Slashing, Singing, and Moving

Today was one long, productive day! I thought I should maybe sleep in as late as I possibly could since it was a holiday but at around 8 I started feeling guilty for still being in bed, so I got up. Today was another work day at Bethel to clean up the church grounds so Erika and I wanted to go help out again. We got there around 8:45am, and just like last time, we were the first ones there. We were about to walk away because even the gate was closed, but then one of the members we recognized from choir got there. So we went in with him and then met up with the pastor’s daughters, since their house is right on the church grounds. It was a small little group and first but then throughout the morning a lot more people came. It was a good turnout! And the main job was slashing all the grass and weeds that have grown up. I didn’t get any horrible blisters like last time when it split open, but I did get some today and now the skin is all bubbled up. It was worth it though. It’s nice getting to know the members this way. We feel like we are truly a part of the congregation. While working, we got invited by Hagar Mutentami to come back in the afternoon for choir.

We stayed for a couple hours but then had to get back to get some packing done. Today was moving day. Since it was a holiday we thought today would be a good day to move out of the guest house. Anne wants lots of time to clean and prepare for the CELC conference. Since all the pastors will be staying in “our” house, we moved up to an old missionary house across the road and right behind where Dave and Dee live. So we got mostly packed up and then headed over to Bethel for choir a little before 2pm. We are still tied to our American ways and show up on time. We always seem to be the first to arrive at things J. We got settled under a shade tree with Hagar and then more people showed up. There were five girls: me, Erika, Hagar, Maggie and Jennifer and then two guys: George and I can’t remember the other man’s name. There is a music festival competition on the 21^st of April so they were practicing for that. I think they’re going to end up convincing us to sing with them as well. We feel bad because we can’t sing the Nyanja songs obviously and we’re not the greatest dancers but I’m excited to try it. Jennifer had me sing soprano today since they needed more. The first song we sang was in English so that went fine. Then the next song was in Bemba, another Zambian dialect and that was so hard. I got the tune fine but the words were so hard. George was nice and wrote them down for us so we could read off the sheet. That made it easier but it was still a challenge. That will be serious homework for us if we have to get that memorized. I think next time at choir I will bring my camera and record them singing it so we can practice and sing along at home. Choir ended up being a couple hours long. We sang for a good chunk of time and then when it started raining we moved to the shelter of the church to wait for it to stop. The girls taught us some dance moves and some other songs. The rain didn’t let up but we had to get back so we could move so we ended up just walking home in the rain. The total time we were there for choir was 3 hours. It was so fun though! This is the first time, apart from when we went to the reptile farm, that we have hung out with people our own age. I love the kids and my ladies but this was so nice to hang out with other people in their early 20s. I am so glad we got invited to choir. I think we’ll even be making our debut performance with the choir this Sunday in church. I think the “singing” will mainly consist of our attempting the dance moves while humming the tune and looking very awkward. I’m looking forward to it. J

When we got back we waited for the rain to slow down and then Dee came over with the truck. We made it in one load! We had so much stuff though. It’s been nice settling in this house. We have our own kitchen, dining room, living room and laundry room and the house has 3 bedrooms. We get dressers, a closet to hang our things and our rooms are very nice. We love the guest house too but being in a “real” house is nice. I’m sad because now we’re not in the middle of campus in the thick of things anymore. I’m so used to being able to hear the campus life, kids playing, lawnmowers going etc. that I think I will miss just being able to walk out the front door to play with the kids. This house is across the street though so easy enough to walk over there after tutoring to play. And we have the option of moving back if we want to when the big conferences are over.

Today has just felt like a super long day. By the time the slashing, singing, and moving and unpacking were over I realized I hadn’t even planned for the week. So I put together a PowerPoint for English tomorrow which I think will give me plenty of options and then we can review a little bit, do some conversation and then Banagrams. I also want to get everything ready to go. Since we have to bring everything over with us tomorrow we have to be more prepared. We’ll only come back to the house for lunch. So many times during tutoring I just run inside quickly to grab something I need, but now we won’t be able to do that so I have to be more organized. J

Time for bed in our new house!