The past five days since arriving in Livingstone have flown by with my work, which consumes my days in the office and my evenings summarizing activities and keeping abreast with my colleagues back in Atlanta. And yet, every night when I fall asleep i feel so fulfilled- having worked so hard and felt so good about it. I am working with an amazing group of Zambians who are dedicated, incredibly smart and thoughtful, and have of course a great sense of humor that comes when one works everyday to make words such as "penis" and "condoms" normal.
I swear even the food tastes better, especially the lunches in between work, because i feel like I've earned them (plus I really, really like their nshima - a rice-tasting maize porridge type thing that is balled into a lump resembling play dough and eaten using the hands along with meat and veggies (it is used as a sort of edible spoon). you will find that almost every country in Africa has their own version of this). it may sound bland and odd, but really is like having rice or mashed potatoes with your meat and veggies.
It has rained a lot since I've been here- not the torrential downpours that I've come to associate with my life in Atlanta (it has rained since i moved there in September), but more like the seasonal rains where it will rain for 10 minutes, then be sunny and 90 degrees out, then rain two hours later. everything here is so lush and green. the main road my hotel is on leads directly to the Victoria Falls - you can see the giant plume of white mist rising form it a good five miles away - and I would think it was a bomb if i didn't know better.
It is funny to be "that" worker who eats her dinners by herself at the hotel, but I am actually quite content sipping my Mosi (their national beer)and swatting at mosquitoes. The hotel staff takes pity on me and they take turns talking to me while I wait for my food, I am definitely a long-term resident here.
Saturday i will be going on my very first real Safari (i only half-count the walking safari I did in Mole national park in Ghana, since there was really only elephants ad various deer/antelope-type animals, baboons and warthogs) in Chobe national [park, which is in Botswana. If you look carefully at a map, you will see that where I am at in Livingstone, Zambia is like being at the Four Corners National Park in the US - within a few kilometers of where I am Zambia meets with Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia, making for an incredible opportunity to get in lots of safaris in a slightly less tourist-heavy area (as compared t S. Africa,Kenya or Tanzania). I must say, I laugh out loud every time i see yet another khaki knee-length shorts, khaki fly-fishing multi-pocket-type vest, hiking boots outfit tourist or ten walking by. the outfits really do look ridiculous. I love getting to say I'm here on business and not one of THEM, and then turn around and go on a safari....
So stay tuned for what I hope will be a much more interesting post with plenty of pictures upon my return Saturday evening. Sunday I will be leaving with my colleagues for Sesheke, a smaller town where we will be doing some work until Thursday.
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