christmas in zambia part 1

This year Christmas looked a little different for me, but it was equally sweet in its own way. Since I haven't posted in a time resembling forever, I will do my best to recap the past month of holiday festivities in 3 posts over the next few days.  Welcome to part 1.


PART ONE (Thanksgiving and the All School Christmas Play) 


1. Thanksgiving was spent with all the Americans (plus a few other nationalities) gathering together for probably the biggest thanksgiving feast I've ever been a part of, complete with turkey, (I have no idea where they found one of those in Zambia) stuffing, mashed potatoes, crocodile tail, (yes I tried it) many other yummy foods I can't recall right now, and pies galore. The night ended with a Skype call home to my family in the states... Something I was afraid would make me feel homesick but instead it just made me feel blessed. 


2. On the day after our last day of school we put on a whole school Christmas play.  

can you stand the anticipation?

With only six weeks of preparation (with some frustration, late nights, crankiness, a nasty cold and a few melt downs thrown in for good messure) we successfully put together a crazy amount of costumes (Mitzi informed me I should host my own show called "making costumes on a budget") created a stage area out of an old pool and pool house, and memorized lines and songs galore. We had over 120 parents and caretakers come and ended the whole show with everyone singing and dancing in true Zambian fashion. Here is part 1: (I finally figured out how to load it online, but it takes a super long time so you'll have to wait for parts 2 and 3. 

stay tuned.  there's more to come...

day 19: something orange

okay, so the whole thing is not orange, but it's got orange parts so i'm counting it.  now you might think this folder is all fun and silliness on the outside but on the inside it's all business.  in fact, without the contents of this funny little folder i would very likely get kicked out of the country.  yep.  that's what we call serious.

day 18: your shoes

the rainy season is a-coming!

5 in 1

well, life has been slightly busy here in zambia, but have no fear.  today we're playing make-up... again. 

day 13:  yourself with 13 things... i absolutely love the smell of colored pencils and these babies are some of the best.  love my prisma colors!

day 14: eyes... ah, my boys.  hehe.  so you can't necessarily tell here, but ngosa (r) is seriously one of the best lookin' kids around.  no lie.  oh if i were 15 years younger (eek!  that statement made me sound old... and creepy)

day 15: silhouette... ok so not super creative or grandiose but if gets the job done.  me in front of my window

day 16: long exposure... ok so these aren't great either but i kind of like them cause i look like a ghost... not sure why that makes me like them... but it does. 

ok, and this one just makes me laugh.  i call it the "floating excessively happy head"

day 17: technology... this one i call "living sacrificially for the sake of orphans"  well, either that or "good grief, are we seriously that american"

and there you have it.  happy tuesday, everyone!  
now i got to get back to my video games... ahem... i mean work.

day 12: a sunset

a few weeks back we went to an old boating club... one built back in the day when england was settled throughout zambia.  this place is super cool.  


as i looked around at the old buildings, pool, and exercise equipment i could just picture the grounds scattered with british gentlemen and ladies strolling about in period swimsuits or dresses and hats... or rowing out through crocodile invested waters (yep... for real).  


suddenly i felt like i was in the middle of an agatha christie novel.  needless to say was pretty content.

washed in the (blue) water

ok so the water might not have been blue per say, but close enough.  this sunday i experienced my first zambian baptism.  what a sweet experience to see some of our boys at lifesong school make an open commitment to follow Christ.  it made me cry.


we invited some of the boys' school friends to come along and after church had a celebration of yummy food and made-from-scratch cake (thank you, mitz!).  a very good (long) and powerful day.  thank you, Jesus!


so to complete challenge number eleven here's to a very special "something blue"


loaded up to head to the river:

waiting for the baptisms to start:

 number 1:

hugs from his "foster momma"(such a big day for nicodemus and rosemary... their oldest son and 2 "foster sons" taking the plunge)

number 2:

number 3:

i love this father-son moment:

they threw flowers on the heads of the newly baptized.  it was cool.  kind of like a wedding.

if you want to see a video of the day, go to mitzi's blog HERE.

days 8-10: playing catch up

so i've been gone the last couple days to lusaka, where we bought a couple necessities (and a few non necessities) and picked up mr. luke (as the kiddos call him) who (happy me!) brought with him a sweet bag full of goodies from my dearest mother for yours truly.

since i haven't been able to contribute to tami's photo challenge, i'm playing catch up and posting all three challenges here.

day 8  a bad habit:  

unpacking... or the lacking to do so.  i have a tendency to not pack for about 2-4 weeks after i get home from a given place.  don't worry.  this mess was promptly moved when it was time to go to bed... to the floor.  yup it's that bad.

day 9  someone you love:  


in the bag of goodies from my mother (whom i also love!) i found this letter from her mother, my grandma b.  so sweet.  grandma b is quite the woman, let me tell you.  she had her own dress shop back in the day (and ran it quite successfully) and raised a pretty stellar family to boot.  she is a woman of supremo class and integrity.  and she's fashionable too!


i have terribly fond memories of holidays and sleepovers at her house... her cedar chest full of dress-up clothes, her basement store room full of old dress shop (turned play) items and toys, her archie comics, her house's wonderful smell, and her book reading before bedtime.  


she is an example of a strong, Godly woman and has the kind of spunk that is required in a true kindred spirit.  her last words to me before i left for africa were


"hold close to God and He will hold close to you!"


i love you grandma b and am so proud to be called your granddaughter.  

day 10  childhood memory:

something else super sweet that was found in my bag of goodies... psalty cds!!!   i used to love sitting on our living room floor listening to these on record.  yep, that's right.  record.  i would study over the back cover picture of all the lucky kids who got to sing with psalty and dreamed of someday being one of them.  sadly they don't make new psaltys anymore.  oh well, i enjoy the memories, anyway.

day 7: fruit (red is for strawberries)

so i live on a farm here in zambia... but not just any farm, my friends.  i live on a strawberry farm. oh yeah.  that means i can have strawberries whenever i want... that is when the workers don't strip the plants dry to sell them... blast.


here's my little roomies being crazy in the field:

and this... well, this is my dear friend, liness:

(that's "lee-nus" if your me and "ly-nus" if your everyone else at school) i adore this girl.


the other day i asked her why everyone calls her 'ly-nus' and she calls herself 'lee-nus'.  she got all shy and smiled.  she said her family named her 'lee-nus' but everyone at school calls her 'ly-nus' because it's a more common name.  i asked her what she wanted to be called.  she said she wants everyone at school to call her 'ly-nus'.  


i said "so do you like keeping your name special by having only your family call you by it?"  


she said, "yes.  but i want you to call my 'lee-nus'"


so apparently i'm officially in.  saweet (like strawberries)!

how i spent my first holiday in zambia

today we celebrated zambia's independence day... which means that we got the whole day off... minus a short choir practice in the morning, at which the kids did awesome.


i used this opportunity to take a shot from a low angle (per tami's photo challenge) to show you how i spent my holiday:

i like to take my naps on the floor when i can cause it's cool and everything else right now is so dang hot!


there you have it.  tomorrow no naps for this girl.  i got errands to run, classes to teach, and visas to renew.  here's to not getting kicked out of the country.


happy monday!

day 5: from a high angle

it's day 5 of tami paige's 30 day photography challenge. 


today's challenge (to take a picture from a high angle) was taken during a tea party with z and kg.  i love these kids' imaginations.  this was no ordinary tea party, my friends.  this was a jedi tea party.  attended by princess leia, obi wan, and (yours truly) padme.


kg preparing our meal of lions and tigers and fish (oh my!) 
(these actually represent hamburgers and grilled cheese)

z taking his turn as chef (oops!  this one's from a low angle)

kg just being silly... a very familiar occurrence.

love my new little roomies!

something green

our very own lemon tree!  who knew lemons look a LOT like limes...

for more of tami's photography challenge click HERE.

clouds

this cloud not only makes me go into instant dream mode during the day, but it also keeps me malaria free at night!  that's what i call a twofer.


check out more from tami paige's 30 day photography challenge here!

what i'm wearing

this...

is what i'm wearing today.  as a part of my dear friend, tam tam's (who's pretty awesome, by the way.  just check out her blog and you'll know what i'm talking about) 30 day photography challenge, i am taking a picture of what i'm wearing... it was paired with a skirt earlier today but at this point is paired with a pair of worn, painted, and snagged exercise capris.  


this fun little challenge started yesterday.  sadly i missed day one because:


a. i'm a little slow (don't believe me? check it out)
b. i like to procrastinate
c. my faithful camera's battery was sucked dry before i had a chance to take one i liked.  i'm in africa, ya'll, and my chargers in america.  not a cool situation.


the fun thing is that some of the kids at school were asking me about my shirt and none of them knew what bowling is.  so i gave them a little demonstration on how to bowl (in perfect form).  they were totally impressed.  i think we're going to actually set up a little make-shift yard bowling for them.  they're pretty excited.  so am i.


trust me.  this event will be documented with pictures and quite possibly video.  stay tuned.

meet eleanor rigby

yeah.  she's pretty cool... and a little dirty thanks to the rainy season giving us a few sneak peak performances.

we're great pals.  she even has a cd player... or so she says... though i have yet to find it.  hmmm... i guess i should have brought those old cassette tapes after all.  bummer.

but it's all good because she has a radio... that plays awesome music that i can dance to.  and we all know how this girl loves to boogie.  (i could teach these zambians a thing or two... ha... that was a joke)

plus she has successfully taken me to town and back 3 times with no incidents and even stopped for cupcakes!

oh eleanor.  i'm so glad we found each other.

the big BAD mr. M

sunday night i started feeling slightly ill.  nothing major just a little nausea and back pain.  being in africa my tendency is to immediately imagine the worst and then talk myself out of believing anything is wrong because i don't want to overreact.


yesterday i was feeling worse.  i blamed it on the fact that i wasn't getting enough sleep so i stayed home and took a 4 hour nap.  yep.  4 hours.


when i woke up and as the night continued on my back pain turned into full body aches and my nausea turned into having pretty much no appetite at all.


um... surely this is nothing at all right?  i mean no vomiting.  no diarrhea.  no fever... well... until around 8:00 i grabbed that ol' thermometer which read at a nice 100.1 degrees.  that's not too high.  probably it's just from it being hot out, right??!!!


today we went to the clinic and someone (ooh, it's me!) got a little prick on her finger.  then bing-bang-boom and...


negative.  phew!


yeah.  it would appear that certain malaria meds have some interesting side effects.  these are the common ones.  the ones i was experiencing are in green.


diarrhea
dizziness
drowsiness
headache
lightheadedness
loss of appetite
muscle aches
nausea
stomach pain or upset
strange dreams
tiredness
trouble sleeping
vomiting


never a good thing when the medicine you're taking to prevent a disease causes the exact same symptoms as the disease.

so it's officially time to say goodbye to the big bad mr. mefloquine.  on to doxycycline.

hangin with the girls

last saturday mitzi (my new bff/sister/mother... aka: the missionary with whom i live... along with her hubby, shane, and 3 kiddos z, kg, and e) and i invited some girls from lifesong school to our house.  it was a sweet day of checkers, scooters, and finding out just a little bit about their lives... like who they live with at home, what they like about school, things like that.


i can't wait to learn more as i get to know their characters... as i see the good, the bad, and the ugly unfold in all it's glory.  one of my major prayers during my time here is that i will remember to be available, particularly to these girls.  that i never lose sight of why i'm here.  that i actively show love to these beautiful girls.

Um excuse me. Where's the nearest Mac store?

so my uberly blessed computer (yes the same one that completely crashed 3 times last year) is having internet issues. sad. looks like i'll be posting from the trusty ipad (which has yet to crash thank you very much)

other then that less than blissful news zambia has been sweet (like freshly picked strawberries sweet) but since typing on this thing and not knowing how to post pictures slightly lessens the joy of blogging i'll just leave you with a quote from listening in on my 3 and 5 year old roomies playing "star wars":

3-year-old: "you underestimate my power!"

good grief i love these new little friends of mine.

by the way, tomorrow i pick up my brand new used zambian toyota car! whoop whoop!

talitha cumi

it means, "little girl, get up."


Christ said it to jairus' daughter when He raised her from the dead.  i like to think of Him saying the same to me in times when i'm fearful or tired.


when life feels too overwhelming and i need that extra urging from my Savior to "get up."


a few weeks ago my parents had me over for dinner along with some of the guys who i'll be working with in zambia.  (for those of you who are not aware, i'm moving to zambia for a year on september 23rd!)


we talked a little about the ministry there and what i should expect.  then they asked what kinds of things tend to irritate me on a regular basis.  you know... my pet peeves.  not that i don't have any, because i certainly do, but being put on the spot i couldn't think of anything.  thankfully my dear sweet mother came to the rescue and informed them that i don't like it when people do things that i see as "stupid"


NOTE: she's probably not thrilled that i'm telling the world this... then again, i'm not thrilled that it's true.


you see, i have this tendency to get really impatient with people when they use (what in my mind is) absolutely no sense and then i get frustrated... and sometimes even (dare i say it?) mad!  but i know this about myself and am trying to learn how to respond better when things don't go exactly how i think they should.


so that night i was a little (actually a lot) troubled.  i couldn't sleep because i kept thinking "i'm going to be angry all the time... at everyone!" and "those poor kids are going to be afraid of me because i'll be really mean!" and "everyone's going to hate me and i'm going to hate everyone back!"


dramatic much?


the next morning i was in much need of truth (and sleep!) so i opened my Bible to daniel 10, where daniel tells about one of his visions.  in this particular vision an angel is speaking to him and he is so terrified he is unable to speak or move (boy could i relate!).  this is what happens:

while he was speaking to me, I looked down at the ground, unable to say a word.  then the one who looked like a man touched my lips, and i opened my mouth and began to speak.  i said to the one standing in front of me, 

"i am terrified by the vision i have seen, my lord, and i am very weak.  how can someone like me, your servant, talk to you, my lord?  my strength is gone, and i can hardly breathe." 

then the one who looked like a man touched me again, and i felt my strength returning. 

"don't be afraid," he said, "for you are deeply loved by God.  Be at peace; take heart and be strong!" 

when he spoke these words i suddenly felt stronger..."

man i love it when God does that!  He didn't have to, you know.  He could have let me stew over my own insufficiency... but instead He chose to reassure His child that she is "deeply loved" and encourage her to "take heart and be strong!"


so watch out zambia... this girl is getting up.  she is taking heart and being strong... and all to the credit of the deep and powerful love of her God.

i said i would NEVER do it again...

anyone else out there ever find it hard to stay focused? 

*NOTE* this picture has nothing to do with anything... 

which totally makes my point

if you ask my mother ( or my dad or sisters or friends or anyone who knows me, for that matter) you'll find that i specialize in this area of expertise... unless of course the thing i'm focused on is low priority and slightly ridiculous.


this would explain why last night i found myself setting my alarm clock for 12AM so i could take a quick nap before i braved those hours where night blurs into morning... all to finish a project for work that went out this morning.  yep... leslie does not like to focus until it is absolutely necessary.


the best part is that not 5 hours earlier i said with vigor and conviction to a friend who happened to be within earshot, "i will never pull an all-nighter for work again.  i don't care if i'm behind.  i won't do it." 


but the sad reality of the situation is that i did... and i will again.  we all know it.  why try to pretend otherwise.  i have been known to be called "the queen of procrastination" a time or two, but thought that as i grew up i'd mature a little.  nope.  it seems i'm only getting worse.


so the question is what can i do about it?  


scratch that... i don't want to know... truth be told if i open up the comment box and see a bunch of helpful tips on how to become responsible i might (will) end up slightly (totally) bothered (annoyed) and wonder why no one understands that this is just the way i am!  


oh boyza, i'm sounding more immature by the minute... oh well.  i guess it's just the way i am.