'Yes Madam'

Today I (Em) had an unexpected treasure hunt.... The lights went off while I was shopping and so I asked the staff – ‘Will they go back on again and can I carry on shopping?’ ‘Oh yes Madam’ came the reply. So I carried on shopping, using the torch on my phone to ‘hunt’ for goodies. It was only after a while I noticed that I was the only person that seemed to still shopping. I asked again ‘Is it OK – are the tills open for me to pay? ‘Yes Madam ‘ came the reply again. After about 10 more minutes a lady approached and very politely said ‘ Are you still shopping madam?’ It was at this point I remember somebody telling me that Zambians like to please – sometimes even if the answer should be ‘No’ they would say yes to make you happy! So I changed my question to ‘Shall I leave the store and pay?” ‘Yes Madam’ came the reply again – When I got to the checkout the entire staff were waiting for me all around 1 checkout point. I put my items through very quickly! And then said sheepishly ‘I’ve only been in Zambia 2 weeks – I’ll know better next time’. The reply ‘Yes madam!!”

Arriving and settling

SEPTEMBER 2014 After a very emotional goodbye with the family we have arrived. Friday We had a safe journey and thanked God for ipads and iphones to keep the kids amused when the aeroplane screens did not work! Dan and Melissa were there to greet us (with bottles of water!), as was Les, Malc’s new boss who worked his magic and got us through passport control quickly and easily. We all then drove to our new house 10 minutes from the airport with our 14 bags of luggage. The house is great – lovely big sitting area and bedrooms. We felt really blessed to have such good friends – who had bags of shopping in the car ready and waiting for us! After a few discussions about work with Les, we explored the grounds and were pleased to find climbing trees and a play area for the kids. They were desperate to see Dan and Melissa’s home so they were kindly taken off our hands whilst we unpacked and sorted out the beds. We followed later on to a home cooked meal and tales of bugs and lizards that had been found in the garden! Saturday Breakfast consisted of fresh bread and peanut butter with half caff coffee. We all sat there feeling excited and slightly nervous about our new future – a million things running through our heads! After a lunch of noodles in cups and a note to buy bowls we headed down to our very local shopping mall – a 5 min walk from our house. We were surprised to find a whole array of fast food restaurants including a subway and a fish and chips shop. There were about 4 sports shops, a large supermarket and a shop selling very expensive TVs: Certainly not what we were expecting! What did we end up buying? A fancy vegetable chopper, that came free with a peeler and a swish vegetable slicer that had 6 different attachments. We were totally sold by the friendly Zambian who excitedly told us that we could use it to chop veg for a whole load of different dishes – the only one we knew being Coleslaw! So then we went home and had a mad half hour in the kitchen making coleslaw and fancy cut up tomatoes – all of which was awaiting Dan and Melissa when they arrived to see us in the afternoon! They are really glad we are here now! We finished the evening with a lovely meal out and Malc even got to see a bit of the Chelsea-Everton game. Sunday We got up nice and early and then realised too late that our clocks were an hour behind and so ended up being half an hour late for church (NO COMMENTS PLEASE!). Lucy and Albert really enjoyed the Sunday school and we met a few more people here. The church is in the same grounds as Dan and Melissa’s house so we hung out there while the kids played outside. Malc and Dan braved the River at the back - apparently in their underpants – but Melissa and I were luckily inside at that point! While Melissa cooked us all a stir-fry lunch – the kids played with Jacob and some new friends that also live on the grounds we then went home for a much needed nap. Later on that afternoon we experienced our first powercut – just as we had finished paying for our groceries the electricity cut out and the whole supermarket had to close. We ended the day with a ice cream in the mall. Tomorrow is Malc’s first day at school. Photots to follow….