The wedding

We were honored to be invited to Bishop Bvumbe and Maria's daughter's wedding. The ceremony was at the cathedral so it just took a few minutes to walk there. It began at 9am, but people walked in and out throughout the ceremony. The service was about 90 minutes long. The language barrier made it hard to follow, but the ceremony was interesting. I think the best part was the processional and the recessional. It was done in true African style as the wedding party danced down the aisle :-) The female part of the wedding party was dressed conservatively with their shoulders covered. The men's tuxes were very similar to what men in the US wear. After the wedding we had lunch At Luther Hall the went to the party at 2:30. It was very different from anything in the US. The wedding party sat up on a stage at a "sports center". It was extravagantly decorated in the wedding colors with flashing lights and draping. The guests sat in theater type seating looking up at the stage. The goal of the party is to raise money for the young couple. So they stood with a big plastic dish in their hands and people danced down the aisle at the urging of a master of ceremony and literally threw money at the couple for over 3 hours. They sold apples and cake to people to raise money. The MC start selling the at about US $6, then dropped the price to entice more buyers. Dinner was a boxed piece of chicken and a roll. We were unsure if we could eat it so we didn't have any. They had a cake cutting ceremony, But that was the only was the only similarity to a US wedding. It was interesting, but again, the language barrier made it difficult to follow and, being Africa in the summer, it was a wee bit toasty for our MN blood.

A little country church

Ah...African time. Last night we asked Chief what time church service would start at the church we were visiting. His reply- "there is no time. When the people are there, they will begin". :-) since it was Sunday, people weren't tring to get their crops in or waiting for subsidized fertilizer and seed. That meant that there was a very full church. The preferential treatment of men always amazes me. The church elders (always men) sit in chairs and everyone else sits on the floor. Women ride in the back of the truck and men in cab. Anyway...Pastor Paul gave another great sermon on Matthew's gospel of "go therefore". The congregants paid attention to every word. As is typical in every church we have visited, the service was filled with music. They had band that consisted of a guitar type instrument, a bass type instrument, a "snare" drum set and anAfrican drum. The dancing and music was amazing. We had lunch at member's home it was the most modest of the homes we visited. The foul was guinea hen and we had large amounts of sima. The saving here is "sima is life". I suppose for most Malawians this is a true statement. The boiled maize hard porridge is served at every meal. It is similar to a firm cream of wheat with no seasonings that is eaten with your fingers. After lunch we went back to the church and the band and choir sing and play for us. There music is so inspiring,it brings tears to the eyes. We even had a chance to meet the "old grandmothers" who were tending the children in the shade. They were like the children in that they wanted to have their photos taken. What a great day it was!

Back to Lilongwe

We woke to the to the beautiful Malawi sun rising and the sounds of the waves- so peaceful. The Pastor for Monkey Bay came by and we had a nice conversation. He said that the mountain top church we visited 2 years ago is still not finished. That was not unexpected, but still sad to hear how they still don't have the resources to finish the building. The vendors were back so we bought a few more things and folded ourselves back into the pickup for the trip back to Lilongwe and the ELCM. The road goes through the mountains so it interesting to experience the switch backs and beautiful scenery. We stopped at a pottery shop that had a restaurant with European style food. The view was lovely and the food was very good. The prices were inexpensive by American standards. The came across a delivery truck that had taken a mountain curve too fast and was turned over. Mphatso said that there is no such thing as a towing service, so he will have to wait for a relative or friend to come and help him! Once again we saw long lines at the fuel stations, going around the block. Mphatso said there have been shortages for over a year but the situation in the last few months has been quite dire with people waiting in line for days waiting for their turn to get fuel. We arrived back at the ELCM headquarters in time for dinner and a power outage. Luckily the power came back on within an hour or so.

Mvuu camp - day 2

We woke at 5:30 to go on a walking safari. It was interesting that we had an armed guide along to make sure that we weren't eaten by the elephants. We saw many local birds and he pointed out the names of trees and insects. We then went on a water safari and saw huge numbers of elephants, hippos, birds and crocodiles. It was amazing to watch the elephants interact. We had a quick lunch and took the water taxi out to meet Mphatso. He was over an hour late so we enjoyed speaking with the guide there. We headed off to Luther Cottage. The accommodations there are similar to the ELCM headquarters, basic, but has everything we need. Being right on the shore of Lake Malawi, the view is spectacular! We were greeted by 6-8 vendors trying their very hardest to sell us their handiwork. We each bought a thing or two. I'm not very good at bargaining, so I'm sure I paid too much, but that's ok. They are just so poor, I can't bring myself to try to pay less. It was fun to see Lazarus, the caretaker/chef again. After dinner, Mphatso, Chief and Lazarus played mangla. Susan tried to learn the game and played for a while, too. We went to bed listening to the sounds of the waves of Malawi lapping the Dinner was a boxed piece of chicken and a roll. We were unsure if we could eat it so we didn't have any.