It's raining....

again. I know it is the rainy season here in Zambia - it is the rainy season almost everywhere right now - but this is ridiculous!!! It was sunny this morning for Miriam and I to go grocery shopping and for me to go to the bank, but now it is raining again so our plans for exploring livingstone have been put on hold.

We went to victoria falls yesterday for christmas. It was stunning. We went on a hike down to the boiling pot - a set of rapids just down stream from the base of the falls. We hiked down a gorge, crossed a stream and got wet, and climbed over rocks to get down to the bottom. It was fun going down - not so much fun going up - but it was worth it. Beautiful! We were near the bottom of the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe and watched a few people bunjee jump off the bridge. miriam is thinking about doing it but I think I will pass this time :)

Last night we joined three women we met here for dinner. We went to a restaurant across the street from our backpackers (called fawlty towers hehe) that claimed an authentic zambian experience. The food was pretty good and it was well done except the dancers were wearing zulu clothes, danced zulu dances and even sang some ladysmith black mambazo, a very zulu group who can be heard on Paul Simon's Graceland album. It cracked me up.

We are still here for a week so we are hoping the rain holds off a little so we can enjoy our adventures without getting too wet. Yesterday at the falls we got soaking wet from the rain, but that wasn't a big deal since we would have gotten soaking wet from the spray of the falls anyway. The plan for the rest of today is to book our various activities, explore livingstone and find my dad's house and do a little shopping. A nice relaxing day!

Greetings from Zambia

Well, here I am in Lusaka! Finally after several delayed flights and a very short visit in Nairobi with Pip. I arrived on friday, explored the neighbourhood a little, went to the near by shopping centre - wow this place reminds me of Botswana! Only much greener of course... I had dinner at a cute cafe which also has internet - I am there now actually. Then I went "home" to the guest house, went to bed early. I woke up half an hour later and was violently ill. Apparently this cute cafe did not agree with my stomach so I spent most of the night in the bathroom throwing up. It was very pleasant. So I will not be eating here again and I made loud comments about the food as I was walking in, but it has the cheapest internet around so what can you do?

I am feeling better today, though still a little off. If I continue to feel like this after I arrive in Livingston tomorrow I will see a doctor - don't worry parents I will be fine!

Aside from the sick part, Zambia is good. Mirriam arrived yesterday and we explored downtown a little today. It is sunday so most things are closed but we will have some time to explore further on our way back in january.

So that is all for now. Tomorrow we take the 7 hour bus ride to livingston and on christmas day we will go to victoria falls - a good way to spend the day!

busy, busy, busy!

It has been a crazy week. My two bosses from canada arrived last saturday morning and we spent all week facilitating a workshop for thirty people. I arrived for work by 7am every day and the earliest I got home was 6pm. It was a great week - alot of learning, good ideas and fellowship, but it was also a very stressful busy week! We didn't even have a venue until the friday before and then we had to switch to a new place for our second day. But it was nice to have Philip and Peter around and we straigtend up some things with my supervisor here as far as what my role will be in January. So hopefully I'll get out of the office more often and actually do some community development work! Very excited about that.

Aside from the craziness of the workshop I had the craziness of moving. I am finally living in my new house! It is nice, but I haven't really had time to enjoy it since I have been so busy. It is quiet and I miss the kamaris but having my own space is really nice too. I leave for Zambia on thursday for my christmas holidays and when I get home the house will be filled with my roommate's family. Pip's parents and grandfather are coming for a visit so that will be great fun.

I'm looking forward to Zambia, especially since I recieved my credit card in the mail today - I am no longer poor! I will spend one day in Kenya on my way there and another on my way back since the flights are silly. I arrive in Lusaka, the Zambian capital on friday and my friend Miriam, another WV intern working in DRC, will meet me there on saturday. We head out to Livingstone on the 24th and we'll spend Christmas at victoria falls. We have a couple of adventures planned including canoeing on the Zambezi river and a night game drive. It will be good to just be a tourist for a bit!

It is weird to think that it is christmas though. At home there is a lot of snow, and here it is hot and sunny. Well, hot and sunny when it isn't cold and raining. :) The traffic circles are decorated for christmas and some of the big hotels are as well. If it weren't for these garlands and lights standing out and catching my attention I might forget that christmas is so close! But I have been listening to Christmas music trying to get into the spirit.

I don't know what my internet access in Zambia will be like, so just in case, Merry christmas to everyone! And a happy new year.

Workshops and Salsa

Last night I went out with some friends to our regular thursday night hang out. It is a place called Pasadina in the Gikondo area of Kigali. Thursday nights are Salsa nights. No, I am not talking about the yummy mexican treat that you eat with nacho chips. It is Latin music meets Kigali and it is a lot of fun. They teach salsa dancing every week starting at 7pm and as the night goes on the steps get harder and more advanced. I am still very much a beginner although those salsa lessons I took at CMU actually stayed with me so I don't step on anyone's feet - at least not very often!



Tomorrow my bosses from Canada arrive here in Kigali and on monday we start a week long training workshop. It is a little stressful since there are still so many details to take care of (our venue fell through at the last minute leaving us scrambling) but I am looking forward to seeing them both again and the workshop should go smoothly as long as we find somewhere to hold it! This will be the biggest training we do all year and people from all over the country are coming. At least next week I know that I will be working everyday, and I know what will be going on every day. A real treat and very different from the way things have been going here lately!

Also tomorrow I finally move into my new place. I do this with mixed feelings as I really love the family I have been staying with. It is nice to have people around to share the happenings of the day with, to eat with and share the happenings of the day. However it will also be nice to have my own space and to be able to cook for myself. The place is near to town and to church. We are expecting to have a lot of visitors once people figure out we are living there - and the neighbourhood kids will be camped out at our gate. I figure this will get frustrating at some point but it is also a great opportunity to interact with the community and with people from church. So it is good.

Well, I am at work, so maybe I should actually find some work to do....

A taste of poverty

So I'm getting a lesson in what it means to actually be poor. Thursday night I went out to a restaurant with some friends and my wallet was stollen. Whether someone actually took it from my bag or if I left it on the table and someone 'found' it is as yet unclear, but the fact remains I have no money. Unfortunately I had both of my credit cards in my wallet at the time. I was planning to go to the bank that day (my only access to money is through my credit cards) but got held up in line at the post office so never actually got there. So both my credit cards, my driver's liscence and my emergency health insurance card are all gone.

I now have about 175$ to last me until my cards can be replaced and sent to me here. I am not completely penniless, and this is more money than a lot of people here make in a year. However the whole experience has taught me a lot about how I view money. I have never thought of myself as particularily materialistic and I am careful with my money,but as I try to figure out how to stretch this money - transportation, food, electricity, airtime for my cell, water etc - I realize how much I have taken for granted. Thankfully my apartment is paid for by work, but food isn't. I can't book my trip to Zambia without a credit card so now my plans are on hold until they are replaced - hopefully in less than three weeks so I can still go!

I am trying to keep a good attitude and see this as a learning opportunity and to lean on God for things, but it is frustrating nonetheless.