John and Ruth's Journey

Grays and Torreys

2010-08-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

On top of Torreys Peak at an elevation of 14,267 feet!

On top of Grays Peak at an elevation of 14,270 feet!

We hiked our 2nd and 3rd 14-ers in one day! A great 6 hour hike that starts above tree line. We started at 6:30 am and were off the mountains by 12:30 pm. We stopped in Idaho Spings, CO for lunch on the way home and ate a Jiggy's Cafe. Its a family owned and operated home-cooking kind of place that we'd recommend if you want good food and nothing fancy.

Friends come and friends go...

2010-07-30T18:39:00.001-07:00

Puddle came to join the herd for her last day! What a wonderful, sweet goat!

We hiked LONGS PEAK! Now that was challenging, but we were in good spirits.

camping with friends!

Hiking with the husband!

A few snap shots of friends coming to visit us for the summer in Colorado! What a wonderful time... so sorry they had to go home! Miss you and thanks for all the wonderful memories!

Beauty in this place

2010-07-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

baby turkeys... sadly we have lost 50% of them.

I love the beautiful flowers up in the mountains and on the tundra! Such colors!

There is a lot of beauty in this wondrous world as my husband often reminds me. We set out this past week and discovered a small sliver of the beauty in this place. From tiny chicks and turkeys grow each day to wild flowers blooming in the most hostile of places we see grace. I love getting up into the mountains and am so thankful to be living!

We also experienced the coldest and rainiest 4th of July I can remember. We went to the 4th of July Rodeo in Brush, CO. It was my first rodeo and I am impressed with the skill of the participants. I especially enjoy bareback, barrel racing, and mutton bust'in. I found I really like the western culture for its adventurous and free spirit with a zany side.

Sweet Summer Hikes: Green Mountain, Sky Pond, and Mt. Audubon

2010-06-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

View on the way down from Mt. Audubon. What a lovely hike!

A marmot on Mt. Audubon, Cheeky critter!

John foot, Ruth foot. My boot fell apart on the way up the mountain... thankfully we had an ace bandage and in a pinch it held my shoe together so I didn't have to hike in my socks! The highest I have been in my life: 13,323 feet!

Sky pond in Rocky Mt. National Park

Green Mountain, rainy day hike in Boulder.

There sure is a lot of beauty to be found out in this wild world. Colorado has a fair share of it and John and I have been having fun exploring some of it together. We are preparing for our next big feat, Longs Peak.

Family Togetherness

2010-05-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was in Pennsylvania. My Uncle Mike had passed away and all of the family that could make the trip came in to celebrate his life, mourn, remember and rejoice in the promise of heaven through faith in Christ. Though we miss him dearly we know that his joy if now complete.

While we were in town we also moved my brother into his new house. The many hands made it light work. Here are a few pictures of the family outside the house.

Goat Kids Galor!

2010-03-04T10:02:00.001-08:00

Snowflakes strong, healthy girl!

Zeni's twins nursing!

Momma Zeni (her first time) and her twins!

Kids playing around, they love to jump on and sleep in the igloo

So many baby goats are being born here at frog belly farm! We have lost a few.... but most of them are healthy and the moms are doing well too! In this we rejoice! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Chill'in with the parents

2010-02-22T13:36:00.000-08:00

The pigs come running as mom and dad do chores for Ruth!

A little back-yard snowman build by John, mom, and dad.

My mom and dad came to visit John and I at Frog Belly farm! It snowed the whole time they were here (a reminder of why they moved to TX). I also got the 24 hour stomach bug and spent most of the time on the couch. But, it was nice to visit and relax and hopefully they don't get sick! We did enjoy a nice tour of Celestial Seasons on Friday and a celebration meal on Sunday at the PumpHouse Brewery in Longmont.

Love in the Air... XC skiing on the ground!

2010-02-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

The awesome XC ski man himself!

A lovely Valentine's Day out in the wonderful wilderness of Colorado

We live in such a beautiful place!

BEAUTIFUL! This world is full of such wonderous beauty!

This is how I look when I XC ski! I spend 1/2 the time falling into the snow. It is so much fun though but I am really sore from our 5 mile ski on Valentine's day. We hope to scope out some more trails this week!

Playing Dress Up!

2010-01-12T10:38:00.001-08:00

John and I went dress shopping for Candice's wedding... and had fun trying on the dresses! This one was my favorite!Hehe! Coming out to show the next dress!

Tangerine! Awesome color! LOVE IT!

Yep, John is chill'in in the bridal dress store! (I think he actually had fun)

Bridesmaid pose!

Merry Christmas with the Micks

2009-12-26T13:02:00.001-08:00

Playing with Teri's kittens! (and wearing awesome Christmas pjs)

What does God want for Christmas? YOU!!!

Our new nativity tradition! Thanks Dad!

Stephen working on the laptop

It has been a wonderful Christmas... which we are very thankful that mom managed to travel from Lubbock to join us (even if it took her ALL day). We pushed Christmas back a day... so "Santa" made a extra special trip to Wisconsin, just for the Mick family. Hope your Christmas was blessed!

Other fun highlights of our Christmas Day:
-took a lazy run and ended up helping the neighbors push their car out of the snow!
- played N65 Tetris, RETRO!
-ate lots of goodies!

A Colorado Hike remembered

2009-12-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

We hikes the Saint Vrain Trail up to an over-look in Roosevelt National Forest. This is the amazing sight we saw... all the way to the Rockies!

The beauty of the mountains!

John and I went for a weekend hike prior to our journey out to Wisconsin. It was a tough climb up through the snow, but the sights were worth it. We even walked a bit on the frozen creek and it was the slipperyest ice I have ever been on. Smooth as glass!

We have safely made it to Wisconsin now and are enjoying time with Teri. The freezing rain/wintery mix was not too bad to drive through but put on an extra hour of driving time. I am so glad that we stopped and visited friends in Omaha to break up the trip!

A most Merry Christmas Eve to all!

Frog Belly Farm Photos

2009-12-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

Here is one of our pigs! They are getting BIG and FAT on bread fromUdi's, hopefully come march they will farrow for us and we'll have lots of piglets...

Yep, our dear Pearl likes the baguettes!
My most favorite goat in the whole world, Snowflake!

Those yearling goats can be so mischievous!

This is our new cow that we are borrowing from our neighbor to milk her out... she lost her calf due to the cold-cold temperatures we had here a few weeks back. She is a gentle giant.

Here is our new little calf... we still have yet to name her, my favorites include:
1- Coretta (little maiden)
2- Callie (lovely)
3- Cari (Darling; star in Orion)
4- Carisa (very dear)

Feel free to vote!
Here is Beatrice, she had her calf about 6 months ago, she really like baguettes too!

This is Bea, Beatrice's little one (who is not so little anymore!)

Our little Oxen, Zeus! We hope he grows up to be very strong (but gentle)

This is Icious, Zeus' momma... she is the boss cow and can be pretty pushy!

Sorry there is only one picture of the new calf... but all the other animals wanted a Christmas photo debut too! Hope you enjoyed the pictures of the season here at Frog Belly Farm! Merry Christmas! We are having a Solstice Winter Light Celebration on Sunday the 20th visit http://frogbellyfarm.com/ for more information!

A new calf is born!

2009-12-16T11:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while I was doing chores early in the morning I got to witness a little calf being born! AMAZING! what a beautiful gift life is! I hope to post a few pictures soon... she is a beauty. We are learning the cow milking process too.

I also saw two pigeons mating... that was something new for me too!

Hiking Rabbit Mountain

2009-12-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

This weekend John and I took a little break from farm work and studying to go on a hike! We went to an open space park near our house called Rabbit Mountain. Can you see the deer we saw?

John forgot his sunglasses and the sun sure is bright reflecting off the snow! (or he just likes making faces at the camera)

We are cute!
An over look from part way up the trail. Beautiful... clouds over Boulder!

When the weather outside is frightful!

2009-12-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I last posted... been busy having fun and farming!

The weather sure is snowy out here in CO and cold! We have about 1/2 a foot and should have 2-4 more inches tonight!

Other news of note:
-The Lyons parade is so wonderful! It was Saturday the 5th and the Hygiene Methodist Church had a float that John and I joined in. After the parade there is community Christmas caroling in the park and then FIRE WORKS!
-We have stopped milking the goats.. the cold and short days are just too much for them!
- The farm is having a celebration on the 20th at 4:00pm... come and check us out!

Hope you all are having a wonderous Advent season!

Rocky Mt. National Park: hike with side comments on the Denver Zoo and the 'White Wonder'

2009-11-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

A beautiful blue bird (blue jay?) that graced us with its presence as we left the park. This story will be told backwards.
A close up of the Elk herd we say as we left the park- at least 150 Elk were a part of the herd.
More Elk! Amazing animals with a call that sounds like a squeaking door or cat mewing.
This land is mighty beautiful!
John and I take a break... we have not hiked much these days, but are excited to get back into it!
We are pushing each other on a frozen lake... John wins this game as I am 1/2 his size. Force is in his favor on the near frictionless surface.
One happy hiker! :)
Paige is out playing on the ice-lake with us. We had the area to ourselves since it is not the tourist season and there is the hazard of falling into waist deep snow on the trail!

We also went to the Denver Zoo last week because it was FREE DAY! We went with some friends with small children and I think that is the best way to see Zoos (with kids!). The park was pretty crowded and it was a job just to keep everyone together (children have the ability to dart between peoples legs and move a hyper speeds). I was most interested in the Anteater.

We have said good bye to the White Wonder, she was a good car that served me well through 1/2 of undergrad and graduate school. I hope that her parts go to help charity and other people continue on their way. Now all that is left is to get 'mom car' registered in Colorado!

University of Colorado, Inner Varsity Fall Retreat

2009-11-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a small window into the "Halloween Extravaganza!!!" at the CU IV Fall Retreat! There were costumes, there was pumpkin carving, there was ice cream... and a spontaneous dance party!

John going down the tubing slide! The snow was not quite slippery enough...

We went on a beautiful hike in the mountains around Colorado Springs!

The beautiful view from the top :)

We made it! SHINE!

What a wonderful, fun, relaxing weekend! I am so thankful and grateful to be able to have shared this weekend with the fellow inner varsity folks of the CU campus. I am also thankful to Mary Poplin for coming to speak with us and share her experiences with us. I am excited to be starting to read her book, Finding Calcutta.

John and I also got to see Teri this weekend! Hooray for a sister working so near (even if it is only for a day or two!).

The Elk near our home

2009-10-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

A buck jumping over the fence between public space and private farm land (our neighbors).

We got a lot of snow and as the day turned to night it was pretty cold... but we were excited to see the Elk!

One of the bucks (there were at least 12) leading the does along.

The large herd all clustered together for warmth.

John, Truen, and I went to see the Elk last night. John has seen them while riding his bike home from work. There is a herd of over 100 Elk currently in the area, it is amazing to see them and hear them bugle! What beautiful (and very large) creatures. We have about a foot and a half of snow!

A 15 Year Old Dream Comes True

2009-10-16T13:00:00.001-07:00

Lift off we fly away in a hot air ballloon!
John and Ruth... one year of marriage and he has already made some many of my dreams comes true!
Our shadow as we leave this earth...

Balloon and the mountains!

For the past 15 years I have wanted to fly in a hot air balloon, it was one of my life dreams you could say. Well that dream came true this morning when John surprised me with an anniversary gift to go on a hot air balloon ride! Wow! what fun... you can see so far! We saw the skyscrapers of Denver, the Rocky Mountains, even the faint ridges of Wyoming and the clouds over Kansas! It was a cool, clear, crisp morning with a slight breeze. Beautiful for ballooning! What a wonderful experience and a big heart bursting thank you to John, he makes so many of my dreams come true!

Romance in the aire

2009-10-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was John and my 1st wedding anniversary! Wow! A year has gone by so quickly and a lot has happened and we feel so blessed! God is good! And I have the most wonderful husband- he is "totally awesome"!

2009-10-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

The winter wonderland we hiked about a 40 minute drive from our home. No fall colors... but it felt like we were in Narnia!

Val in the midst of the winter-wonderland!

The bison from our neighbor's farm!

Valerie came to visit John and I in Colorado this past weekend. It was so much fun having her stay with us and she was a BIG HELP too! She milked goats, fed pigs, made grilled cheese, filled the milk order and we went on a winter-land hike! We also had an impromptu dinner, drum & song secession and a bible study on the trampoline! Good friends make life full of love and laughter. Besides dropping her off at the airport late and the surprise 4 inches of snow that morning it was a perfect visit!

2009-10-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

The hand off to the last leg of the 50 mile race... I so desperately wanted to be done!
Running a race when you have not ran for a month... is painful.

These photos are from the Tussey Mt. Back 50 mile ultra/relay run. I was part of the Penn State Crop and Soil Science 7 person team, Unusual Suspects. We ran well 6th in our category with a time under 7 hours :)

I had a great visit out to PA, seeing family and friends and sharing my experience in Zambia with them. It was great to celebrate early birthdays with Dad and Stephen, see the PSCGers and UMCers! I have such wonderful memories and know such wonderful folks in PA! Love ya all so much!

Frog Belly Celbration

2009-09-28T12:48:00.001-07:00

Her are some pictures of the animals, plants, and events at Frog Belly Farm!

A beautiful squash harvest- what wonderful produce!

A group of about 150 people came out to celebrate with us here at Frog Belly this past weekend

Some of the market-garden fields: carrots and greens. You can see the dairy/processing barn and grow dome in the background

Blue Butt pigs and Goats! These animals are destined for the table...

The goats like to eat the bread we feed to the pigs

They also like to be "king of the hay pile"

Frog Belly Farm'in

2009-09-21T11:45:00.001-07:00

John and I are all moved in and just getting the finishing touches put together for our new home out at Frog Belly Farm. I have gotten the milking system down and will be learning more of the chores this week. There is also a big Farm Festival happening this Sunday so we will be busy helping out with that. It has gotten colder here and wet. Lots of wind too! I wonder what a Colorado fall will be like? hmm.... I am sure it will be full of deliciousness here at Frog Belly. We had goat milk ice cream last night with fresh strawberries! YUM!

2009-09-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

So after living here in Boulder a whole couple of weeks John and I are on the move again! We will be moving out to Frog Belly Farms, just north of Boulder. I'll be working with the family there who helps run the animal side of things on the farm (goats, chickens, cattle, and hogs). I am excited to gain experience. Last night we butchered and plucked 21 chickens, now that is a lot of feathers. I think it is gift to know where you food came from, how it died, how it was handled, what it ate... all those sorts of things. I am getting back into goat milking too... only this set up is a lot more swanky than what I knew before (even a milking machine)! Life continues to throw us surprises, so we will wait and see what this chapter has in store.

Grandpa is gone

2009-09-15T10:04:00.001-07:00

This is the resident fox at Family housing in Boulder, CO where John and I are now living. It is very passive to all human activity occurring around it. The fox takes a nap in the middle of the court yard.

Here is the family after the Memorial Service for Granddad at Sunset Church of Christ.

Since Granddad was having surgery in New Mexico grandma's sister live in the area. We visited with great Aunt Joan and great Aunt Margret (pictured above, far right).

The morning after granddad's death mom and I went on a hike in the mountains. It is a beautiful arid landscape in New Mexico.

Death, so certain. It changes everything. It seems that change has been the only constant for me ever since I have returned from Zambia. It makes it hard to adjust when it seem the ground is constantly shifting beneath your feet. But, we are resilient and adaptable... it just takes time.

Moving Out West to Live the Boulder Life

2009-09-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of grandpa and grandma Mick, Aunt Elaine, Christian, Dad and Jamie when we visited them way up north in Lankin, ND. We had a great time, grandma even picked some apples and made 2 delicious apple pies!

On our trip out west we had to stop by and see the sights: Mt. Rushmore and Wall Drug!

John and I are getting settled here in Boulder now. Today I volunteered in the morning for Growing Gardens, a local community garden and we had 4 preschoolers come "help" us harvest sunflower seeds. Kids are so funny! They had a blast pulling out the seeds (and eating a few).

John has an office now so we finally got the ice samples out of our freezer- HOORAY (more room for ice cream!). The rest of my plans include unpacking/organizing (yeah we are STILL doing that) and going to check out the Farmer's Market. I also need to keep on the job search and find some health insurance.

Home Sweet Home

2009-08-16T03:50:00.000-07:00

We have made it, back to the USA. With only a few mishaps such as my car being in the shop, the airline loosing our water samples (but finding them again) and myself breaking 2 clay pots in the ATL airport (I am really good at breaking clay pots I have broken 4 in a two month time span). Being jars of clay has new meaning to me- fragile and temporary. Today we will begin our journey out to Colorado. The adventures continue!

Farmer's Day

2009-08-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

Today is the Zambian holiday of Farmer's Day. We went to the 83rd National AG Show in Lusaka today. WOW! It is big and a bit overwhelming (hundreds of thousands of people there)! But, we had a good time walking around the exhibits, seeing produce, some chicks, quail, turkey, cows, goats and pigs. We are going to be in Lusaka for a bit and our Internet access/use will be greatly reduced, so we apologize for the inactivity and lack of pictures. We look forward to coming home to you guys soon!

Mutomboko Ceremony

2009-07-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

The President of Zambia Mr. Banda giving a speech.

The Paramount Chief doing the dance of conquest.

As our time here in Zambia is wrapping up we spent our last weekend "up north" going to the Mutomboko Ceremony in Kazembe. We left around 8:00 Saturday morning (thanks to transportation provided by PLARD) and rode the few hours up to the site. When we got to Kazembe it was so full of people, people everywhere. We scoped out the stadium area and then decided to go visit some waterfalls nearby (instead of just sitting around and being in the crowds). We also went up a little bit further north so that one of the other passengers could go see his daughter at the boarding school she is at (she is in 10th grade) and give her some food and money so she can take the bus home in a few weeks. After that we went back to Kazembe for the ceremony. We got there in good time and didn't have to wait around very long. The place was crowed though, so we climbed up on top of the Land Cruiser to watch. There were a number of speeches. The President of Zambia was there and gave a speech on what is being done in Luapula (fixing roads, fertilizer support program, building a cultural center, and stuff like that). Then there were some dances and then the Paramount Chief (the big boss man) came out and did a dance. The ceremony is celebrating the conquests of the Lunda people. We didn't know that at a certain point the Chief will lift his leg and stomp it down and that indicated "He is King" and "the end of the Mutomboko ceremony". At that point everyone started running and fleeing the stadium, to me it appeared to be chaos! People were running in every direction! We climbed down off the land cruiser and left, that was the end. Others stay and spend the rest of the night drinking/partying. It was an interesting thing to experience.

Our last sampling in Luapula

2009-07-24T01:24:00.000-07:00

We made our way out towards Samfya early yesterday morning for our last day of sampling in Luapula. Besides doing snail searches, collecting water samples, and such data we also visited with a butcher in the area to do some research about cattle diseases that are spread via snails (sort of like bilharzia but it effects the cow's liver). The butcher let us look through his records and was very helpful, we found out that in the Samfya area there is usally only 1-2 cows butchered every month (and there are at least 163,609 people in the district). Not very much meat eating going on here (unless it is fish, there is plenty of fish).

Other items of note:
1) I found a frog in my shoe again, I have gotten relaxed about checking my shoes so I was in for a BIG surprsie once again! Those little creatures...
2) There was a large bush fire in the Mansa area when we drove back in the evening. You could see the glow of the flames from our home. I am not sure of the damage, the people around didn't seem too concerned and there is no fire department. There has been a lot of burning this year, apparently because people use fire to hunt for rats out in the fields for food. They burn the area to see where the rats run to hide. Apparently people did not grow enough food so they are burning earlier this year.

Sampling at the Dambos

2009-07-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

John looking for snails
Winfred and Ruth the sampling assistants

I wanted to add a few pictures of our most recent sampling tour of the dambo (wetland) areas between Mansa and Samfya. Tomorrow we will be out in the field again sampling the swimming area of school children in the Samfya area. It is our final sampling here in Luapula.

More Farm Show Pictures

2009-07-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

Mary and Ruth displaying the baked goods from cassava and sweet potatoes.

Ruth sitting on a donkey at the farm show. I was a bit nervous about this, but the owner, George wanted me to sit on it!

Luapula Provincial Farm Show

2009-07-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

One of the provincial displays, showing the various food products grown in the region.

Cultural dancers and drumming for entertainment at the Farm Show.

Mary, Ruth and Patricia baking goods from sweet potatoes and cassava.

John and I worked this past weekend at the Farm Show. The theme this year is "Challenges of Change". ZARI had its own booth highlighting some of the research that we are doing. We exhibited improved cassava and sweet potato varieties, maize fertilizer trials, and the weed experiments that I did. We also had examples of baked goods that you can make from cassava and sweet potatoes. All Wednesday and Thursday I was learning and helping to make the baked goods. We even had some taste samples which were a big hit, especially with the children. We sold the rest of the goods towards the end of the show. We also had some Lukupa beans from PLARD available for taste testing, but no bowls or spoon or anything to serve them with. Thus chaos ensued as John dished out the beans into hundreds of egar children's hands. I think they thought they were 'American beans', needless to say there was much confusion.

The show had exhibits from different governmental departments and from all the provincial offices in Luapula. There was also entertainment of cultural dances and drumming. We were able to buy some pinapples and eggplant at the show, from the World Vision booth. These crops are hard to come by here in Mansa, but we enjoy them very much. We hope to attend the national agricultural show in early August down in Lusaka.

This week we have been sampling once again. We only have one more sampling day left; I find that hard to believe. We also have been eating lots of rape and carrots, because that is what is growing in our garden. We have been sharing with our neighbors too, because there is so much!

We hope you enjoy the pictures!

Making a Spectacle

2009-07-14T00:09:00.000-07:00

Sampling for snails and educating children. They were VERY interested in what we were doing.

John sampling for snails in a small pond at our last sight, where there is a home made distillery nearby.

John and I are usually making a spectacle of ourselves, not intentionally but... it just seems to happen.

On Sunday we went to a Catholic mass at a local village center (church). Before the service began we were talking with a few people and were introduced to the church secretary. One man came forward with his young son to greet us. John bent down to greet the small child too... but the poor kid was scared! He we was crying and screaming (John is pretty good a frigthening small children). The service was in Bemba so we didn't really know what was going on. There was lots of dancing and drumming and singing! The service was very lively! Towards the end they invited John and I up to the front to greet us and everyone came forward to shake our hands. They were very welcoming and we thanked them for having us there.

In the evening we went for a walk and visited some of our neighbors. This is one of my favorite things to do and John is really good about asking questions and getting people to laugh! We tried to understand their system of naming (I am still not sure how it really works) and we were curious as to why few Zambian men have facial hair, even when they live way out in the bush. We didn't get a real answer for that but they thought it was really funny that we were curious about that!

Yesterday we were back out in the field sampling for snails. At our first sight there were MANY children and they were VERY interested in what we were doing. They thought it was hilarious when John put on his hip-waders and were interested in his bald head and the hair on his arms. My hair was also very interesting, and everyone wanted a chance to touch it. They also wanted us to sing some songs, so we did! Sadly there were many snails at this sight (the type that can carry bilharzia) so we tried to warn the kids about swimming/playing in this water. The other two sights of the day were much calmer, but we still found quite a number of snails. Today we will be shedding them to see if any have the parasite and tomorrow we will be back out sampling.

This is shaping up to be quite a busy week!

The July Sampling Quest Begins

2009-07-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

John and Winfred sampling snails in the Mansa river. The hip-waders are a life saver!

John leading a parade of children... or sampling for snails in the Mutiti Dambo.

Yesterday was a day full of water sampling. We started out to the field at 8:00am in the morning and visited 4 sights around Mansa. At each sight Winfred and I would take the water samples, GPS coordinates and water temperature (a cool 16-17 degrees Celsius). John would conduct the snail sampling and do the environmental assessment of the sight. It was amazing how the sights look so different from March when they were flooded with water! This time we actually found snails at all of the sights.

Lately we have had a few intersting encounters with owls. On Wednesday of this week we had a dead owl in our lab, along with broken glassware. Apparently it came in through a hole in the roof but was unable to find its way out agian. Then when we were sampling yesterday some children brought a dead owl to show us, apparently they had killed it and were playing with it. I found this to be rather sad and disturbing. Our friend/driver/coworker, Winfred, explained to me that in Zambia owls (and cats) are associated with witchcraft so if people find them they will often kill them.

We also stopped at the market on our way home to get some staples like tomatoes, oranges, peanuts and potatoes. I waited out in the truck with our sampling equipment (we didn't want it to grow legs and walk off). While waiting out in the truck I was propositioned for marriage but declined the offer and told them that I was already happily married, they insited that I needed an African husband since I was in Africa, this I also refused. The man then countered with a new tactic, asking if I had a sister, when I said that I did, they insisted that "she will marry me". I am skeptical, but at this time John returned and we made our way back home.

Hero's day, Unity day and Husband Appreciation

2009-07-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

Women drumming for the dancers. They always drum in a trio. The woman on the far right is the mother of the two other, younger women drumming. What a great family tradition!

Ruth learning how to dance Zambian style at the party! It is tricky how they move their hips!

Some of the food prepared for the celebration... there was a whole bunch of food being made!

The women make a HUGE pot of nshima. It gets difficult to stir as it firms and cooks and they are using two big sticks to mix the corn meal, these women are very strong!

The ladies smiling and dancing. They sure are having a good time. They told me I need to teach everyone back in the United States how to do their dancing and have parties like this!

This week has been full of ups and downs (and it is only Tuesday!). For starters yesterday, the 5th, was a holiday. Hero's Day. Most people stay home for Hero's day but John and I went to work, we thought greetings such as "have a super hero's day" would be humorous. Today is also a holiday, Unity Day. People mostly stay at home for this holiday too. But we were planning on going out to the field to do some sampling. It turned out there was some confusion with the person who would be driving us and he was out at his family's farm harvesting sweet potatoes. This was big let down, since we don't have much time here and we need to make the most of our time left to get things done. These logistical hang ups are a bit annoying.

But, we put that behind us. Then with the power being all over the place (out, low voltage) and confusion with switching equipment from US to Zambian voltage the vital piece of equipment we need to do nutrient level readings will no longer turn on. It is broken, irreparable, and extremely frustrating. When things like this happen you begin to wonder what in the world you are even doing here.

While sitting outside wondering what we are going to do we heard some drumming nearby. We learned that there was a special ceremony going on a few houses down from ours. We asked if we could go see what was happening (it was a woman's social function so John was not welcomed). I found out that it was a husband appreciation party. The women prepare a lot of food, sing, drum and dance. Then they take the food to where the husband is and where he has invited guests and they eat the the meal. This is a way for a women to publicly show thanks to her husband for the work he has done and how he has provided for the family. I had a good time interacting with our neighbors and learning more about the culture. I also tasted their regional drink, which is fermented maize meal with roots found in the forest. It is cooked to make a porridge but more liquid, so you can drink it. It is drank cold and tastes smokey, sour and sweet all at the same time and the texture is a bit grainy. I must confess that I do not really enjoy it, but I tried it. As always we are learning much here and every day surprises us with its highs and lows.

Back to the Mansa Life

2009-07-04T05:39:00.001-07:00

Jeff and Becky's wedding was absolutely beautiful and so much fun! It was great to spend time with family and to celebrate with Jeff and Becky. The picture above is of the ceremony, when they were giving flowers to the parents and grandparents. You can see Grandma Farmer, Sue, and Jim along with the stunning bride Becky and handsome groom Jeff. We were so happy to be able to come home for this!

Stephanie, Becky and Ruth "the Mischler sister" (minus Karen) at the rehearsal dinner! Love you gals so much!

John and I have made it back safe and sound to Mansa. Phew! We are tired from all the traveling... it is hard to imagine that it takes about 4 full days to make it from Metatmora, IL to Mansa, Zambia but considering the distance that is really quite speedy. We had a long lay over in the Johannesburg airport and spent the night there (pictured above). When we arrived in Lusaka in the morning we were thankful that John's 2 bags had made it, but mine did not. We decided to wait until the next flight from Johannesburg arrived (3 1/2 hours later) to see if my bag made it on that flight. The airport in Lusaka is a ways out of town and it would cost $60 around trip to take a taxi. I was tired, frustrated, in tears, and upset about all of this, but in the end everything worked out just fine. My bag arrived and we headed on our way without too much of a delay.

We went to Mapepe to rest for the night and visited with the Frenches. Lusaka was cold, especially after the hot and humid weather we had in Illinois! We were fortunate to be able to catch a ride with or Finnish friends from PLARD in their land cruiser the next morning to get back to Mansa... we didn't have to ride the bus! HOORAY!

Today we have been taking things easy... doing laundry, reading, going for a run, and resting. We ate some watermelon to celebrate for the 4th of July. But, we will miss out on fire works. Make sure to catch some for us!

Back to Zambia

2009-06-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow John and I are flying out and starting our journey back to Zambia. I must confess that I am not looking forward to the LONG plane ride back. We will miss you all so much, had a wonderful time visiting and celebrating Jeff and Becky's wedding. We'll let you know when we make it back to Mansa. All our love!

Back in the US of A!

2009-06-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

We made it! After a grueling travel schedule we finally arrive in Chicago yesterday. It is nice to be back home and visiting with family. I sure was tired from the trip... I slept for 12 hours last night, going to bed at 7:30. Looking forward to seeing and talking to you all very soon.

Living the Lusaka Life

2009-06-15T06:58:00.000-07:00

John and I safetly arrived from Mansa to Lusaka. We took the overnight bus and it was a bit diferent this time. We were stopped by the police and everyone had to show their passports/ID. But, finally by 5:30am we arrive in town. We had a nice relaxing Sunday and ate a chicken (yes, we ate the whole entire chicken, well not the head and feet or anything like that). We figured that the chicken accounted for at least 1/3 or all the total meat we have eaten here. Today we have beening doing little odds and ends- meetings, getting distilled water, Identifying snails, and collecting our mail at the embassy (a big thank you to grandma Mischler for the birthday card). We are anxiously awaiting our return to the States for the big Jeff & Becky Wedding! It will be such a joy to see you all. Love you lots and lots!

Its Harvest Time!

2009-06-09T02:34:00.000-07:00

The sweet potato harvesting crew

Ruth harvesting variety 'Carrot C'

Yesterday John and I went out to help with the sweet potato harvest. It is quite a process. First we must record the varieties characteristic (color, shape, vine lengths etc.) and pest/disease resistance. I was in charge of collecting the yield data: the number and weight of marketable, unmarketable tubers, and vine weight.

At the end the farmers who helped us categorize the potatoes were given the harvest to take home (as payment). There was a dispute about who gets how much... it was eventually sorted out by the casual workers (who are paid in cash)who had to divide the potatoes up equally among the farmers. In a place where people often struggle and scrape to get by and often live day to day, they want to grab whatever they can get... its rather sad.

Today we harvested my sweet potato trial. John, Mr. Banda, and myself, along with a number of casual workers (Peter, Benson, and Dennis are the only ones I know by name) were a part of the harvest team. The work went pretty fast, all we had to collect were the numbers and weights of marketable and unmarketable tubers and the vein weights. At the end of the process we let the casual workers divide up the sweet potatoes among themselves (we also took a few home to eat this week). Most Zambians prefer the cream fleshed sweet potatoes but John and I prefer the orange fleshed ones.

On a non-agricultural note: It is not a good time to be getting sick in Zambia. The medical workers are on strike. John called his contact at the Mansa hospital yesterday, because he was wanting to know the situation on distilled water (that is where he has been getting distilled water for his experiments and the equipment that makes the distilled water has been down for the past few weeks). He found out that it will not be possible to get the distilled water because the lab workers are on strike. But, the lab workers are not the only ones on strike- the entire hospital staff, doctors and nurses included are on strike. They are striking because of poor working conditions and pay. They want to motivate the government into action. Sadly this is creating a life and death situation for people who need care. Thankfully John has been feeling much better this week.

A loss of life

2009-06-04T01:25:00.000-07:00

Early yesterday morning, the mother of one of the workers here at ZARI, passed away. The research community came together and I was able to participate (in a small way) with the mourning process and Zambian funeral rituals.

In the early afternoon a group of people from the research station walked to the families home and sat with them. The women sit inside the home and sing songs (this was a christian family so we sang Bemba hymns). The men sit outside and talk about things that men talk about(politics mostly).

In the evening around 8:00pm everyone gather back at the house (some people have been there all day with the family). There is more singing and some dancing. The women are inside again and the men are outside around a camp fire. I didn't know that it would be a vigil (everyone brought pillows and blankets to spend the night sleeping on the floor with the family). We stayed until about 11:00pm and then went to our home (only a few minutes walk away). The burial was today, but John has not been feeling well since about 4:30am (he has been throwing up). He is feeling OK now and resting. So we did not attend the burial. I am feeling sleepy from staying up until midnight and waking up at 4:30 (poor John does not do being sick well at all). I am checking on him every couple of hours and hoping to get into town today to talk to ZESCO. They visited again to shut off our power because they are not sending us bills. It is all rather annoying and complicated because we have the money and will pay the bill if they ever send us one! But, we'll see how things pan out... I am starting to think that we will end up leaving without having this ZESCO thing resolved and will just have to leave money with the research station for the next person who occupies the house.

Friends, Fun, and Food

2009-06-01T02:19:00.000-07:00

It has been such a joy having Isaac visit us here in Zambia. Our week with him in Mansa has flow by and I can hardly believe that this is our last day with him. We are sending him on the night bus to Lusaka tonight.

Since Isaac has been here we have attended a delicious meal at the Chiona's home. Mary Chiona cooked nshima, cassava leaves, beans, an American pasta dish, and lemon cake. It was quite the spread and we enjoyed sharing the time together.

We also went to Mumbuluma Falls with two friends from the research station. We went swimming in the deep pools under the falls, had a picnic lunch and john even climbed up the falls! It was beautiful and relaxing.

Samfya beach was another spot that we wanted Isaac to experience. We spent the day playing in the water, burying john in the sand, and reading on the beach. John and Isaac also took a little boat ride down the lake.

On Sunday we spent the morning at church then went around town to show Isaac the sights of Mansa (he is going to update the Wikipedia page on Mansa with pictures so you can check that out too). We went back to church for the evening service around 4:00pm. When we got home we had no electricity. John hooked up the kerosene stove (thanks Teri and Nick) and we cooked supper outside. The electricity returned by 9:00pm but we were one the way bed by then. At least Isaac got to experience a normal Zambian power outage too! We will be sad to see him go back, but we are also looking forward to coming home in a few weeks. We love you all much!

Safari pictures

2009-05-27T02:26:00.001-07:00

Side view of a Waterbuck

Warthog face off

Our walking Safari group... note the Zebras to the right!

The beautiful scenery around the park

Isaac comes to visit and we go see animals

2009-05-27T01:16:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Isaac made it to Zambia... there were some tense moments when his flights were delayed, but we are over-joyed that he made it safe and sound (his bags even made it). As soon as he arrived we got him moving, we played volleyball with the Zambian students at Mapepe Bible College (where we were staying). We wanted to keep him awake to try and get him on a new-normal sleeping schedule. We didn't let him rest much though, the next day we took a bus to Chipata (Eastern Province). We were on the Marks Motors 8:00am bus which didn't fill up which turning into the 10:00am bus which turned into us leaving Lusaka at 11:45am. ugh. To make up time we went super fast around tight curves making us a bit motion sick and they played WWF films which also made me want to gag. It was 8:00pm by the time we arrived in Chipata so we decide to spend the night there and take a taxi to Mfuwe the next morning.

We arrived at Flat Dogs and set up our tent in a tree plat form. That night we took a game drive and saw all sorts of animals: lions, leopard, giraffe, zebra, elephants, hyena. It was amazing... lions less than 10 feet away and a hippo loudly munching on grass under our tent that night! That gets ones heart racing. The next morning we took another game drive and saw more beautiful creatures: water bucks, impala, puku, monkeys, baboons, hippos and more. We decided to take that night off, relax and get to bed early. The next morning we went on a walking safari and learned a lot about the habits of various anmials (Impala make a public toilet) and looked at their poo (you need to keep your distance from the animals when you are on foot). We also learned about the different plants of the area and their medicinal uses. In the night we went out on a drive again and were trumpeted at by an elephant! We also so a mother kudu with her child, an old male buffalo, a honey badger and a fishing owl and all kinds of birds. We also got a flat tire and had to get out in the dark while the guides changed it... just a tad unnerving. The wealth of wildlife is awesome! We also decide to eat out at the camp restaurant that night with some English girls and a German guy that we befriended. We also met a really nice and friendly retired couple form Austin, TX. It was nice to have some meat in our diet.

We then made a marathon bus ride (nearly 24 hours) from Chipata to Lusaka to Mansa this time with Juldan Motors (which was much better). Except on the way from Lusaka to Mansa we had to stop at a weigh station and we were WAY over weight (people packs lots of goods from the capital to take north). So they had almost all of the passengers get out (John and I left and Isaac remained). The bus then went through the weigh station again and then came and picked up the passengers again. I am not really sure why they even use a weigh station. I guess if it is alright "on paper" then its alright...

Now we are settling back into Mansa life and our routine here, though we are a bit tired today. I am going to try and post some more pictures for our adventures.

Field Day

2009-05-27T00:51:00.001-07:00

Some Fridays ago (May 15th) we had a field day for farmers in the Mansa area at the ZARI research station. The theme was "Challenges of Change" the participants learned about the projects we have going on here regarding cassava, sweet potatoes, finger millet and sorghum. I was able to present some of our findings regarding the weed research that we have begun here. It was a really good time of exchange and the farmers had lots of great questions. Many farmers were interested in using herbicides because labor is expensive (in some cases about twice as expensive as the chemical options). We still have to take the trials to yield though.

John was a big help, since the field day was a bit disorganized (no one has their own transport so the research station vehicles were driving around picking people up) groups had started the tour before other arrived. Thus there was a lag time when no one was at "my station" and then at the end they were coming rapid-fire. So, John would start the group off by giving an introduction and then he would pass that group on to me for the technical part/questions & answer time and then he would start the next group. It worked out well. John was also able to be a photographer for me too.

I was really excited about being a part of the field day and interacting with the local farmers. I wasn't sure if this was actually going to happen and was happy that it all came together. I think it makes the work I am doing here much more worthwhile.

A bunch of Beach Bums

2009-05-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

So you might be starting to think that John and I are a bunch of beach bums... always spending our time at the beautiful lake shores of Zambia (honestly we do work). This weekend we were at the beach again, this time Samfya beach. We went with a group of about 30 youths from church.

The pictures are of the bible study lesson on the beach and the other one is myself "helping" cook the chicken for lunch. I accidentally dropped a piece into the charcoal and we are retrieving it!

It was a good time of fellowship, singing (and dancing), playing games, and swimming in the water. Both John and I swam a bit, but I was sure to stay out of the sun this time. We saw a water monitor in the swimming area which made me a bit wary of getting in. People were shouting crocodile and snake, but it was neither of the two, just a rather large, swimming, lizard with claws. Usually water monitors try to steer clear of people.

On Sunday we went into town for worship services, in between services we met a friendly ex-(white)Zimbabwe farming couple. They are now working for a mining company that a fellow farming neighbor from Zimbabwe started here in Zambia. Its interesting... the ex-Zimbabwe(white) farmers are a close knit group and have quite a story to tell. Basically under Mugabe's "land redistribution" they were forced (at gun point) off their land (they had lawfully purchased the land) and were given 24 hours to get out or else be thrown in jail. These people are Zimbabwean citizen, born there. Basically they now have no country, and have been jumping around sub-Saharan Africa looking for work (they had put everything into their farm in Zimbabwe- and lost it all). Zimbabwe, once the bread basket of Southern Africa, is now struggling to survive... obviously things are not adding up with this "redistribution" idea. I just hope that South Africa and their recently elected leader, Mr. Zuma, do not follow the same path, running that country into the ground. I think race is still a big issue here in southern Africa. There is a lot of fear, mistrust and resentment between races. I am sure there have been wrongs perpetrated by both blacks and whites in the past, but my hope is that forgiveness can rule and in the future peaceful and harmonious communities will thrive.

A few more pictures of our fun at the lake

2009-05-04T01:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures of us on our trip. the first picture is of us at a small park with water falls that we stopped at on our way back home. We had a nice picnic lunch there and were able to stretch our legs (thankfully!). We hit one chicken on the way up to the lake and two on the way back home. It actually adds humor to the joke "why did the chicken cross the road"!

The second picture is of myself getting ready to snorkel!

The last picture is of John relaxing in a Hammock reading. The hammocks were one of our favorite places to stay. I also enjoyed petting the cats of the lodge, they have three and they are all called tika (tika one, tika two, and tika three)! They looked a lot like my old cat cookie monster, though they had all there eyes. They pretty much looked identical but are troopers to survive. You have to be a tough animal to make it in Zambia.

We borrowed two books from our Finnish friend, Mari, 1) Dead Aid and 2) A thousand splendid suns. I'd recommend both books if you are looking for something to read.

Enjoy!

Lake Tanganyika

2009-05-04T01:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend John and I visited the lake shores of Tanganyika. Wow! What a beautiful and relaxing place. John has been to Tanganyika before, doing research from the Tanzania side. This time we were simple there to enjoy ourselves! It is a LONG and BUMPY 8 hour drive from Mansa, about 540 km in total. We left at about 7:00am on Thursday morning and arrived in time to set up camp before dark. Its a good things the camp site had a little shelter, we set the tent up underneath of it because it looked like it might rain... and it did. The rain brought lots of wind, which was actually nice because it kept the tent cool (we had an old-school one person army canvas tent). In the night I kept hearing strange noises and at one point felt something touch me from the other side of the tent! I gave a little shout and woke up John to go check things out. Later, talking to the owners of the camp,we decided it must have been bush babies. I wasn't scared the next few night after hearing that! Bush babies are so cute with their large eyes!

We spent most of our time relaxing in hammocks and snorkeling. One day we went scuba diving- my first time ever! It was so neat to be breathing underwater! There were so many fish all brightly colored, it was like shrinking yourself down and putting yourself in an aquarium! Beautiful! This has been my favorite place in Zambia so far.

It was interesting talking to the couple that runs the lodge, the women is from Australia and the man is a native-white Zambian. His parents actually own the place, they ran the lodge for some years and then the government nationalized the place (basically confiscated it) and ran it into the ground. When the policies changed and the government decided to privatize it, his family re-bought the place and began fixing it up again. Its a real nice spot, remote and not over-run with tourist (we were the only people there), but they have a steady stream of business. It is also pretty close to the Congo boarder so when the war was going on, business suffered. They actually saw the Congo army/refugees flee across the lake and surrender their arms to the Zambian government. Things are calm now and business is improving. There is even talk of bring electricity out that way.

The pictures are of: one, a beautiful sunrise over the lake on Sunday morning. Two, a over view of the lake from the Zambian side looking out towards the villages. And three, our camp site.I think I will upload a few more pictures for you all to enjoy!

Pancakes and Fartleks

2009-04-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a fun picture of John (with his shirt on) eating our sour-dough pancakes (a big thanks to Mom Misch for the recipe)! We killed "the pet" (our sour-dough starter) because we will be away for a few days exploring Lake Tanganyika, where John has done previous work in Tanzania. Only this time we will be on the Zambian side. We thought what better way to end this sour dough experiment (we plan to start another one when we return)than with some good old fashion pancakes, delicious. I am beginning to wonder if you all think that all we do is cook and bake things since those are the majority of our pictures!

Other news of note: we did our first real "workout" the other day. We did a warm-up jog of 10 minutes followed by 20 minutes of a Kenyan Fartlek (yes, it is pronounced fart-lick)and a 10 minute cool down. Fartlek is a Swedish word for "speed play", the Kenyan version is to run hard for one minute, jog for one minute, run hard for one minute, jog for one minute...(you get the idea). It was good to get the legs moving faster again, hopefully we will be in good 5K/10K shape for when we come back to the US. Boulder has a pretty serious running community I hear.

This morning I helped our neighbors harvest groundnuts (peanuts). It was a good time sitting outside in the cool of the early morning, talking and pulling the groundnuts off the vines. They bring the whole plant, dug up, in from the fields to their yards to finish drying before shelling because they say people will steal them if they
leave them to dry in the fields.

I hope that you all doing well. We'll be sure to update you on our trip to the lake and the sights along the way to the Northern Providence! Lots of love!

Weed Count Team

2009-04-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

Today was a full morning of weed counting in Cassava and Sweet Potatoes. There are 5 students here from a local agricultural trade school who are doing an internship for a month. As part of their learning they helped me with my research and it gave the researchers here some weed experience as well. It was a productive time and it was good to work with the students and explain what and why we are doing this work. John came along to take pictures and thanks to him we have this group photo.

Tomorrow I am helping our neighbor harvest groundnuts. It is a busy season with harvesting and I want to see what it is all about, plus they are happy to have some free labor. It is suppose to be the cool season but it seems hot in the afternoon sun. I hope that you all are doing well and enjoying spring time and planting! Much love!

Baking Bread and Basking at the Beach

2009-04-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend Ruth had the opportunity to go to the beach with the ladies from church. The beach is in Samfya, about an hours drive from Mansa on the lake shore of Bangweulu. John and I had been there before on one of his sampling trips.

The ladies had a good time of fellowship, we went swimming, cooked lunch, and played games. The picture is of us playing one of the games (the team I was on won!). I keep forgetting about how strong the sun is here and after running in the sand, swimming, and being in the hot sun all day I was feeling ill in the evening. But, after a days rest I felt much better.

John and I now have a "pet"... it is our yeast-pet. We started our own yeast culture to be able to bake our own sour dough bread. It is working out well (better than we expected) and we are having fun experimenting with it. It is actually a lot easier than I anticipated. You basically just add flour and water and let it sit. John (shirtless once again) proudly displays our best baking to date!

Adapt-taste-ion

2009-04-17T02:55:00.000-07:00

Here in Zambia John and I are learning to adapt. We are learning about the Zambian culture and participating in aspects of it, however, we are certainly still American and are learning how to bring the "taste of home" into our lives here.

Last night we made pizza! I worked up some dough (I am trying to figure out how I can manage to bake my own bread without an oven and keep my own starter with out a fridge... its sort of an experiment). We then made some sauce using tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper and a pepperoni flavored soy-packet. We went into town yesterday so we bought a small package of cheese to use.

We discovered that by making small pizzas we could "bake" them on a skillet if we put it on a low setting (the first one was burn on the bottom because the pan was too hot) and left the pizza there for eight and a half minutes with a lid covering it. They turned out delicious! We were pretty excited that we found a way to make pizza with our limited setup here. Its all about being creative and finding a way to make something happen... is there a life lesson in there?

Easter Egg Wars

2009-04-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

For the Easter holiday John and I carried out the American tradition of decorating eggs. We had some blue food coloring and vinegar to create the dye and also a pack of sharpies for added flare! We hard-boiled the eggs, but part way through the power went out. We thought they were cooked enough so we went ahead with decorating.

Carrying out the Mick-household tradition of "egg wars" John, Ruth, and "Frogger" prepared their eggs for battle. John vs. Ruth ended in a crushing blow for Ruth as they discovered the eggs were not fully cooked! What a mess! We put the eggs back into the the pot (the power had come back on again) to finishing cooking. When the eggs were done John forgot about the rest of the battles and he ate his egg, so by default "Frogger" was the Zambian Easter Egg War Champion.

Easter Safari at Kasanka

2009-04-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

Over the holiday weekend John and I went to Kasanka, a small National Park that is about a 4 hour drive from Mansa. We left on Friday evening by over-night bus. John was kind enough to help 8 Danish students find a mini-bus to catch since they did not book tickets with the large coach bus ahead of time. They assumed that you could just buy a ticket a couple hours before, but since it was the holiday I think the buses were extra full. It was wild trying to board the bus, people were pushing and shoving but we finally were able to assert our way onto the bus. The ride was longer and bumpier than we remembered! But finally we arrived at the park gate. Only the Danes were not there and we wondered what had become of them. We only had to wonder for about 15 minutes and they showed up paying the mini-bus drive a bit extra (there were some communication difficulties so the driver didn't know how far it really was).

At the park we stayed in a nice Chalet and had warm showers but they only charged us the "camping" fee. This was very generous of them. It seemed our fate was linked with the Danes as we did all our game drives/walks/tours with them. This was actually to our benefit as it allowed for group rates which were cheeper. Though they were a bit noisy of a group which was a bummer for the walks since the animals are already skid-dish because of poachers around this park.

We did get to see many birds and many puku (antelope like creature pictured above), a jackal, monkeys, baboons, and crocodiles. It was a very relaxing weekend and we enjoyed sitting around the camp fire in the evenings watching the moonrise or sunrise.

We had a bit of an adventure getting back to Mansa on Monday morning. We had not arranged for transport back so we planned on hitching a ride. We waited out at the gate from 10am-3:30pm before someone picked us up. They agreed to take us to Samfya (about 1 hour away from Mansa). We road with a group of 6 other Zambians, three who were staying in Samfya and 3 who were hitching a ride to some fishing camps before you get to Samfya. I was concerned that we wouldn't find a ride from Samfya to Mansa because it was about 7:00pm and dark by the time we rolled in. Thankfully there was a truck waiting there to go to Mansa and they agreed to take us with them. So we made it to our home at 9:00pm! It seems that in Zambia no matter how far you are going it always takes the whole entire day to travel anywhere! We are thankful for our time away but happy to be "home" again.

A ride into Town... Will the Lights Go Out?

2009-04-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a day yesterday was! John and I biked into town because we had some errands we needed to run. Fist we went to the District and Provincial Fisheries offices to arrange for them to show us the fish ponds/hatcheries in Mansa next week. Then it was off to the bank to transfer money. On the way to the bank John's bike chain snapped off! John's bike is always breaking down. I think we take it to a repair man every time we ride them! So frustrating, but I have to admit that I did laugh. After getting the bike repaired we went to a new local eatery called Uncle B's Pub and Grill. I had nshima and chicken with relish and John had t-bone, fries and Cole-slaw. It was good and not very expensive. John nearly chocked on a piece of gristle though and that was pretty scary.

After lunch we went to the Hospital to check about obtaining some distilled water from them. They make their own and offered us some for free- very kind! Then we went to ZESCO, the power company. We are having major issues with them because the tenet before us did not pay his bill since 2006. So, there is a huge bill that should be paid and they told us they were going to cut off our electricity. But, I think that things are going to get worked out- ZARI drafted a letter to transfer the bill to the place the man is staying at now and I think we will pay the rest (some maintenance fees and what we owe for the past 3 months). It is a huge mess and such a head ache. I think the research station is a big pain for ZESCO because people transfer in and out of homes. John went into town again today to sort things out.

We stopped by the market and the grocery store and then biked back home. The bike ride home seems so much harder since it is uphill and you are carrying many things back. But then you see people biking with huge loads of charcoal or carrying another person so I think, wow, I should not be having so much trouble biking up this hill! My load is so light! When we got home the electricity was out and we feared that it would not come back on for us (we had not settled the bill yet), but they were just doing some repairs to the transformer and we did have electricity! HOORAY! We do not have charcoal or a brazer so a hot plate is how we cook our food. No electricity= bread and water for us.

This holiday weekend we have plans to go to a small, local, game park called Kasanka. It should be a fun adventure; we are taking the bus from Mansa and they are dropping us at the park gate. I am feeling much better these days, thanks for everyone's prayers! Much love!

Kitchen Party

2009-04-06T00:33:00.001-07:00

This Saturday I attended my first 'Kitchen Party'. I would describe a kitchen party as a bridal shower on steroids. What happens is that you bring a wrapped gift with your name attached to it. They pile the gifts in the middle of the floor. There is drumming and dancing and then the bride-to-be comes crawling in with two councilors, one in front, one behind. They are cover with a cloth and they make there way up to the front of the room. The bride-to-be is then unveiled and they begin to pick up gifts and say who it is from. My gift was the first to be selected... I didn't know what I was suppose to do! Basically I discovered that you go up to the front, kneel down in front of the bride and unwrap your gift (which has something to do with the kitchen). You then explain how to use the gift, then you are suppose to dance. You tie a chitangy around your waste and they drum. I think it was pretty hilarious to see this white girl dancing and many people wanted to take videos on their cell phones! I don't have any pictures of me dancing though. To end the dance you lay down on the ground on your side and clap twice then flip to the other side and clap twice. It is a way of showing respect. After about 1/2 of the gifts were open the groomsmen and groom came dancing in and he presented the bride with flowers and a gift. The men then leave (after getting dinner) and the women then eat and finish the gift opening. There was quite the spread of rice, potatoes, beef stew, chicken, coleslaw, rolls and soda. I think the food might have given me some issues though since it had been sitting out for awhile. I had stomach problems at church the next day and a real awkward experience that I don't really want to write about. Between church services on Sunday we visited our friend Mari (from Finland) and ate lunch with her and had ice cream and got to watch some CNN. These were major treats for us and I also borrowed some of her books because I have read all the interesting, non-text books that we brought. The cell phone networks were not working this weekend, I am not sure what the issue was but hopefully we can receive calls from home this week. Love you all much!

Nearing the mid-term mark

2009-04-02T00:25:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that in about a week we will be 1/2 way through our time here in Zambia. This week has been full of sampling and lab work for John and weed counts for Ruth. We had some problems with the lab work, but are getting things sorted out. Its difficult when you don't have the infrastructure you need to fully conduct scientific research. But, you learn to make do.

Last night I came across a frog in my clothes! I let out a pretty good scream because it really surprised me! John thought something really serious had happened (like maybe there was a snake) but no, it was just the frogs again! These little creatures keep getting me. I am thankful to share our home with them though. I have recently discovered that what I suspected to be rat dropping are actually frog feces. On closer inspection they are full of dead little ant bodies. The frogs helps to keep the ant population in check- its quite the little ecosystem we have going on!

This weekend the ladies of the church are getting together and going to a kitchen party (sort of like a bridal shower I think). It should be an interesting cultural experience. Love you all much!

Our home away from home

2009-03-28T01:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a look at our "home away from home". We have a little garden in the back with rape, Chinese cabbage, and carrots. We are also growing sweet potatoes in the front. The soil in the back is better for a garden, it is richer in organic matter. We had to rescue the area from the monster-size pigweeds though! We actually needed to buy a better hoe because the first one we purchased at the market was not well made (sort of like the Walmart version.. what do you expect for $4.00 US?). One of the workers here at the research station made the hoe for us the second time. We bought the head in town for $4 and he fashioned it together (very strong) for $1. It is amazing the difference one dollar makes!

The house itself is a bit large for us, but we only live in the front room and its become quiet cozy. We had our first dinner guest Thursday night. Our friend helped us apply fertilizer to our garden and we invited him to stay for dinner. We had a nice meal and time together. We now have a tea kettle and 4 cups in case we have more visitors. Also, so we can drink something else besides water and the occasional squash we buy at the store. We are enjoying our first home together!

Sampling at Samfya shore

2009-03-25T03:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday John and I went to Samfya to collect water samples and search for snails. Samfya is about an hours drive away, but we headed further north to Lubwe and were afraid the road would be almost impassable. However,to our surprise the road was even better than the tarmac! Thankfully! The Chinese along with the Zambian government have a joint project to repair the road and it seems to be going well.

After a full day of sampling we got some biscuits for lunch and headed to the beach to eat and relax before heading home. Samfya is the main town near Lake Bangweulu, one of two large lakes in Luapula province. The lake is so large that you can be standing on the shore and not even see the other shoreline. It was nice to have a change of scenery and get to see more of the country.

The lake is not developed much, though there seems to be signs and talk of developing it into a tourist spot. Currently people use it for fishing (I believe it is in danger of being over fished) and there are 3 islands on which people live. Two of which have electricity.

It was nice for me to go with John on one of his sampling campaigns and see what he does and how they collect samples and search for snails. One of the hardest parts is locating and deciding where to sample, especially in the Samfya there are so many pools of water, it is one gigantic wetland area.

Today is back to the Lab for John and into the field for me. I am learning how to characterize and rate cassava varieties for various diseases and pests to see which varieties exhibit resistance.

mid-march adventures

2009-03-23T01:47:00.000-07:00

This week we cut John's hair! We bought scissor and trimmed as close as we could and then John used a razor on the rest (Ruth touched up the hard to reach places). He looks great and it is much cooler! The only downside is that he has funny tan-lines on his head from wearing a hat... which is much better than a burnt head!

One night we were laying down getting ready to go to bed and we heard a rustling in the corner, it was getting loud so john gave a "HEY!" shout and it stopped for a moment and then started up again! Ruth gave a BIG SCREAM! John got up to investigate... only to discover a frog that was hopping around on the plastic bags! Oh! what a laugh we had at that!

Thursday John went into town and purchased some starter plants (rape and cabbage) we are starting a garden around our house. We also have plans to grow pumpkins, beans, sweet potatoes and carrots! We will have lots of extra that we can give to our neighbors too!

On Friday we went to Anna Marie's Paradise, a local restaurant in Mansa town, for lunch as a special treat with our Finish friends Mari and Maree. We had delicious Bream, which is a large fish with nshima and a relish. John choose to have his with chips (he is not a big fan of nshima). The fish was gutted but the head and bones were all there.

On Saturday Ruth went to the ladies gathering at church where she conducted a pizza-making demonstration. The pizza turned out fantastic despite not having any measuring equipment or real baking sheets! The ladies also made beef stew with nshima and cassava leaves, it was a delicious meal and Ruth learned some traditional dances, how to tie the chitangy, and how to cook their traditional foods on coals. Many people still use coals because the electricity is not reliable. Even though it makes it smokey!

On Sunday between church services we went to the Peace Corps house. We met two fellow Americans and visited and talked with them there. The house is located in Mansa, the capital of Luapula so that all the peace corps folks who are in the area can go there to rest, and get money and supplies they need. They lent us a Bemba language book, but we found out that they have a 2 month orientation where they learn the language for 4 hours a day! I don't think we have that kind of time... but we will learn what we can while we are here. I think the Peace Corps experience is more about the living/cultural experience and their projects are secondary; I think the Fulbright is more about doing the project and the living/cultural experience is a secondary emphasize.

It was such a busy weekend that I didn't have time to clean and we are starting to get an ant issue. So, I spent a couple of hours this morning sweeping, scrubbing and mopping and relocating the ant-delicious food. I guess ants are not such a bad pest, they are little and you know they are after: the sugar. They sure are better than roaches, but I still don't like it when they get into the food and on the table. I am hoping this cleaning will keep them at bay for at least a few weeks.

a week o'work'in

2009-03-18T06:17:00.000-07:00

This week John and I have been busy out in the field. Myself applying herbicides and counting/collecting weeds and John collecting water samples and snails. I have reached my goal of collecting 50 weed species for the herbarium! I need a way of preserving them in the humidity here, I know of a lamination service in town and am going to see how expensive that will be. I would like to have a nice way to present the herbarium to the research station and preserve it for their future use.

John found his first parasite shedding snail! At one sight he collected over 400 snails. He has to go into some pretty interesting water bodies, there are leaches that attach to his gum-boots. I wish we had hip-waders for him to use! It has been rainy here, which is good since the rains will end in about a month's time. Thankfully we have had a sunny day today for putting out herbicides.

We are still SLOWLY learning Bemba... I think it is difficult because we are just learning phrases and we have no structure, no idea how to construct sentences! We need to get some help, there is a peace corp house in Mansa-town, so hopefully we can stop in sometime and maybe they have some type of guide-book that could help. Hope you all had a happy St. Patty's day and have a happy start to SPRING!

Herbicides, Caterpillars and Holidays

2009-03-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

I am greatly encouraged by the Zamwipes, simple "weed brushes" used for the herbicide testing. Things are working good, despite applying under less than ideal conditions. I think there is potential here and I will be able to get some good information.

John and I have a goal to purchase 1-2 new items of food each week at the market and learn how to cook it. This week we tried the caterpillars. We decided that we do not like caterpillars. Apparently they are very nutritious, but they are an odd texture and made our bellies feel not so good. I was only able to eat about 3 and John stomached about 7 before giving up. We had only cooked 1/2 of the amount we bought so we gave the man who is working at keeping up our yard the remainder. We have been without water this week, the pump was broken and so we have been making do with what we have. Thankfully all is now fixed so we can re-stock our water supply. When you don't have something like water (even when you are use to only having it 3 times a day) you gain a greater appreciation for it! I am thankful for water!

This week contains two special holiday's: International Women's Day and Youth Day. On Monday Ruth went to the Farm Institute for a Women's Day function. All the women from the Agricultural research station and the Farm Institute (Extension branch of Ministry of AG) got together for a meeting. The PACO (provincial agricultural coordinating officer), a women, gave a speech and lead a discussion on HIV/AIDS. There was also a speaker on economic empowerment of women. There is a program for women to access loans to fund businesses, they were telling the women how to access the funds and the regulations. There was also a nice meal of chicken, rice, tomato sauce and cabbage. Coke and boiled groundnuts were also served. A Banacimbusa, a women who is a role model in the community, spoke about family relations and taking care of husbands, especially those with HIV/AIDS. There was a lot of laughing, clapping and some dancing too! Many of the women were dressed in their beautiful chitange material dresses, with lots of bright colors!

For Youth Day, on Thursday, we went to a couples gathering from our church group. We talked about traditional marriages and the customs that are helpful and those that are less than helpful for Christian marriages. Some of the good things from traditional customs are that hospitality is valued, and the importance of looking out for the interest of others (especially women) and community participation in the marriage. Some of the negative influences of traditional culture is the male dominance, relatives influence, an emphasize on sex, the expectation of bearing children, and if ones spouse dies the other partner is believe to have caused the death (especially if it is the husband who dies). John and I learned a lot about the culture and enjoyed the fellowship and a wonderful meal with our brothers and sisters here in Zambia.

As always I am learning much, love and miss you all and think of you often!

Cooking Lessons

2009-03-05T04:45:00.000-08:00

These pictures are of some common dishes the people of Zambia enjoy. Mrs. Mary Chiona, the wife of our contact here was kind enough to give us cooking lessons so we could learn what to make from the local foods we find in the market.

Impwa (also known as African Eggplant) is found at the local market and this variety had a bitter aftertaste (they do not all have a bitter taste but we don't know how to tell the difference). We cooked it with onions and tomatoes in a skillet with a little oil. Adding salt to taste. We hope to find the non-bitter variety in the future. I was told that people who have malaria sometimes prefer the bitter variety.

Kepenta are small, dried fish found in the lakes around the province. This specific species was from Lake Mweru (far north/west of Zambia). This fish must be vigorous washed multiple times to get out bits of sand (the fish are laid out on the sandy beaches of the lake shores to dry). After washing you just put them into a skillet with a bit of oil, add some onions, tomatoes, and salt. They have a very fishy taste and odor so John and I prefer to spice them up with pepper, garlic, and lemon.

We ate these two relishes with nshima (the mashed potato looking stuff) which is fine-ground corn meal. The dinner was very filling! We had too much- we ate it for dinner, reheated the impwa for breakfast and had the kapenta with eggs for dinner the next night! We have also enjoyed some raw cassava (there are sweet varieties that do not contain cyanide). Cassava also fills you up really fast and sticks with you. People eat it as a snack with salt (I like to put peanut butter on it- kind of like celery sticks). We also have local sweet potatoes to try.

We are certainly expanding our culinary horizons and are learning about the food here in Zambia. Even though we do still have our 'American tastes'and always welcome pizza, peanut butter, and ice cream!

Fainting, Falls and Twin Fountains Farm

2009-03-02T00:19:00.000-08:00

Last week John and I caught a ride with our PLARD (Finnish) friends to Lusaka so John could meet with some folks from an organization called CONTRAST who are doing work on mapping infectious diseases across the continent. After getting a few items in town we got bus tickets to go to Livingston and see Victoria Falls. We were going to be tourists for a couple of days!

The bus ride from Lusaka to Livingston takes about 7 hours. The road is mostly good until Zimba where they are doing repairs so they detour vehicles onto a dirt road. This makes for a bumpy last 2 hours. Arriving into Livingston is a bit disorienting and it was odd to be in a tourist town. We booked a room at Jolly Boys backpackers; the accommodations were excellent with a relaxed atmosphere. we talked with people around and decided to book a white-water rafting excursion down the Zambezi. WOW! what an experience... to get to the launching point you walk down a deep gorge on a wooden latter/stairs. The rapids are intense, but nothing compared to when the water is lower, in October. There were 6 people to a raft plus a guide. We were with 3 other Americans and 1 kiwi (New Zealander). We managed to keep from falling out though a couple of people (John) got tossed about and ended up out of their seats! We stopped at one point and jumped off of a rock ledge into the river (we were actually on the Zimbabwe side to do this)! We were pretty tired after all the paddling and sunshine, but getting to see the river and gorge while you are out in the middle of all of it was just so majestic.

Sunday morning John and I walked to the Maramba BIC congregation meeting house for worship services. We sent greetings from UMC and were received with open arms and great kindness. We sat in on bible study and stayed for services. The congregation is enthusiastic and we were clapping and singing and swaying. All of a sudden the church seemed so very crowded and hot and I closed my eyes... and passed out! John in true hero fashion picked me up and carried me outside. Once outside in the fresh air I came back, they took me to the pastor's office and I rested as John fanned me and got me some water to drink. I felt rather silly. I think I dehydrated myself (from the bus trip and then rafting) and got over-heated in the church building. Once I was feeling better we sat out by the door so that I could have some fresh-air but still hear what was going on. After services we met with the pastor and he gave us some maize to take with us and got us a ride back to the backpackers since I was still a bit weak. I rested and drank plenty of fluids the rest of the afternoon. In the evening we went to see the falls for a few hours- WOW! there is so much water- you get soaked by the spray and see rainbows!

Monday we went back to the falls to spend the day there. We hiked around the Zambian side and down into the boiling pot, where the Zambezi rages. We took a picnic lunch there and then decided to go check out the falls proper and get soaked again. beautiful. How can you describe it? Amazing, wondrous, awe-inspiring. After getting wet we hiked some trails to see the upper Zambezi, before it flows over the falls.

Tuesday we were back on the bus, but before we left we stopped for a brief look into the Livingston museum. They have interesting exhibits on the natural history and culture. I only wish we had more time, but our bus was leaving and we were head to Kalomo to visit Klaus Muller and his farm. Mr. and Mrs. Muller are a German couple who have lived in Zambia for 30 years. They have a farm, called Twin Fountains (because of the two springs on the property). They raise chickens, sheep, goats and cattle and run an AG technical school to train farmers in vegetable production and animal husbandry. Klaus' parents have also moved from Germany to live with them and helped start a Basic School for the children in the area (who had no where to go to school). It was such a blessing to visit with them, hear their experiences and fellowship with them. They fed us amazing home-cooked, farm-raised, delicious meals. We even had chocolate cake and mulberry cobbler! Klaus really knows Zambian agriculture and has a wealth of information on soil types, grazing land holding capacity, and appropriate management for the area. He doesn't beleive in hand-outs and makes his students pay for their schooling. They are required to grow vegetables for their classes but they can also sell them and use the money they make to pay for school. With initiative, motivation and work they can pay for all of their schooling and leave with money in their pockets. Its a good system.

Back in Lusaka we visited with our "family away from home" the Frenches and did a bunch of shopping to get research/herbicide supplies (a hand-pump back-pack sprayer costs about US$76). I also purchased a Zamwipe herbicide tool used by small farmers, it is basically a weed broom and cost a reasonable US$22. I am going to test out these tools up in Mansa. I also learned that 25 acres cost around US$30,000 if anyone is interested in starting a farm over here.

The bus ride from Lusaka to Mansa leaves at 4:00pm and arrives at 4:00am. It is pretty rough going and there is one bathroom stop about half way that leaves much to be desired and you even must pay about $US 0.20 cents to use it. So I don't even want to imagine what it would be like if you did not have to pay. Our home in Mansa was just the same as when we left it and we are happy to be back! Love you all very much, know you are in our hearts and prayers. Only 19 days until spring!

A typical day in the life of John and Ruth

2009-02-17T00:26:00.001-08:00

John and I are finding ourselves getting use to a routine here in Zambia. We are getting use the currency which has the lowest bill as 50 and highest as 50,000 (the conversion between US dollars is roughly $5,000K for $1US). The money here is very colorful and was hard for me to distinguish between at first, but now I am getting the hang of it.

A "typical day" for us involves getting up around 6:30 or 7:00am and starting breakfast cooking. We often eat eggs and potatoes for breakfast sometimes bread and jelly or lefts-overs like rice, beans, ground nuts or nshima with some sugar (I also like to put peanut butter in it, but John thinks that is odd and I think most Zambians would agree). We go to the office at 8:00am and greet people and ask what is the "program" for the day. Then we talk about what we would like to do that day. For me this usually involves going out to the field to scout and collect weeds or observe what is going on: weeding, planting etc. For John this ranges from working in the lab (pictured above) or going out to collect water samples.

The picture below is of a fish pond in Mansa, the farmer is very motivated and keeps excellent fish ponds, John was interested in seeing what the nutrient levels of the pond were so we collected samples from inside the pond and outside the pond in the nearby dambo (wetland) area. This farmer, besides having a 7 fish ponds (his goal is to build 10), has ducks, turkeys, kittens, dogs, chickens, pigs, and goats. He also grows maize, vegetable garden, pineapples, bananas, and palm oil. He owns his own vehicle but insists that he is "a poor man". Our friend and driver, Ben, insisted later that this man is not poor. While his living might be modest in the USA he is wealthy compared to many Zambians.

After working in the field we will come back to our home to take lunch (normally from 1-2). Then we will go back to the field or the office to do work and finish around 5:00. After work we like to get dinner going and then go for a run in the evenings. We spend our evenings preparing meals, replenishing our water supply, taking showers and we relax by reading, watching movies on our lap tops, playing cards, playing the harmonica, or talking. We hope to get some sport equipment when we are in Lusaka to have some community games that we can play with people after work, there seems to be great interest in Volley ball and of course soccer.

We recently bought bikes and road them into town. They kept breaking down on us... but thankfully there are many bike repair men in town. We actually had quite an adventure on Valentine's day, finding ourselves biking home in the pitch dark! This is not advisable, because it is so hard to see the road or people or anything but the stars were so beautiful! Thankfully we made it back to our home safe and sound.

We plan to be out of our "routine" for a bit as we are heading down to Lusaka to get our study permits and meet with some people. We love you all so much!

Rainbow and Mumbuluma Falls

2009-02-13T01:04:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the Zambian country side! The one with the rainbow was taken just a few minutes walk from our house here. The other two were taken at Mumbuluma Falls, about 40km outside of Mansa. We stopped for a visit on our way back from Mwense, a town north of Mansa. The government is working on developing the Falls area into a tourist location, but for now it is remote, mostly undeveloped and cost $4US for a car full of people to visit. It is a beautiful place!

In Mwense we were delivering cuttings to a local farmer for on-farm research and extension. The goal of the project is to get farmers to grow the new varieties and then pass cuttings along to their neighbors to spread the new, higher yielding varieties. There is a great potential for the cassava market, millers are requesting 450 Tons for processing, but demand can not be met. However, a communication link is missing because the farmers in Mwense who grow cassava say that there is not market in it, that they can not sell their goods. So, there is work going on to try and connect the growers to the market.

John was also able to sample some streams on the way back from our trip yesterday. He always has a large group of children following him around, wondering what he is doing and wanting to help. We also saw the Luapula river on our drive yesterday (there is so much water) and looked across the boarder into Congo (it is so close). Apparently Zambians sell many of their goods to Congo like fish, cassava, goats, and ground nuts since the market is very good. We passed the hydro-electric dam which powers much of the Luaplua region of Zambia and bought bananas and reed mats in Mwense-town (everything for $1US). The bananas come in bunches of 5 and are smaller than the bananas in a US grocery store, but they are very delicious! The reed mats are a nice surface to do exercises on in the morning or bring outside to sit in the yard. We have been calling about our immigration study permits but have had trouble getting through, I got through today but they told me to just have someone come by and check. I think we will go to Lusaka to pick them up next week. We love you all very much and think of you often!

One month in Zambia

2009-02-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

It is another lovely day here in Mansa, with the sunshine bright and a slight breeze to keep things cool. This morning I was busy collecting sweet potato cuttings and then re-planting them in a field for multiplication purposes. The process is a fairly simple one. First you go to a place where there are establish plants (for the purpose of having parent material in which to create new varieties), you cut the veins into about 15cm in length, you note from what parent they are from and tie them into a bundle (we collected 30 cuttings per parent). Then you drive out into the bush where a field has been cleared for planting and ridges have been made (this is all done with hoes). Ridges are about 0.5 m in height and 1 meter apart. You then take a stick an poke a hole on the top of the ridge 15cm apart (10 per ridge) and then you stick 3/4th of the vine you cut into the hole and press the soil around it. That is all-you have planted the sweet potato! The environment will take care of the rest.

We also scoped out some cassava fields and met some workers who were weeding. The weed pressure is great, because they have not weeded yet this year and many weeds have already gone to seed. I told them about our saying "one year seeding, seven years weeding"... the weed control needs to be done much sooner to prevent so many from going to seed and building up the weed seed bank. There was a discussion that took place between the researchers and the workers, the workers said the weeds were too many they could not complete 20 ridges per person per day (the agreed upon work-load). They told me there is always this tension the between employer who wants the worker to do more and the employee who wants to do less for more return. The workers here are sometimes paid in food, such as, so much of an area of cassava harvest, other times they are paid cash. I am not sure how this all works out yet.

I have not yet learned the division of labor. Sometimes the researchers do not do the work such as the cutting and planting etc. but sometimes they do help out. I try to do what I can, so I can learn. Most of the people hired to do weeding and planting at the research station are men, because they do more work. Hopefully I can pull my own weight and be helpful- no matter what the task. There is also some sort of cultural hierarchy of respect, most scientist are referred to as "Mr. so and so" whereas in the states we refer to everyone by their first name (except maybe department heads), this has been difficult for me to remember to do because many people's last names are foreign to me- making them hard to remember. John and I just go by our first names.

You all might be interested in know that John wears pants here in Zambia (at least during the week). This is so funny to me because in the US it will be snowing and he will have mesh-shorts and sandles on! Now it is boots and long pants! Another funny thing is our toilet seat. So, back at Jenn's house we managed to break the toilet seat, not big deal, we just go to the store and get a new one. So, in the process of setting up the house here in Zambia we bought 2 toilet seats, because the one was broken before we moved in. Little did we know that these cheap plastic seats perpetually break... we now nearly have a solid duct-tape toilet seat because it has broken in so many places! The duct tape now allows for some flexibility so hopefully we can keep it mostly intact for the rest of our time here!

This is a big week for us. On the 12th it will mark our 1 year engagement, 4 month wedding anniversary, 1 month in Zambia, and Abe Lincoln's birthday! So much to celebrate in one day! Love you all much! Grace and peace!

2009-02-05T23:35:00.000-08:00

ZARI: Zambian Agriculture Research Institute

2009-02-05T01:36:00.000-08:00

John and I have finally set up a "home" here in Mansa. We are living right next door to the research station, which is conveniently close to where we work. We have begun to set things up and are figuring out the water schedule. Water is pumped 3 times a day, so for the rest of the time you need to store water in containers for use. We are still trying to figure out a good system, but are getting there. When we first moved into the house on Monday we were welcomed by a FLOOD. The plumber did a poor job on the shower and it leaked and flooded the bathroom, hallway, kitchen and into the front room. Water was everywhere, we had to mop the floors and get the water out, but at least we were able to get the floors clean!

We have begun our research projects. John has gone to one school in the area to scope out their water sources and search for snails. Yesterday I helped plant sweet potato trials; three variety trials and one weed management trial, which I will be heading-up. I have also been observing and familiarizing myself with the weed flora. Its always an experience when you go out the "the fields" from the research station offices. The fields are scattered around the property and seem to be hidden, I do not know how the drivers find there way because the roads aren't always visible. The grass is up to the windscreen and we just seem to drive and then appear in a clearing! I guess this is typical of the rainy season, however the grass will all die in the dry season.

I am going to try and upload some pictures for you all to see of our house and of the area. Lots of love! Stay warm, know you are in our hearts and prayers!

Life in Mansa

2009-01-30T04:43:00.000-08:00

So here we are in Mansa, Zambia...but how did we get here? Well, me (John) and Ruth were picked up by her contact Martin Chiona (as well as our multitudes of luggage) and he drove us 9 hours north to Mansa. Now let me tell you that driving here does not mean the same thing as driving in the states. First we head off on a reasonbly good paved road. We stop in some little town to pick up food and the like...so far no big difference. But the farther away from Lusaka you get the larger and more frequent the potholes in the road are. Pretty soon you find that we are swerving back and forth trying to avoid the potholes here and there. But what I mean when I say potholes are LARGE (3 feet wide by 1 foot deep) holes in the pavement where road used to be. That being said it was still nice to have a paved road all the way to Mansa. Me and Ruth enjoyed getting out into the country side (mostly mixed grassland and woodland) and saw it as a welcome respite from the car exhaust and city streets of Lusaka. We got up to Mansa at about 9:30 PM and checked into our hotel (though it was pretty challenging to find a recptionist as she was about to leave work for the night. We settled into our room, took (HOT!!! ...nice) showers, and went to bed. We got up the next day and scoped out our accomodation at the research station. It is a fixer-upper to say the least so we have been spending most of our time managing the construction site and we will hopefully move in on Monday. We have met many nice people while staying in Mansa but we are looking forward to moving out of our hotel room (right now we are cooking meals on a hot plate on the desk in our room and to wash dishes we have to take showers with the pots). We are starting to settle into a pace of life here...waking up and eating breakfast...heading to work....going home and cooking supper/reading. Watching the predictable afternoon and evening storms roll across the African plain and be serenaded to sleep each night by raindrops and rumbles (it rains every night here in the rainy season...which we are in). There is so much I have left out of this post but we'll just have to have Ruth fill you in on the rest when she gets a chance to make a post. Hopefully the next time we post we will be talking about moving into our house here at the reserach station. Hope this post finds all of you well...JAR.

2009-01-21T05:22:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is hard to believe that John and I have been in Zambia for one week. We are learning much and starting to settle in to life here. Our fist week has been spent in the capital city, Lusaka. We have been staying in an A-frame hut that has a bed, two small stand, our luggage, a fan that we bought to help dry our clothes and keep us cool and bug free at night. We have also strung a maze of cloth line in our house to dry our clothes that we have either washed or that got soaked when we were caught in a mid-day down-pour. Its hard to dry things because it pours down rain at least once everyday and the humidity is high.

I guess I should update you all from the beginning. The flight to Lusaka is pretty brutal... you fly from the US to Senegal (8 hours) and then security gaurds with guns come on board and ask you which bag is yours, they go seat by seat. Then you are back in the air for another 8 hours to Jo-burg, South Africa. By this time your feeling weird because you haven't had a good sleep and your body doesn't know if its day or night or what the heck is going on. Then we boarded our last flight to Lusaka, arrived at 9:00pm to discover our baggage did not make it. Apparently this is common when going through South Africa. Thankfully the embassy was able to help us out the next day, our bags arrived and they drove us to the airport to pick them up. While looking for our luggage we met Lorie and Kerin French, a mother and daughter who were looking for their baggage from 10 days ago (they found it!). They are from the States but have lived in Zambia for the past 4 years. We ran into them again at Shop Rite (the grocery store) and they gave us their cell numbers and helped us figure out what we needed to do to get cell phones.

Friday the 16th was a break-through day for us... we were able to find our way around the city and were able to get our immigration papers in order, book flights home for Jeff and Becky's wedding, visited the University Teaching Hospital and made contact with John's project folks, we also saw a military motor-cage and stopped to watch, a local man on the street, who is a girls soccer coach told us that they were all dressed up in uniform because the parliment just opened today and the military was there for the ceremony. The man also helped us find where to get topographic maps. The Zambian people are very friendly and helpful. On friday we also went to the down-town bus station to check out prices...oh my! This place is pure chaos. We were swarmed by people that wanted to take us around their "booth" to purchase a ticket from their bus company. prices are not displayed, so you arn't really sure if you are getting a good deal, or getting charged more. It was quite the experience.

Over the weekend we were able to meet up with Shruthi, the other Fulbrighter who is in Zambia. It was good to talk with her, see how she was doing and eat a nice meal... we have mostly been living on 1) peanut butter and mango jelly sandwhiches 2) granola bars 3) tuna sandwhiches and 4) carrots and apples. On Sunday we went to church with the French family we met at the airport. They are very wonderful and we stayed the whole day at their house! They are working with Mepepe Bible College, which is also an agricultural teaching farm. It is affiliated with the Church of Christ and Healing Hands International (the place I did an internship with in College). They are funded through Sunset, in Lubbock, TX. David French, the father went to school at Harding Graduate School of Religion (maybe around the same time as my Dad?), He and his wife went to Kenya and were missionaries over there for a few years, they came back to the States because their baby boy had heart trouble. They have since been in North Carolina pastoring a church but Africa was also on their hearts. They have three adpoted children, Steven (from Korea who is in the states), Kerin (from Florida, who is 21 and lives next door, she has adpoted 2 Zambian orphan children, Susan and Zain, they are so much fun to play with and super cute!), their youngest daughter Natasha is from India and is begin home schooled. God is really taking care of us and watching over us... it was providential that we met them at the airport and again at the grocery store. They have really helped get us settled and their plans and work at Mepepe is full of love, grace and is truly helping the people here.

Yesterday (monday) we had a little early birthday celebration for me and had dinner and ice cream with Shruthi. We ate at a fairly inexpensive Indian resturant and John and I shared an ice cream "volcano" this was basically a 2-towerd ice cream sundae that has sparklers put in the top of each mound (it was from the kids menu, so the people serving it thought we were a bit odd). I had a very happy birthday! Thanks to everyone for their well-wishes!

Lusaka is a bustling city, with a good bit of air pollution from the cars, especially when everyone is going to/from work. We either take a taxi or walk where ever we need to go. A taxi will cost us around 3-6 US dollars. If you walk, you will walk on dirt paths that parrallel the road, sometimes there are sidewalks but not often. There are mud puddles everywhere since it is the rainy season. There is also a lot of trash laying around. You don't want to be caught out in the rain with all the dirt and trash rushing through the sides of the street (this happened to us yesterday). There is no such thing as a gentel rain, it will drench you so that your clothes are clinging to your body. There will be little shops on the side of the street or people sitting on the side of the street selling just about anything: umbrellas, corn, bread, mushrooms, bananas, dvds, belts, flip-flops, phone chargers, inflatable pool toys... anything. Lusaka seems to have good electricity, we have had it every night. People tell us that the Copper mines are not doing well so they are not pulling much electrcity,so there is more for the rest of the country. When the mines are working full-tilt there is not enough energy to go around, so there are certain sections of the country that get electricity shut off on certain days and it rotates around the country. Also, we have been told that if electricity is shut off it is normally around dinner time, when everyone is trying to use it. But, we have not had any problems so far, though we did purchase a battery and charger since we don't know what it will be like in Mansa.
We are doing well and love you all very much! We plan to go Mansa tomorrow. Grace and peace to you all!

Twas the night before departure... (John Speaking)

2009-01-11T19:29:00.000-08:00

Well...it is 10:30 PM EST and me and Ruth are getting ready to spend out last night in the USA for a while. We spent the day going to church, eating lunch with friends, and of course packing. As I type this in the kitchen I see our 200 pounds of belongings sitting against the wall and I think to myself, "finally, time to go!". It seems that me and Ruth have been preparing for this trip FOREVER and it will be nice to finally going. Still there will be many things we are going to miss. ..

1. Winter - I know this sounds crazy but we LOVE winter! We just built a 9 foot tall snowman last night in the front yard and now we are going to have to leave this winter wonderland from tropical Zambia (not a bad trade I suppose).

2. Friends and Family - It was great that we were able to spend so much time with family in both IL, WI, and PA. Still we will miss them just the same. We had a great going-away party in State College that just reminded us how much we will miss the community there. Great people just seem to find us!!!

Though we will miss these things we are very glad to have each other. I was just commenting to Ruth that I was glad that I did not have to say goodbye to her! We have both taken research trips away from each other (Ruth in South America and me in Antarctica) and we have decided to not do that anymore. No matter what the adventure ahead, we feel that we are in a good place to meet it. As always your prayers are welcome as we strive to adjust to our new surroundings. Our next post will be from Lusaka Zambia (if all goes according to plan). I hope this finds all who read it well. Know that we are thinking of you all.

2008-12-15T08:28:00.001-08:00

I am just learning how this blog thing works. Testing it out as a way to communicate with family and friends back home, to let them know what we are learning and discovering in Zambia.