My #1 and #2 most fun days in Zambia thus far

So last Saturday I was invited to my friend Mwande's home, the same friend that came to Melanie's birthday with us and in the photo with me from my last post. She lives with her mother, three year old daughter Emma, niece and two nephews. I arrived at 10am and she met me at the bus stop by her compound. We started off by buying some food at the market for lunch, followed by watching a dance competition that coincidentally was on at that time. It never seizes to amaze me how the people here can shake their hips! We then continued on to her place. When we were about 200m away I saw a pin sized figure in the horizon, slowly getting bigger and bigger. Mwande then says, "oh, there's Emma!" as she was running towards us with excitement. She ran right into my arms, it was so sweet. She was then my little buddy all day, attached to my hip. The original plan was for me to go to her place the weekend before last but since I was still not 100% well after the malaria, we decided to postpone. But Mwande had told Emma about me and she got really excited to meet me. Apparently, the weekend I had to cancel, Emma dressed herself early in the morning and was waiting by the door for me by the time Mwande woke up. As you can imagine by this, she was quite disappointed after her mother told her I wasn't coming. They live in a very densely populated shanty compound on the outskirts of Lusaka which does not see many (if any at all) white people. Emma had never met a white person before, and she was petting my arm, in awe with the colour of my skin. She didn't speak English but most often you don't need a common verbal language to communicate (which I have learned in working with some of my kids at the CICC who don't speak English). So we got to their place and within minutes, a pile of neighbour kids were coming to visit. We made lunch, outside on charcoal burners as they do not have electricity (or plumbing). We made nshima, rape (green vegetable) with groundnuts (peanuts), and soya pieces. It was delicious! Then we started off, visiting Mwande's family in neighbouring compounds. First was her grandmother, then her sister, and ending with her auntie. Boy did we ever walk a lot, in total of about 1.5 hours in the blazing sun! Throughout our adventure there, more and more kids followed behind us. Everyone was so friendly, greeting us and smiling and wanting to come along. It was such an amazing place, everything and everyone seeming so peaceful and joyful. I just couldn't stop smiling. We had only planned on staying at her aunties for a little while but then she turned the music on and the dance party begun...we started off slowly, everyone a bit shy, and only about 5 people. However, within a short while it seemed like the whole neighbourhood was in her auntie's tiny living room dancing away. There we were, about 25 people (4 adults and the rest kids) dancing to various Zambian and Congolese rhumba artists. I think I lost about 5 pounds in sweat! We danced for about 3 hours before heading back to Mwande's. We got back just before dark, I stayed for supper, sat with her family in their living room (lit up by a candle) and then made my way home. A day I will always remember, that's for sure. I have been invited back every Saturday.

This leads me to my second most fun day thus far. Yesterday, I went back to Mwande's place. Unfortunately Emma was with her grandmother at the farm so I didn't get to see them. Mwande picked me up, we bought some food from the market for lunch and headed straight to her auntie Stella's place. I cooked the nshima this time. I can tell that I am getting better at cooking it, as there are no longer dried chunks of mealie meal (corn flour) that have not been properly mixed in. They both told me a bit about their past, the "hell" they have been through, which gave me goose bumps. It is an inspiration to see where they are now, their successes and achievements, with all they have overcome. We then headed to Mwande's friend's baby shower, for 2 month old Janet. There were about 20 women, all with babies. I have in heaven, as you can imagine. It started off with singing and praying. There is always one or two people who lead the songs while the others follow, clapping away. Again, I got goose bumps and chills through my whole body. It is incredible how a group of women who likely have never all sung together as a group can sound like a professional choir. The songs were just so powerful and passionate, despite me not being able to understand them as they were in Nyanja. We then ate and opened presents and danced. Presents varied quite a bit, from 10pin (about $3) in cash to a soother to dresses. Mwande and I washed, rinsed, and dried all the dishes and the women were telling us they hope we have lots of babies who grow up and be as hard workers as us. No washing machines in sight. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. All in all, quite a different baby shower than those in Canada. I will be back there next Saturday, for yet another baby shower!

The photos - last post I forgot to mention what the photos were. One of is of my friend Mwande and I and the other I took in the village I had visited. This post, the photos are of my flat. My landlord and his family live in most of what you see. We live in the right portion, where you see a window, a door and another window. Then the other photo is of our living room and kitchen (with Heather sitting there). To the right of that photo there is a tv and another couch and to the left is the rest of the kitchen and our bedrooms. Small but cozy!