By Sunday we had finished a week in Zambia. I had planned to go to church with the Mormons because I think it is always good to have different cultural experiences. By the time I got to Sunday I changed my mind, deciding I needed the rest and space more. All but one other person went off to three hour church in the morning and the two of us slept in.
We decided to go walking in Lusaka. We waited for the others to come back from church but then decided to leave the bunkhouse key with Mavis so we could leave. Mavis came over and gave me the pj pants she had made for me. She said I had forgotten to get the lining for the skirt she was making for me so I gave her 18,000 kwachas (about $4) to get it for me. She noted that I didn't go to church. I told her I didn't go to church and that I was tired and needed the rest. She is such a sweet person and she couldn't understand why I wouldn't be going to church
The lined blouse and skirt Mavis made for me. A street in Lusaka.
As we were leaving on our walk the bus with everyone else arrived back. We left and we both felt so good being free and walking on the dirt streets of Zambia. Lots of people were walking back and forth, many from church. The first thing we did was go to a restaurant and have lunch. Our sandwiches came with the best French Fries I have ever tasted, cooked just barely and sprinkled with a cajun spices.
Lusaka
When we finished we met another team member and we decided to walk to what they call the Arcades. The only dangerous part of our afternoon was crossing the street to the Arcades. We checked on our e-mail at the internet center. A Sunday market was being held in the parking lot so we meandered through the different booths. This market was much less intense then the one at the cultural site. I did see some of the same people selling goods at this market and they recognized me from our trip there. We all had some special things we were still looking for, I found a rag rug that everyone else wanted when I got it back to the bunkhouse. We had one outside our door of the bunkhouse and I had been looking for one similiar to it.
It was an awesome day because it was so good to be free to walk around Lusaka. On the other days we travel on the bus all the time from place to place. This day was good for our souls. We tried to be in a Zen place to prepare ourselves for the coming week.
Ireen was always there, she works every day while a team is in Lusaka, we always hugged when we saw each other. I went and found her to say hello each time we arrived. Everyone smiles and says hello when you smile at them on the street. The people we saw every day greeted us with two hugs one over each shoulder, no matter how many times a day we meet.
Ireen and me and Ireen working.
That night's dishwashing crew.
Chiloba while waiting for his mission call. He is now called Elder Chirwa.
My thought for the day was,"It was a good day, I got to walk around Lusaka and I felt so refreshed for the next week."
I have something to admit here. I have always felt that if people would just talk to those they think are their enemies or have different beliefs, they would come to know them as people and the world would be a more peaceful place. I usually lived by that belief, but I didn't follow through with it when I answered the door in Vermont to visiting missionaries. I would cut them rather short and say I didn't believe and there wasn't anything they could say that would make a difference to me, and then basically shut the door. I wasn' t unfriendly but I wasn't welcoming either. Living with the Mormons and visiting with two missionaries who were working in Zambia while I was there, I realized that I wasn't walking the talk when it came to this. I don't believe as they do but they are ordinary people I had a lot of fun with and now count as my friends. One of the men on our team has a son on a mission. He said,"If someone just offers my son a glass of water I would be happy." I started thinking about this even before I left for Zambia when my youngest son told me he let them in to talk to him even though he didn't share their beliefs. I felt kind of ashamed of the way I had been handling those visits. After coming home from the experiences I had in Zambia I vowed to do differently. As it happens, just this week, two young mission men came to visit us. Emmett was outside and got me to come out. I very nicely told them I wasn't religious and didn't really want to talk much about it, and offered to get them a class of water. They were glad to get the water and I talked to them about my Mormon friends in Utah and Mothers Without Borders. I told them about being in Zambia and asked them some questions about how long they had to go on their mission and where they were from and so forth. They were very nice and told us about where they had been and we chatted for awhile. They wanted to know if there was anything they could do for us like rake the leaves in the front yard. We declined their offer but I think they enjoyed the conversation as well as the glass of water. I know I felt a whole lot better about myself when we said goodbye and wished them well. Lesson learned.
Quote: Everything you do makes a difference.
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