The Mall and Some Music

            Today, Besther asked what a castle was (I had shown them a picture of one earlier, but it’s hard to understand if you’ve never learned about medieval history) and Ella quickly responded, “It’s a kind of beer.”  We both cracked up – Ella knew she was wrong, but she couldn’t think of what the real answer was.  Castle is one of the only kinds of beer sold here, so that was the only thing she could think of.   

            I had my four wonderful boys this morning – Obey, Jeremiah, Stone, and Given.  They are so much fun to work with.  It’s amazing how much fun you can have with kids who barely speak the same language as you.  At the end of the lesson, I said it was time to go, and they said, “No, we don’t want to go!  We want to stay.”  I told them they had to leave because I was on my way to teach their mothers English, which they thought was funny. 

            Dee and Dave’s friends brought some clothes with them from America and so there are suddenly all these WLC T-shirts everywhere.  I love it!   

            We went to the mall with Dee, Mrs. Birner and her daughter Sophie and Sophie’s friend from Tansania to get groceries and all the other necessities.  In the mall, some guards (there are guards everywhere carrying rifles) asked if we were Swedish.  We very rarely have people ask if we're American, which surprises me.  We had a good time watching Mrs. Birner barter with the men on the side of the street for a good price on a Zambian soccer jersey (the team that won the African Cup, nicknamed Chipolopolo).  It was amusing to watch six men clutching different jerseys sprinting down the street after the car trying to get her to accept a price.   Remember that list I made of all the random things I’ve seen sold on the side of the street?  Apparently, they often sell puppies too.  It’s like a walking mall! 

             When we got back, we went and played with some of the kids in the yard for a while before coming inside for another one of Anne’s amazing dinners.  That’s two things I will miss terribly: the kids sprinting over to me with big grins on their faces while begging for hugs and Anne’s cooking. 

For the most part, our TV has sat untouched on the table, but yesterday Rachel finally turned it on and figured out how to get music played on it.  The stations are extremely strange.  I don’t know who picks the music here, but the stations play things like current American pop music one minute and then some random strange song from the ‘80s the next.  There is no normal station – they all just play whatever they want.