Yesterday

The Gym at African Bible College View from the Bleachers of us organizing a few of the rooms


Well yesterday had a little bit of normalcy mixed in with some newness, with a side of Cultural....what is the word.....awakening. Unlike the few nights before we slept through the call to prayer and woke up ready for the day. Jeannette went down to her classroom to continue setting it up. (It looks great now) I went down to the Administration building to find the head of the grounds who was going to lend me one of the workers to help me clean up the Gym rooms.

I have a little aside here regarding the cleaning and inventorying of the Gym....In one of the rooms there was a fatty Lock on a large cabinet with most of the equipment in there. I had to buy uniforms online for the college to have them sent to a team in America who was coming over September 3rd and needed to get in that cabinet yesterday to see what we had and what we needed. Well after about 4 conversations with 5 people and about 3 miles walking around campus talking to other people I found out that someone who was on "Holiday" maybe sorta, possibly would have that key. Well I went to another person who had his number and called him. It turned out that he would not be in until Friday but we had to order the uniforms Yesterday, Thursday evening. I then went and found some Bolt cutters and got into the cabinet.....Problem solved.

Anyways, as we were cleaning out the Gym/Sports rooms I was being helped by Gideon, a student at African Bible College. He helped me a lot and we got much of it done. While he was working in the afternoon I had to go to meet up with someone at the office who was going to give me the info I needed to purchase the uniforms. I arrived about 20 minutes early so I sat around and then decided to take the campus car on a little trip to buy a coke at a nearby Market called Crossroads. Cars here drive on the left side of the road, their steering wheel being on the right side of the car. It is easier said then done and I realized how ingrained driving on the right hand of the road is in my mind....just from being here. When I decided to drive to the store I got into the left side of the car, threw my notebook on the right seat and start to fasten the seatbelt when I notice that I do not have a steering wheel in front of me. I am in front of the office so I have to act quick. I open the glove box and start to go through it "looking" for something. I think I may have pulled it off. I pulled out of the school campus and I was doing pretty good. I came to the first left turn and kept saying aloud to myself "left side, left side, left side etc..." I got to the store almost hitting about 2 people riding bicycles and navigated a roundabout. Needless to say I got my coke, and then drove back to campus. On my second to last turn this car completely cuts me off and speeds off towards ABC (African Bible College). As it turns in front of me I see that it is another missionary from ABC .......and it made me realize it is okay to be a bad driver in Malawi....no not really but it did make me a little frustrated. I then got back to the campus, had my meeting and played some basketball, eventually going to bed.

In the next few entries we realize that there are everyday things, or things common to us we don't really think to tell you about living here in Malawi. Things like we use a water filter for drinking water, that we have a water heater, and that tuna costs $2.75 a can, and that you cannot buy Dr. Pepper here, etc... just to give you a better context of our life here and so that we can convince you to visit us because it is not living in a grass hut fending off Lions and Hyenas, although that would be kind of cool.
We are off to start another day......