This big, black animal

Is the one I pulled out of the corral a couple weeks ago.

Very sad indeed.

this Wonder-Break-y place

Three-and-a-half years ago at a job interview, they asked me how I manage stress. Well, I used to find that lying on my bed in my bright pink room, chatting with my wonderful sisters, listening to classical music, and sipping fruit tea was a pretty good way to relax, even after a long, stressful day.

But here I am in Zam world with no sisters, no bright pink bedroom, and no fruit tea. The lack of certain stress relievers has not equated a lack in stress inhibitors.

So, sometimes Heather and I pretend to get 'outa town. In between shopping at Spar, waiting in queue at the bank, checking the post office box, paying Zesco bills and all other Choma-wide duties, we sneak around the side of Choma Garage, past the minibus stop-off where at least three fellows yell things at us each time we pass... we sneak back there and dodge the big trucks and the bicycles and the wheelbarrows, and we step into Wonderbake.

coffee, tea, meat pies, Coke, sliced bread, ice cream... they have it all,
and sometimes they even have scones!
(I still haven't figured out how a bakery can have NO baked goods for sale before 10am)

I'm glad Heather is a savour-your-hot-drink sort of person, because that gives us time to just sit at Wonderbake and chat and relax over her cappuccino. Sometimes I don't even buy anything at Wonderbreak, er, Wonderbake, because the brief time of "away" is often worth more than a treat :).

Once our cups are empty, and the table is cleared, we leave that Zam-Wonder-place and walk back out into the world of gawking guys and hot sun and business transactions waiting to happen.

just because

Stebbin and Conrad

Beautiful Betsy...

Sent me an Amazing Package!

How did she know I would be roasted??
...It was a SUNNY walk from the post office back home...

The post office clerk said, "To Amazing Julie!" when he handed me the package.
Made me smile.

 Betsy is fabulous and cool and amazing and all those other good things!

Such excellent taste!

and... July 4th, here we come!

Colorful Job

photo complements of Google

In relation to computers, my sister Amy thinks of herself as the “Mac” type [i.e. creative, artsy] and labels me as the “PC” type [i.e. boring, spreadsheet and graph-oriented].

I just want to show you that I do have color in my job… and I took 

this picture (and posted it using my PC) to prove the fact!

p.s. If you've never watched the Mac/PC advertisements, please do 

look them up on YouTube sometime when you need a hoot!

Emily

Recently, we had the privilege of spending time with Emily, a journalist traveling through Zambia and Zimbabwe for three months gathering stories for Mennonite Central Committee. In celebration of Youth Day, Malinda, Heather, and I took Emily to the market to shop for chitenge fabric for a Zambian outfit.

Visit to a sidewalk bistro

This is a chocolate experience meant to be sipped and savored… a European delight. One taste of our Trader Joe’s Sipping Chocolate and you may feel like you've been whisked away to a sidewalk bistro in Rome or Barcelona. This decadent chocolate elixir has been crafted in the European style using only the finest ingredients. Immerse your taste buds in this rich, bittersweet chocolate. 

[copied from the side of the tin]

On a recent Sunday evening, Heather and I prepared two small cups of Trader Joe’s sipping chocolate (one serving equals 1/3 cup hot milk and 3 tablespoons of the cocoa mix). We closed our eyes. “Do you feel like you’re at a café in Rome?” I asked Heather.

Yes. We both did.

I opened my eyes, only to discover that I was on the sofa in our sitting room in Nahumba. 

I looked down at my tea cup. 

It was empty.

Thanks to Monica (and Justin and Joy!),
I’m sure this won’t be the last time Heather and I
visit a European bistro right here from our Zambian home.

Snagged at the Butchery

While we were waiting (30+ minutes) for our mince order to be freshly ground from frozen beef hunks we snagged a couple pictures so you too can visit our butcher’s.

There are several things that make this butchery unique when compared to what one might expect at a butchery in the States:

• The meat is stored in freezers behind the counter, not glass showcases
• There is no running water
• The room is surrounded on two or three sides with large mirrors—which makes the shoppe seem larger than it is, but which is also a bit awkward when waiting for an order, as you’re always looking at your reflection no matter where you look
• The meat cutter and grinder (shown in picture #2) are run from the same electrical outlet, so the operator must plug and unplug them on and off depending on which machine is needed
• The name on the sign is different from the name on the receipt

And… not unique for Zambia, but notable when making comparisons with the States:

• Sometimes they have it (whatever you’re looking for), sometimes they don’t

OSHA would never approve of any part of our butcher’s shoppe, but especially not of the 

open saw blade on the meat slicer. 

Extra careful operators are a necessity here. 

Peepy Nahumba Moment

Heather’s parents went to watch the giant Peep drop on New Year’s Eve. We couldn't believe it! At this great event, everyone was given free Peeps, so Heather’s amazing Pops picked her up a package of Peeps.

Heather and I feel similarly about Peeps: the best way to enjoy Peeps is to pop them in the microwave (one at a time) for a few seconds and watch them blow up. Cheep, dumb entertainment. Entertainment nevertheless.

Anyway, amongst the Valentine goodies Heather’s Mom sent was the package of Reindeer Peeps from her Pops.

Chrissy had never seen or eaten Peeps before (apparently, Canadians have better taste than we have when it comes to artificial sugar blobs…). We decided to hold a Peep Tasting Event so Chrissy could experience the wonder of these mallowy, fake “treats.”

Malinda does not share the same views on Peeps as Heather and I, so she gladly joined the Peep Tasting Event. I volunteered to be the camera girl.

Here are the most notable findings from the tasting:

1. Surprisingly, these reindeer Peeps weren't stale, even though they arrived over 1.5 months after they were in season (if you want something scary to think about, just imagine how long it must take for a Peep to become stale)
2. Chocolate Peeps have a better flavor than traditional, Easter yellow Peeps

Beauty

Some Zam-scapes Heather shot on our drive to Lusaka

The Texas Approach

The new US Embassy is huge, elaborate, up on a hill, and set apart in Lusaka.

*Please don’t tell on me… it was only after I started snapping pictures that Heather pointed out the large sign indicating that photographs were prohibited. Oops.

It's time to go home when...

Your truck is full of:

10 pieces of luggage
1 volleyball
4 separate orders of groceries
1 cooler
5 litres of paint
29 metres of cloth
1 doctor
1 pharmacist
1 med student
1 finance specialist
and…
1 accountant 

We found it in Lusaka...

Zambian version of Hamburger Helper

*price, for the note, is over $4 USD*

26 metres, please

While in Lusaka, we purchased a bunch of elephants to add to our house décor…

Mahak

Indian cuisine was our agreed-upon dinner out in Lusaka, where the dining options blew us away! We were not disappointed by our tikka masala at Mahak, even when Zesco (electricity) blinked during the evening. 

ps- Happy Youth Day! (we observe with a public holiday today)

Admission of Guilt

Yes. I am a guilty person.

It’s difficult to remember every detail of transitioning into a new job… and a week ago Friday at a police check on the way to Lusaka, the officer discovered a detail I missed. The license sticker on the front of our vehicle never got updated at the end of 2012! My mistake cost us some Kwacha, but the officer was kind enough to personally donate K20 toward our fine :).

Upon arriving home, I opened the file drawer and pulled out the new sticker, which had been prepped in November to be placed on the vehicle (which was out of town at the time) in December.

Indeed.

Guilty as charged by the people of Zambia.

Zoosaka

street vendors take advantage of slow moving traffic

After weighing many factors (including the fact that we hadn’t been away for a weekend since Thanksgiving), Heather and I made the last-minute decision to venture to Lusaka, our capital city, last weekend.

If you want to envision Lusaka, put away almost every idea you have of traditional “Africa,” and think more along the lines of New York City, London, and Johannesburg. Whatever you picture for a large, international city will be way more like Lusaka than African bush scenes.

enough diesel and petrol exhaust to make anyone cough

Most of the time, a zoo is a place with animals. Lusaka is the other kind of zoo, the kind that doesn't have animals—just lots and lots and lots of people and traffic and stores and compounds and elaborate buildings and shanty towns.

street shot (at a very un-busy spot!)

Our most adventurous moments in Lusaka happened Saturday morning when we ventured into the city with our list of can’t-buy-in-Choma items and a few maps… I took the wheel, and Heather navigated.

It was over an hour later when we arrived at our first destination, less than 10ks from the guesthouse. I have NEVER driven in such traffic (In fact, I've never even ridden in such traffic). Ever. Anywhere.

(sorry- no pics of the nutsy traffic... we had to concentrate on driving and navigating!)

I wanted to show off my inter city park job along the main road.
(the white Isuzu on the left)

and the passenger side of our Isuzu...

I wish I could describe to you what the traffic was like, but I have a feeling that you’re not going to believe me even if I tell you about it.

I would also like to note that I inched (literally) up and down two large bridges in my manual :). (um… I guess I have a little bit of pride about that.) Just so you don’t think I’m too puffed up, I also stalled a couple times… one time the other driver loudly said, “She was supposed to wait!” when I pulled out and stalled in front of her! Hahaha… oops. I would have been fine except I forgot I was in 3rd- thought I was in 1st!

oooo! Something we definitely don't have in Choma!
But I can't tell you anything more about this place than that we saw the sign when we drove by...

HarveyTile has a great way with words. This advert reads: "A roof without HARVEYTILE is like
nshima without relish... it might be tasteless!"

Later, someone told us one of the main routes was closed in Lusaka Saturday morning, which is probably why the roads were so congested. In all our other times out in Lusaka (Friday through Monday), we didn't see any traffic half as bad as what we experienced Saturday morning. Busy city traffic is one thing… Saturday morning’s lock-jam experience was a totally different thing.

Huge curio market. I have fun bargaining.

Anyway. We had an enjoyable weekend away. We can’t wait to start some of the projects we brought home with us (more to come on those). Also, I can’t tell you how WONDERFUL it was to come home yesterday. If we wouldn't have had other passengers in the vehicle with us, Heather and I would have hollered some whoots of happiness upon arriving in Choma… and I would have done a happy dance in our Nahumba yard.

What a change to STAY at a guesthouse instead of manage a guesthouse!

We purchased our first container of Zambian ice cream. It was only half full! (who knows how many times
it had melted previously!). And, yes... we ate the whole thing.