The End of April Already??

            Today went well.  I tutored Bertha, Mildred, Given, and Obey.  Given and Obey worked mostly on math stuff.  Berth and Mildred are still chipping away at “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”  We had more ladies show up then expected for class, so that was a nice surprise.  We reviewed some of our church vocabulary words from last week, played a game that they enjoyed (Bertha said, “My heart!” and motioned that it was fluttering – she gets really competitive) and then we introduced this week’s topic: buildings. 

            My afternoon tutoring session was Shain and Mirriam.  I haven’t made as much progress with Shain as I would have liked.  He still struggles with letters and their sounds, but I think his conversational English has improved.  Mirriam’s reading has improved.  These two are probably my most challenging tutoring session because their ability levels are rather far apart from each other’s, but I can’t really let them work independently either.  I’m forced to get creative and come up with things we can do together while still challenging both of them.

            The rest of our day was spent doing mundane things…planning, cleaning, cooking, and working on a PowerPoint presentation for our time spend in Zambia.  I talked to my sister on Facebook and finished reading a very average Nicholas Sparks book. 

Worship at St. Matthew's

            This morning was an experience like no other.  Pastor Chijoka encouraged us to attend his church, St. Matthew’s, this morning.  It’s located in more central Lusaka, near the President’s mansion.  We know Pastor Chijoka rather well because he worked with us when planning for the in-service, so even though we were a little bummed to miss another week of Bethel’s worship service, we agreed to go (and were soon very happy we did).  Pastor Sargeant drove us, Bismarck, and four of the Nigerian pastors (who are here for the classes these two weeks).  Vicar Moyo and his wife also came along with us since he preaches at a church just up the road.  We got to St. Matthew’s at 9 and looked around the small but neat little church building until the service started at 10.  Bismarck told us all about his upbringing and educated us a bit more on Zambia.

            St. Matthew’s is a very beautiful church.  It uses the traditional WELS liturgy and many of the same songs.  It even has a keyboardist.  My first thought was how westernized the clothing was.  There were very few chitenges – most of the women wore the uniforms of the choir.  The women in the youth choir (by the way, a youth in Zambia is anyone from age 12-35) wore knee-length black skirts, a white button-up shirt, and a black jacket with a red tie.  The men wore black suits with ties, except for the choir master, who wore what looked like a suit in the front and a cape in the back.  They looked very sharp.  The women’s choir wore the same uniform that the ladies at Bethel wear – purple skirts with white shirts and a purple headwrap.  There was a lot more makeup, westernized hair-styles, and designer jeans here than there is at Bethel. 

            The choir was amazing.  I thought Bethel was fantastic, but this choir is even better.  This is the choir that actually won last weekend’s competition (there were only three choirs in it, but still).  I have never heard a choir so talented.  Their voices are so powerful. Rachel got some good videos of them. 

            Pastor Chijoka actually wasn’t there today; he was off visiting another congregation.  One of the Nigerian pastors preached and a layman did the rest of the service.  I’m not used to the Nigerian accent, so he was difficult to understand at first.  I finally got the hang of how he talked and was able to hear a really excellent sermon.   The congregation loved it – throughout, there was lots of “Amens!” and clapping after an especially good point.  Every few months, the church takes a Pastor’s offering, which means after the service, members of the congregation come up and put a little extra money in the offering plate (or in this case, a bucket).  They did this in an organized procession.  First, the children started a beat on the drum, sang a song, and danced up there in a line to put their offerings in.  Then, the youth choir went.  After the youth choir, the other youths who aren’t in the choir go.  Thankfully, they’re (meaning me) not obligated to dance.  When their song was over, the ladies choir sang and danced while the other adults put in their offering.  One man got lots of cheers as he boogied his way up the aisle.  The service was an interesting mix of Lutheran doctrine and African traditions.  It made for an uplifting and joyful service.  We were introduced to the congregation as “special visitors from the States.”  The service lasted about two hours, and then we were ushered out and shook hands with everyone in the congregation.  We were expecting Pastor Sargeant to pick us up (he was at another church preaching) but it didn’t seem like he was going to be back for a while.  We just had no idea what was going on, but in Africa, you just have to go with the flow and eventually you’ll figure it out. 

This congregation wins the prize for being the most friendly and welcoming; one of the choir members introduced us to our “guides” – three young youths who were to show us around.  Their names were Bridget, Jane, and Esther, and even though they looked and acted like very mature women, they were only 14 and 16 years old.  They took us inside (again, we were a little confused because Bismarck and the other pastors had disappeared, and we were still expecting Pastor Sargeant to pick us up sometime soon) and talked to us for a while as the choir practiced their songs.  They gave us some fruit from the baobob tree, which was one of the strangest things I’ve ever eaten.  This huge softball-sized thing – kind of like a nut – grows on its branches.  They break it open and inside are these white chunks, which you suck on until you get to the brown seed in the middle.  The texture of the “fruit” (I’m really not sure if it is a fruit) kind of felt like I was sucking on a cotton ball.  It was a little sour.  Overall, it was pretty good.  Strange, but good. 

            The girls, and actually all the members, spoke excellent English.  We talked to them for a while and then were informed that the choir wanted to interview us.  We sat in plastic chairs facing the entire choir while they asked us questions about America.  Mostly, we discussed the roles of youths in the church.  The main difference between America and Africa as far as youths go is the participation.  I don’t remember the exact stats, but I know that between the ages of 18 and 28, Americans tend to stop going to church.  It’s the opposite in Africa.  Youths seem to grow stronger in their faith and become very active during this time.  There are huge choirs for the youths and lots of participation in youth Bible classes.  They have sporting and music competitions between churches.

            After our interview, we were told that the ladies were preparing lunch for us.  We ate a traditional Zambian meal with the Nigerians and a few of the Zambian church members.  The meal consisted of nsima (of course), rape (cooked kale), coleslaw, mincemeat (beef – it was cooked like taco meat), and fish.  Zambians eat with their hands.  They role up the nsima into balls and then dip it in the sauces, which at this meal was the vegetables and meat.   It took me a minute to get used to eating with my hands, but I got over it and actually enjoyed the meal.  It was very good, although I politely declined the fish.  One of the Zambians teased me about not eating fish and said he was planning on taking us fishing after this.  Zambians drink a surprising amount of soda – there is almost always Coke or Fanta served with each meal (at least within the city limits; I doubt anyone in the villages drinks soda). Nigerians don’t eat this kind of food, so it was a cultural experience for all of us. 

            After the meal, we were told that the church was ordering taxis for us to take us back to the Seminary, but Pastor Sargeant surprised us and picked us up.  We left the church after 2:00 and got back to our house a little after 2:30.  Sundays in Africa are definitely all about church.  In fact, many of the members are going back later in the afternoon to watch netball and football games against another church’s youths.  Isn’t it interesting that many Americans complain if a church service is longer than an hour? 

I have to write a little bit about the President’s mansion.  I got a glimpse of it while driving past.  Guards sit outside the gate whenever the President is in Zambia.  If he’s not in the country, they won’t stand there.  They learned  how to guard from the British – they will not speak or move a muscle, unless they’re going to shoot you. Side note: I also learned that you can never take a picture of anyone in the military.  Rachel’s mom, for example, was videotaping something when a police officer walked by.  He took the camera and erased everything on it.   So even though I want to go back and take a picture of the mansion, I won’t be able to do that.  And get this: the courtyard of the mansion has two giraffes, several zebras, and impalas.  How crazy is that?  This is merely miles from the downtown of Lusaka.  Surrounding the President’s quarters live members of the military and Cabinet.  One of the administrators doesn’t have guards in human form; rather, he has a lion.  Apparently a guard dog wasn’t good enough.   Sometimes, people will see a cow taken in through the gates.  That means it’s feeding time for the lion.

            This morning was definitely a cultural shock for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I’m so happy I got to experience something so different. 

            I did a little preparation for tomorrow’s class before heading over to the Birner’s for dinner and a game of bocce ball.  The Birners hosted the usual crew of missionaries, Professor Cherney, and Jason Paulzer (a former missionary) and his two co-workers from the University of Wisconsin.  They’re here to do something with the medical mission…I can’t quite remember exactly what.  We had some delicious food.  Dee made the most amazing peanut butter bars ever – I’ll be getting the recipe for those ones.

            Today was one of those days that reminded me that I’m in Africa.  I know that sounds silly, but I’ve gotten into a routine with everything else.  I’m used to funny stories on minibus rides or hearing the kids say amusing things.  But today, with the church service, music, and food, was so unlike anything else I’ve experienced.   It’s not something I can replicate satisfactorily in a blog; I wish I could share these moments with my friends and family. 

Dutch Reform

            What a nice Saturday!  I went for a nice long run this morning.  Dave, Dee, Professor Cherney, Rachel and I went to the Dutch Reform (the huge market that is held once a month) and did some bartering.  We ate lunch there (I had the Mexican chicken burrito) and came back for a nice relaxing afternoon.  I half-heartedly swept the house and then took a nap before playing kickball with the kids.  One of the neighborhood boys, Nyambe (definitely guessing on that spelling) is one of the best runners I have ever seen.  He would make any running coach drool even though he can’t be more than 13.  After the game, Rachel and I made dinner and relaxed in front of the “TV” (my laptop).  And that was my very slow, relaxing Saturday. 

Picture Time

            I taught Stone, Given, and Obey this morning.  We did some new worksheets that they were really excited about.  For English, only two ladies were able to come so they had some very personal tutoring today.  It was a good morning overall.

            We went into town for some groceries after lunch.  I realized how much I’ve adjusted to my life here.  On the ride in, Rachel and I were commenting to each other on how nice the bus was, how spacious it was, and how polite the call boy was (the guy who runs up the street and tries to get you on the bus).  Then I realized that there were five people wedged into the back seat.  The woman next to me was practically sitting on top of me.  The ceiling used to be white but is much closer to a dark brown color now.  If I was in that situation in America, I would not have been using the words “nice” or “spacious.”  But here, it was like driving in a limousine because it was just so much better than the typical minibus ride. 

            I played kickball with the kids in the afternoon and entertained them for quite a while by taking pictures of them afterwards.  The boys pushed and jumped on top of each other to be in the pictures before I got it somewhat under control.  They begged me, “Please, Miss Erika, one more!  Me with Barnabas, please?”  Then the other fifteen boys would wait until right before I took the picture and jump in front of the lens.   It’ll be nice to have seventy-five blurry pictures of them to remember them by. 

"The Grey"

            This morning just Bertha showed up for tutoring at first.  We were working hard and were all settled in when Given and Obey showed up.  So I did some quick work and was able to teach all of them at the same time.  Given and Obey are doing so great still.  Given refuses to let me give him any help.  When he knows how to say something in English, like, “Good morning.  How are you?” (which, until a few weeks ago, was quite advanced for him) he makes sure to say it so I can hear him.  He’s so proud of everything he’s accomplished in the past couple months. 

            English went well.  Sarah is so fun to work with.  She doesn’t speak English as well as some of my other ladies, but she has no shame and tries as hard as she can.  She’s a great student to have because she is not afraid of making a mistake and has a hilarious sense of humor.  She’s quite the contrast to one of my other ladies.  This one writes nearly perfect English and I know understands everything I say, yet she hates making mistakes and therefore often refuses to ever give an answer.  Despite the other ladies encouraging her and almost even scolding her, unless she is positive that what she is saying is correct, she will not answer. 

            I was blown away when Barnabas was able to read a “Clifford” book today almost perfectly.  He is like a sponge.  I never have to repeat myself.  I am blessed with such awesome students to work with!  Their motivation and desire to improve makes my job so easy. 

            We went to dinner and a movie tonight with Dave, Dee, and Professor Cherney.  We saw “The Grey,” which you should not see if you are afraid of flying or being attacked by wolves.   

Getting Back Into the Routine

            I’m not going to lie – it was hard for me to get motivated this morning to teach.  It was kind of cold out and I was more interested in staying inside, drinking coffee, and reading my book.  But as soon as I started working with Obey and Given, my entire mood shifted around.  I love teaching these kids.  Being around them is so uplifting.  I had such a fun morning and was completely ready to go the rest of the day.

Rachel and I made phenomenal fried egg, fried onion, and avocado sandwiches for lunch.  After our last tutoring session I played kickball with the kids.  Barnabas loves trying to play basketball with me.  He’ll take the kickball and dribble it like a basketball and try to go through his legs and everything.  He thinks it’s hilarious when I dribble the ball around my back, through my legs, and over his head as he tries to steal it. 

            Dee cooked dinner for us and Professor Cherney.  That’s always fun – we get some yummy food and some interesting conversation. 

Hunger Games

            English class was tricky today.  Several of the ladies are still working for Anne (cooking, cleaning, etc.), so we weren’t sure who was going to show up.  We also moved to a different classroom which is just one small room, so that makes both of us teaching separate sections impossible.  We just had five women this morning so we combined our classes and did some writing and conversation activities.  I pulled up a couple pictures from our trip and was surprised when the women didn’t know what a giraffe was.  I asked them if they knew what it was in their own language, but even Regina, who speaks beautiful English and has quite a high level of education, said no one could remember what it was.  How strange…these are African women who don’t know what these African animals are.  I so wish I could spend a few weeks in a local school just to see what it’s like.  Don’t get me wrong – these women are very intelligent, even if they have only had a few years of schooling.  But I just can’t wrap my American mind around the fact that not one of the women could tell me what kind of animal I was showing them. 

            We need ink for our computer, so we headed into town.  Minibus rides are always unique and full of strange little adventures.  At one point, I just put my head in my hands and started laughing because I couldn’t believe I was sitting in a very tiny backseat, squashed between two people who don’t believe in personal space, with some very strange hip-hop music blasting in my ear.  I also realized that I’m not shocked by much anymore – of course the man collecting my money wouldn’t have his shirt buttoned.  Of course a man walking down the street isn’t wearing shoes.  Of course one ink cartridge costs $25. 

            Since we were heading into town, we decided to splurge and go to lunch and then see “The Hunger Games.”  BEST MOVIE EVER.  I generally hate it when books are made into movies, but this was absolutely phenomenal!  I strongly suggest it – but read the book first.  And try not to go to a theater where every single person is talking on their cell phone.

            When we finally got home after another ridiculous minibus ride (this will be #1 on the short list of things I will not miss about Africa) we cooked ourselves a rather good meal.  I believe cooking is microwaving a sweet potato and putting turkey and cheese on a rice cake, so tonight’s meal was quite advanced for me.  And yes, of course Rachel did all the hard stuff, but still, I’m proud.  We made rice, chicken, veggies, and experimented with a ketchup-based sauce.  Anne makes the most delicious sauce and she gave us a general description of the ingredients she puts in it.  Ketchup is one of them, so we looked up some recipes and kind of adapted it to what we have in our pantry, which isn’t much.  It turned out surprisingly good.  Of course nothing close to Anne’s, but whatever.  It was food and we enjoyed it.

            Tonight, we’re intermittently planning for the week and reading this wonderful blog Rachel found.  We’ve both cried from it already.  Here’s the link:

http://inhishands-ouradoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2008/06/our-journey.html

Slow Monday

            Nothing interesting today.  We didn’t teach today for a few reasons – we didn’t really have a place to go and had to figure that out today, plus the ladies didn’t know we were back, and there is now continuing education classes going on, so the campus is still quite alive with activity.  I woke up at 5 this morning all by myself because I’ve gotten used to that the past few days.  I was disappointed when I realized I would not be going on a game drive this morning and went back to sleep for a couple hours.  After working out and drinking coffee, I discovered how much fun editing pictures is.  I spent the rest of my morning playing around with my favorite pictures from the trip.  Dee took us into town and we got groceries, then said hello to some people around campus.  I did laundry, made more coffee, and spent a shameful amount of time working on my pictures.   And that right there was my day.

The Vacation Had to End Sometime...

            We went on our last game drive this morning.  The people at Wildlife Camp definitely take care of their guests; while we went out on our drive, they called the airport and checked to see what time we would need to be there.  They called Billy and told him he’d have to get us out of the park a half hour earlier to get us to the airport in time.  Our game drive didn’t show us anything big.  We saw fresh paw prints, including a male lion’s, and there were hooded vultures in the trees, which means lions were nearby.  The vultures follow lions to eat their droppings.  Billy did all he could, but we just could not find the lions.  We left the park to get to the airport in time. We shouldn’t have worried; there was only one other person on the flight with us.  During the next three hours until the flight, I enjoyed the fast internet and uploaded pictures to Facebook and watched a few episodes.  Our plane was super tiny.  Getting in and out of it was quite the challenge for me. All three of us had our own big seat to ourselves.  The pilots told us to grab whatever snacks and drinks we wanted from the cooler, told us to buckle up, and then we took off.  It was fantastic - within a couple minutes we were in the air.  The view from the plane was beautiful and the conversation with the other guy on the plane was interesting.  He’s an American citizen but has lived in Africa most of his life.  Now he goes back and forth from Mfuwe to Alaska as a conservational expert.  I have quite the boring life in comparison!

            Now we’re back in Lusaka…sigh.  No more elephant and giraffe sightings while I’m drinking my morning coffee.  Instead of hearing the hippos grunt from the river as I sleep, I have to settle for the rooster and the dogs.  This trip was absolutely incredible. I can’t compare it to anything I’ve ever experienced in the states.  I wish everyone could get the chance to visit the park and see everything I saw.   

South Luangwa - Day 3 - LIONS!!!

            This morning we were joined on our game drive by three Australian tourists.  They were hilarious and made our trip very enjoyable.  Our main goal was to find some cats.  The Australians were excited that we had had such good luck with the leopard, but this morning she was nowhere to be found.  We knew lions were nearby because Billy showed us some fresh prints and other guides had heard them roaring not long before, but we didn’t find any.              The drive was beautiful, despite our lack of success.  We saw lots of warthogs and of course the usual elephants, giraffes, zebras, and hippos.   

            We lounged by the pool and talked to the Australians and some American tourists.  Because Billy is the best guide ever, he offered to take me and Rachel out earlier than normal so we could travel farther to a spot where lions are often seen.  We left a little before 3:15.  Soon after entering the park, we saw a ton of elephants – probably twenty of them.  Billy noticed they were uneasy and, because he heard that lions were roaring in the area earlier, stopped the car.  We sat there for a few minutes peering in the tall grass.  A couple minutes later, a bulldozer came by because he was grating the road.  We pulled over a little to let it through and then watched the grass for a few more minutes.  Billy, Isaac (the spotter), and I were studying one side of the field closely when Rachel turned to look behind us and suddenly exclaimed, “A lion!  Behind the car!  Look, look!”  We all frantically turned around and saw a female lion standing mere feet away from us.  It looked at us calmly and walked carefully over to the bush, where it nuzzled another female lion that was lounging in the grass.  The younger lion (the one we spotted first) wandered off into the bush while the older one stayed put for a while.  Soon it came out, walked just a few feet from our car, and laid on the shade for us to admire her.  It was incredible!  This all happened less than an hour after we got into the park.  We were giddy with excitement and were so happy the pressure was off to find the lions.  Soon after, we saw some male kudu – huge antelope with beautiful, twisted horns.  After that, Billy took us up to the Presidential Hill – this is where the Zambian president stays when he comes to South Luangwa. We were up on a hillside where we could see the presidential house, the beautiful sunset, and zebras grazing quite near us.  After sundown, we resumed our drive.  We saw a third lion far off on the hill – my camera couldn’t capture it but we saw it fairly well through binoculars.  We saw more genets, a civit (which is technically  not a cat; it’s of its own species.  A couple nights ago I incorrectly said it was much bigger than a house cat.  It’s actually quite small and has the most remarkable markings on it. Its face looks like a raccoon and its body is striped and spotted), and a hyena.   It was an incredible night!  Tomorrow, we’re going on a game drive and then leaving directly for the airport, where we will hopefully catch a standby flight back.  If we don’t, then we’re in trouble.  But no point worrying about it now!  We’ll enjoy our last few hours here. 

South Luangwa Day 2

            We were up at 5 this morning and eating a breakfast of toast, cereal, and coffee by 5:30.  Billy came over and had a bowl of cereal with us before we took off on our game drive.  We picked up Joel, who is studying to be a guide.  Billy is from Malawi, near Blantyre, actually, where Rachel grew up.  He is married and has three kids, one of whom was born last week.  Joel is also married with two kids.  Billy is a walking encyclopedia and a comedian.  He is extremely knowledgeable about every animal and plant species in the world, and to top it off, he speaks seven languages, including a little Japanese and Italian.  Joel is super sweet and friendly.  He’s obviously still learning, but he did a good job for us.

            The drive lasted over four hours with a coffee/tea break in the middle.  Here’s a run-down of what we saw and some interesting things I learned:

1)      Giraffes – tons of them!  There are several different breeds of giraffe – the one in this area is called Thornycroft after an English government official who studied them for years and discovered it was different than other species.  This one has spots that go all the way down its legs and a different color on its ears.  People used to believe that giraffes were the result of a camel and a leopard mating.  Giraffes have a 15 month gestation period, they live for about 30 years, and they grow to be about 4.5 meters tall.  When they drink, they have to bend down awkwardly, so their heart stops pumping blood up to their head.  If it continued to pump blood, its head would explode from all the blood.  Therefore, they get very dizzy from the lack of blood when they stand up. This is when the lions hunt them as they are the most susceptible.

2)      Elephants – you would not believe how many we’ve seen.  Elephants are dangerous and somewhat of a nuisance to the nearby villagers.  They wander through village eating the fruit off the trees.  Four women have already died this year.  Women are the ones who go out first thing to gather firewood, and it’s very common for them to be trampled by elephants hiding in the bush.

3)      Leopard!  Again!  I got some great shots of it today.  It’s still working on the impala.

4)      Hyena – the same three were still hanging out below the leopard.

5)      Zebras – it’s difficult to tell which is male and which is female, but usually the male stands between the female and danger (like our car).

6)      Warthogs (three of them)

7)      Bushbuck

8)      Impala (of course, but today we saw them horning, which is when they scratch their horns on trees to mark their territory)

9)      Waterbuck – different from the ones we saw in Kafue.  This breed is has a white ring on its backside.

10)  Hippos – in a group, they are now called a school of hippos, not a pod.  This was a recent change.

11)  Crocodiles – many of them along the river bank.

12)  Monitor lizard.

Birds:

1)      African harrier hawk – its face turns red when it gets angry.  It eats chicks from other birds.

2)      Open-billed stork

3)      Hamerkop

4)      Lesser gray shrike – it is a migrant bird and eats seeds from the elephant dung, which helps trees grow in new areas.

5)      Red billed oxpecker – they have a symbiotic relationship with the giraffes; they eat the ticks off their body.  By the way, “symbiotic relationship” is a term I didn’t know until I taught fourth grade science this last year.

6)      Egyptian goose – there is a current debate over where it should be called a goose or a duck.  It looks like a duck.

7)      Martial eagle.

8)      Kingfisher

9)      Crowned crane

10)  Bateleur Eagle

11)  Woolly-necked stork

12)  Fish eagle (similar, if not exactly the same to a bald eagle.  It is Malawi and Zambia’s national bird)

Other facts:

1)      The incredibly expensive, ritzy lodge that is located in the park was recently purchased by Paul Allen, Bill Gate’s partner at Microsoft.

2)      Members of the tribe that used to leave right in the park before it was set aside for a national park were often captured by Somalian Arabs and sold into slavery.

3)      Sausage trees (trees that have huge, heavy sausage-looking fruit growing on them) are used today for many practical uses: it cures chickens from Newcastle disease (which saves Zambian lives, since they are very reliant on chickens for food), when it is dried and pounded it is added to lotion to prevent skin cancer, Billy’s relative drank some of the powder when she couldn’t produce milk after giving birth and within a couple hours was cured, and is used for other medicinal purposes.

When we got back, we sat outside on our porch for a while.  Some monkeys came up to the porch, and Rachel immediately scared them away.  I scolded her, saying that I never get to see monkeys, let me enjoy them, etc.  While this was happening, a monkey snuck in our room through our front door and stole an apple.  I got a big, “I told you so,” after that one.

During lunch, the monkeys were circling us, trying to figure out how to steal more food from us. They are quite brave and got pretty close.  As soon as the worker came back, they scattered – this is because he routinely shoots at them with a slingshot.

A wounded mongoose also came and begged.  He wandered right around our feet and even licked my toe.

After lunch, I napped and laid by the pool.  Then it was time for our evening game drive.  Unfortunately, we had to share Billy with several other tourists from the Netherlands and Germany.  Our goal tonight was to see lions, but we were disappointed.  We did, however, see two leopards – one was the same one we’ve seen every other time and another one was hunting in a field.  He didn’t catch anything; the impala saw him in time.  The spotter saw it from an incredible distance – all he has to do is scan the light over the grass and trees and he can tell by the color of the reflection of the eyes which animal it is.  We watched it move down the field, chase an impala for a while, and then run towards our vehicle. It got extremely close to us.  Seeing it in action was amazing.

We saw tons more elephants, zebras, giraffes, and hippos.  It’s to the point that it’s almost boring to see them now.   The only new thing we saw was buffalo, which was also extremely close to us.  It was a huge herd that had just finished rolling around in the mud by the river. 

We returned for a delicious, huge, late dinner.  Even though all I’ve done is sit in a car for eight hours and lay by the pool, I’m exhausted and can’t wait for sleep! 

South Luangwa - Day 1

            We made it!  We woke up at 5 to get to the airport to see if we could get some standby tickets.  The entire time, I kept telling myself we weren’t going to get on so I wouldn’t be too disappointed.  But everything worked out perfectly!  Anne’s son works at the airport and we saw him before we boarded.  He even helped us check our bags; without him we quite possibly would have messed it up.

The flight was a quick hour and ten minutes.  Surprisingly, we got drinks, snacks, and a sweet.  We landed at the very small Mfuwe airport and was greeted by Billy, one of the workers from the camp we’re staying at.  He is a very jovial man and made us feel comfortable immediately.  We hopped in the game vehicle (think of a pick-up truck with no roof and three huge seats in the back) and made our way to our camp.  We drove on a very narrow tarmac road for about an hour, passing small thatch huts and little concrete buildings that are no bigger than the size of the playhouse my dad built for us.  Several had interesting names, such as “Peace Love Drug Store” and “Mfuwe Shopping Centre” – a little misleading considering the size.  Then we drove through the actual town of Mfuwe, which is really just ten concrete buildings standing side by side.  Then it was onward to our camp, which is so awesome.  They upgraded us for free to a nice chalet, which is a nice big room with its own bathroom (quite the novelty in Zambia), a porch facing the Luangwa river, and a high thatch roof.  Pictures coming soon.

We met Conrad, a white South African man who told us what our schedule will be like.  He also informed us that last night several lions wandered onto the campsite, killed an impala, and ate it, all within hearing distance of the restaurant.  The rest of the day, we met some other workers, ate lunch (a meat pie and a salad), and then laid by the pool.  The pool overlooks the Luangwa River, and we enjoyed watching the crocodiles and hippos.  Then it was coffee/tea time (served with a bread-like cake) at 3:30 before our evening game drives.  Game drives happen twice a day from 6-10 AM and 4-8 PM.  Our game drive was amazing!!  It was hot and sunny when we started.  The sun sets just after six, so we had drinks and snacks while watching the sunset before resuming our drive.  At that point, we drive with a spotter, a man who holds a spotlight and skillfully looks for the animals.  It’s quite the task – these men are very well-trained and can spot animals in a split second.  The guides are also extremely educated and have to go through vigorous testing in order to be a guide.  I’ll give you a rundown of what we saw:

1)      The most exciting thing was the leopard.  Leopards are incredibly elusive and seeing them is a rare sight.  The Australian tourists who are also staying here informed us that last night they saw a leopard kill and eat part of an impala before hyenas chased it off.  Today, we saw the impala hanging off a branch of a tree.  Apparently, the leopard somehow got the impala back from the hyenas and dragged it up the tree for safekeeping.  We went back later and saw the leopard eating the impala with three hyenas sitting below the tree, waiting for a piece to fall for them.  The leopard was so full of meat it looked like it had a watermelon in its stomach.  It was so beautiful!  Su, our driver, went off-roading with the vehicle so we could see it close up.  This isn’t supposed to happen, but we’re thankful he broke the rules for us.  We were merely feet away from the leopard and could hear it breaking the bones as it ate. 

2)      Hyenas, as mentioned above.

3)      Elephants.  Lots and lots of elephants!  Two came extremely close to the vehicle.  Later at night, one was upset with us for waking it up from its sleep and trumpeted at us.

4)      Giraffes – one within minutes of entering the park.

5)      Hippos – including a little baby!  Probably only a week old – so adorable!

6)      Tons of zebras – one was heavily pregnant.

7)      Impala – probably thousands of them.  They’re quite boring even to me now.

8)      Waterbuck – another type of antelope.  Not quite as common as impala.

9)      Puku.  See number 8.

10)  Bushbuck – another type of anteleope, but very rare.  Looked the same to me, to be honest…

11)  Elephant shrew – a little mouse with a long nose, thus the name.

12)  Large spotted genet – not much bigger than a house cat.  Very pretty, striped, long and slender.

13)  Scrub hare (rabbit)

14)  Crocodiles – one very small

15)  Porcupine – we chased it down the road for seriously at least ten minutes.  It refused to get off the path and was galloping at a frantic pace for quite some time. 

16)  Cirit cat (much bigger than a genet, but not as big as a lion)

17)  White tailed mongoose (kind of like little weasels – we saw probably twenty running around our chalet earlier in the day…which reminds me, we also saw a monitor lizard right outside our door too)

18)  Saddlebilled stork – also called a German bird.  It has shocking red, yellow, and black markings on its bill.

19)  Squacko heron (not sure about that spelling – black and white)

20)  Sacred ibis (a bird…again, not the biggest bird watcher, so I can’t quite remember which one this was)

21)  Kingfisher (see 20)

22)  Malibu stork  (see 20)

23)  Rachel wouldn’t think this counts, but I do: baboons (and other monkeys too).  Right away when we got there, a monkey came into the kitchen area and started eating the cat food (put out for the little house cat, not the lions…haha).  Conrad saw it and yelled at it to leave, and it shoved handfuls of cat food in its mouth as quickly as possible before he got to it.  It looked so much like a human – hilarious.

Overall, a fantastic and successful day!  The only big thing we didn’t see today was a lion, and we have several more game drives and are basically guaranteed to see it!  We wake up at 5 tomorrow for breakfast and another game drive.

Still in Lusaka

            We didn’t succeed getting on standby today.  There was only one ticket available.  We’ll try again tomorrow.  We’re somewhat disappointed but still hopeful we’ll get there soon.  We went over to campus and helped Anne for a little while, came back home and relaxed for a couple hours, and then headed back to campus for some volleyball.   After dinner, we served snacks again for fellowship hour.  And that was my day – nothing terribly exciting.  Hoping tomorrow works out! 

Opening Service

            I had a really weird night’s sleep.  I woke up twice laughing at something that was going on my dreams.  I actually woke myself up because I was laughing so hard – apparently I find my subconscious mind hilarious.  I also kept hearing the irritating neighborhood rooster, whose internal alarm clock is a bit off; he crows several hours before daybreak.  As a result, I had to make a bit more coffee than usual today. 

We went to the opening service for the conferences this morning.  It was very WELS – there was the usual liturgy and hymns and none of the traditional African songs.  Mrs. Hartmann played for it and did a very nice job, despite the fact that most of the Africans (especially the Cameroonians and Nigerians, whose services rarely use WELS hymns or liturgy) aren’t used to singing along to a piano, so everyone sang their own rhythm. 

            We helped Anne for a few hours in the kitchen again.  We washed lots of dishes and peeled potatoes and carrots.  We went to choir for a little while, but didn’t really do much.  Their competition is this weekend, and we won’t be around for it, so we just enjoyed their company until we got a phone call that a volleyball game was starting.  We played that for about an hour until dinner time.  One of the vicars (in the LCCA, the students go to school for six years, then do their vicar year, and then are assigned to a congregation – this particular vicar lives on campus in an extra house and serves a nearby congregation) is so hilarious during volleyball.  He always says things like, “Now we are coming for you!  We will win you!  Yes, yes, the score is 11-14.  Now we will win!”  His running commentary just kills me.  Whenever I do something that scores a point, no matter how unimpressive it is, he says, “Oh, you!  You hit like a bullet!  You are a point-scorer, you are!”  When I was subbed out for volleyball, I played with some of the little kids who were watching from the truck bed.  The entire hour of volleyball, they were yelling, “Teacher Rachel!  Teacher Erika!”  Although Erika is very difficult for some of the kids to say…and actually equally difficult for many of the adults.  I have heard many times, “Rachel is easy for us.  We have many people named Rachel.  Erika is quite difficult, though.”  Usually the kids say something more like, “Merica!”  or even “America!”  Anyway, the kids were extra adorable tonight.  All I had to do was pretend like I was going to catch them and they dissolved in giggles.  So cute.

            Rachel and I served snacks again at fellowship hour.  Tonight was trail mix (my weakness), snack mix, and caramel corn.  One of my and Rachel’s favorite pastors was so happy about the trail mix.  He said, “I just love raisins!” no less than eight times during the twenty seconds he was up at the snack table.  Another one of our favorite pastors came up to show us that he almost as able to spell out the word “bola” using the oddly-shaped pretzels in the snack mix.  He asked me if I could try to find a pretzel that looked like an A, and when I did almost immediately, he got super excited and ran off to show the other pastors at his table.  I’m not sure what “bola” means – something to do with soccer, maybe?

            Tomorrow we’re trying to get to South Luangwe, the best game park in Central Africa.  We’re going to see if we can get a standby flight, which is much cheaper than making a reservation and a lot easier than taking a bus.  We’ll see how it goes!  It’ll be a bit of a gamble, but we’re willing to take the chance right now.  If all goes well, tomorrow night I will be sleeping in a tented chalet in the middle of the wilderness, close enough to hear the lions roar.  In fact, you’re not even allowed to walk through the camp alone at night because lions will wander through there.  Amazing!