Watermelon, Tomatoes, and Rugby

Yesterday (Sunday) we were invited to a braii (get together – can be a barbeque or a potluck.  This was a potluck.) in Kabwe with some of the missionary community there.  After our own service with the Chisamba Community Fellowship here, we drove north about 1 hour to Kabwe.  Benedict and I had also made the trip on Thursday.

Commerce here in Zambia is very different.  From our house all the way south to Lusaka – about 75 minutes – there is no place to buy a watermelon.  But on the way to Kabwe, going north for about 2-3 miles there are probably 30+ little stands piled high very artistically with watermelons to sell.  Thousands of watermelons.  Everyone selling watermelons are in the exact same area.  

You also pass through an area call "Johns."  On either side there are many, many stalls selling produce with beautiful red tomatoes being the main item.  Again, it is so interesting that all the little stalls (a small area covered with thatch) sell exactly the same things.

Did you know that right now is the World Cup for Rugby, played every 4 years, being played in France?  And the French team upset the #1 team New Zealand on Saturday night?   We arrived at the braii/potluck to discover that most of the folks were avid rugby fans, AND at 2pm South Africa was playing Fiji in the quarter finals.   We went over to a house that had a tv and was able to project it onto the wall to make a very big picture. Many of the folks are from South Africa, and they didn't want to miss it.   So we sat around with about 20 folks watching the game. 

I had never seen rugby before.  Those of us from the US were quite amazed at how it is played.  I figured out some of the rules, but some of it seemed strange.  If you ever get a chance to watch a game for a while, you would find it very interesting.  For those who are football fans, it has some of the same rough and tumble, tackle, kicking and throwing, but without the protective gear!  And the fans (particularly the women in the room) were just like football fans in the US – cheering, hollering instructions to the players (as if they could hear), and not wanting to miss a minute of the action.

On the way home, on the very hot day, we stopped at one of the stands and got 2 watermelon (they are round, a bit bigger than a soccer ball, and have seeds).   The watermelon was very good and a nice ending of the day.