Ubumi

I have finally met Eddy. He came to our house in a large van with two other men: Valentine the dress maker and Israel the teacher. Eddy uses the word dream every few minutes: "It's just a dream," "It started with a dream," "I have this dream." This makes me very happy and I suddenly understand why Penny smiles so much when she speaks of him.

Ubumi is really nice. Nicer, in fact, then our house (meaning it's furnished, clean and the lights work). It has a large walled-in yard with a slide and a covered area with tables for various activities. There is also a medium sized, yellow dog named Marcos. Someone introduces him to me every time he comes around. Marcos and I just give each other knowing looks.

My first day at the orphanage was a lot of fun. The first thing we did was get to know each other's names. Israel helped with this as the kids were shy at first. I am called Auntie Vidya and the children are: Memory Mwape (The oldest and only girl), John and Steven Chanda (brothers who prefer I use their first AND last names), Dominic, and Bernardo (which may or may not be his real name but he seems to like it.) There are two other children who depend on Ubumi but they are away at boarding school.

Learning their names took longer than you'd expect due to many distractions in the form of giggling fits. After that, I presented them with the box of match box cars. What a hit. I have never seen kids so excited. When I finally tore them away from the cars, we made thank you cards for all you lovely people in the US who donated. I haven't figured out the post office yet so I don't know how soon you'll get them, but don't worry, you will. I taught them 'Duck, Duck, Goose' and they taught me an African form of the same game called 'Mai' (I think). Their version is a lot more complicated, is spoken in Bemba, and involves a towel but they assure me I will be able to learn it. They wanted to play "duck, duck, goose" over and over and over again. They go mad with laughter when someone takes longer than expected to say "goose" and there's a lot of yelling going on the entire time.

Today I tried to update the security software on Eddy's computer. Let me just say that I did not know the meaning of the word patience before I came here. I spent an hour working on it and then had nothing to show for it because I lost the internet connection. But Eddy explained to me that things often take a long time to get done and it can be frustrating but you just have to have patience. I have already experienced this waiting in restaurants, waiting for taxis, waiting for friends. If someone says they will come at 7, you can start looking for them MAYBE at 7:45. It's taking some getting used to and I just can't remember what it was like to have so much instant gratification in the US all the time.

I have talked to Eddy about getting a jumping castle! He will look into it. Everything here is very expensive so I don't know if it will work out but it might. We may be able to get one at a descent price in South Africa. I will keep you updated on this.

I am wishing I had brought: notebooks, pens, workbooks, and a large world map. If you are interested in sending any of these things, let me know and I will give you the address!

Things are finally moving forward and I'm excited to be working with the kids.
Until next time, Peace.