his shop is outside the town we have to go by minibus. So often many eyes are watching me. It’s not often that a “musungu” (a white person) travels by public bus. After a while the bus is full and we try to start... without success. We roll down a hill, trying to start, again without success. A group of boys are asked to push us back and do as they are told. The bus is jerking and we finally start off on the journey. (You know most of the busses here in Zambia are like that.) It starts to rain and because the bus has no glass in the windows some passengers really get wet. We stop at a filling station because otherwise we would not reach our destination. Exactly 3 Liters is purchased! Now we finally drive to Tazara. Shortly before we reach the place the conductor collects the fare: 3000 Kwacha which is equal to $ 0.60!
As you see I am fine so far. It took me quite a while to get this newsletter ready for several reasons. Since our electricity ward burned down at the beginning of 2012 we only have electricity every second day. And even on the day we are supposed to have power, it's sometimes not working as well. Also the Internet is often not working properly.
I wish you a happy Easter. He is risen! God be with you.
Yours
Isabell
Prayer requests
Thanks
- for the opportunity to stay with a Zambian family to study Bemba.
- for all the nice contacts here in Mpika and for my new friends.
- my medical exam was postponed until next year.
Requests
- for more progress in my language studies
- for a Zambian Pastor in Nabwalya, without whom we cannot work further!!!!
Did you know?
In the Bemba culture, all sisters of your mother are your mothers as well! But the sisters of your fathers are your aunts. But the brothers of your mother's sister are still your uncles. If your father has a brother, he is also your father. But your father's sister is not your mother. The children of your mother's sister or the children of your father's brother are counted here as your siblings. But not so the children of your mother's brother or your father's sister. They still remain your cousins.
If you now want to find out which mother is the real one you always have to ask: “Who gave birth to you?”
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