This & That

          Here are some musings after ten days in Zambia:

          I'm really enjoying teaching Greek.  Tomorrow the students will take their third of six quizzes.  They will also have a final examination on the last day of class.  Class will end that day at 4:00 p.m. (16:00 if you're using Zambian time).  I will have to grade eleven exams (which will be translating eight sentences of varying difficulty from Greek to English), write an evaluation of my course, and post final grades before I fly out the next morning.  That will be a busy Friday evening!  (Marty and I are scheduled to eat supper at a faculty member's home that night, also.)  The students are doing OK in the class.  I've been impressed with their ability to sight-read and translate when I put an unfamiliar sentence on the board.  Having said that, it's just hard to learn a lot of Greek in such an intensive course.  Plus, they are taking 2-4 other courses at the same time and working in churches on the weekends.

          Tomorrow I'm going out to lunch with Nancy Collins, who is the PCUSA regional liaison for missions in East Africa.  Her home and office are here on the JMTUC campus.  I spoke to her after worship on Sunday and told her I would like the chance to talk with her about PCUSA missions in general, in Africa, and in Zambia specifically.  She has also asked me to be part of a conversation about Presbyterian polity (church government) with some United Church of Christ pastors and some pastors from the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP).  I don't know when that will take place.

         Marty and I ate supper at the Ellingtons' again tonight (chili).  They have been very gracious to host us so many times.  They seem to be enjoying our company and the chance to talk about the PCUSA and life in the States.  Clayton left today for a week-long wilderness experience about seven hours away.  Dustin and Sherri are a little nervous about his adventure, but Clayton was very excited!  Christopher graduates from 5th grade on Wednesday and then he'll be done with school.

        This weekend we are going to take a day trip on a wildlife boat ride on the Zambezi River (from which Zambia gets its name).  The Ellingtons tell us we should see lots of hippos and maybe a bunch of elephants (I hope so!).

          I had another first tonight -- I ironed our freshly washed bath towels!  I don't believe I've ever done that before.  Clothes are hung on the line to dry.  It is recommended that you iron the clothes, especially if the weather has been cool and a little damp (as it has been here since it's wintertime).  There is some sort of fly that can get on the clothes on the line.  If the clothes aren't ironed and the flies killed, they can get on your skin, lay their eggs under your skin, and then you have real problems.  So, I ironed two bath towels tonight!

          I don't have any pictures to share today.  I'm sure I'll have plenty more in the next ten days.  Today was full of teaching and preparation.  I had to write out my final examination and have Dustin look it over (this is a new school policy).  I have to submit my examination and answers to the Dean of Studies by Friday in order to be able to give the exam on June 28.  I also looked over homework papers, taught for two hours, wrote out tomorrow's quiz and had copies made in the school office, and prepared a lesson plan for tomorrow.

         It's been pretty cool here today -- overcast and windy.  I didn't bring enough of the right kind of clothes.  I wish I had a sweater or a sweatshirt!  I think the poor Zambians are freezing.

         I forgot to write in my Saturday blog that there was a big futbol/soccer match here in Lusaka on Saturday, between Zambia and the Sudan.  This was a qualifying match for the World Cup.  When we went grocery shopping on Saturday, we saw many, many people wearing the country's colors or flags or jerseys from the national team.  National pride was very much on display.  Zambia had to win by three or more goals to have a good chance of advancing.  The match ended in a 1-1 tie.  Sherri said it then depended on how well another Africa country (Uganda?) did in their match.  I think there were a lot of disappointed people in Zambia Saturday night.