Did someone say Cheese?

 or was that Cheesy?

This is evidently what I look like on Sunday morning before church.

Feeling saucy

Mango Sauce-y, that is.

It's hard to get enough of this amazing, fresh, sweet, peachy-colored, flavor-screaming fruit.

blessed are those who mourn

She was only 35. Married in 2005, mother of four children, active in her church.

She died on Saturday from meningitis.

It was my first funeral here in Zambia. I was the only mukuwa in the crowd of a thousand mourning family and friends.

The meager gift of my presence felt meaningless to offer the grief-stricken loved ones.

Your Coming and Going

our yard after work one day

The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121:8

Malinda Sue

Baked cinnamon rolls for expat dinner this month. 

Don’t you wish you were an expat?

Leftovers, anyone?

I know if any picture could make you wish you were in Zambia, this one would be it.

So, when can we do dinner at my house?

[This is the leftover pot of nshima AFTER the building committee ate last week. I was actually a little offended to have so many leftovers… made me wonder why they didn't eat more. What was wrong with the food anyway?!]

Kudos

To Mwaka, 

the man who ended our five-week internet strike!

First book

finished in 2013

Dear Crayola,

Thanks, Mom for the wonderful package of color!

Why don’t you market your supplies in Zambia? You are the best, after all. There’s no question. You bring color to life, enhancing the kid in all of us. If you’re interested in expanding your global market, maybe I could connect you with the manager at Spar in Choma?

Little House on the Prairie

Last week, I took some of our friends to see their new house, a few kilometers out of town.

Please tell me it’s not just me who thinks of Pa and Ma Ingalls when looking at these shots!

Master bedroom window.

Crunchy Craving

Though I rarely indulge in Nabisco Wheat Thins, they are my favorite crackers. Nutty, salty, just a hinty sweet. Ooohhhh. So good. Cheap knock-off brands don’t compare.

There are a few reasons I rarely eat Wheat Thins:

1) The cost… especially if a box only lasts two days!

2) The addictive-munching. It’s just too hard to stop eating.

3) The negative healthy factor. Not that they’re the unhealthiest food ever, but when one eats half a box at a time, they are really not a low fat/low calorie snack.

And here in Zambia there is another reason I don’t often eat Wheat Thins:

4) The absolute un-availability. I can’t even buy ‘em if I want ‘em.

Spar sells crackers, but they’re a specialty item (i.e. specialty price), so I haven’t bought any.

I know it’s terribly unspiritual, but I must confess that during church one recent Sunday morning I was dreaming of Wheat Thins. My mind wandered into the kitchen experiment mode, groping for an idea of something I could make to satisfy my CRUNCH craving.

Popcorn? Hmm. Maybe, but it’s rather hull-y here.

Fresh veggies? Definitely the healthy option, but just not what I was thinking—crunchy, salty, wheat-y…

Peanuts? Again. A good option, but not the same crunch as crackers.

Then, I thought of copycat recipes.com. Oh ho.

I spent a few of my limited internet minutes checking a couple recipes for homemade Wheat Thins and was super excited to find a simple recipe that called for items I had in the pantry. After reading reviews that said these crackers tasted almost identical to Wheat Thins, I was pumped! I rushed to the kitchen and baked a batch of said delicious crackers.

Friends, they were good. These mock Wheat Thins definitely hit the spot.

But if I told you they tasted exactly like Wheat Thins, I’d be lying. They don’t (though they are yum, and very economical to make). Perhaps it was the Zambian ingredients. More likely, I suspect the reviewers who claimed these crackers taste exactly like Wheat Thins are actually not true Wheat Thin connoisseurs. Whether or not you’re a Wheat Thin connoisseur, I still recommend this simple cracker recipe. Easy (I had never made crackers before), cheap, and of course, tasty.

Anniversary

What started out as a wonderful day celebrating Brian's 18th birthday ended in trauma for our family three years ago today. Nine of us were on our way for birthday lunch when an oncoming vehicle ran a stop sign at full speed. Our van was t-boned and rolled. Five of us were carried out on backboards. The next months of our lives were devoted to recovery and healing, physically and emotionally.

The weeks and months and years of recovery were long (three of my siblings still deal with lingering pain), but God continues to faithfully enable us to live the lives He has given us.

On this anniversary, I want to say, "Thank you!"

-to those of you who faithfully prayed for and cared (and cooked and cleaned) for our family through the weeks and months of recovery after the accident

-to my family, who nursed me, and cheered me on when I was discouraged

-to God, who taught me a little more about His beautiful character through the accident and recovery. 

He is good, because that is His character

His character does not change based on my circumstances and feelings

and, one more thanksgiving... well, okay, actually two:

1) God, thank you for healing my body, and for the privilege of TRAVELING again (I missed it so much!). I'm so thankful I can be in Africa today.

2) Brian- whose 18th birthday we were celebrating- turned 21 yesterday! I am so thankful to have a hero for my little brother. It was Brian who was next to me in the van that day. He was the one who came with me in the ambulance and stayed at my bed and signed papers at the Clare hospital. He stuck with me when they transferred me to Saginaw, and he faithfully ferried Mom and Amy and the rest of my siblings back and forth from Saginaw at least once a day to be with me for the next 6 weeks in the hospital. Thank you, Brian!

**to see a YouTube Betsy put together of "Blessings," search "Blessings Medium" in YouTube  I wanted to post the link, but am limited because of my internet situation**

from me to you

there's something extra special about handwritten notes

Signs around home

Thought you might like to see a collection of nearby sign photos I snapped on a walk last month.

Just down the road, past our church building.

Down the road (opposite direction), near Bishop's house.

On the way to town (when we're walking) we pass Choma Hospital.

Welcome to my world. Follow the signs and you'll be here!

The junction of our road and Choma Secondary Road.

Close up of the sign at the junction.

Juicy New Year

It’s hard to beat fresh tomato slices in January.

Neither Heather or I are “hamburger people,” if you know what I mean. Sure, I enjoy an occasional grilled burger, but I don’t remember the last time I had a craving for a restaurant burger (fast food or otherwise).

We agreed to splurge on New Year’s Day and enjoy two giant hamburgers. I baked the buns, and Heather mixed, patted, and cooked the burgers. After our morning in the garden, we came in to a holiday lunch.

We were excited about our burgers; I felt like such an American!

We ate those two giant burgers, just the two of us. But considering that the last time I ate a hamburger was Labor Day, and that we skipped dinner after our generous New Year’s lunch, I didn’t feel quite so guilty.

ps- I must also confess that on New Year’s Day I made a delectable discovery when I combined a bag of frozen milk, a generous drizzle of chocolate syrup, and a hint of mint in the blender. This too left me feeling like an American.

Stylish

Heather weeding our beans on New Year's morning.

Conrad (a local farmer friend who works with Compassionate Ministries and practices conservation farming techniques) says our yellow bean plants are stylish. Heather and I decided to be non-conventional and plant the bean plants in two circular rows around some marigolds and the nitrogen tree (yes, I know… lots of nitrogen).

We’re more than happy to share our abundant harvest if you want to enjoy yellow beans too!

Recently planted our garden: sweet corn, spinach, and cucumbers.

Recently harvested: yellow beans, two heads of cauliflower, one last cucumber (from the last planting), and one last carrot (from the last planting).

Hosting

One thing I love about having a large house is having the space to host friends.

Our friends the Sakalas came for lunch just after Christmas. We told them we’d make American food (how descriptive, right?!)

We made tortillas and served tacos, sans sour cream, hot peppers, olives, or lettuce. They were very interested to learn how to eat tacos. It’s also ironic to teach a Zambian friend how to say, “tortilla,” in English.

After having recently learned that “taco” has a negative connotation in Tonga, we were hesitant to tell our guests the name of the meal we were serving! We might have to re-name Zambian tacos. Any suggestions?

Zesco (our electricity) came back a while after lunch, giving me enough time to mix and bake the cake I had sitting on the counter. Before our friends left, we enjoyed tea and cake in the living room.

72 Ounces!

Part of the package Heather's Mom sent her!

Auntie Heather

Heather and Frey

Exchange Rate

just another fun worksheet

Side note: Our currency was revalued 1 January, leaving our Kwacha three zeros closer to the decimal point. Instead of $1 USD being equal (approximately) to K 5,000, $1 is now equal to about 5 Kwacha! Plus, we now have coins called Ngwee. It’s going to be an interesting adjustment these next few months as stores and banks (and brains!) continue the conversion to the new Kwacha.

Just for the record: Zambian Kwacha was previously written “ZMK.” Now, the proper notation is “ZMW,” reflecting the rebase.

These are a few of our favorite things

USPS packages wrapped up in tape...

(our first package arrived last week)