Well, it is Day 2 of our Zambian adventure, and 3 out of 4 of our team members have arrived. We are still awaiting Fernando, who will be arriving on Monday evening.
My travels were fairly mundane, except for a few funny/exciting stories: First, the NWA ticket agent must have taken pity on me because she decided to upgrade me to business class. I have three words for you to describe business class: Flat Reclining Seats. That, along with the amazing food and extra attention. It was quite a rude awakening to return to economy class with my knees in my mouth for the long flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi. And then when I switched to Kenya Airways in Nairobi (by the way, Kenya Airways has the politest flight attendants I have ever met) Anyways, before we took off, the flight attendant said, “and per regulations we are required to spray the interior of the plane with insecticides. If you cannot breathe, just cover your nose and mouth with a handkerchief and the spray will dissipate. This is not harmful to your health.” (Which Ron has affirmed, he said they used to do this in Australia years ago). They did, however, serve a hot meal on a short 2 hour flight. Score 1 for Kenya Airways!
Upon arrival at about midnight, I was greeted by our client H and my teammate Ron at the airport. After a short car ride we arrived at our new home for the next month. By G-Lab standards (we were warned that many locations that there would be no running water) this is luxury. We each have our own bedroom, there are 3 bathrooms, a common room with satellite tv, a full kitchen with two stoves, and a pool out back. Not to mention the 2 guards, a housekeeper & gardener. We are so thankful to our client for providing us such great amenities!
Saturday morning, Ron and I ventured to the local “strip mall” where I took out cash from Standard ATM (there is still a very British influence in Zambia, this was right next to the Barclay’s ATM) and ventured into the small market. When we returned at noon we woke up Beth (she had arrived early in the morning, and was a bit jetlagged) we took a cab downtown to find lunch. After stumbling across many fast food locales, we decided to take the “safe route” and eat at the upscale Protea Hotel, which still was less than $10 per person for a filling, hearty lunch of nshima (a local dish made of rice, tastes a bit like grits), chicken and vegetables. We made a quick stop at a local internet café and then headed back home. During our journeys, we have been pleasantly surprised that the locals are so friendly and kind to us. They constantly say hi to us in the streets and say “welcome to our country.” Yesterday during our ventures we needed to ask directions and the gentlemen that we asked were so polite and helpful. Apparently Zambians are some of the friendliest people in the world!
This morning, we awoke to find another hot, sticky day but decided to brave the weather (and some of the funny stares) by going for a run. I took a good fall, there are no sidewalks here per se, they are more like dirt paths with lots of rocks, (and those of you who know me know how clumsy I get) but luckily only got a few scratches on my arm.
Today we’re planning on heading to the Arcades, a mall that has a large market, some shops, a bowling alley and a movie theater. Apparently it’s where many of the Westerners spend their time. Tonight we’re heading to our client’s house (he has been so generous!) for an early dinner. We are looking forward to exploring Lusaka a bit more and are very anxious for our ventures to Livingstone next weekend to see Victoria Falls.
Hope that everyone is having a great weekend!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment