A Happy Birthday

Today was a first for me. I feel blessed to say I got to spend my birthday in Zambia! I apologize, but I'm going to pull the "it's my birthday" card and cop out with a short blog post.

A few snapshots of the day:

1, As we reviewed the vocabulary word "happy" today, the wives broke into a peppy rendition of the happy birthday song for me. A nice surprise!

2. The Zambian people pronounce my name "Mel-awn" (when there are vowel sounds at the end of a word, like MelanIE, they tend to leave the vowel sound off). It was pretty hilarious when the wives proudly sang, "Happy birthday dear MelAWN...." I've been trying to get "Mel" to catch on, but no luck so far.

3. In chapel this morning, the hymn was "Were You There." Kelsi and I stopped singing so we could listen to the missionaries. They veered away from the notes and rhythms written in the music, but somehow their eighteen voices moved perfectly in harmony. Beautiful!

4. We played volleyball with the wives, Susan (missionary's wife) and Molly (Susan's daughter). I wouldn't call the game athletic, but there was a lot of laughter!

5. Molly came over after volleyball to make dinner and watch a movie. We made several courses, from fried cheese (yum) to fresh salsa and butternut squash.

6. We bought a new vegetable from some friendly ladies on the side of the road. It's like a mini white eggplant. We sauteed it with onions and some mysterious lettuce (also from the side of the road...we think it's rape?), and it was delicious!

7. Sharon (missionary's wife) shares her avocado tree with us, and we tried cooking eggs inside avocados. (I told you we had several courses!) Also very tasty.

Half of my tidbits were about food...that's normal, right? Sorry for the brief post. My bed is calling...good night and God's blessings from me and Kelsi!