Adapt-taste-ion

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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!