Concerning Church and Cows

Yesterday was our second Sunday in Zambia. We were up in time to enjoy another boisterous breakfast with the family. Danny made waffles:

As you can see, Rachel was a fan!

Walter left a little early with Tim, as even on Sunday Tim has to do some farm rounds. The rest of us piled into one of Tim’s Land Cruisers and headed off to church a few minutes later.

Until we got here, I really had no concept of the size and scope of the farms here. They are HUGE. So driving to a “neighbor’s” house might take half an hour. So the half-hour drive to church was very reasonable, and enlivened by a large gang of monkeys running across the (dirt) road in front of us.

The church (see yesterday’s photo) is located in beautifully-landscaped grounds. Most of the parishioners are local farm families. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and of course, given my past history here, I found some people with whom I had mutual acquaintances.

After church, there was a tea/coffee fellowship time, and then we took some photos so I could get the whole family (Zambian contingent) while Janet and Chigo were still here. And we got one with us included too:

The day was cool and chilly, and almost everyone in church wore a sweater or jacket. And, contrary to expectations, it got cooler in the afternoon instead of warmer.

We returned to the farm for lunch—hamburgers. When you want a hamburger here, you have to make your own buns. The homemade buns looked fabulous, but of course I just stuck with eating the actual meat (also fabulous).

Janet and Chigo had to leave right after lunch to drive back to their home in Lusaka. It wasn’t too sad saying goodbye to them because we know we’ll see them again at the end of our visit.

We adults mostly were able to take short naps after that, especially Sammy, who wasn’t feeling well. He possibly had a mild case of malaria.

I decided to do a load of wash yesterday afternoon, because Danny’s ladies are so busy on weekdays I hate to interfere with their routine. So after my rest I hung our clothes up in the yard, and then we set off on our excursion for the day—a visit to a “neighboring” dairy farm to watch the cows being milked.

As you can see, these are Jersey cows, and their milk is so rich and creamy! Danny got me some cream for my tea, and it is a solid at room temperature. It must be spooned rather than poured.

We also saw some adorable newborn kids:

The whole place smelled like molasses because that’s how they entice the cows into the milking stalls.

Poor Rachel got her ear zapped by an electric fence during our wanderings, but she soon recovered.

By the time we returned to the farm, it was quite chilly and Sammy had already lit the fire in the living room. What a welcome thing to come back to! And our clothes had mysteriously disappeared from the line. The ladies explained that it was “too cold” to dry clothes outside, so they had helpfully put them in the dryer for me. Including a couple of things I didn’t want in the dryer. I got them out while still damp, thankfully.

The kids had their baths and Jasmine let me brush her hair out for her after it had mostly dried in front of the fire. Her hair is gorgeous and very thick.

We knew we had a long evening ahead of us. Sammy went home quite early as he was still not feeling well and had to be at work early this morning. After the kids went to bed we visited for a long time with Tim and Danny. The more time we spend with them, the more impressed we are.

Eventually they had to go to bed as they both need to get an early start on weekdays. Meanwhile, we had to prop our eyelids open a little longer because I had set up a Zoom with the kids at the usual time—which meant it started at 11:30 p.m. for us! Flynn and his girls and Lina were able to join us.

I don’t think the girls have any concept of where we are or how far away it is, but we told them some of the animals we’ve seen here. They are having a great time taking swimming lessons this summer.

We were more than ready for bed when we ended the call at about 12:30 a.m. The grandgirls couldn’t fathom how it could be Monday here while it was still Sunday there!

Parting Shot:

I think Jersey cows have the prettiest faces.