I am going to try and update this thing once a week. Too little, too late? Maybe.
Last Wednesday, Heather and I went to tell Bonnie that we were going to Kabwe. Guess what Bonnie said? She said that if we were able to fill three shopping bags with monkey fruit she would give us a ride. This was clearly the best news ever. There was only one problem. Monkey fruit are not very plentiful right now. So, we went to the only tree that we know of and picked all that we could. We had about two bags. Determined to fill the third bag, Heather climbed onto my shoulders. My neck practically broke, and I almost got a concussion from monkey fruit falling on my head. It was worth it though. We filled the bags and got a ride to Kabwe. Along with the ride we also got free avocados and pomegranates. We were so happy.
I have managed to book all my accommodation for my travels home. I booked a sweet hostel in London that gives you shower gel and shampoo.
I asked Mrs. Mukendi if I could go with the girls on their trip to Ndubaduba. Hopefully she will let me. It’s from February 2 – 6 and it’s a camping trip, almost all of my grade 10s are going, so I really want to go spend time with them.
I think that the kitchen has finally heard our desperate cries for vegetables. We were served salad last week. A real salad with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and carrots, and this week we had maize twice. I love corn so much. You would think that since it is a staple in the diet here that we would eat it much more than we do, but this was the first time I have seen it.
On Saturday, the grade 12s hosted a talent show during entertainment. It was really good. The grade 10s performed a dance. They were freaky clowns and they did so well. Their makeup and costumes were phenomenal. I was so impressed with them. And on top of everything….THEY WON!!! My babies won the talent show, I was so proud.
This may be a record.
So, the grade 8s came on Sunday. I was really enjoying my dorm when it was just grade 9s. They were quiet in the morning. It was amazing. I was able to sleep until 0630. That is unheard of. With the addition of five grade 8s, my dorm has increased in volume tenfold. One of the grade 9s made an announcement asking them to keep it down in the morning. It was funny. I love them anyways though.
It hasn’t been very warm lately. I’ve been wearing long sleeves and sweaters everyday. One day, I was in the library with Krista and it was the coldest it has been since June. I was wearing a sweater and I had to go and put on a sweatshirt. It was seriously so cold. I don’t know what’s happening.
It has also rained every single day since I’ve been back. I am very happy about this.
On Sunday, the youth prepared devotions for the school. They were so good. I’m not even going to try to be modest, we practiced so long and everyone complimented us. Devotions here are more presentation than participation, and we really want to change that. We want everyone to sing when the hosts are singing. We decided that we’re going to start going to devo practice on Fridays and learn the songs. Then, if we sing along hopefully the rest of the girls will sing along too. Fingers crossed.
Yesterday and today, we had to conduct the grade 8 orientation. Who knew that it would be so tiring. We played a whole bunch of really fun name-games and we took them for a tour of the school. They had talks with a bunch of members of staff too. Guess what their biggest complaint was? The shoes. They wear really ugly shoes. They’re boy shoes. I would not be happy wearing them
Tomorrow I am off. Heather, Krista and I are going to go into Kabwe to buy some supplies.
Oh, I know. Next week I will be shifting to the senior dorms. I GET MY OWN BATHROOM!!!!!!! This makes me so happy.
LYLT!
Disclaimer: for some reason, tumblr is not letting me post photos, so this will be another imageless post.
Alright, so I am back at Banani eagerly awaiting the arrival of my children tomorrow. I was really not looking forward to coming back here, but two things made me SO HAPPY today.
Actually, first I should say that I was looking forward to seeing Heather, Nura, Sharghi, Krista and Shadon.
Ok, so the first thing that made me smile super big. I was walking back from the Institute, and I had greeted some girls who I didn’t know. I was about 100 m away from them when I hear, “Miss Correen.” I turned around, and yelled, “Who are you?” No response. I decided that I should go see what they wanted. They asked me where I was going and stuff, and then guess what they said? “Eunice was greeting you.” Eunice was greeting me!!! I was so happy. They told me that she was in Liteta, but she’ll be coming back. Can I just say that I love Eunice so much, and I was so happy to hear that she had told them to greet me.
Number two thing that made me so happy. So, after I got the message about Eunice I was going to go get some lunch. I was by the senior dorms, when I saw Olinga bouncing on the trampoline. Now, Olinga is my favourite little boy in the whole wide world. I ran up to him, and told him how much I missed him. Then I asked him about his vacation. He told me that he spent it playing and missing me. OLINGA!! You are the best son ever! I was so happy, that I told him I loved him. I’m pretty sure I’ve never told him that before. Then I made him hug me, he pretended like he didn’t want to, but I knew he did.
So, I guess I should talk about my trip to Cape Town, no? The first thing we did when we arrived in Joburg was eat. I had a wrap with jalapenos. The first thing we did when we arrived in Cape Town was eat. We got sushi. Food played a major role in our trip.
Our second night in Cape Town was New Years Eve. We went to Camps Bay in the day. This place is amazing. The beach is so beautiful, but the water is so cold. My feet almost fell off. We ate icecream and baguette.
In the evening we went to the Waterfront with Sena and Yvette and had pizza and watched fireworks. There were some illegal fireworks too, it was great. I love New Years.
On New Years Day, we drove up Signal Hill and went to the University of Cape Town. Basically, it is the most beautiful school I have ever seen. I want to go there so bad. SO BAD!!!
We went to Robben Island. It was pretty neat. They give you a tour of the prison conducted by an ex-political prisoner. It was really interesting.
The next day, we drove to Simon’s Town to see the penguins. They were so cute. They were swimming around and hopping about. Some of them were nesting.
We tried to go up Table Mountain to watch the sunset one day, but so many people were trying to go up too. We waited an absurd amount of time for tickets, and then the wind started picking up. They were thinking that they might be closing the cable cars at any moment, so we decided to get a refund and go watch the sunset from Signal Hill. A lot of other people also had this idea, so there was absurd traffic up to Signal Hill as well. We managed to catch the last of the sunset though.
The next day, we decided to try our luck again. First, though, we went to the beach. Sena, Naveed and I all went swimming. I think I was the only one to willingly submerge myself. It was so cold, and the waves were huge. It was fun though.
We got to Table Mountain at an appropriate time and were able to go up and see the sunset.
On our last day in Cape Town, we went to Table View to watch the sunset. We just love sunsets.
LYLT!!
So, I’ve just returned from an amazing trip to Malawi with Olivia and Naveed! It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life, and it was probably the cheapest trip ever. So, basically, everyone should go to Malawi. Specifically, everyone should go to Nkhata Bay and stay at Mayoka Village because the people are amazing, the food is SOOOOO good, the water is clear and there are so many fish.
Now, after I returned from Tanzania, I vowed to never go on another long distance bus trip. Clearly, I was made to eat my words. This trip wasn’t so bad though. The worst part was that the bus left so early, 0500 from Lusaka and 0600 from Lilongwe. On top of that, we had to be there half an hour early. GAH! We barely got any sleep. Luckily, we were able to sleep on the bus.
We arrived in Lilongwe around 1800, and right away went to get some food with people we met on the bus. I had a delicious burger. I hate it when you get to a new place and you don’t know what the currency conversion is. It always confuses me a lot. I learned quickly though, and my burger, it was only $3! Excellent!!
We stayed in a hostel in Lilongwe for one night before we took a bus up to Nkhata Bay, a super short distance on the map, but a 6 hour bus ride. So many buses. Naveed was not a happy camper, and shook his head a lot. The day before we left for Lilongwe, Olivia and Naveed had taken the bus from Livingstone to Lusaka, so that’s three days of bus rides for them. Lame.
We arrived in Nkhata Bay around 1700. When we got to our hotel, they told us that they were having a buffet for dinner. Baller. We had fish, potatoes, salad, ratatouille, and I think something else. Can I just say that it was amazing? This dinner made up for all the bus rides. Oh, and the fish was caught in the lake that day, grilled whole on the barbeque, and we each got a whole fish. I ate a fish that had a head and a tail still attached. GROSS!!
The next day, we went swimming and snorkelling. Pretty much our whole trip involved us just swimming, snorkelling, reading and playing Monopoly Deal. Can I just say that Monopoly Deal is the best card game in existence? It is so much fun, we played it every single day for probably at least an hour a day. So Good.
The food at Mayoka Village was the best food ever. Well, maybe not, but it was so good and so cheap. For the whole week we were there we spent less than $150 each for everything. WHAT!? That’s unheard of. There was pizza night twice, we had burgers, lasagne, sandwiches, bruschetta, pancakes, muesli, shak shuka, so much food. The one thing we did not have was icecream. Everyday we asked if there was icecream and there never was. SHAAAAAAME!
Oh, that’s another thing we did. We watched a lot of Modern Family. We watched the whole first season. Best show ever? Probably.
Ok, the fish. There were so many fish and they were so colourful. This is a lake we’re talking about. Blue, yellow, purple, white, black, orange. Beautiful. There are over 500 species in the lake and 99% of them occur only in Lake Malawi. There are also these crazy lake flies that look like smoke, but are actually bugs flying over the lake. Google it.
Now, we’re back in Lusaka until Boxing Day. Then, we will be going to Banani for a few days before coming back to Lusaka on the 29th. On the 30th, we’re flying to CAPE TOWN!! I am so excited. We’re going to eat so much food and see penguins.
Ok, Happy Christmas!!
LYLT!!!
Oh man, so my computer broke and now I can’t use it. I am not a happy camper. I guess it’s not that big of a deal though. We will see.
So last Monday, Heather, her parents, Krista, Nura, Sharghi and I all made the trip to Livingstone. Heather’s parents had invited me to stay with them at a lodge up there, so obviously I accepted. When the girls found out we were going in December, they all told us that it would suck. They said that there would be no water. Now, I didn’t believe them, because really, how could a waterfall have no water? Well, they weren’t wrong. The difference between now and August was astonishing. There was practically no water. There were two small streams coming down the cliff and that was it. It was neat though, because we were able to cross the dried Zambezi river and stand on the top of the falls. It was crazy. That was something that I had wanted to do when I went in August, but because the river was so flooded, we weren’t able to.
While we were in Livingstone, we did a few things that I had missed out on last time. We went to the Arts Café, and saw a traditional dance performance. It was called Dancing Around Zambia. It was awesome. They had dances from four of the seven provinces. Here’s their Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LiPAFZambia. There’s also a video of flying ants called Insua. They are disgusting and I hate them. Once, when I was going to take a shower, one of them followed me into the ablutions. Then, it went into the shower I wanted to use. GO AWAY. Anyways, they are really good, and I really enjoyed their performance.
We also went to the museum. Now, I just love museums so much. This one was pretty cool too. It had an exhibit on the early people of Zambia/evolution of humans.
Then there was this part called “Our Village” which showed traditional life in Zambia.
Next, it went to “Their City” which was basically just an anti-capitalism section. Showing how much colonists suck, and how they ruin everything.
Then there was an exhibit on traditional Zambian life. It was really interesting. They explained all the rites of passage: birth, puberty, marriage, and death. There were also displays on witchcraft and crafts and stuff. I loved the part about witchcraft. I just think that it is so interesting. I want to learn and learn and learn all about it.
After the museum, we were going to go eat, but there was no power. Such a shame, so instead, we went to Shoprite to buy some food so we could make lunch. Well, I decided I wanted a sausage so I could make a hotdog. I picked it out and then when I went to eat it, it was cold. BAH! I ate it anyways, and it was good. I figured that I was just training my stomach for the next time food poisoning comes to Banani. I also bought some drinking yogourt. Now, usually, I buy Zamsip, but this time I bought Parmalat. Let me tell you, don’t buy Parmalat. It is runny and it has scary colouring in it. Zamsip is far superior.
That night, we went on a river cruise. It was so much fun. I just love boats so much. We saw a bunch of hippos and some crocodiles, too. There were also a bunch of birds, but I don’t really care much for those. When we were going down a channel between two islands, our boat broke down. I thought that the captain just stopped it for some reason, so I turned to Krista and jokingly said that we were out of gas. Turns out, I wasn’t actually joking. We were out of gas. We had to call for help and get someone to come and fetch us. It was ok though, because then we had to drive fast to catch up to the other boat. I was happy with this arrangement.
We got off on an island so that we could eat some snacks. They had the best meat EVER! I ate about five pieces of it, it was so good. SO GOOD! After our snacks, we were heading back to the dock, when our captain turned around. What now? Well, it turns out the other boat left someone behind on the island. They just left him there. WHAT!? How do you forget a passenger? We rescued him.
Oh man, Heather and I were walking down the street about five metres in front of everyone else, as per usual, when this man approached us. He started talking to us and talking to us, and eventually he asked us what church we go to. I told him that, we don’t go to church because we are Baha’is. Well, that was the end of that. He looked at us, said it was nice talking to us and then he sped off. Oh well. Now we know how to get rid of people. We can just tell them straight off that we don’t go to church and they will probably leave us alone.
I totally forgot, while we were in Livingstone, we had one cab driver the whole time. His name was Joe. We liked to call him Joe Fresh. Also, I would sometimes sing the “Hello, my name is Joe and I work in a button factory” song. Ok, by sometimes, I mean everyday. He was good. If you ever go to Livingstone, ask for Joe (Fresh).
Now, I’m just relaxing here at Banani until Tuesday, when I go to Lusaka to meet Olivia and Naveed at the bus station! Man, I am excited to see them. Then, we’re heading for Malawi to see the lake, then to Cape Town. It will be the longest I have been out of Zambia since I got here. And the first time I will be without my Banani friends. It will be strange, but good training for when I leave at the end of February. I dread that day.
LYLT!
So one of my favourite people in the whole wide world said to me, “Colleen, you’re always saying how much you love, but I want you to prove it.” What the heck? How am I supposed to do such a thing? I thought long and hard about this, and settled on writing the world’s best poem. It’s pretty much a masterpiece; so much so that I am unwilling to share it. I will say that it contains the phrase, “Your sweetness was revealed/I began to watch you at meals. I am a creep.
After graduation, tragedy struck Banani. That’s right. There was a huge bout of food-poisoning. It was awful. Everyone was vomiting and basically just dying. Luckily, I was spared. I think it’s probably because I love to eat sketchy food. I have trained my stomach to be made of iron, nothing can upset it. Watch, I’m going to get ridiculous food poisoning soon.
Back in October, Heather, Mei and I had bought chitenjes so that we could have dresses made. We took them to the tailor in Liteta and got measured and told her what we wanted. Well, a few weeks later we went to go and pick them up. Guess what? They didn’t fit. They were so baggy on top, they were unwearable. So we had to take them back and get re-measured. We went back a couple of weeks ago to try them on again. Mine was good this time, but Heather’s was still poorly fitting. So we waited for her to fix them. Now, though, we have beautiful chitenje dresses. I am so excited to wear mine. I love it a lot.
My girls left me on November 27. It was a horrible, horrible day and I almost cried. The night before, I was thinking about how much I would miss them, and especially Mutinta, and it made me sad. So I decided that the most logical step to take would be to make a playlist of all the sad songs I have and listen to them. What the heck, Colleen? Why do you do this? I told Krista and she sympathized with me, so I didn’t feel as strange. On Friday, I sat with them until they were gone. When Mutinta’s father came to get her, I was so sad. I walked with her to her card and hugged her sooo much. But you know what? She called me later that day and I was so happy. SO HAPPY!
That same night that my girls left, we had our cinema with the junior youth. Now, I was pretty pessimistic about this whole thing. They chose a movie that I did not approve of: Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squekual. WHAT! But, I was proved wrong. We made twice what we spent, K140 000. I was so happy for them.
A week after my girls left, all the girls left. It was a sad event, but not as sad as when my girls left. That same day, we had an end of year thing for the children’s class and junior youth. Two jy groups from Liteta came as well. It was actually really good. There was some training going on at the Institute, so we performed for them. Heather’s and my group performed “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent. Again, I was kind of dreading this. They hadn’t really been taking it seriously, and when we practiced they sometimes sounded awful. But, they pulled out all the stops for the performance and it was amazing. I was so proud of all of them!
LYLT
