April 14 "Travel Day Two"

Today’s our travel day back to Zambia. We were up at the crack of dawn, literally, and to our first stop by 5.45 am. Pastor H’s family said they’d take us to Zambia; we were very gracious. In the two big vehicles we had all the camping gear and tents along with T and I, K and M, Pastor H and his wife, their daughters R and H, and another missionary, SL. We all had met at Pastor M’s house, so we had a few quick introductions before hitting the road. While R and H are 13 and 14, Pastor M and his wife have four kids: 3 boys and a girl ranging from ages 13 to 5. J, the little 5 year old boy, was adorable and the center of attention, definitely, while A, the 8 year old girl became my shadow a few times. Very cute. J There were a few Malawian families and one Zambian family who wouldn’t be able to attend the Retreat, but it was nice to meet some new people and have a big group of missionaries. Our vehicle was M, K, T, and I, along with MH. The first four of us, the nurses and teachers, became our own little family over the coming days at Easter Retreat as the younger and single people. Our surname, a compilation of all our surnames, was Schuschunckterhintz. With two umlauts. J It was quite fun coming up with the name and hearing some of the missionaries using that name to refer to us. J

The ride back to Zambia was quite long, but nowhere near as painful as going to Malawi on bus. We got stuck at the border for a long time, but thanks to our new travel permits, T and I had no problem getting through; it was the missionaries! We past the time in the car by listening to a man sing about Malawian minibuses and listening to a Laura Ingals Wilder book on tape. Yes, it was a random sort of day. Not much sleeping occurred, but I survived, somehow!

We got back to the guest house in time for the evening braii (barbeque) with all the LCCA missionaries who were headed to Easter Retreat. Lots of yummy food—potato salad, cake, brownies, fruit salad. It’s times like these that I forget I’m in Africa! T and I chatted with everyone for a bit (going through the animal--spouse compatibility game for the first time, which became ever so popular over the weekend), but then had to head out to unpack, do laundry, and repack for Easter Retreat! It was a very quick turn around with a busy night, but everything got done. J PS—when I went to do the laundry in the other guest house, I noticed the door handle was broken. Not a common American thing, but in Zambia, things like this happen all the time. And it was especially funny since I had just heard a joke about Zambians breaking doorknobs a few hours earlier for the third time. J