Soko, the electrical instructor who had left, thereby cancelling the 3^rd year electrical class for Georgina and Cobby and company, returned so the great news is that they’re having the class!  Glad that the students have something to do now that is helpful for their trade rather than just staying unemployed like they had been.  Hopefully good things will continue to happen for them in the future! 

Land Update:  IT’S OFFICIAL!!  I bought the land!  Not the chief’s land that was having all of the conflicts, but the second plot that I wrote about in the last blog.  With the wonderful help of Mr. Singuini and Cosmas, I got a great deal cost-wise and they were able to communicate my wishes and needs to the owner.  I don’t think they will ever understand how grateful I am for their help throughout this whole process… I think we would have been lost and at times unwittingly offensive as we stumbled our way blindly through the negotiations, setting border boundaries, paying process, getting appropriate witnesses, drafting a contract, paying the chief’s advisors, etc.  They’ve been a god-send, truly!  So anyways, I have a beautiful signed contract stating the land is mine and the chief okayed the whole deal.  Cosmas was totally on top of things – signed the contract in the morning and by the end of the day, he’d already had people clear all of the grass and bushes.  So the next day we were able to walk through with him and show him where I want the house and which direction it should be pointing, etc.  Fabulous!  I cannot believe that in just 2-3 weeks, the house will be finished!  Granted, water will take a while longer and electricity will take months if not years.  Mr. Singuini has suggested I get solar panels in the meantime, so we’ll see about that.  And within the next day, they were already finished digging for the foundation.  Am walking there every day to check on the progress and it’s really fun to see all of the changes!  Celebrated the land purchase with some cold Cherry Plums at Gondwe’s shop.  So excited!  And will be posting pictures of each day’s progress so ya’ll can see how it’s going. 

Had a fabulous evening on Friday.  To celebrate the land, we wanted to go out to dinner in town – plus our fridge was empty :).  So we headed over to the Brothers’ house to ask if we could use a truck.  Ended up sitting with Beams for a good hour, just talking with him about life and most interestingly about his decision to become a Brother and how he feels about the experience.  I am always fascinated by the psychology of such a decision and the outcome because I could never do it.  So I like hearing different perspectives and have certainly heard very different answers from vowed religious here.  Anyways, it was just a lovely time as he gave us drinks and we just lounged at the table with nowhere to go and lots of time to enjoy each other’s company.  Made me appreciate and love him even more than I already did!  We’re definitely going to just show up at their house randomly more often.  We also learned how to make chipati – Alick style – and got to taste test.  Aaaaand Beams gave us a toaster!!  So excited about that.  Toast is infinitely more satisfying than bread. 

We did eventually break up the party as Beams had things to do.  And we also got the truck, so we picked up Banda (sans Raymond since he had already left for the midterm holiday – MIRACLE alas has no such holiday so I’m still hard at work – miss that kid!).  Headed to Beach Chamber because Laura was lusting after their vegetable curry.  It was actually freezing outside so we ended up moving into their little restaurant area because they refused to give us blankets (it’s a hotel and a restaurant).  Frightening moment when we realized the girl failed to understand that the curry came with rice… much too spicy to eat alone!  But my beautiful MIRACLE attachment students, Wakisa and Kitty, came through for us and found some already cooked rice for us!  Whew!  A fun night all around.  Oh we also saw an older couple who were camping in their tent… ON TOP OF THEIR CAR!  Wow, what an awesome way to travel.  It has its platform that half-way hangs off, so it must be custom made.  How cool is that?  They even had a ladder leading up.  I’ve decided that’s the way to do it.  Away from snakes and animals and you don’t have to pay a bazillion kwacha for lodging. 

Banda and Ganizani came over for dinner one night because Banda has probably the most awesome movie collection ever so we wanted to watch it.  For clarification, they sell “collections” here in town that have like 10 movies per disc.  Sometimes there’s a theme – this one is love movies, we’ve also seen “Sex of the Animals” (by the way, former volunteers, I saw another copy the other day so it must be a big seller) and they have a bunch of Nigerian and action collections, along with ones for actors like Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, etc.  They’re a little over $2.50.  Awesome.  Especially when they have new American movies that we miss out on since we’re over here where there are no theaters.  So anyways, he has a collection with love stories – Titanic, Ghost, Pretty Woman, The Lake House, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Meet Joe Black, etc… and Beyond Borders.  Now, Laura has been talking about Beyond Borders for weeks and I’ve never seen it so we were thrilled that Banda had it.  Bribed them into letting us watch it with pasta salad and eternal gratitude.  Pretty depressing movie, by the way.  Laura was curious as to why I wasn’t crying.  Because I felt too empty and shell-shocked, that’s why. 

Had our usual cooking day on Sunday.  Beans, Rice, Pottage, Tortillas, and Banana Bread.  Very successful and I enjoy the rhythm of puttering around from task to task.  Watched “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “The Bodyguard,” which, by the way, worst ending ever.  Laura and I were utterly outraged.  He doesn’t die AND he doesn’t get on the plane?  Psh.