The first few days were filled with frankly, an overwhelming amount of activity. In my attempts to keep up with logistics and basic housekeeping I missed people’s names and important aspects of life here. Joel and Julianne Percy are school’s director and head of education respectively and they held a dinner at their home the second day I was here where they both expressed to me the importance of allowing my role to form more organically and in more time than I was forcing.

In addition to the jet lag and new environment I was causing myself a lot of stress by trying to form a routine too quickly. I needed to focus on mundane things like: How do I get hot water? Where will I purchase food? How do I contact Canada and the world? How can I best navigate cultural differences and avoid faux-pas? These questions were solved fairly quickly. Amy Jantzi brought us to the nearby city of Choma to make staple purchases and take care of some adminis-trivia that is involved in working in a new country. There was now time to worry about the bigger questions of the trip.

How can I become a teacher overnight? How can I share my love of God without alienating the kids? Can I be ready for all the challenges that are ahead? Am I even helping Macha by being here? How will I get over my aversion to public prayer and devotion? What is my safety net if I am an abject failure here? I struggle to be social in the best of circumstances, so how do I avoid burning out?

I think that while it might take some time to become acclimated to the social environment here, I need to trust that it will come. I can do this. I just need to give it some time. In the meantime, my mind is on overdrive, the temperature is rising and I can’t blow a cylinder.

I have felt a guiding hand in this trip so far. A few serendipitous events and helping hands when I needed have made the difference in a big way. That knowledge fills me with confidence. I am fearful of the challenge and hopeful for the result. I can’t think of a better state to be in. Actually not having to wake up at 5:45 am would be nice. Maybe 7…? As a Zambian might say I need to move my attention from “now now” to just a simple “now”.