We were so excited and when we got in to do our errands, we all had a seat and a seatbelt!
It is a Toyota Prado Land Cruiser. It has 4 wheel drive and is what many recommended to us for driving here and around Zambia and Africa.
It has air conditioning which is also great and is an automatic, so soon I will start driving. So just as you all were praying for James, please pray for me.
The last 2 weeks I was driving back home, I hit something two different times. Which added to the emotional difficulties of those last few weeks. They were minor things. I backed up and “tagged” the bumper of another vehicle. She used the term “tagged” and I was very thankful she was kind about it all, and then another day I was pulling in to get gas and scrapped the side by the wheel when I did not clear the island. So the second episode actually happened first, the very day we were told the man would buy the car from us. And the First episode I mentioned was on the day before we sold the car.
So my track record the last month was not good. It was a 12 passeneger van which was long and harder to drive anyway, but this is still a big vehicle and having those incidents in my mind, I hope I don’t stress out even more.
Yesterday I went back to the Tuesday market and this time had a better idea of what I was doing and it was less crowded. I bought some fruit and vegetables. All the while I had about 10 different teenage boys or younger come up and ask me if I wanted them to carry my bag, while I shopped. I said no thanks, again and again.
We picked up some curtains that we had made. It was so nice to be able to put them up over all the windows in our room, and the girl’s room. Makes a huge difference when it gets dark outside and you want to feel settled in the house. We also bought more fabric and plan to take that today for curtains to be made for James’s office and the living room/ dining room.
Then we went outside of town to look at the progress on a bed that is being made for our room. It is where they do lots of woodworking. James had gone there a week ago and got a small table to use until our dining room one was finished. It was definitely an experience going there.
Men wait on the edge of the street and crowd around the car to be the first one to “get your business”. James said the first time he drove down that way, one man ran alongside the car for about a half mile.
Since there is someone specific that he is working with now, he goes and tells them all no and has called ahead for the right guy to meet him at the corner. So yesterday we all went. We experienced the swarm of men around the car wanting business, but after we pulled over and waited for the right man, they all left. We had wanted to drive right up to the mans shop, but that was not possible as he was down in the middle of a lot of other shops and the only way was walking. Since we had all the kids with us, that was going to be a bit more difficult. But as we walked out, them man Patrick had a couple of his workers with him, and they each picked up one of the boys and carried them through the mud to their shop. We were walking with them, so it was not a problem, but I kept looking back to check on Jackson and see how he was doing. He can be pretty expressionless when he is in a new situation. He is rather shy as well so James stayed by him and walked through the mud.
As we were walking, passing everyone and hopping on rocks to find the less muddy spots, I thought to myself, this is a great experience for the kids! I felt almost like the people you read about in books, that have their things carried through the swamp, or they themselves are carried, through the mud and water. So, the boys got special treatment. When we arrived at the shop I told the one man, he could put Jackson down because he was heavy and he said that’s ok, “he is my friend.”
When we asked Jackson about it later he said he liked it. We looked at the progress, and then got ready to leave. They were carried back to the car. I did not have my camera with me, as we didn’t anticipate going anywhere but the market, but I wish I did. I took a picture with my camera phone and then was not able to get it to my computer, so I took a picture of the picture on my camera. That is why it is not a good one, but you can get the idea anyway.
The kids went swimming today for the first time. The pool was ready. That was their Valentines Present from their dad. Quite different from the last picture you saw of the pool.
They had fun.
•
Our dining room table was delivered today too. Here is a picture.
We had the table and 12 chairs made out of solid wood for half the price of what it would have been at home. Wood is more expensive here, but the labor cost is so much less.
We have it against the wall for our family’s use, but when we have anyone come over we can pull it away from the wall and add 4 more chairs. We just need Fred Dunda to make us a huge lazy susan!
Then lastly another exciting email I got this week was that our shipment is still scheduled to arrive very soon. I am not sure the details at this point of when it is here from that time, when we will actually get our things, but I was very glad to hear that, and you can pray for it to go smoothly and we would be able to get it quickly! Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment