What I've been doing lately

A couple of things that I need to brush up on, since it's been a while! I'll bullet what I've done so that it doesn't become a very long blog:

October 29th - Chabbobboma Banana plantation and Harbor

• Located near Lake Kariba for irrigation system
• 4,000 banana plants are harvested each year
• Crocodiles live in the lake, as do hippos which come out of the water at night to eat the banana plants. They are scared off by flashlights held by guards. Apparently hippos are not a fan of light
• Harbor - Fisherman who go out into the water may be fishing in a bad boat. They get washed up on the beach drowned because they cannot swim well. Fishing as a job is very dangerous and risky.
• Ate nshima, chicken, and relish for lunch Zambian style (with hands) on a comfortable log. It was good eatin'

November 5-8: Lusaka (capital of Zambia)

• Toured Lusaka, saw the Embassies of different countries, courthouse, courtyard, air port, and other government-owned buildings.
• Visited the late-president's grave
• Karaoke at Le Triumph Dolphin Restaurant - really good tomato soup there! And Indian food!
• Had American-style pizza for the first time in two months!
• Watched A Christmas Carol in a very nice theater! LOVED the computer graphics - very well done.
• Bought some souvenir type stuff at the craft center and learned the art of bargaining "Come, come and look. Pick out which one you like and we'll settle for a price." Heard that a lot, it was fun!
• Caught a cold. I think it was from the air conditioner in my room's fault because I did not have a cold before or after the trip to Lusaka. So, no surprises when I come back to the colder side of the world.
• Visited an orphanage/hospice. It was amazing that only 6 Sisters cared for nearly 45 infants/toddlers every day - changing, feeding, loving them. Hospice patients, in their sickness, greeted us with songs of greeting and joy that we had visited them. Homeless people also come in the night to sleep at the hospice (but only to sleep there and nothing else)
• Met a guy from Idaho who had worked for the Peace Corps. Supposedly his friends assumed that we were 'fresh off the boat' just because we were taking pictures. Nope, just fresh from Choma!
• Visited St. John's Medical Center, hospice, orphanage, urban school, Nursing Council building, and CHAZ (Christian Health Association of Zambia).
• Last day we were going to go to a church in Lusaka (Sunday), but two of our team members were sick, one with Malaria and the other with a GI upset, so we just headed home. Five hour drive, but it was all paved, so it was nice sleeping

November 9: Habanuga Village Visit

• Team from the Choma hospice allowed us to travel with them about 2.5 hours away from Choma waaaay out into the wilderness or 'the bush' to educate the Habanuga village
• Taught village men and women and children about how to prevent malaria, HIV/AIDS, being faithful to significant other, decrease or cease to drink the amount of shake-shake intake (village beer), boiling water to kill bacteria, washing hands properly, sexual health, spiritual health, and exercising to make them stronger.
• Learned some cultural beliefs about what makes people rich
• One person stated that they do not seek health care when they get malaria because it takes 48 hours to get to the nearest health clinic and by the time they get there the malaria is already very bad, so they just stay at home.
• The children ran away from some of the girls who wanted to play with them (they ended up chasing the children). This, I learned, is because when the children are younger, they think that white people resemble ghosts because of our white skin due to an old cultural belief. However, once they become older to understand, they know that white people are the same as they are.

I do not have any pictures as of now of all that I have experienced, and there is much more that I have not written down, but those are the main points. That's what I've been up to, anyways.

And it is starting to rain more! We had our first thunderstorm yesterday! Yay! However, it brought a lot of flying termites into the house and moths. I just found out this evening by one of the Zambian staff that they eat the flying termites with nshima as relish. The caterpillars that hang from trees I hear are pretty tasty, too.