10.6.13 Day 16: Preceding Sunday morning worship, I was asked to read part of the scripture reading for the service, which came from Timothy 2. I have been asked to read before, so this was certainly not a first. However, I had a feeling that something funny was going to happen while reading, though I had no idea what it might be. You know when you just get that feeling in your gut, that inexplicable churning somewhat akin to nerves, but yet not quite as abrasive of a feeling. So I waited for my turn to speak, and when it finally came I rose. I walked up to the lectern, opened my bible, and said, “Bless the word of the lord,” and started delivering the message. After about 2 verses, the kind gentlemen moderating the service whispered, “Mark, Mark, wait!” I peer over my shoulder and paused, following his suggestion. He then said “they haven’t found the page yet. Give them a second to find it.” Offering a wide and wholesome grin to the congregation, I said “I’ll wait!” and then repeated which scripture passage was going to be read. Starting off from the beginning I read through the passage without a hitch and proceeded to go to my seat, thoroughly amused with the learning experience. I have learned that for me, the best way to learn is by temporarily making a fool of myself then never repeating the same mistake twice. Experiential learning is the harshest kind, but also the most efficient! I laughed this one off, knowing that I will experience countless ‘happy accidents’ during my stay here in Malawi. Following church, I returned to the house to work on some plans for my teaching this week. Nelson, who is becoming a dear friend of mine, invited me to go watch some football in the afternoon, so I wanted to make sure that I had my work completed beforehand so I could enjoy myself. I finished everything before noon, and was able to relax with Sarah and watch another Game of Thrones episode. Nelson gave me a call around 3 as planned, and asked if I wanted to be picked up. Not knowing exactly where my destination was (and addresses are an enigma I have yet to solve) I took him up on the offer. So I waited for the ride to come, at this point spoiled by the treatment Charles has shown me, expecting a vehicle of some sort to pick me up. Instead I was picked up by a “nadja nji,” so let me explain. The nadja nji are a sort of taxi service here, but get the Yellow Cab image out of your head because it is not even remotely akin to that. These are next-to-starving, desperate folk who ride their bicycles with an extra seat affixed just above the rear wheel. These are the people Charles and I have been whizzing past as we drive on the road, nearly colliding on a few occasions. Getting to see the world from this perspective changed everything about transport in Malawi! But I will admit that it was exciting to hop on the back of a bicycle, operated by the Malawian version of Mr. McGoo, and trust that the chance of survival was indeed in my favor. It ended up being a very fun experience just to arrive at the park where the football game was taking place. So my assumption was that Nelson was inviting me to watch a football game on TV, when in fact, I was headed to a real live match between Chitakale and Blantyre! It was so much fun! Nelson was very helpful in explaining the layout of the leagues in Malawi and how everything works scoring wise. It is similar to many European clubs so I was able to follow that easily. He was also excited that I was interested and engaged in the experience, assuming that Americans tend to not like football, or as we call it, soccer. I enjoy overturning stereotypes now and again! The match was a stalemate until about 65 minutes in, when Chitakale’s star player scored the first goal off of a beautifully lofted cross from a teammate. The momentum shifted immediately and within 3 minutes they had scored their second goal off of much deserved penalty kick. The team looked born anew and proceeded to score 2 more goals in brilliant fashion by the 80 minute mark, and only let in one goal, setting the final score as 4-1. What sheer excitement! And the manager of the Chitakale F.C. is Samson, who was the Professor of Ceremonies at the wedding we attended last weekend. Just a fun time all around! Following the game, almost to the second, the skies split open and the rains began to pour. I am amazed at how much water is unleashed when the weather turns here. Your clothes will be thoroughly soaked through after no more than ten seconds in the rain. And I mean soaked. Luckily, Nelson and I were able to seek refuge in Charles’ car as we had planned to meet up for dinner following the match. We made an attempt to try another kind of pizza in town at the Mulanje Pepper, but their cooking facilities were out of order at the moment, to be fixed and functional again on Tuesday. With tails between our legs, we scampered off in the rain and decided to visit Hapuwani for pizza and more football, this time watching the English Premiere League teams battle it out—Arsenal versus West Brom. So as a way to engage myself in the sporting culture of Mulanje, it is high time that I select ‘my team’ from the English Premiere League, and presumably follow them and learn the players and such. Right now I am leaning towards Arsenal, more or less based on their name, since I have not been following football as closely as I had in the past. Charles is Manchester United, who I had always known to be the Yankee’s of English soccer. And I do not like the Yankees under any circumstances, so Man U gets the same treatment. Charles and I will just have to agree to disagree on this one! It was a very eventful and exciting day indeed! I learned that I need to allow time for the church goers to find their place in the scripture before starting, I now know that a ride with the nadja nji costs around 150 Kwacha, that Chitakale FC is a fun club to watch, and that Arsenal and I have some reacquainting to do. Until next time! Salani Bwino!
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 12:02:49 +0000
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