June 29, 2008; Sundays in Zomba

Today is our first Sunday in Zomba, so we attended a local church. It was an earlier morning than usual. In fact, I woke up at the crack of dawn, literally. I meant to wake up at 6:00, but I woke up at 5:00 to the sound of a rooster right outside our room. Needless to say, I wasn't happy, so I stayed in be another hour. Lexi and I got ready despite the fact that we had no warm water - I really needed a shower! We headed to breakfast and then off to a Presbyterian Church not too far down the hill. But not without seeing lots of monkeys!! These black faced monkeys really like to come out early in the morning, and we were finally able to see them instead of just hearing them on our roof each morning. They jump from tree to tree, run across the road, stop and look at you, play with each other and aren't afraid of people. I swear if I had a banana in my hand, one would run right up to me and take it. The zoo will never be the same again.

We've come to realize Malawian time is "adjustable". When someone says the service is @ 800, it could be about a half an hour to an hour in either direction. It's the same with arrival and departure times. Culturally, Americans are very different (which is not hard to explain), but here there is no need to stress about time. What a relief! We'd be so much less stressed in our day-to-day lives if time weren't an issue.

We arrived at church about 8:15, but the first service (completely in Chichewa) started at 6:30 and had not ended. We conversed outside while waiting for the English service at 8:30. Most people get dressed up for church, (similar to the U.S.), and they carry their hymnal books with them. None are offered in the church. There was really no break between services. As the first service ended, the song being played was the cue for our entrance, and it continued until everyone entered.

Besides the music, much of the service was exactly the same as other Christian faith services at home. A few in our group commented that the lyrics from some of the music were also similar. About a third of the way, the pastor called upon our group and others present that were visiting for the first time. He asked us to come to the front and introduce ourselves to the congregation. There were two other women from the United States visiting too. They were young, like us, and had come from Pennsylvania on a mission trip. Dr. Jones introduced our group and explained the reason for our trip. The congregation was very welcoming (most welcoming: as Malawians say) and the pastor invited us to tea following the service.

One of the most interesting parts, was the announcements and the timing. In the U.S., they come at the end of the service, but a women read them aloud about the middle - which about a half were upcoming weddings. Instead of announcing and wishing them well, she said "If anyone knows if John has another wife, or Sarah has another husband, please come forward before they wed on Weds, July 5. A whole new interpretation to "speak now or forever hold your peace."

In lieu of passing baskets around for collections, the announcer calls us each "district" to place our offering in the basket at the alter. (We were called at the end and I'm glad we had something to donate.) It seems it was expected and I guess this way they know who is giving and who is not. Overall, we realized the caliber of people attending and their average home life is drastically differently from the majority of the people we've encountered in the streets and within our schools. Their dress, demeanor, appearance, and eloquence (even in slight ways) separate them from the typical Malawian. While I don't want to generalize the general population, this is what we observed.

The choir women prepared us tea in various mugs belonging to the church, and we sat in a small building adjacent to the church to enjoy, teach and visit with them. If you've never tried Chambe tea, it's excellent! It's a Malawian tea that is not exported. I'll definitely try to bring some home. While visiting with some of the church members, we met a man who works at Chancellor College in Zomba. I commented on his lapel pin because I knew one of the flags it had was Malawian, but I was unaware of the other. He explained that it's a Scottish flag from a man he worked with who taught him technology for teaching the blind. He now teaches other teachers at Chancellor College who can teach children in secondary school who are blind. They have speciality programs that incorporate software to help these children learn. His work seemed incredible, and his hospitality on behalf of his church was so inviting.

Following church, we headed for Tasty Bites, a favorite restaurant of past study abroad students and a good place in town to eat for about half the price of Annie's. It's not as tasty as Annie's, but apparently their chocolate cake is to die for! We ordered one for Heidi and Liz's birthday (today and tomorrow), so we'll get to try it really soon. (dessert is rare) I predict we'll spend many afternoons after school eating there. We headed home with a scrumptious cake. We're beginning to get used to walking up the hill, as I'm sure we'll have some pretty toned calves before it's all over!

Once we arrived at Annie's, Lexi and I asked Cameron (front desk) to see if we could switch rooms. He's so sweet and willing to take care of everything we need. A room opened up next to Brian and a little ways up the hill on the Annie's Lodge property. It was quite a hike, but Lexi and I thought the exercise would be worth it. Cameron showed us the room with just one bed. We took one look at the view from the porch, and decided that sharing a bed would not be that bad. We also have more space up there, and the bathroom is nicer. It's like we're in a whole new place in Zomba! He asked for us to visit him if we had any spare time at the front desk. Many people that work here are bored during the day when there are few guests around, so they really enjoy the company. 

Cameron and Henry (who also works here) helped us pack and lug all of our things up the hill to our new room. They were so helpful! Especially when we have over 200 pounds of things. The three trips exhausted us, but we were excited to finally unpack. We were expected to meet @ 2:00 and thought Dr. Kelly would come and get us since were are only a few doors down from her. Needless to say, we rested and it was 3:00 when Amber knocked on our door wondering where we were? Oh well, we needed the rest. It was only an introduction, but we'll catch up. Just sitting down there for 30 minutes of what was left of the meeting, I realized how much we can learn from Dr. Kelly's knowledge and experience. She really knows her stuff!!

I'm watching the sunset form our porch over Zomba, Lake Chilwa and even farther in the distance of Malawi. This view is second to none of I've ever seen. With little pollution in the air, you can see for miles and the colors of the sky are exquisite. I didn't realize how far we could see in the distance from Annie's Lodge until we moved rooms today.

I headed down to dinner a little while ago. Alicia and I ordered at 5:50; Dr. Barber and Jones joined us a few minutes later. The power went out and we had dinner about 7:30 followed by Liz's birthday cake we surprised her with. It's also Heidi's 21st birthday tomorrow, and she's so excited!! We had them put her name on the cake too. What a great way to remember your birthday in Malawi.

Cameron, just dropped off towels for us. He's such an adorable friend. We always like to say hi to him now, and he makes sure we get taken care of. He just ran all the way up here to just give us fresh towels. The showers up here are so much better and we're very happy about that. Can't wait to see the view in the morning.

Lexi and I are busy planning for tomorrow! We're very excited about our first real day of teaching.