Back in the Swing of Things

Muli bwanji?

Kelsi, Molly, and I quickly caught on to the basic Chechewa (the Malawian version of Nyanja, one of the most common languages spoken in Zambia) greetings/pleasantries while we were in Malawi. Here in Lusaka, virtually everyone speaks English in the city, so our attempts to learn the language have been feeble. In Malawi, however, many people greeted us in their native tongue, and we began to answer back enthusiastically. (Muli bwanji? Bwino!) Kelsi pulled that out in class on Monday, and our ladies thought it was hysterical. Hopefully they were laughing with us, and not at our bad pronunciation!

Here's a quick wrap-up of our trip to Malawi:

We spent Friday night at the Holtz's (enjoying homemade soup, ice cream sundaes, and smoothies made from mangoes, berries, and passionfruit, among other delicious treats) before heading back to Zambia. Like I said last time, the Holtz's were fantastic hosts! We only traveled a few hours on Saturday, and we spent the night at Pastor Sargeant's old home in Chipata (a town in Zambia very close to the border of Malawi). We finished up the journey on Sunday, and we were relieved to be home after another eight hours on the road. As tired as we were, the trip was worth every minute of travel and every bump and pothole. We are so grateful that Pastor Sargeant invited us along to experience the different culture in Malawi. We really enjoyed our time, and I would love to go back someday to explore other parts of the country.

Monday morning was a bit rough as Kelsi and I tried to remember how to teach. Anyone who has been a teacher or a student coming back from vacation knows what I mean! However, I'm happy to report that after a couple of days, we are back in the swing of things, and we are extra motivated to make the most of our final weeks. We are feeling a bit frantic lately; there is so much to teach and so little time! We pray that our lessons help the ladies and their children improve every day, and that they will continue to learn English after we are gone.

It was a lot of fun to be reunited with the kids and the women this week. The children were especially joyful to see we had returned. Kelsi and I have been attacked with hugs and cries of "Teacha teacha!" as we walked around campus the past few days.

We were relieved to hear that we missed quite the storms when we were in Malawi. It rained 10 inches in less than a week! We heard that the whole campus was completely flooded, and there are still some muddy areas to prove it. It has only rained a bit since we've been back, but it has been markedly cooler as we in the southern hemisphere move into the winter months. I was bundled up in a sweater and jacket today, and Kelsi can tell you that I complained more than once about the cold! How quickly we've adjusted to the 80 degree days....

We hope that we can put some pictures up soon. We can't wait to share some of the sights from Malawi!

God's blessings and good night!