New Friends and a Break-In

So, as I noted last week, a few of the children that lived next door were, for a while, absolutely terrified of me. As I’d walk up to my house they’d quickly run away and the smallest ones would even begin to cry at times. No joke. We’re in a rural area and while there are a few whites around town, most of them just work in the local fishing industry and live elsewhere, separated from the local Zambians. These kids just hadn’t been exposed to many whites and I was strange and different and scary.

On second thought, maybe it was just the beard…

Either way, I’ve turned the corner with the kids next door. They love me now. They’re used to me. I get to throw them around and play with them some nights when I’m out chatting with the adults next door. It’s almost getting to the point where I wish they were still scared because now they come up and bug me all the time to come throw them up in the air. Most nights I can’t even relax and read on the porch anymore because they are always coming around and wanting to play.

To further illustrate, I was cooking dinner the other night, whistling a little diddy and minding my own business when my smallest neighbor, Innocent (if you met him you’d note the irony there), about 1 ½ years old, wandered right on through my back door and into my kitchen. His mother was nowhere to be found. He was, as you might have guessed, completely naked. He just stood there and stared for about 30 seconds, smiling, with no intention of leaving. He wandered around a bit, checking the place out and watching me cook.

It’s funny how quickly things can change. This was the kid whom I scared the most and here he is showing up in my kitchen for a naked dinner party. I escorted him back to his mother quickly, lest she think I had kidnapped her naked son.

So, I’m getting a little less peace and quiet these days but a lot more play time.