I think we have both finally realized what true connections we have made with the people here. These past couple weeks word has gotten out that we are leaving town, and we have had so many people come up to us to say how much they will miss us. It has really made us realise how large our Mongu family has grown.
Things we will miss about Mongu:
- Our nursing students welcoming each morning with a song
- Walking anywhere in town, and having every second person say hi to us
- Mrs. Kababa’s (our librarian) laugh
- Suntanning in convent garden (while the nuns are at chuch!), and having the gardener standing on guard to announce when the nuns get home
- Going to Oasis (the only restaurant in town) and scoping out the other white people (very rare)
- Doing our grocery shopping in the markets, on the side of the road, outside the minibus, outside a taxi..you can pretty much find someone selling fresh fruits and vegetables anywhere..and cheap!
- Sister Christina giving us advice on everything and anything to do with Zambia
- Our best friends here: cell phones
- Mr. Mumbuwa yelling Wenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
- Cheese boats, scones, and fritters everywhere!
- Listening to people tell us what they learned about Canada in social studies (do you know that every student here has to learn about Zambia, Malawi, and Canada….that’s it)
- The little children running out from their huts when they see us, and yelling out Makuwa, Makuwa!
- Random early morning texts
- Men falling in love with us after one look
- People buying 50 loaves of bread at a time at the local grocery store, only to bring them to the markets and sell them later on that day
- Nightly power outages, which gave us A LOT of time to think.. probably too much time
- Sounds while we are trying to sleep: dogs barking, cats mating, funerals, and the odd gunshot
- The beautiful flood plains
- Random phone calls….for example Lianne got called at exactly 9 pm EVERY night for 3 months straight (she never picked up once, that’s commitment)
- Cell Tel, Zain, MTN craziness (the phone companies here)
- Being asked to be someone’s friend, sister, or mother
- People asking us about our “facial rashes” (i.e. sunburns, acne, mossy bites)
- Jessica being asked if she wears a wig and people touching her hair constantly
- The smell of fish on our backpacks after every bus ride
- PROFUSE sweating
- Being called Mommie (i.e. yes mommie?)
- The traditional Zambian dishes: Nshima, relishes, soups, fish….ok maybe we won’t miss those
Don't worry Mongu...We'll be back!
Jessica and Lianne
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