marshmallow time

Thanks to a kind Stateside friend who sent us Kraft Jet Puffed marshmallows,

we were able to celebrate our American heritage by toasting a few of these fluffy treats.

Soap and Sugar

I have not ceased to be amazed at the amount of soap Zambians use—or the number of baths they take each day! I am also still astonished at the number of spoons of sugar the average Tonga dumps into each cup of “tea” multiple times a day.

Soap and sugar.

Baths and tea.

Cold and hot.

Buckets and mugs.

Bathing rooms and kitchens.

Clean and dirty.

Outside and inside.

Baths and tea.

Soap and sugar.

(that’s about as close as this accountant can get to composing poetry)

The Fourth

In Zambia.

M

Heather got up at 5am Sunday morning and made a special breakfast.

We sucked in the tears, and hugged each other one last time before Malinda left at 6am.

She rode out of our drive for the last time... at least until the day she returns to visit Zambia. 

After a brief visit with her sister in London, Malinda will fly across the 

ocean and return to her Stateside home.

Confessions of a Michigander in the dead of Zambia’s winter

What some folks don’t realize… is that Zambia can get COLD.

Yes.

Cold

As in fifteen-degrees-Celsius-in-my-bedroom-cold. 

(That’s like fifty-nine-degrees-Fahrenheit in my bedroom. That’s also the temperature at which my thermostat is set for Michigan winter nights. The only time I find such an indoor temperature comfy is when I’m layered in pj’s, fitted with toasty socks, and burrowed under my flannel sheets and wool comforter. Then, it is a delicious temperature, just right for sleeping.)

For warm-blooded creatures in the world, fifteen degrees Celsius may not seem extreme.

For me, this temperature is frigid.

It’s been a rough week.

A cold week.

Even my  bicycle-rides to and from gym have been chilly.

(cold sweat. Yuck)

There are only so many hot drinks one girl can manage each day… and that number is not enough to keep me perpetually warm in Choma’s winter. 

Our house is up on a hill in the shade in what’s known as the coldest town around.

After crawling back under the covers this morning (after I continued to lose instead of gain warmth under my tiny wool blanket in the sitting room…), I remembered my down jacket. So, here I sit, in my green, down jacket, wisely packed last October when Michigan temps were similar to current ones here.

Some things in life are very difficult to believe. The weather in Choma is one of them. 

In a couple short months, I’ll be so hot I won’t stop sweating day or night. 

The thought of a blanket on my bed will be similar to imagining the feeling of curling up in a running clothes dryer. My down jacket will be stuffed in the back of the closet, and I might wonder why I packed it anyway.

But for now, I’m ever so glad for my layers and our cupboard stocked with hot drink supplies.

And,

I must admit a jealously for my friends and family who are warm—yea, even hot—today.

I confess.

*sorry, no picture. You'll just have to imagine my green, down jacket.*

If at first you don't succeed...

don’t try skydiving.

What about bungee jumping?!

one of the many bungee jumpers we watched  last Monday afternoon

The bridge at Vic Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe is one of the highest 

bungee jumping locations the world over!

contemplation :)

no such thing as a free lunch

Here in Zambia, we don’t have cell contracts with Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T. Instead, we purchase airtime on the streets (comes on little cards with scratch-off codes) and load it onto phones in order to make calls and send sms messages using Zamtel (green), Airtel (red), or MTN (yellow). Most of our Zambian pals have at least two or three cell phones (with different sims) in order to capitalize on the lowest rates for all communication. 

Heather and I each have one boring “dumb” (not smart) phone (fancy phones are popular here). Our sims are Airtel, which means we frequently purchase Airtel talk time in order to keep in touch with the world.

For the past couple months, Airtel has been running a highly advertised Ichongedwe! deal. With the press of a few buttons each day, I can purchase 7 free minutes of calling time for 1 Kwacha, or 25 free minutes for 2 Kwacha, OR 50 free minutes and 30 free sms’s for just 4 Kwacha.

All that for free! Imagine.

So, depending on my day’s schedule, sometimes I buy 7 or 25 free minutes to make business calls throughout the day (all free minutes expire at 18 hours each day). These special free minutes cost less than one brief phone call costs using regular rates.

…I still find Airtel’s “Free” Ichongedwe! deals ironic…