After spending much of Friday with the team talking over plans for the ‘Life’ project over the next month, in the evening we went for a meal with Pastor Barry Illunga and his family at his house which is in Chingola, although you have to drive over a terrain similar to the moon in order to get there. Crater after crater, but a good meal and evening at the end made it well worth it! Barry has been a good friend of Jon for some years, and is involved with the Clinic in Mibila, one of Dignity’s projects, as well as being very well respected in Chingola.
On Saturday it was a relaxed day, and after being woken up by the orchestra which is the local bird population, (this happens each morning at around 6am by the way!) Incidentally a similar occurrence happens at night, only with dogs barking and howling and is certainly less like an orchestra! For the last 3 years I have spent a week or so in August along with a group from my church in a place called Pecel, just outside Budapest in Hungary, where we help with a kids English and Football camp, and here too barking dogs is a problem in the night, so to some extent I’m used to this!
On Saturday it was a relaxed day, and after being woken up by the orchestra which is the local bird population, (this happens each morning at around 6am by the way!) Incidentally a similar occurrence happens at night, only with dogs barking and howling and is certainly less like an orchestra! For the last 3 years I have spent a week or so in August along with a group from my church in a place called Pecel, just outside Budapest in Hungary, where we help with a kids English and Football camp, and here too barking dogs is a problem in the night, so to some extent I’m used to this!
Our Flat (Ground floor)
Mark, Ruth and I chilled out in the very well kept garden, which boasts numerous flowers and plants, and not being a gardener, I’ve not a clue what they are, but one thing is certain the plants all seem much bigger than plants in England. I guess that’s something to do with the amount of sunshine, perhaps, I don’t know. I was however able to recognise a couple of banana trees.
Each morning we’ve been eating breakfast outside overlooking the garden, and sitting in camping chairs which are unfortunately much too low for the table we’re eating at. Jon does have 3 stools in his flat which would be perfect for the table, however these are acting as the legs for his desk – a piece of wood. Oh well. In the afternoon we wandered into the town while Jon, Jude and the boys headed to Kitwe, a town some 45 minutes south of here, where they spent some relaxed time at a restaurant with a childrens play area – not so common in Zambia.
In the evening we went out to the main hotel in Chingola (The Protea) , where we had a good meal, although this was interrupted by a rat running around the outside tables. Ruth wasn’t so keen on having her toes gnawed so we got moved inside, where most people were. In fact we were the only people sitting outside, but I think this was more to do with it being too cold for the locals than due to the rat.
On Sunday we headed to church at the local Anglican cathedral, mainly because it was very close. The cathedral was actually quite a small church, with a small congregation but with an enthusiastic priest, who was well versed in English premiership football, which brings me to the afternoon, where we tried to find a place showing the Charity shield game between Man Utd (Mark’s Team) and Pompey (My team). However, it appeared the Protea hotel and another potential establishment did not have the required South African sports channel to show this. As it turned out I don’t think we missed too much, with a 0-0 game, although Mark was quick to point out the win by penalties for Man Utd.
Next time on the blog: The team head out to the rural bush for the day....
In the evening we went out to the main hotel in Chingola (The Protea) , where we had a good meal, although this was interrupted by a rat running around the outside tables. Ruth wasn’t so keen on having her toes gnawed so we got moved inside, where most people were. In fact we were the only people sitting outside, but I think this was more to do with it being too cold for the locals than due to the rat.
On Sunday we headed to church at the local Anglican cathedral, mainly because it was very close. The cathedral was actually quite a small church, with a small congregation but with an enthusiastic priest, who was well versed in English premiership football, which brings me to the afternoon, where we tried to find a place showing the Charity shield game between Man Utd (Mark’s Team) and Pompey (My team). However, it appeared the Protea hotel and another potential establishment did not have the required South African sports channel to show this. As it turned out I don’t think we missed too much, with a 0-0 game, although Mark was quick to point out the win by penalties for Man Utd.
Next time on the blog: The team head out to the rural bush for the day....
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