Settling In

Greetings from Lusaka, Zambia! Kelsi and I are safe and sound, and we have finally caught up on our sleep. We apologize for the lack of blog updates; the internet is not always reliable at our house.

Some fast facts to catch you up on the past few days:

Hours of sleep during our 36 hours of travel: 4 or 5

Number of times we’ve attributed our foolishness and garbled sentences to jet lag: >12 (And we will continue using this excuse for the next week or four.)

Number of mosquito bites: 1 (Not bad!)

Number of trips to the grocery store: 3 (Going once a day is totally normal, right?)

Number of times we have ripped a grocery bag and spilled our groceries while walking home: >5

This all occurred on our first day. Picture two sweaty, white girls struggling under bags of groceries; one of them is also holding 5 kg of carrots, while the other carries a gigantic jug of water like a baby. So much for blending in….The most embarrassing part of this one-mile trek was when we walked past a woman carrying a basket on her head and her child strapped to her back; her hands were free. We have much to learn!

Number of times I (Melanie) have made a child cry: 1

The children of the seminary students and wives’ have been slowly overcoming their shyness. They linger around the classroom at the end of each class session, and they peek out from behind pillars with shy smiles. They are all beautiful, with perfect skin, huge eyes, and even bigger smiles. They are so adorable that we are already devising schemes to smuggle a few back in our suitcases!

So at this point, you are judging me and wondering how I could be so cruel as to make one of these beautiful children cry. Let me explain. At the end of class today, a little girl toddled in to see her mother. Probably two years old and wearing a puffy orange diaper, she took two steps, looked at me and started shrieking. The only way to describe her face is pure terror. Her mom picked her up, but she continued to cry each time she looked at me. So now you see…I’m not a mean person! Just terrifying, apparently.

Number of times we have been overwhelmed with kindness: Uncountable!

In general, we have found the Zambian people to be very welcoming and kind. The seminary students’ wives (from Malawi and Zambia) have been especially wonderful. In addition, the American missionaries and their wives have been overly gracious and helpful. They have put so much work into making our stay comfortable and helping us feel at home.

Speaking of home, Kelsi and I are living in a very nice house. It has three bedrooms and is much bigger than anything we anticipated. We are gradually getting used to the different critters that live in and around our house. Geckos and wall spiders have taken up residence, and although we know they eat mosquitoes, we haven’t quite gotten used to seeing them scamper around our beds.

The weather has been fantastic - a bit humid, but mostly sunny and refreshing. (Sorry Wisconsinites…we just had to brag a little!) Kelsi and I have been taking advantage of the nice weather by going running, and we definitely attract a lot of attention. The Zambians get their exercise from manual labor, and we have yet to see anyone else jogging. People young and old call out to us, inviting us to have a drink, cheering us on, or calling us muzungos (white people).

We are already lamenting how quickly our time will pass here. There is much to do, see, and experience in just three months! As always, thank you for your prayers. Although our purpose for coming to Lusaka was to teach the people here, we are already learning much more from them and their joyful lives of service to our great King.

In our next blog post, we will write more about our daily activities, students, and the culture. Thanks for reading, and God’s blessings!