'Cause I can

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I'm writing from Ndola, despite the lack of a region listed. I've been here since Saturday afternoon and am currently staying at the Franciscan Centre. Evidently, this place is a hot spot because I continually see people in and out of here all day long. I think it helps that it hosts Mission Press, something I'm hoping to learn more about here in about an hour or so. I would have gone this morning, but I had the headache from Hades. I think it was a mixture of the fumes from last night (story to come) and the insanely bright sunshine. I was walking arond a bit to try and get rid of it before going to explore MP, but decided Advil and shade would be better.

Anyway. We arrived here Saturday afternoon and I was given my own room that contained its own bathroom. I don't mind sharing a bathroom at all, but when I get the privilege of having my own, I get very excited. But unfortunately I came to discover that my room was shared by more than just me. I had one spider (possibly dead) that lived above my door as well as others that made their appearances known every once in a while . I know this is incredibly typical of the area and that the spiders don't want to bite me, but it's the fact that they are just there. Sandy reminds me that they are there to eat mosquitoes and other annoying creatures, but it doesn't really make an arachnophobe that much more comfortable. Luckily a mosquito net was provided and I just stuck to the belief that it would keep out eight-legged creatures as well. If it doesn't, don't tell me that because I won't be able to sleep.

That night I went with Sandy to a mass for Sister Columbo, an Italian missionary who passed away this past week. Every night during the wake they held a mass with mostly clergy in attendance. The mass we went to was presided over by Fr. Charles who lives here at St. Francis and was held in the dark until about halfway through his homily (power outages are common, especially in areas that are not near people of "importance"). They way they take care and mourn for the dead is really interesting. They remove all chairs out of the house and move all of their mattresses into common rooms until the day of the burial. I don't fully understand the chair part, but the mattresses are there so that no one is left alone, they are all constantly with someone else. It's a smart and sweet gesture and i am sure it helps many people out during such a hard time.

So Sunday we went to Kitwe (about 45 minutes away) for mass. This mass was being held right before the, for lack of a better word, christening of an abolution (sp?) block that was partially sponsored by Tina and Sandy. The mass was great and of course we were asked to come to the front because we were their special visitors from the States. I'm getting more and more accustomed to being the center of attention to small groups, but this was a packed church and a little much for me. One very cool part of the mass was that they had dancers, called Stellas, at the beginning and all the way through the mass. They are all more coordinated than I think I ever will be. The music again was fantastic and it seemed that the entire church had this mighty pulse, with everyone moving to the music and singing their hearts out. The mass itself lasted about two hours, followed by the ribbon-cutting for the bathrooms. It was the first thing they had really done as a church, so this was a huge deal. After the ceremony we were told we would be getting lunch. "Eating and drinking, no big deal." Uh, yeah. That was a lie. They had the three of us (well, two, Sandy did her photography thing and got out of it) as well as everyone else that was a big part of the project sitting at a table on top of the stage in the hall. It looked like a press conference, but with food on the table. And all the people of the parish were in seats perpendicular to ours with two rows on the far left and two more on the far right. At first I thought they were all going to sit there and watch us eat, but I saw the large dishes in the back with their food. Luckily, we had to leave about 20 minutes after getting in the hall, so the attention didn't last too long. We ended up getting back to St. Francis at 4:30 - a very long day.

Last night I was able to meet Fr. Miha, who has the second most recognizable face in Zambia, and is actually from Slovenia. He's a big guy with a demanding presence. I honestly think he could crush my hand with his if he just pushed hard enough. When I met him, he was on a tirade about African politics, something I still no very little about. He seems like someone I could just sit back and listen to, and I hope to hear more stories from him. Also last night, I was getting ready to go to bed when I killed one of my roommates - it was there and had to be done, I swear it was just taunting me - and I discovered that I had even more roommates, ants. Ants don't freak me out, but I'm not a fan of them being in my stuff. I didn't know just what to do, so I called Sandy and she and Tina came over with some very strong bug spray. I sprayed that stuff like my life depended on it and left it for about 20 or so minutes. Evidently, I have no real ventilation in my room and the fumes were still pretty bad when I got back. Instead of being intelligent and leaving, I stuck around and just tried to sleep through it. Not smart. My lungs hurt and I was coughing until I started breathing under my covers. I swear, that is the epitome of me being an absolute moron. Yeah, i could have done some serious damage to myself, but I'm alive now to tell the tale, just with a headache.

OK, I think that's enough for now. I think I just wrote a book and nothing that big has actually gone on. I love and miss you all! I'll update again soon.

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Comments

[Katie K]

Hey Meg! Sorry not to comment before now, but things have been crazy this summer! I just wanted you to know that I've been following along with your journey. I'm so proud of you and am glad that you're having the opportunity to experience all of these things! My prayers are with you. katie K