This is Africa

Today we learned more lessons about culture. I must say that some facets of the culture here will be quite enjoyable. Being a British colony, it is an English -speaking country, so language barriers are lessened. Out at Karanda, though, English won't be as dominant, so we have some phrases to try to learn. Zimbabwe is a hot-climate culture, so that means that it is a relationship-oriented culture, versus Canada, which is task -oriented. It is ingrained in us to get to work, but here a relationship must be established first.
 We were told to bring pictures of our families, which we did. But now we've learned that families are much more than we ever thought- Shona doesn't have words for uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, or nephews. In fact, what we would call uncles and aunts are called fathers and mothers in the Shona culture, and cousins are brothers and sisters. So our families are going to look very small by their standards.
 Another major difference would be the concept of time. Being of a task- oriented culture, I try to be very punctual, to the best of my ability. Our wedding, for example, started right on time. In the Shona culture, it is very different, so I will have to learn to adjust.
 If a Shona wedding were to start at 2:00 pm, it merely signals the time to BEGIN to get ready. Time to wash up, put on your best clothes, and head out. By 3:00 some people are gathering, and visiting, by 4 maybe the bride has shown up, and by 4:30 all the guests have arrived, so things can begin. Of course, it's merely an example, but a fairly accurate depiction of real Shona culture. Men sit with men, women sit with women. It sounds like we'll have lots of fun. I just hope we can adjust back to our task-oriented culture when we get back. Maybe somebody else sound be opening up the store for a while. I'll be there around 10:30 or so (ish)
 But seriously, this is Africa. We can't change the culture, we must embrace it. Time runs on a very different schedule here, because there is no concept of it. Right now, we are not even sure if we'll be going to Karanda tomorrow or not, so we are working on plans B, C, and D. Plan B involves repairs at one of the missionaries homes, working at a nearby orphanage, and possibly touring a local goat milk farm, and possibly a "zero-tillage " style farm where everything is hand labor. There are no tractors or combines here.  I need to take home some farming facts for my peeps.... :)   And hopefully, somewhere in all of the adventures, we will have some wonderful stories of salvation to take with us. The church is doing very well in Zimbabwe, so we will see what we find.
 In the meantime, we are safe here at the guest-house in Harare, we sometimes have internet connection, sometimes not so much. We will likely have less internet time in Karanda, as the internet in the Cobra Palace needs to be shared. It's called Cobra Palace because of the Cobra floor wax, not because of the snakes. Actually, when Karanda opened in the 1940's, the missionary there at that time prayed that God would remove all the snakes off of the property to keep the missionaries safe, and to this day there have been no problems. So no, dad, we won't go out by way of a Black Mamba, at least not there. ;)