Isassi Falls and New Friends

Time is starting to move a bit faster now that I have been here two weeks. Zack and I are slowly getting better with everyone’s name around the monastery. It’s funny because there are three priests here and two of them are Fr. Francis so the same names help. Furthermore, all the monks know us by now so when we pass by the greetings consist of more high fives, shouts of “HEY, Joseph!,” and others.

Br. Gabriel 

On Thursday the two Italian women who will be helping out in the medical dispensary for the next month finally arrived. Their names are Chiara and Francesca. It is nice to have other volunteers around so we can talk and bounce ideas off of them. They are from Milan, Italy and speak both English and Italian. It’s also quite nice to be able to communicate with someone who speaks fairly good English. That’s tough to come by around here.

They are both volunteering through the Students Without Borders program. They say it is similar to the Doctors Without Borders program. That would make sense because they are both medical school students as well. So I hope to help them out and learn a little bit about how to take blood pressure and whatnot while they are around.

It is fun talking with them because we are able to learn so much about their culture and way of life. It helps to correct stereotypes and miscommunicated ideas that movies and the news usually convey. For example, they thought everyone in America walked around with a gun in their hand or purse. Of course there are the few that actually do, but I was able to kill this insane stereotype about American culture by stating that most people don’t have weapons on them and that we are able to walk into a supermarket without seeing guns.

They had heard of the Charleston church massacre and our national debates about universal healthcare, however. We were able to explain the healthcare issue and relate it to how most things revolve around the issue of money (like college tuition and others). Something I learned about that I thought may not be a big deal anymore is the mafia. The Italian mafia is apparently alive and well.

Like most governments, there is corruption due to the wealthy handling most of the power (Funny how that happens in America too. Donald Trump may not have any wits, but something he does have is money… unfortunately. No wonder he is leading the GOP polls right now.) Considering the head members of the mafia are wealthy they are able to hold power in the government. Another example of their power is when some mafia members will stand outside so when you park your car you must pay them a fee. If you don’t pay them they tell you something just might happen to your car. Hmmm…I wonder what that means. So, as you can see, the mafia is still at play in the world.

Anyways…

The Issasi Falls Crew

On Friday, the two women joined Zack, Br. Gabriel and me on an excursion to Isassi Falls. The falls are about 5 kilometers away from the monastery and the path winds through small villages, hills, and the Zambian countryside. Along the way, a man by the name of Benjamin escorted us to our destination. He was a very nice villager that wanted to come with us and we are glad he did because his company was fun to have.

It was a perfect day to see the falls because it was around 80 degrees (26 degrees Celsius) and sunny. It is currently dry season so the water levels were low compared to what they usually are, but very fun to see nonetheless. I wonder how they would look after rainy season! The bugs were out and about when we were by the falls. If we haven’t been bit by a mosquito yet I am sure we have by now. Let the anti-malaria drugs commence.

We were able to wade into the water while enjoying some Malti at the same time. Malti is a soft drink Br. Gabriel brought with us that is a mixture of malt and sugar (I think). It was actually very good. The Zambian diet does not consist of much sugar so the soft drink was a sweet sensation for my taste buds.

Issasi Falls

On our hike back to the monastery Br. Gabriel helped teach us some more Bemba. I enjoy learning Bemba even though it is a slow process for me. I now know how to say “My name is Joseph” (Ishna Enandi Neya Joseph) and “Good Afternoon” (Mwawombenye). The spellings of the Bemba words are most likely very wrong; yet it helps me to spell them in my own way so I can learn them quicker. The Italians are working hard to learn some Bemba too. I think this makes the process even more fun when others are trying to learn it as well. We spend a lot of time repeating words we just learned. When Zack and I return from any outing we always look at our feet and think they have become really tan. Then we rinse them and notice that it was just the dust and dirt! It is easy to get dirty just by walking around the village.

I have been keeping up with midday prayer and am finding it enjoyable. You may wonder what prayer consists of so let me break it down for you. Benedictine monks pray the psalms three times a day. They pray once in the morning, at midday, and in the evening. There are three kinds of psalms: Orientation, Disorientation, and Reorientation.

Orientation is your typical thankful prayer. These are the prayers you most likely say a lot. Disorientation is a prayer that expresses anger and sadness. Just as you sometimes are thankful, you are also sad and angry. The disorientation prayers help monks express their feelings and let anger out. The third kind, reorientation, are the prayers that you say when you are finding God again and coming back out of disorientation. Once the emotions and feelings have gone, reorientation is away to come back to orientation and be thankful for what you have.

So that’s a quick summary of Benedictine monastic prayer.

As for some other things - I have completed the book called “The Screwtape Letters.” The book is a bit confusing; however I enjoyed its message. It is written by C.S. Lewis whom is a very good author. The book revolves around a spirit from Hell named Screwtape who is writing letters to his nephew Wormwood. Wormwood is a tempter from Hell sent to tempt and pull a human from God and the Christian way of life. (So far you probably think this is a super weird book, huh. Stick with me, though.) Screwtape is the one advising Wormwood on how to do so. I won’t ruin the book for anyone who wants to read it, but the story is one about overcoming temptation while conveying a few helpful examples and messages along the way; ones that everyone can relate to. If you are a Christian I would recommend this book and if you are not a Christian…I would recommend this book.

So you may be wondering about the animals here in Zambia. There are quite a few, obviously, but considering the monastery and village people take up most of Katibunga I feel as if the animals keep to themselves. In South Africa there are monkeys everywhere. I have also seen monkeys here, but it’s rarer. Still, somethings that are very common around Katibunga are houseflies. They aren’t too bad, but you can definitely find plenty in the refectory around lunch and dinner time. I have become use to seeing and dealing with them, though.

Well, it’s about time to get on with my day. Thanks for reading!