church

I was lucky enough to find a church just up the street from my house. It takes me approximately 15 minutes to walk there. It is a small branch with 1 set of missionaries, one of whom is American. I can tell he has been in Africa for a while b/c he speaks English with the distinct accent of a white person who wants the Africans to understand what he is saying. I find it slightly comforting to have another American at church, even though I don't really talk to him.

For the most part church has been a big comfort in a strange land. There are a fair number of people my age & I am happy for that. I made a few friends & the branch president had me over for dinner once. In Relief Society they always make me read the lesson from the book b/c I "read so nicely" according to the teacher. Having English as my first language is definitely an advantage there. The ladies in RS are kinda funny. I don't think they know what to do with an unmarried white lady in their group (most of the YSA in the branch teach Young Women, etc.), but they try really hard to include me.

Despite the best attempts for normality, I am treated a bit differently. For example, one lady asked me to talk to her daughter & try to get her to come to church. I was like "I don't know your daughter. Why would she care if I told her to go to church?". And then I remembered I was white & that is why she was asking. But she wanted me to call the girl so I don't really know why me being white would help out there.
That same week there was a little girl in RS with her mom. She kept crying & grabbing at her mom. Finally someone asked her why she was crying. Her mom replied in Nyanja, but I definitely caught the word "mzungu". The lady next to me kindly explained the baby was crying b/c she was scared of the white girl. Yeah, that made me feel good about myself.