It is crazy to think that I have been here in Macha for a month already! I have 6 weeks left here, and it is going to fly by! We have one team coming on Wednesday for a week and a half, and then another team coming the 20th that will be here right until the end of July. And after that, I will only have a week left here! It’s going fast, but I’m enjoying every moment of it! Here’s another update of what has been going on here:
Kitchen Party
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The kitchen party that I mentioned in my last
post happened last Saturday and was so fun. There was lots of food, lots of
kitchen items, and lots of dancing. The area (in the picture below) was set up
to look like a kitchen, where they took the bride around and taught her how to
use all the gifts she was getting for her new kitchen. It was totally different
than any bridal shower in the US – one of the things I found the most
interesting was that the bride barely showed her face, as her head was lowered
for the entire party. It’s the tradition here that brides, during their kitchen
parties, have to act sad, because they are leaving their families.
World Cup.
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The World Cup nightly showings are still going
strong here at the Thuma household, although we only showed the first set of
games each night this past week, since the 2nd set of games didn’t
start until 10pm here. It was really strange to have it quiet around the house
after 8pm, instead of hearing yelling and cheering until 11pm! We had a
midnight showing for some friends from the United States in our living room for
the 2nd USA game… another great game for the books! We had a great
time watching the game and learning about Deuce’s (Clint Dempsey) new rap album
coming out. We prematurely starting celebrating the win, before watching that
last goal go in the net in disbelief. But, it only made Thursday night’s games
more exciting to watch. They were nice and early for us this time, which meant
we got to watch the USA go through to the next round outside on the projector
with a bunch of Zambians who were hoping that Ghana would make it through
instead of the USA….. Sorryyy. :)
Roomie!!
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I got a new roommate last week… Madison, who
just graduated from high school, is here for 3 weeks and is working out at MICS
in the activity room. I’ve loved having her around to hang out with and talk
to! She is rocking the patriotic socks during the USA v. Germany game... I, on the other hand, am
rocking the just got back from basketball and threw a skirt on look. :)
Basketballlllllllll.
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Basketball continues to be a part of everything
I am doing here in Macha! My Macha girls continue to train hard and have fun… although
we occasionally sing and dance, and have mini photo shoots. They have actually
officially recorded their first music video on my camera… Macaulay, it’s one of
your favorite songs… cannot wait to share it with you all when I get back!
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| my macha girls :) |
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I also taught basketball this week in P.E. class
out at MICS! We did everything from relay races and shooting competitions to
5v5 and knock-out (or bump-out, as they like to call it here). Some of the
girls liked it so much that they asked me to take them to the court to play
more afterschool... a few boys joined in and I’m happy to say my team of girls
crushed the boys. The three girls in the picture below are regulars here at
PTRZ afterschool – Muleya, Naomi, and Mutinta!
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I have also continued training and playing with
the guys here in Macha. Towards the end of this week, we found out that the
guys from Choma wanted to come for a friendly match, so we played them today! It was quite the experience being the only girl on the court, but I had a blast! We ended up playing 2 games... we lost the first by about 20, but won the second game by 8!
Tonga
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Corie and Sarah, a girl that works out at MICS,
have started taking Tonga lessons from Eric’s mom this week, so I sat in on the
first lesson. Let’s just say I will be nowhere near fluent in Tonga by the time
I come home. Madison and I continue to get lessons from Ba Mesheck when he is
working in the garden. We were called out for a lesson just this morning!
A little shout out to my team… I hope individual camp went
well and you guys got some sleep this past week! It was SO good to see some of
you lovely ladies (and Brod) on skype!! Miss you guys like crazyyy :)
I continue to be updated on life at home by my momma,
getting updates every time I get a new save the date or wedding invitation,
information on new jobs that have come up to apply for, and of course news on
what she is picking from the garden. :) Here, the slab was finished on the rec center just
yesterday, and we had our first mouse on the veranda (which we all figured out
right away thanks to Corie’s running and screaming), the little ones are still precious, and the sunsets are still
absolutely beautiful! I've experienced so many parts of this culture and I have learned so much from these people. I’m blessed to be in this beautiful country with these
people… and I can’t wait until the groups get here to serve throughout July!
I don't think I've mentioned it in a previous post, but John and Esther Spurrier (John is a doctor here at the hospital) are from Pennsylvania. I had taken an Intro to Christian Mission class my sophomore year at Messiah, and had Esther as a mentor group leader for the class... I knew she had been a missionary in Africa, but I hadn't realized it was Macha until I got here. Esther and John leave tomorrow morning to fly home, but it was an absolute blessing to be reconnected with her here in Zambia! Safe travels to you two! :) Thanks
for the prayers from back home!
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| sunset from a trip to the airstrip with Madison |
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| finished slab of concrete for the rec center |
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| Char and Chonda on the walk back from Chonda's village |
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