Monday May 25, 2015

Only a day late...

Today we had an early morning in preparation for our ten o’clock game against the Red Arrows of Lusaka. Like true Zambians we started about an hour later. We played them in the same stadium we watched the Zambian national team play Zimbabwe in so the field was in much better condition than the field we played the last gam eon. It was an aggressive match, and true to coach’s pre-game we had to toughen up. After a few minutes of play we were able to settle into possession oriented soccer and won 2-0.

Since they were sponsored by the Zambian Air Force we were treated to a nice meal in the soccer club’s sport’s center. We sat at small tables with their players and were able to have a lot of meaningful conversations. The girls at my table were anxious to learn about the United States and excited to teach us about their culture. Some of us ate all our food using nshima (shee-mah), a cooked white cornmeal, to pinch the food together in our hands. After the meal we spoke about soccer strategy and what parts of the game are crucial to MWS, including teamwork and discipline. Their coach was impressed with our ability to play together and said that’s something they are inspired to improve with regards to their play. A member of their team shared how they also tried to use soccer to spread the gospel and ended with an encouragement saying to always “keep it Christ.” They were gracious hosts who loved Jesus and we were excited to see His love flow between our teams and hopefully from their team to other young women.

After the meal we began our trek to Macha in the bus. A few of us were able to interact with the six year old granddaughter of the man who set up all of our matches in Lusaka. She told us about learning to cook nshima with her grandma and explained how she served the dish to her family. She also shared her favorite stories which included Nemo, Goldilocks, and Frozen, which caused a mini musical to break out in front of the bus with Abby (the granddaughter) taking the lead.

An hour into our trip we learned what “in the bush” really meant when we had to take a bathroom break in thick shrubs on a road off the highway. An hour later we stopped in a small city named Mazabuka and got a few snacks at the local shoprite, a small grocery store. After getting ice cream we continued our trip and got our first taste of rural Africa right before sundown around 6:00 pm.

At 9:45 we arrived at the Macha compound that we'll be spending the next few days at and had a "dinner" prepared by Eric's mother at around 10:30. We don’t know much about the area, but we’re eager to get to work tomorrow!

Keep it Christ,

Sara