Happy Independence Day!

          This weekend was jam packed with things to do!  On Saturday we were invited to a Zambian Wedding Event.  The actual name for it is called a Bridal Shower but they do things quite differently here.  So, the way it works is the couple gets married in the morning and then you have a bridal shower with just the women.  When we arrived at Shula’s Bridal Shower she was still in her wedding dress because they had just arrived as well.  Shula went and changed into her “party” dress and shortly after that the party began.  The family sets up all the gifts so that people can see what the couple got and you also present your gifts to the bride by dancing and kneeling before her to explain what the gift is and why you got it.  Sara and I put in money with the family we went with and we purchased the couple a new stove.  Nice gift eh?  Haha!

            So, the bride is hidden as she arrived to the party and then the husband’s family reveals her to everyone at the shower.  They then began presenting gifts, a pastor gives some words of wisdom to the bride, you eat, and then at some point the husband shows up for a brief time.  The groom is ushered in by his family who surrounds him and dances their way to where the bride is.  He brings flowers and cake and then kneels before her to present her with these gifts.  Then together they present gifts to their mothers and then groom is usher out of the party.  He goes and continues partying with the men as the bride continues with her shower.  Once the shower is over, they bride and groom meet up and begin their honeymoon.

            This particular shower began two hours late (Zambian Time at its finest) and so we did not have to dance up and present our gift in front of everyone!  I WAS SO HAPPY!  We did eat and then dance where Sara stole the show with all her fancy moves.  The Aunt of the Bride grabbed Sara’s hand and took her up to dance for the bride.  It was pretty funny if you ask me.  I find myself a little more shy when it comes to this…  overall, the event was fun.  We got to learn a new tradition, eat good food, and meet some new people who want to be our friends and hook us up with their sons. Ha.  YES!  Exactly what we were looking for the whole time!

           

 Then on Monday, Zambian Independence Day, we spent all day in Twapia at the church.  Many of you remember me talking about the construction of the new church building in earlier blogs and we have finally begun.  Today was a hard working day!!!!  Today, Sara and I, along with tons of other people from our church began demolishing our church.  We took the whole building down, moved tons and tons of wood (which we have at least eight slivers to prove it), burnt the roofing material which was like hay, and cleared the grounds so more bricks can be made.  In the new few weeks we will begin digging the foundation and building the new House of the Lord!  It is pretty awesome to be apart of something like this.  The pictures included here don’t quite do it justice but it was so fun! 

 I will have to say that today was my first real experience with dehydration and it was kind of scary.  I was able to catch it before I passed out but it was definitely a wake up to me.  We were just working working working and I felt like I was drinking a good amount of water but I stopped working for a brief moment because I had a painful sliver in my hand.  As Jane was working on getting it out, I began having trouble hearing and I started seeing black spots.  I asked her if we could go sit down in the house and I took a short nap before lunch.  That was the extent of my work for the day because I was not feeling to good.  Once we got home, I was able to refill on water and bathe.  I began feeling a lot better and so I am very happy to say that things are good.  I think that is all I needed to keep me drinking from here on out though!  Anyways…  stay tuned in here, as we will be keeping you posted on the progress of the new church!

HAPPY 47th INDEPENDENCE DAY, ZAMBIA!


LOVE, SLE