Headed out

Its 545 am here and we are just about to take off for the Zambian border . Ill try and post something Sunday or Monday . Hope all is well back home 

one last big trip before we leave..

This may be the last post this week as we head out for one more "Must do" trip. On Friday we head across the border to Zambia take the kids on safari.. We head to South Luangwa, check it out.. 

                                                 SOUTH LUANGWA ZAMBIA

It's one of the top safari destinations in the world.  We are going with another family and have rented a private home on the outskirts of the park... Check out the home if you'd like.. Classic African style home with a pool. The kids will have a blast when we are not checking out the wildlife. The place has everything - lions, leopards, wild dogs, elephants, everything.. We hope to see it all.. The last time we took the kids on safari, they were very , very little and hardly remember it.. So it should be alot of fun. 

Here's the website for the home we are staying in.. 

safari home in Zambia .

I am powering up the camera and getting things packed today. Tomorrow is a national holiday so there is no school. We leave early Friday morning. 

All is well here,  just busy.  I am noticing that my blog posts have become less and less personal lately, and I apologise. I think our lives have fallen into a pattern here where 1) we don't get to experience much of the culture and/or 2) everything has become normal.. really normal. There were huge piles of trash being burned right by  the side of the road yesterday when I went to pick up Michelle from work... totally normal.. at least 150 people packed in the back of a flatbed yesterday ... totally normal and safe..  

I also feel slightly bad that I have not made a better effort to take more photos of Malawians.. In Botswana , I posted photo after photo.. things there were different.. Here I just don't feel as comfortable.. I think I have more sunset photos than I know what to do with.. 

Ok, gotta run. Here's to hoping none of us are eaten by lions, crocs, snakes, hippos, wild dogs, etc. 

Looking forward to being out in the bush. 

Check back on Monday. 

Photos included some of the kids ... and yes, during a Malawian sunset

gule wamkulu makes the news!

Sorry for the delay in a new post.. I was sick all day on Mother's day and am finally feeling back to normal .

Saw this on CNN today.. Check it out.. These are the people we see walking the highways occasionally outside the city.. great photographs.. Many of the photos are from Mozambique and Malawi, but are essentially the same type of groups. click on the link below.
Gule Wamkulu's make the news!

We have officially said goodbye to our last resident visitor from Cincy Children's. He was awesome and on a whole, hosting residents has been a good experience. But I have to admit, it's kind of nice as we now have a house that is to ourselves and we can function as a normal family for the first time since September. I'm not sure I've even mentioned this in any of my posts, but we've had residents/ fellows from Cincinnati Children's staying with us each month. Sometimes two, sometimes three. So, it has given our children another chance to deal with some adversity. Not only have we thrown our kids into a new place, new school, new country, etc.. but they've had to live with new visitors every month. I think on a whole they were great.. We had them packed in a room together, sleeping on top of each other for many months.. As soon as we got home from school yesterday, Frances moved into a room of her own, as did Kate. And as Maura put so eloquently, "Now we can watch movies naked!" yes, yes we can Maura.

But I enjoyed the role of hosting the residents... It became something of a responsibility- making sure they were ok, fed and happy.. Plus, there were lots of evenings it was great to have others to hang out with.

Their departure really means that things are coming to a close here..

Happy belated Mother's days from Malawi..
A few photos.... Frances reading while the sun goes down, Maura at breakfast in a Malawian restaurant, and a little one selling tomatoes.

weekend e ya bwino (sp.?)

Have a good weekend is what I think that translates to.. Not sure.. I say it alot on Fridays here, and it always gets a response, so I think it's right.

Last night we celebrated me getting old with monster beef burgers(with bacon), a few carlsbergs and a few hours out at Harry's bar. Harry's is hole in the ground that is very popular with the ex-pat community. The windows are cutouts in the walls, with no screens, windows, etc.. the place is covered top to bottom in subfloor, with old furniture scattered about.. Think nasty frat house.. with rats. But they had great music on last night and the moon was full.

No big plans this weekend which is the way we like it...We may take the kids out to karaoke tomorrow night.. Other than that, nothing.

I was pulled over yesterday on my way to the grocery store.. The polite police officer said.." Why don't you have your seat belt on?" ( I had just pulled out of my gate and was headed down our street). I told her I just got in the car and was about to when she stopped me..  She then says.. "That is a violation of the law and you will have to pay a fine." Since I've been here for 10 months, I felt pretty confident in my ability to talk about this calmly with the local law enforcement... I said to her... " I hate to ask this question madam, but if it is illegal for me to not use my seatbelt, is it illegal for hundreds of people to stand up in the back of a flatbed truck speeding down the highway ? " Her response was, "it is legal for them to stand on those vehicles, but you must wear a seatbelt in this type of vehicle." Then she handed me my license and said "you can go, have a nice day."  It was around lunch time, so maybe she was hoping for some lunch money..  One small victory and 10$ saved.

Cosmas asked me yesterday if I would sign his petition to join the local library. I didn't even know there was a library here, but he had to have someone sponsor him to use the library. He asked for 1$ for transport to the city center so he could submit his paper work to the library... Can't really say no to that.. He is one of the nicest people I have ever met, and I hope that he finds some type of opportunity that will allow him to use his talents... He reads every night by candlelight in his shed by our entrance gate... He reads everything..  I supply a beer bottle(candle holder), candles and matches..He won't ask me for new candles , so I have to ask every so often .... I'm thinking I will buy a ton of candles and matches before we leave to keep him reading for a long time.

Thanks to all of you who sent your birthday wishes..  Made my day. Happy friday folks. Check back here for any breaking news.  Below is Cosmas.. other photo is both guards Joseph and Cosmas.. I will  miss these two. The last photo is my kindergarten class outside my classroom. We just some cat drawings and cut them out.. They were pretty pleased with their work.

more photos and a video... Because I turn 42 today

Today is my birthday.. Fortunately for Michelle there is absolutely nothing to buy here so it makes gift shopping pretty easy. We plan to celebrate later today with a grill out... But look who came into town to celebrate!!!

I'm just kidding... Marty Brennaman isn't really here... But he did send me some well wishes.. and that shirt he's wearing in the photo. Not much else to report. I do have a video to share, that I don't think I've posted before.. Here's a guy cutting the soccer field at the school..on a riding lawnmower.. It took him two days to cut it.. Totally on African time. This about sums up the lifestyle here. No one is in a rush.. and if you want something done (in this case the grass cut) it'll take 4 times longer than it should. 

Other photos below.. some of these photos are of the beautiful baobab trees that litter the countryside as you drive closer to the lake.. These trees are known to be thousands of years old. In Botswana, many of the people believed that god became angry with the people and ripped the trees out of the ground and shoved them back into the ground upside down.. They are very cool looking and the usually tower over any of the other trees. I think I drive the kids nuts when we see them because I usually stop and take a photo of everyone we see.  The tree also produces a fruit or nut or something that they sell on the side of the road.. people can get seriously hurt if these things fall of their head or, get injured falling from the tree while trying to climb and pick the nut. They are about the size of your hand, you have to crack them open and inside is a  small peanut sized nut that you can suck on... it's covered in some type of sweet powder..It's pretty good. The last photo is of some mops the workers here at the school have hanging outside my classroom to dry overnight.

Ok, enough of this silliness, happy birthday to me. I've been on this earth for 42 years now and this year has been a memorable one. Cheers to another great year ahead... Hopefully with Marty Brennaman and that shirt.  

Hope all is well back home. Birthday album of choice today is Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy.. It came out the same year I was born. A little side story about that....I remember my mom not letting me listen to it because Geraldo Rivera said Led Zeppelin were devil worshipers.. so be careful if you listen. If your eyes start glowing red, turn off immediately.

Pizza night = vomit night...

Last night was pizza night.. I have to admit, it was the best pizza I've ever made.. Hands down. I prepped most of the afternoon, had the girls help cut up all the fixings, had the kids make their own pizzas, prepped a large pizza for the adults and was ready to go.. Then the power went out.. Pitch black darkness throughout the neighbourhood, and it last for about 1.5 hours.. SO, I loaded up some charcoal and we grilled the pizzas... It turns out they were better that way.. Got to roll with it here.. 

Unfortunately , Jude probably ate the most pizza out of all of us, and Jude probably threw up the most pizza out of all of us... On his bed. He has the illness that put Frances down for the count last week.. Currently he is sleeping in our bed and I am enjoying a day at home again. 

Yesterday in preparation for the pizzas I opted not to stop at the best grocery store in town, only because I had been there so many times in the last week, I was embarrassed to go back.. You feel guilty buying all these items and seeing the same workers over and over and over again, with the knowledge that you are probably spending more money on food in a day than they spend in 3 months.. So I went to another store.. they had none of the items I needed. Then I went to another local shop... they had a few items, but not all of the items.. Ended up having to go to two more stores, got stuck in traffic and spent an extra hour gathering items ... I learned my lesson.. I spend way too much on groceries... and I like going to the shop that has everything. 

Beautiful day here again.. Sitting at my dining room table, watching Kam our gardener sweep the dirt in our side yard in swirling patterns to make it look nice. I dig it.. and it's something I'll never see at home..  Happy tuesday. 

Photos below are mothers at KCH Hospital washing clothes outside the Pediatric ward. Michelle took this picture... A little different that Cincy Children's.  Other photo is one the many random traffic blockades that you will see driving through this country..Love the words on it...  You'll be driving 65 mph , then all of a sudden there's a blockade with a few people sitting next to it.. They'll get up and either 1) open it to allow to pass with no questions asked, 2) ask you "where are you going?" and when you tell them, they'll let you pass or 3) get up very slowly, come to the truck , say hello to everyone in the truck, ask you "where are you going?" and after you tell them they say "what did you bring me?" or "I am hungry" or "I am thirsty" .. then they'll open the gate for you..  But always with a huge and friendly smile.. regardless of whether or not you "brought" them something ... I'll miss that. 

Another successful weekend at the lake...

Weekend trip to the lake was great as usual.... I don't think Michelle stepped foot out of the hospital this weekend, but she has officially worked her last weekend call shift here for a while..

Me and the kids made the trek on Friday to Cape Maclear.. It's exactly 3 hours and 40 minutes from our home and is a beautiful (and somewhat frightening) drive over the Dedza mountains to the lake ..
We had no problems getting there and had a weekend of lounging around, drinking lots of soft drinks, snorkelling , laying on rafts and basically just being bums.

I bought a pair of shorts from a guy named Planet.. All i had to do was choose the material, he took my measurements and within an hour sewed me up a pair of great looking shitenge shorts... I'm not sure when I'll wear them.. I also had a name plate made for some friends by a local wood worker (Humphrey) ... see photo below.. When I asked Humphrey about making the name plate, he gave me the price and I told him .. " I am leaving tomorrow morning. do you think it can be ready?" He said.. " we will stop everything we are doing and finish your job." Sure enough, at 8 am it was stained and ready to go..

... If you ever get a chance to come to Malawi, I would recommend it..You have to be committed to be flexible and to be willing to accept that things are nothing like back home, but it is absolutely amazing.. My opinion of this place has changed dramatically. Kate and I were talking on the drive and talked about when we arrived here in August how we thought this place was a giant dust bowl.. but after the rains came, the place took on a completely different look..  I have never seen such beautiful landscape and such beautiful sunsets... They are an event worth celebrating... and most people that visit here do... I was sitting on the beach having a "sunddowner",taking in the setting sun and watching the kids play in the lake... another American woman who was volunteering here for a month (most of the americans you meet here are doctors or med students ) was watching the sun go down and took a few photos as the sun went below the horizon and said.. "that was beautiful".. I kind of scoffed and said... "you should watch the sky for another 40 minutes... it gets better and better." I consider myself a sunset pro.. I can't do much in this life well, but I can watch me a sunset..  Anyway, the sunsets are otherworldly .... the lake becomes still as glass, and  feels eerie..  As locals are nearby finishing washing their dishes in the lake, all of us foreigners are busy staring into the sky... I'm sure they think we are nuts..  But it is truly stunning and I am sad that this was the last time I will take in a sunset like the ones below..

As the kids settled in for the night, I was able to watch rugby with some south Africans after dinner.. We sat around in the lounge and watched the Cheetahs v. the Storm.. .. It was nice.. Lots of cussing and guzzling of beer. The epitome of excess..  Just like watching a sporting event at home.. Made me homesick...

We are back at it this Monday and have an actual full week of school .... Kids are great and Michelle is relieved to be finished with a weekend of non stop hospital work..

I think my main goal now is to keep everyone safe.. With the end in sight, I have become a little over cautious about everything.. We have made it this far, with no major illnesses , disease of injury, so I hope we can stay well for the next 6-7 weeks...

Here's the photos from the weekend.. some are from Otter Point, where Kate is jumping off the rocks.. Some local boys came with us to "watch our things" while we swam... I also brought another guy with us to "watch our car and keep it safe from baboons".. Everyone is looking for a job and I'm happy to oblige..  The kids that came with us to the lake actually enjoyed using goggles and masks to see the cychlid fish they probably swim with everyday.. One of them had the bottom half or a 2 litre bottle and caught several fish to show the girls.. They also were fascinated with the two rafts we brought with us.. They had never seen anything like it... Other photos are the lakefront , the bar area of the lodge we stayed at, and other random things like cows in the middle of the highway... You have to be alert all the time driving here.. they just walk out in the middle of the road... them and goats are the biggest issue..

Sorry for all the photos.. for some reason the internet is working really well right now, so I thought I'd take advantage of the ability to upload photos over a reasonable period of time. Hope all is well back home.

Baobab tree

Our destination.. right on the beach

driving through Dedza mountains

chillin

Kids are on the rafts just beyond the guys in the boat

sunset

Billy the tailor... he makes shorts, pants, etc.. and mends things for the locals as well

just after sun went down..

20 minutes later

Bar view

Humphrey , Christopher.. wood workers.