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| Mother and Mother-in-law |
Yesterday late afternoon I was able to go with Joseph to meet with his family in Gisepo.. This is a large village outside of town, about 10 minutes drive. He had me formally meet his mother in law, sister, grandmother, etc. When I walked into his home, the elderly women were sitting on the floor.. I sat with them , said hello and he explained in Chichewa my reason for being there.. They stated they wanted photos taken of the elderly women so they had something to remember them by.. I've always felt that this could be something I could do in my spare time... I did it a while in Botswana, but as stated before, it feels different here, and I don't feel very comfortable asking people to take photos of them for no reason. People want ways to remember their family members..
People love having their photo taken here and it is something that is considered very important... documentation, proof..
The strange thing is... no one smiles.. There's a sense of complete and total seriousness when it comes to taking photos, and I've even notice that alot of elders will not even look at the camera. I had to do a song and dance to get them to give me a little bit of a smile.
The homes were simple and create a mini courtyard where everyone congregates.. the families live in different homes, but everyone is related.. Think of living within 10 steps of all of your relatives... I guess it's sort of like Northern Kentucky.... HA!
But it was a great visit and Joseph kept trying to tell me how much he appreciated me taking photos .. He told me they don't have any photographs because it is too expensive.. I told him it was no problem and that I was happy to do it anytime.
When I was leaving, I received a telephone call from a gentleman name Bright.. He is a wicker furniture maker from Salima (2 hours away) and I had ordered some new furniture from him for our outside area... For two couches , 2 chairs (handmade ) and delivery , it cost me about 100$... which compared to wicker furniture at home is unbelievable..
What I didn't realize is that Bright charges for delivery, but he doesn't have a delivery method.. He just makes a plan to catch a ride with someone who is willing to transport him and his furniture.. they drop him off at a bus stop, drop off the furniture as well, and he calls to have me pick up the furniture from there.. So I had to transport all of the furniture on the top of my truck through town, while Bright took a 2 hour bus ride back home. .. See photo below.. as you can imagine.. everyone stares..
This coming week brings the same routine.. except Michelle has the weekend off and we plan to leave early on Friday and take a trip to the lake.. It's much needed as Michelle has been working nonstop. It'll be good to have some relaxing family time. Let's hope for good weather.
Hope all is well back home..
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| Joseph with family |
Joseph with his wife Maria on their wedding day.. 2007
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| hand made wicker furniture |
