Veres Family in Malawi: November 2014

1. Driving a stick shift

2. Opening jam with a can opener

3. Seeing live goats strapped to the back of a bicycle

4. Going to a market to buy produce

5. Having someone work in our home and on our property

6. Stockpiling on milk just in case the grocery doesn't have it the next time(s) you go

7. Having to give Hudson a bath EVERY night because he is filthy :)

8. Driving on the left side of the road

9. Going to three different grocery stores to maybe get everything on the list

10. Sleeping under a mosquito net

11. Drying laundry out on the line

12. Making rice and beans

13. Getting my first ticket :)

14. Watching Hudson bounce around like a rag doll strapped in his car seat while driving

15. Attending a four hour long church service

16. Sweeping and mopping the floors daily due to all the dust and dirt

17. Soaking my veggies and fruit in a cleansing solution

18. Putting on a vehicle wheel lock to deter theft

19. Paying for internet by the GB and having to keep track of how much we use

20. Having a guard at our home
21. Receiving almost daily promotional texts from our cell phone provider

22. Having AT LEAST one lock for every door in our home

23. Having one designated outlet to plug in all our American electronics

24. Hudson having a nanny

25. Buying electricity at the gas station

26. Filling up with diesel fuel

27. Having our power go out at least once a week

28. Hearing the call to prayer at least once a day

29. Paying for everything in cash (side note the largest bill here is 1000 and that equals about $2.20 U.S.)

30. Using the metric system... kilometers, grams, liters and celsius

This past weekend we had the opportunity to attend a Malawian Engagement ceremony. Our language nurturer invited us to come to her husband's family member's engagement ceremony. She told us it would be a great way to see some Malawian culture, and she was right! The ceremony was scheduled to start at 13:00, and there was a very scheduled program detailed out to about 17:00. Luckily we arrived at 14:00 and the program still had not started (we were the first guests to arrive!) Somewhere close to 15:00 the event started...we are learning African time! The ceremony started with what is called Pelekani Pelekani, which is the giving of money or fundraising for the couple. This is most literally "making it rain" as is said in American hip hop! This went on for the next 1.5 hours....until we left! Talk about shaking the crowd down for all they have! During this time, the DJ's play different music and people were encouraged to come to the front and dance and throw there money in a dish (or on the ground) for the couple. Essentially this is the gift giving tradition. Unlike in America, there is no gift registry system here, so they have their own system of giving their money to the couple.

The Pelekani Pelekani in action

Family pic at the engagement ceremony

Some of the men dancing in traditional dress of their tribe

We had a lot of fun watching people dance up to the front and then dance around and give their money to the couple. We even got to see some traditional dress and dancing from some men from the groom's tribe. Luckily our language nurturer and her husband didn't feel like staying for the rest of the program or we would have been there until well after six, but we did enjoy what we got to see of the program.

We then had the pleasure of being invited over to our language nurturer's home to enjoy tea with her and her family. She was so kind as to even make us cake to enjoy with our tea. This is the first tea time we have shared with a Malawian family and it was a very enjoyable experience. We look forward to doing this many more times in the future. We also feel so blessed with the language helper God has provided to us. She is excellent at helping us understand the Chewa language and culture and as an added bonus she is very funny and helps our sessions go by quickly!

We cannot believe that we have been here for a month tomorrow. We are adjusting day by day to new and different things/struggles, but the Father is faithful and we cannot complain! We also are so thankful to have hired a day guard/gardener and a house helper. We are blessed to be able to have some people help us in and around our home so we will be able to focus more on ministry. We are hoping that it will be a partnership with language acquisition, us helping with English and them with Chewa. Our house helper speaks no English, so although it will be a struggle, we are looking forward to figuring things out together!

Below are just some pictures and their descriptions since that last blog post.