A Regular

It is good to be known. Growing up in a small town, I enjoyed (and hated) going into a restaurant and being known. When I was young, sometimes my mother did not want to cook; therefore, we always went to Norris’ Fine Foods on those days. I would always order a pizza burger with french fries and a side salad (ranch dressing). It was a great joy one day to have the waitress ask me if I wanted my usual.

This tradition continued when I went to college in Chicago because starting sophomore year I ate at the same restaurant for breakfast twice a week. It was a small, local establishment and soon my friends and I became good friends with one of the waitresses. Her name was Shirley, and she was basically our grandmother in college. She would constantly make fun of us while also making sure that we were being good little boys while away from our families. To top it off Shirley knew my breakfast order by heart. My senior year I figured up that I had spent more time in that restaurant than the Wheaton College library. The total was probably about 350 hours at Egg’lectic (the restaurant) and 10 hours at the library. Needless to say Egg’lectic has a lot of my dad’s money.

Anyway, I now have a restaurant in Ndola that I can call home. It is called Suliwanji. We go there for lunch at least once a week because it is very good and very cheap. A heaping plate of chips (french fries) cost $1.50, and there are enough chips on a plate to feed two people. Ok, it is not healthy and to be honest a bit shady, but it is good. Unfortunately, Suliwanji was burned down in November. Therefore, it has been closed for the past two months, but this week it opened back up. You should have seen the smiles on the waitresses when we walked in today. It was their polite way of saying, “Welcome home.” Needless to say, all is right in the food world.

In the working world this week, we continue to see progress and excitement from the teachers. Yesterday one teacher said to me, “I am actually excited about teaching this year. There are so many things I want to change in my classroom so that I can become a great teacher. My attitudes on education have changed because of your sessions and your help.” I am also happy to report that 75% of the teachers have written long term plans for this first term. I honestly never thought that would happen. The progress and excitement of these teachers keeps me going.