May 27th – Mansa Marketplace

Life in Mansa is very different than that of the USA. There are few paved roads and little running water. I have Zain ZM service on my cell phone here – 2 bars of signal.

I smell pretty bad today – even to myself. I have had my current shirt on for the last two and a half days; the last time I put deodorant on was nine days ago when I left State College for my trip.

I woke up late today to make up for our getting in late last night. I had woken up around 10 AM but kept going in and out of sleep. I finally got up at 12:15 PM and we all ate sandwiches for lunch.

John and I went into town to the market to get vegetables. At the market, the ladies would laugh at John while he tried to speak Bemba with the little amount that they knew. At one point, everyone, including John, was looking at myself speaking [[Bemba]] and laughing. I had no idea what was going on so I just laughed along with everyone else. We then went to ShopRite to get some more food. When we returned from the market, we went to research station where John and Ruth work and I used the Internet.

Later in the afternoon, I followed John and Ruth on bike as they went for a run. We each took a shower when we returned.

Showering in Mansa is interesting. We have no hot water and only get cold water twice a day for an hour when the pumped is turned on. Our water comes from a pond behind John and Ruths house. There is no shower head in the house. So, showering becomes a three step process. First, we have a large red bucket filled with water and a cup. You first pour the water all over yourself to become wet. Second, you soap yourself up with a bar of soap. Finally, you rinse the soap off yourself. The first cup of water you dump on yourself is always and eye-opener.

Doing laundry and using the toilet in Mansa are also interesting. For laundry, the dirty clothes are put into a small tub. The tub is filled with water and detergent is added. The clothes are soaked for half a day then taken out and rinsed. Finally, they are hung overnight to dry. We hung our clothes inside a room in the house to prevent the Tumba fly (also known as [[Cordylobia anthropophaga]])from laying eggs in in them.  When clothes are hung outside, the Tumba fly may lay eggs on them which then hatch and burrow into your skin.

To use the toilet, you must pour water in the basin on the back of the toilet and then use the handle to flush it.  John kept breaking the toilet seat so him and Ruth just got rid of it.  Having no toilet seat is not an uncommon occurrence in Mansa.

For all of these choirs, John and Ruth have a designated water bucket to ensure you are never left out to dry.

In the evening, I went to a Bible study at Mr. Chiano’s house. It started at 5:30 PM. Mr. Chiano is the head of the research station where John and Ruth work.  The format for Bible study was to open with singing, read Scripture, and then pray.  The study lasted about an hour. We talked about general revelation and how its the idea that God reveals himself to all people so all of us may know His existence.

After Bible study, we made bean tortillas for dinner.  They were good!