Thursday, July 31, 2008

I'm Free!!!!

My community entry period of 3 months is finally over, so now I can leave my village without permission from the APCD. I am heading to help host a site visit with a fellow PC for the newest batch of PC volunteers. This should be very interesting.

I am finally getting comfortable enough with Chi Tonga to attempt speaking it in public. Previously I would be asked a question in Tonga and then I would answer in English. That was not a successful strategy. I just had to risk sounding silly and try and it worked. Nothing beats failure but a try. Well, I will update you all in a few days on how the hosting of site visit went.

Kim

p.s. Oh yeah....I finally got my package today. I'm in heaven!!!!!!!

Friday, July 11, 2008

It Was All A Dream

**disclaimer**
This story is fictitious, a dream. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The dream began on July 2nd....I went to pick Tracy up from the Airport and I have to say it was such a wonderful feeling to see someone from my family. I really can't put into words the joy and pure relief I felt at seeing her!!! It was amazing. After leaving the airport we decided to stay the night in Lusaka because it's a five hour bus ride to the town that I live closest to, which is Kalomo. We spent the entire day trying to find an ATM that accepts debit MasterCard. Every place accepts USD or Visa. (Which is another reason why the Dollar needs to get stronger). Anyway, Tracy decided to get her mother to Western Union us some cash so we could begin our fun-filled weekend. Everything seems to be working out. Just as Tracy sat in the chair to get the money, the power in the entire city went out!!!! NO JOKE!!!! How ironic. So okay, we knew that God would work it out, so we decided to wait it out...sure enough an hour later it was back on and we collected our cash. Yay!!!!

Day 2: We took the CRI bus because Mazhandu bus company (the only reputable bus company in Zambia) was full. After paying our fare, we still had to wait over an hour to leave because they wanted to wait until every seat was filled before they would leave (which is why I only take Mazhandu if I can help it). We finally arrived in Kalomo five hours later to complete darkness. Tracy was very shocked at how dark it was...I didn't even notice it.

Day 3: I showed Tracy how village life is...cooking on a brazier, getting water from a bore hole, using a pit latrine, sitting with the family. I think she really enjoyed it. We also decided that we would go to Choma which is where the Peace Corps provincial house is located. It was the 4th of July, the United States Independence Day, so we decided to spend it with other Americans. They absolutely loved her!!!! Seriously adored!!!! We had a wonderful time with the other volunteers.

Day 4: This is where the DRAMA begins. We go back to Chikoli (the village) and we are locked out. We spent over 2 hours trying to break into my hut in various ways. And, I would like to point out that my Leatherman Fuse came in handy!!! (Dad, I told you that there would be a need for a multi-tool). I used the screw driver to take the bolt off my door and went in with no problem. So, after we got into the hut we decided to pack and go to Livingstone. While waiting on the bus we decided to go to El Pantano, my favorite restaurant in town, and met an American choir. They were nice...the end. So, we decided to hitch-hike to Livingstone. We were picked up by a really nice married couple. The husband was Zambian and the wife was Zimbabwean. The wife feels that it's okay for her husband to take another wife because it will stop him from going out an cheating...he agreed! While driving we noticed a terrible accident. It seems as a car swerved to avoid a truck and hit a tree. People were screaming and crying. It was a bad scene. This is a very rural place so there are no ambulances, no police squad cars etc, so we decided to go a few miles to report the accident at the police station. The police didn't seem to care, but we did our part and reported it. They said they would send someone and hopefully they did. So, after traveling for hours on a bad road we finally arrived in Livingstone. We checked into our hotel and decided to go out. However before we went out I realized that I left my VISA debit card at my house!!!!! This is where part II of the DRAMA begins! I immediately call my sister and tell her to wire me some money ASAP, which she does. We go to get the money and every Western Union in town is closed!!!! We have no money!!!!!!!!!!! Not enough to be in Livingstone on at any rate. Thank God Tracy is calm because I was insane!!! It was a holiday weekend So, we decide to go and eat at The Pub & Grill to sort things out and if worse comes to worse we will just go home the next day. While in our booth, the waitress comes up to us and asks us if we would mind sharing our booth and I was in a bad mood so I told her "NO!", but Tracy (the kind hearted, loving person that she is) said "Yes" and a lovely Australian couple, named Aggie and Simon, sat down. God is Good!!!!!! We told them our dilemma and they told us that we could go to the Zambezi Sun to use the bank and that it would be open even on the holiday. They were a Godsend. They even bought us a Savannah Dry! So, now we had options.

Day 5: We got up early to find out if the Western Union would be open so I could try and get the money that my sister sent, but of course they were closed. So, we went to the Zambezi Sun and they had a Barclays bank!!! My bank!!! YAY!!!! So I was able to withdraw money from my own account and Tracy was able to use here MasterCard Debit. God always has a ram in the bush...pun intended :o) After we got money we booked our Elephant back Safari and the Sunset Cruise. We went on the Sunset Cruise which was absolutely beautiful, and we saw Aggie and Simon there. Afterwards we went to dinner with them again. I just want to stress how wonderful they were.

Day 6: We got up extra early to go on the Safari and it was amazing. I really enjoyed it, but I think Tracy really only wanted to go so she could take a picture on an elephant holding up her sorority sign. It was cute though.... After the Safari we left and got on a bus home. I went back to my village and Tracy went to Lusaka and flew out the next day!! I called her every hour just to make sure she was safe and she told me I was a psycho stalker each time.

All in all I enjoyed my time with Tracy. But, she made me realize that I need to slow down and get some order to my life...I need to plan and budget more (I hear you TRACY!!!!) I can do this.

**disclaimer**
This story is fictitious, a dream. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.