So it’s Daylight Savings time this weekend for my friends back home, but not here in Madagascar. Our times stayed the same and tomorrow the sun will rise around 5:15am and will set around 6:30pm. However, we did experience a timing issue ourselves today.
On Friday when we were out with a fellow missionary family, they asked if we knew about the upcoming “Sunday Evening Fellowship” with other missionaries in Madagacar. Stephen said he didn’t know about it so the husband said he would get us the details as they were hosting it this week. This morning we still didn’t know the details, so Stephen text the husband. He assured us that he would forward us the email of information when he got home. We waited and by 4pm, we still hadn’t heard so we followed up with another phone call. We were told the movie would start around 5:30 and to bring our own chairs as we were watching it outside. We then both checked our emails and had received all the details about bringing your own food and a repeat of the information we had just been told.
Stephen and I scrambled to make some gluten free pizzas that we had planned all week for Sunday night that caused us to arrive about 40 minutes late. We pulled up, let ourselves in their gate, greeted their dog, and proceeded to walk into their house saying, “Hodi”, which is an African saying that basically means “I’m here, can I come in?”. No one was outside yet to watch the movie, so we opened the screen door and see the husband. He alerts his wife, “honey, we have company!” I asked him, “ Where is everyone else?”. To which he responds, “Oh the girls are upstairs and we’re (referring to his wife and himself) are down here.” Puzzled, I walk into the kitchen and am greeted by the wife who is cooking in her relaxing clothes and their oldest daughter. I’m eating my GF pizza and sharing how excited we were that GF flour was in our freezer! Someone (quite possibly Stephen from his time here in 2012) left it there. I keep chatting away and the wife is cutting vegetables and putting it into a pot. She’s asking me if we drove over or walked with our pizzas in hand. I share how we drove.
Then finally I stop and think…1. No other cars were here and a lot of people were invited 2. We were 40 minutes late and no one else is here 3. They’re all in comfy clothes and not at all acting like they were expecting people over. So I think, MAYBE we got the time wrong (OH HOW EMBARRASSING!!! Quick—how can I help you cook or set up?). I ask, “I’m sorry, but were we supposed to be here at 5:30 or are we early?” The daughter looks at me and then her mom and the mom says, “Early for what?!”. I CHOKE ON MY GF PIZZA!! “STEPHEN!!!! STEPHEN!!!” I yell as I turn the corner sharply interrupting the husband’s conversation and seeing my husband chewing and nodding his head that he now knows the awkward information too. “We’re not supposed to be here! Oh my goodness! We just marched into their house…!” The rant began as the 5 of us exchanged how they were thinking ,”Why are they here?” and we were wondering where everyone was. The wife says to me as we high-five, “Well now you’re really on Africa time!” OH WOW!
Turns out that Sunday Evening Fellowship no longer holds true to the “Sunday” aspect. The movie night is this upcoming Friday night as in 5 days from now…! So we were early…really early with our loaded up directors chairs and gluten-free pizzas. The husband added that this would be my next blog entry. Indeed my friend, indeed.
All in all it was probably one of the funniest things that has ever happened to me. Being one who plans things thoroughly and pays attention to details, I’d never just walk into someone’s house like that if I wasn’t certain I was already invited. Thankfully, it was some of our friends’ hosting this week and not a new family we’d never met!
Don’t worry—if you invite our family over for a meal or a movie, I will double and triple check the details and knock on the door ;-)