(Ali's taking her bath...and I'm curious how long it will take her to notice this post)
-I REALLY wish that skirts weren't required because there are myraids of fabulously amazing climbing trees here. And several of the mission kids (Daniel and David, 7 and 9) told me all about them, and which ones are the BEST.
-the stars are far better here then in the states. just so you know.
-small yappy dogs quiet right down if you carry them around in a chitengi.
-I really like flatties. I wish we had them at home.
that's all. hope you've enjoyed some very random facts.
-Carolyn
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Tuna Yoyo
"We are well". The official language of Zambia is English, but most people here speak either Luvale or Lunda. Really, only the educated speak English. We know we can't get fluent before we return, but we're trying to learn a little bit of Luvale...and how to not be rude Americans.
We've gotten to see a lot of new things. Friday, we mostly just recuperated from the trip and time change. Saturday, we went out to girls' camp. There we got to meet many more of the missionaries from the area. It was 8-9th grade girls week and we arrived at tea break. Then we listened to the message (about modest dress..in a lot of ways, it was very like an American camp, but in a lot of ways, not at all) It was in Luvale, but some of the missionaries gave us the general gist. They also wrote Bible references in English on the blackboard, which made it easier to follow. We also had our first meal of Shima. It was a very bland, thick dish...Ali says like grits without enough water. They made it from mostly cornmeal instead of mostly cassava, so it didn't taste too strange to us. It was served with smoked/dried fish (not our favorite) and something like collard greens. We got a tour and took lots of pictures!
Sunday we attended meeting (church) for the first time. We had to talk to the elders, and then sit through a Luvale service. We borrowed hymn books from Marian...they were all to American tunes, and Marian taught us the vowel sounds so we could sing along, even though we didn't understand. Tomorrow, she's taking us to buy our own Luvale hymnals and Bibles :) We only attended one service since it was our first time (my back is grateful...hard seats!), but services last from about 0830ish to 1330ish if you attend the whole thing.
Today was our first day at hospital. We came in the morning at about 0700ish and followed the doctor (a ver nice believer from Congo) on his rounds. He explained lots to us, and so far we've seen cancer, malaria, HIV, measles, sickle cell, possible leperosy, malnutrition, sepsis, hemorrhage, stroke, Perthes' disease (new to us), kidney failure, trauma, and more. There was a 1000 tea break and we got to do a tube feeding for the stroke pt. We left around 1300ish. The nurses mostly have 2 year diplomas, and some of them are employed by the government, which means they can get posted here.
This afternoon, Marian took us to market and we bought our first chitengis. They are like sarongs, and worn as skirts, or as baby slings. WE practiced tying the skirts and then Peter, who helps around the house, showed us how to tie babies on our backs. He seemed rather amused. We tried it with dolls...and we're still practicing. We visited an old woman who sang us a welcome song while we sat in her little mud-brick house after Marian had brought her food.
And, for those who've asked, we do in fact sleep under mosquito nets :) And. A scorpion joined Carolyn during her bath a few nights ago.
Love,
Carolyn and Ali
We've gotten to see a lot of new things. Friday, we mostly just recuperated from the trip and time change. Saturday, we went out to girls' camp. There we got to meet many more of the missionaries from the area. It was 8-9th grade girls week and we arrived at tea break. Then we listened to the message (about modest dress..in a lot of ways, it was very like an American camp, but in a lot of ways, not at all) It was in Luvale, but some of the missionaries gave us the general gist. They also wrote Bible references in English on the blackboard, which made it easier to follow. We also had our first meal of Shima. It was a very bland, thick dish...Ali says like grits without enough water. They made it from mostly cornmeal instead of mostly cassava, so it didn't taste too strange to us. It was served with smoked/dried fish (not our favorite) and something like collard greens. We got a tour and took lots of pictures!
Sunday we attended meeting (church) for the first time. We had to talk to the elders, and then sit through a Luvale service. We borrowed hymn books from Marian...they were all to American tunes, and Marian taught us the vowel sounds so we could sing along, even though we didn't understand. Tomorrow, she's taking us to buy our own Luvale hymnals and Bibles :) We only attended one service since it was our first time (my back is grateful...hard seats!), but services last from about 0830ish to 1330ish if you attend the whole thing.
Today was our first day at hospital. We came in the morning at about 0700ish and followed the doctor (a ver nice believer from Congo) on his rounds. He explained lots to us, and so far we've seen cancer, malaria, HIV, measles, sickle cell, possible leperosy, malnutrition, sepsis, hemorrhage, stroke, Perthes' disease (new to us), kidney failure, trauma, and more. There was a 1000 tea break and we got to do a tube feeding for the stroke pt. We left around 1300ish. The nurses mostly have 2 year diplomas, and some of them are employed by the government, which means they can get posted here.
This afternoon, Marian took us to market and we bought our first chitengis. They are like sarongs, and worn as skirts, or as baby slings. WE practiced tying the skirts and then Peter, who helps around the house, showed us how to tie babies on our backs. He seemed rather amused. We tried it with dolls...and we're still practicing. We visited an old woman who sang us a welcome song while we sat in her little mud-brick house after Marian had brought her food.
And, for those who've asked, we do in fact sleep under mosquito nets :) And. A scorpion joined Carolyn during her bath a few nights ago.
Love,
Carolyn and Ali
Friday, May 27, 2011
We are HERE!
Hey all!
We are here. We are safe. We had no problems getting our visas at he border. Internet time is limited, so we'll be somewhat brief and we might not get to update often. Sorry. Also, google doesn't like us and both of us use gmail, so again, sorry.
We flew tuesday night to London, and left the airport to explore the city in the afternoon. We got day passes for the "tube" and had afternoon tea and visited the British museum. My dad had gotten us a voltage converter, which we put in one of Ali's bags. When going to security we found out that the converter looks very much like "something that would go bang" on the x-ray machine. Ali's bags got searched...twice.
Then we flew wednesday night to Lusaka. We got great food on the airline, but not much great sleep, so we were pretty exhausted. We had a five hour layover in Lusaka and took a flight to Ndola. There, we had another 3 hour layover, during which we both fell asleep. The Zambians were very kind though, and woke us up and took care of all our bags so we could make our next flight to Solwezi. The flight took about an hour, and we met some super nice English people who work as geologists for the mines there...Rob and Shanney (try to say these with a British accent). Marian, along with the doctor, his small son, a nurse, and all of their shopping met us there, and we had a 300 km trip to Loloma.\
Along the way we saw lots of interesting things...including fires, oxcarts, people carrying goats on their bicycles, things on their heads, and so on. It is also amazing how many things are still in bloom considering that this is the cold, dry season. Lots of pictures when we return...we don't have enough internet to upload them now, sorry. Marian gave us brownies and tea and dinner, which was pleasent. We slept in today and didn't really do anything. Tomorrow, we'll go visit girl's camp and start in the hospital on monday. There is so much to tell you all, but I'm afraid that for most of it, you'll have to hang out with us when we get back. Everyone that we've met is very hospitable and kind and we feel very welcome. All for now.
Love,
Carolyn and Ali
We are here. We are safe. We had no problems getting our visas at he border. Internet time is limited, so we'll be somewhat brief and we might not get to update often. Sorry. Also, google doesn't like us and both of us use gmail, so again, sorry.
We flew tuesday night to London, and left the airport to explore the city in the afternoon. We got day passes for the "tube" and had afternoon tea and visited the British museum. My dad had gotten us a voltage converter, which we put in one of Ali's bags. When going to security we found out that the converter looks very much like "something that would go bang" on the x-ray machine. Ali's bags got searched...twice.
Then we flew wednesday night to Lusaka. We got great food on the airline, but not much great sleep, so we were pretty exhausted. We had a five hour layover in Lusaka and took a flight to Ndola. There, we had another 3 hour layover, during which we both fell asleep. The Zambians were very kind though, and woke us up and took care of all our bags so we could make our next flight to Solwezi. The flight took about an hour, and we met some super nice English people who work as geologists for the mines there...Rob and Shanney (try to say these with a British accent). Marian, along with the doctor, his small son, a nurse, and all of their shopping met us there, and we had a 300 km trip to Loloma.\
Along the way we saw lots of interesting things...including fires, oxcarts, people carrying goats on their bicycles, things on their heads, and so on. It is also amazing how many things are still in bloom considering that this is the cold, dry season. Lots of pictures when we return...we don't have enough internet to upload them now, sorry. Marian gave us brownies and tea and dinner, which was pleasent. We slept in today and didn't really do anything. Tomorrow, we'll go visit girl's camp and start in the hospital on monday. There is so much to tell you all, but I'm afraid that for most of it, you'll have to hang out with us when we get back. Everyone that we've met is very hospitable and kind and we feel very welcome. All for now.
Love,
Carolyn and Ali
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Three Days to Takeoff!!!
Visa Update: we're getting a visitor's visa at the border. So, no, we don't have visas yet, but yes, we are still going, and we'll have them bright and early next Thursday morning :) From there, we have tickets booked on an internal flight service that will take us from Lusaka to Ndola to Solwezi where we'll be picked up by Marian, the woman that we are staying with. She has a guest setup for us - room and bathrooms. She also said that we could help out with preparing dinner, so you can pray about that :P We'll try not to burn the place down.
We're excited to gather stories to tell you. We've been talking to everyone we know who's been there, and it will be interesting to see how our experiences parallel those who've spent time in other parts of Africa or at other times. My parents were there, in the exact same spot we're going, but that was 25 years ago, so we're looking forward to seeing the changes and to learning everything that we can.
We will have computer/internet access while we are there, so we will do our best to keep you updated. However, please understand that it will be somewhat limited.
Remember, we leave in three days, so now's your chance to hang out with us and tell us how much you love us and will miss us and all that ;)
We're excited to gather stories to tell you. We've been talking to everyone we know who's been there, and it will be interesting to see how our experiences parallel those who've spent time in other parts of Africa or at other times. My parents were there, in the exact same spot we're going, but that was 25 years ago, so we're looking forward to seeing the changes and to learning everything that we can.
We will have computer/internet access while we are there, so we will do our best to keep you updated. However, please understand that it will be somewhat limited.
Remember, we leave in three days, so now's your chance to hang out with us and tell us how much you love us and will miss us and all that ;)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Just a week away!
Tomorrow marks 1 week until Carolyn and Ali head to Zambia!
We would like to address a comment left on our last post re: visa status. As of last week, our visas were declined due to a miniscule detail (it's okay.. try not to panic). :) We have since been in contact with Marian (the woman who we will be living with while in Africa) who has given us the option of not reapplying for a visa just yet, instead, she suggests waiting until we get to the border to receive a single-entry visitor visa for $50.00USD (which is a much cheaper route than reapplying via snail-mail which would have to be expedited processing and overnight mailings for us to receive them before we leave).
Information regarding entry into Zambia can be found here.
We will keep you all updated with what we decide to do about the visas!! As far as other preparations for our trip, we went thrift-storing this past weekend to buy our long skirts and scrub tops we will be needing while across the pond! We also bought things such as: lotion, shampoo/conditioner, anti-itch creams, antibacterial cream, bug spray, hand sanitizer..etc. Needless to say... it was an expensive day!
That's all for now, please pray for us as we continue to finalize details!
Carolyn and Ali
We would like to address a comment left on our last post re: visa status. As of last week, our visas were declined due to a miniscule detail (it's okay.. try not to panic). :) We have since been in contact with Marian (the woman who we will be living with while in Africa) who has given us the option of not reapplying for a visa just yet, instead, she suggests waiting until we get to the border to receive a single-entry visitor visa for $50.00USD (which is a much cheaper route than reapplying via snail-mail which would have to be expedited processing and overnight mailings for us to receive them before we leave).
Information regarding entry into Zambia can be found here.
We will keep you all updated with what we decide to do about the visas!! As far as other preparations for our trip, we went thrift-storing this past weekend to buy our long skirts and scrub tops we will be needing while across the pond! We also bought things such as: lotion, shampoo/conditioner, anti-itch creams, antibacterial cream, bug spray, hand sanitizer..etc. Needless to say... it was an expensive day!
That's all for now, please pray for us as we continue to finalize details!
Carolyn and Ali
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The RACE to get there...
Visas... oh the joy! We both thought that, by now, things would be coming to a close with Zambia preparation. Not the case. It's quite alright though, because it's keeping us on our toes! We had thought that our visa applications would be sent out by early last week, however, we are tying some loose ends up so we can get them sent out by later this week... now, now... I don't want to make it seem that we are sitting around doing nothing in preparation though, by this Thursday (5/5) we both would have had our immunizations done (Hep A, Polio booster, Meningococcal, and Typhoid). We are also both going to be on doxycycline for our Malaria prophylaxis, which we will begin about 2 days before leaving, taking a pill daily, ending roughly 4 weeks after we come back... In the words of my Nurse Practitioner... "that's A LOT of doxy!" ;)
Though Zambia is a few short weeks away, we are feeling like it's still SOOO FARRRR! We have finals this week -pray for us please!- but that seems to be the last major obstacle before Africa (STOKED!).
We hope all are doing well and are excited to have the possibility of sharing our journey with you!! Please feel free to leave comments/questions...
Have a great week!
Ali & Carolyn
Though Zambia is a few short weeks away, we are feeling like it's still SOOO FARRRR! We have finals this week -pray for us please!- but that seems to be the last major obstacle before Africa (STOKED!).
We hope all are doing well and are excited to have the possibility of sharing our journey with you!! Please feel free to leave comments/questions...
Have a great week!
Ali & Carolyn
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