Sunday, May 25, 2014
Well, tomorrow is Memorial Day. It feels like Dad and I have wandered off into a totally different world and I can’t believe that summer is on your doorstep. As I have mentioned before, it’s autumn here. The leaves are falling and the weather is very mild – even a little brisk in the mornings. But honestly, the climate is one of my favorite things! It’s like Hawaii without humidity. J
In fact, Hawaii prepared us well for this experience in many ways. Our home looks like it could belong there – mostly cinderblock and stucco-type stuff. There are palm trees in our yard and the windows are louvered, so they never really shut. The windows look like the shutters in our living room at home except they’re made of glass. There are screens on the windows and every room also has bars on the windows – not exactly like prison, but kind of. The bars are standard everywhere you go – even the churches and schools. We have walls around our compound that have broken bottles cemented into the top and curly barbed wire on top of that – it’s pretty much the same in all of the compounds.
The people who don’t live in compounds live in little cement-type homes with one or two rooms. Actually, the people are mostly outside everyday – kids playing in the dirt and people just sitting around or walking. The people are well-dressed and clean, even though they live in such meager conditions. They are modest. It’s very common to see mothers with their babies tied on their backs and carrying something on their heads – water, bananas, etc. We were told that little girls as young as 18 months start training to carry things on their heads! They have great posture!
We’ve had some interesting experiences this week. I guess one of the main ones was a meeting we had yesterday with President McMullin and the three stake presidencies from the area. One of the stake presidents works for the church and has his office in the mission office, so we kind of know him. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce ourselves to them and get some ideas from them on projects that they think need to be done in their areas. It was really helpful. I think it was one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had in that I was the only woman there, everyone was black except Dad, Pres. M., and I – and the room was kind of dark because the power was out. (Power is a huge issue and it goes out regularly - almost daily. We have a battery and a generator, as does the mission complex – but some areas can be out for days and days at a time.) Pres. M. was our interpreter – and I can’t imagine doing this without one! Neither of us understood much of what was said – even Dad’s Pimsleur tapes were pretty worthless except for a word here and there.
Lubumbashi is a gold and copper mining town. There is a huge mountain made of black slag, which is a by-product of the mines, that is about the only mountain around.
We had our first taste of “foo foo” at President McMullin’s house on Thursday night. Sister McMullin had made it with the Mbeles in mind – but she also had regular food there, too. Foo foo is made with the root of the casaba (?) plant – you can actually just buy the casaba flour at the store. It looks like a big dumpling – about the size of your fist. You break off little chunks and dip it into sauces. In truth, I didn’t think it was too bad – mostly just blah – no real taste. The Mbeles really chowed down on it!
And speaking of good food – we found M & M’s !!! Real ones! Spencer has always told us that Kit Kats are better outside the U.S. Well, I would say that M&M’s are, too. The chocolate is richer. The cost is, too!!! $1.49 for a regular-looking small package with less contents! Bummer! We’ve been rationing them!
President McMullin has us scheduled to go on an 11-day tour of the mission, starting on June 13th. I must say that I’m not super excited – we’ve heard too many stories about life in the “bush”. The main city that is “rustic” is called Laputa and is where that big water project was done a few years ago. You fly into some little town and then ride in a van for 4 hours to get there – and get this: it’s only a 35-mile trip!!! The “road” has never had improvements. (Now, if it were Robert Redford behind the wheel like in “Out of Africa”, it might be tolerable!! J ) We have to take our own sheets and food and will be there for FOUR DAYS while President has zone conference. I’m trying to get geared up, but so far it hasn’t happened!!
Well, it’s Sunday – a family day – and we certainly are missing ours!! Dad has been wonderful in every way – even quite domestic! He even acts like he enjoys it! Who knew? J We love you all and so look forward to hearing from you! Love and serve each other everyday! Wish “Happy Birthday” to Jacey and Edie this week – and have a fun last week of school. Congratulations on your graduation, Joshua!!!
Hugs and kisses, Mom
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