Goal-Setting, Professions and Punishments in Schools

Goal-setting is key when volunteering (and with just about everything else). It helps to set both long and short ones. By setting a few goals for myself it helps me prioritize what I hope to accomplish while here as well as breaks down the months into a timeline. One benefit of teaching is that it is very easy to set goals and arrange what I hope and want to accomplish. I am able to plan out the weeks from September-December with what lessons I want to teach and points I want the students to learn. Another goal I can set that is a bit shorter is what I hope to learn while at the clinic; an every week kind of goal. This could be learning more Bemba (the majority of patients that come in only speak Bemba) or more about medication and certain illnesses. I am getting very good at asking “What is your name, what is your age, where do you live and what is the problem?” ha.

So, by setting goals I can break down my time with what I want to focus on. Also, it helps with the down time that can get a bit boring. Speaking of down time I have just finished the fourth ‘Game of Thrones’ book. I didn’t expect to crank through them so quickly, but now I only have one left. These books aren’t the short kind either. Every book sits around 1,000+ pages.  I may take a break from reading that series, though, and look for a different book for a while. I think it would be nice to switch things up a bit.

Furthermore, with down time it is nice to listen to music. Listening to music is known to help with improving one’s mood. When you have down time and there’s not much going on listening to music can be the thing that helps keep you going.

The monastery will be having what they call professions taken on October 1^st. Professions is where the candidates and novice brothers take/renew their vows. Candidates are members who wish to join the monastery full time as a novice. If you were to join the monastery you would have to visit a number of times. On the final visit, which is usually for a few months, you would choose (and the community of monks would vote) to join as a novice. There are two candidates for the Katibunga monastery. Both will be becoming novices on October 1^st. Additionally, the novice brothers that have been a part of the community for a number of years will now say their solemn vows and become a monk for life.

As Zack and I were heading into class yesterday we noticed a number of students being chastised or punished. The teacher was taking a stick and slapping it over the student, usually against their back or behind. For obvious reasons, this form of punishment was discontinued awhile back in the U.S. This is one example that helps show how far behind Africa is compared to the U.S. and other first-world countries. It is hard to see students get hit and I, personally, will never hit any of mine. I don’t think I could get myself to do it even if I wanted to. That’s just messed up. Just think about how big the case against Adrian Peterson became after he hit his son with a stick. This kind of thing happens in their schools.

With October beginning tomorrow the hot and dry season is in full swing. It’s hard not to find yourself sweating at any point in the day. I still don’t understand why their culture requires adults to always wear pants. I wear pants to teach (as an authority figure you should do so) and I burn up. When we get back from teaching we switch from pants to shorts, though. We are already very different from everyone here so I think wearing shorts doesn’t hurt us too much ha.

Happy October, everyone!

Thanks for reading!

Load shedding, Visas and Pit Latrines

With it being hot and dry season and the plain fact that electricity is scarce in Zambia there has been a lot of load shedding happening. Load shedding is when the entire nation’s electrical grid is shut off to conserve energy. This happens every day for a number of hours. Sometimes they will just shut off certain provinces/districts at a time while keeping others open, but usually it’s the entire nation. Crazy. Imagine the U.S. shutting down every electricity plant. So, no electricity has become a common thing around here. With no electricity not only are the lights and internet affected, but it also affects the water pressure. When the power is down the water either barely comes out of the faucets or not at all. Same goes for the toilets too.

So, hopefully rainy season is really rainy this year. Additionally, the weather is reaching the 90’s now so the rain would be a nice change of pace for the Minnesotans.

I will be testing my biology students this week on Thursday. We will be wrapping up the homeostasis unit so a test will be a good way to gage how well they comprehended the material. Next, we will be moving onto the health/disease unit. As I was working in the clinic yesterday I had one of my students come in. He told me that I am a good teacher and speak clearly. I’d say this is a good sign. It was nice to hear.

Zack and I will have to travel back to Mpika this week sometime to turn in our applications for the new visas. It’s a long drive just for that, but we will get it done. It will be nice to have it completed too.

I know this is a smaller post, but everything is just moving along. We are just trying to enjoy each day and do what we set out to do. The only other thing I can think of is that while Zack and I were in the village the other day a lady had tossed a bucket of water out her door and into the street. I couldn’t help but notice to very bad smell that came after. I honestly think it may have been you-know-what. I am unsure, but it really did smell terrible. I mention this because it is just another piece of life here. 

With poor sanitation and bathroom facilities you have to deal with stuff like this. It makes you thankful for the great facilities we have in America. Additionally, the toilets at the school are pit latrines (outhouses). You walk into the little box and there is just a hole in the ground. Being that we are about a 10-15 minute walk from the monastery there isn’t really another option so this is what we use. That’s just life.

Well, the Tommie-Johnnie game is today and even ESPN is in on the action this year. Pretty cool. Good luck and Go Johnnies!

*By some divine miracle I have been able to access my blog. Woooooooo! Have a great day, everyone!

Thanks for reading!

Immigration, Laundry and Africa's School System

The immigration office was visited once again so we could get approved for another 30 day stay. I think it is kind of bizarre we have to go every 30 days to renew our stay because I thought the whole purpose of getting a visa was to avoid stuff like this. However, I guess not in Africa. When we go again next month we will have to apply and get a new visa because they only supply you with 90 day visas. The next visa we receive will see us through the rest of our stay in Zambia. Then we will have to get a new one for Tanzania. Man, the wild world of traveling and staying in foreign countries. It makes you thankful that the United States of America is literally united. It would be terrible if we had to pull out a passport every time we crossed state borders (sucks to suck, Europe!) ha.

When we were in Mpika Zack and I were able to get out and walk around by ourselves for a bit considering we now know that place better. As we were walking we could barely believe our eyes when we spotted a few white people in the distance. There isn’t much to this story, but I just wanted to mention it because it is actually crazy to see white people after going so long with being the only ones in a solid 50km radius.

As the end of September approaches some of the monks are heading to Tanzania for school. We started out with a low number of monks and now are even getting smaller. We are in the low 20’s now, I’d say. It will be interesting when we travel to Hanga Abbey in Tanzania. The Abbey there has a very large community so it will be a big change going from such a small one to that. With some of the brothers now gone Zack and I are kind of on our own. The brothers we usually hung around and spoke with have left. Not all, but a lot.

Last week we finally were able to find some wash buckets and laundry soap. We washed our clothes by hand for the first time and it went well. You must scrub the clothes quite hard which probably isn’t very good for the fabric, but it does get them clean. I am happy to be able to do it now too. I felt bad always giving my clothes over to the ladies to wash and so now I am able to just do it on my own. I think Saturday afternoons will be laundry time. It can take some time to get through all of your clothes because you much rinse, wash, scrub, rinse and then hang all of them. This is why you want a nice hot and sunny day too. That’s not hard to come by down here, though. The clothes dry fairly quickly and then you take them from the clothes line and fold them up and you are set for another week.

This past weekend I came down with a bit of a cold or what I think may be hay fever. I’m not quite sure. Hay fever isn’t actually caused by hay nor does it cause a fever (humans really need to work on naming things better). However, it is an allergic reaction to certain dust particles. I don’t recall ever having this back in the U.S. but it may be something in the air down here that is setting it off. All the dust and wildfire may be kicking something up into the air. I’m not positive, but that’s my best guess so far. It causes nasal congestion, headache, sneezing, pressure in the face and a mild cough. It sucks, but I think it is going away (I hope). I am going to take a break from my long walks this week to see if that is what is causing it. I hope not, but if it is I may have to rethink my long walks down the dusty road.

Teaching has started back up and is going well this week. I have become extremely comfortable talking and teaching in front of the class. I am confident in what I teach and I know the material so I’m not nervous when explaining it. The 40 minute classes are a breeze and with all the lessons I have planned (thank God for planning ahead) the 80 minute classes are a piece of cake. I know I will have enough information for the entire term.

As teachers we must create a file with all of our lesson plans and such. It is like a record of the work we have done. This is the worst part of teaching because it is a bunch of busy work. I have to rewrite my lessons and record what I do each week and then recreate the syllabus (which is what they gave me) and also is what I base my lessons off of each week. So really it’s just rewriting the same thing multiple times in different ways. Oh well.

I will be testing my students at the end of next week so I can assess their progress on the topic of homeostasis. I will also collect their tests in order to compile some pieces of work for my file so the government (or whoever checks my teaching records) can see that I am, in fact, doing what I said I would.

There is still a problem with teachers and student not showing up to class. I swear my class gets larger each day I come in. I believe I am over 40 students now. Furthermore, I teach second period which means a teacher should be teaching period one. However, sometimes I walk in and find that there is no teacher and the kids are just hanging out and talking. This is sad. This is one of the many reasons why Africa’s school system is so underdeveloped and poor. To combat this behavior I make sure to show up on time and teach for the entire length of time. The students always have lots of questions which is also fun for me because I like helping explain the answer.

Yet, another problem that exists is some students not coming into class. Zack’s class yesterday was completely empty. We were really confused and could not find any of the students so we just wrote out what we would have taught on the board so hopefully they could at least copy the notes down when they returned. We are unsure if they did, but we can only hope. When it comes down to it, though, we can only do so much. We put in our time and now they must put in theirs. I think it is like this for most things in the world. We all must put in a bit of effort.

*Shout out to my sister, Grace, whose birthday was yesterday. Happy 19th! We will celebrate when I get home...trust me, I have plenty of random gift cards to blow. I think some are seriously from my senior year of high school grad party. I need help. So we will spend them!*

Thanks for reading!

Day By Day

Well, the internet is back to its old self. Slow. Yet, I can’t complain too much when out in the middle of the bush.

The second week of school went well. I feel the kids are picking up on the material I am teaching them. I hope it continues to go this way for the rest of the term. I am actually having a lot of fun teaching biology and am finding that I know more than I thought. That’s always a nice feeling.

I am in the middle of my homeostasis unit and so I gave a quiz to my students on Thursday. It was a five question assessment that reviewed and glazed over the major points I have been getting at the past two weeks. I was able to check some of them before class let out and was very happy at what I was seeing. Most of the kids were getting all of them right or four out of the five. Woooo this is great. 

When teaching I make a point of walking around the class. I feel this is good because it keeps the students attentive and focused. I also tend to ask a lot of questions so they are always involved in what I am teaching. It seems to be working well. Finally, getting them out of their seat and up to the board seems to be a great way to get the class to pay attention and to be involved. The hardest part can be asking questions and not getting an answer for a bit. There’s always a delay because no one wants to get the question wrong, but in the end usually someone ends up raising their hand.

Not a picture of Isaac's farm, but it shows furrow irrigation well. Also,
I think this a really cool shot. I took it after my morning run.

Furthermore, when I walk into the class all of the students stand up. This is a sign of respect for the teacher. I quickly have them sit because I feel funny having them do that for me considering I am only a few years older, but it is nice nonetheless. They also call me sir all the time. “Sir, can you explain this to me,” Sir, why is this organ such an important part of homeostasis,” Thank you for explaining this, sir.” It’s always sir. They know my name, but after so many years of schooling they are accustomed to calling their teachers sir or ma’am. So, the same goes for Zack and me.   

Working in the clinic yesterday and today went well. It was quite a slow day yesterday, but I will take it. Usually it’s none stop which can be extremely exhausting. Yesterday, I was able to hang up posters, sweep the room, organize the file, fix the broken drawers on the desk and gather more supplies for the clinic. It was great. I love cleaning and organizing. Not really sure why, but it’s just in my genes. I have always been like that. My friends use to come into my dorm room in college and be like “Dude, why is your room so clean all the time?” ha I just have to have things clean. I also work better when I know where everything is. To say the least, my future wife is going to love me haha.

Now that we are busy working we don’t feel like such freeloaders anymore. Personally, I never felt like this considering I have been working at the clinic since getting here, but having the monks know we are busy with teaching is nice. We have a purpose and a job and we’re getting it done.

One of Isaac's tomato plants.

A few days ago our friend Isaac took us to his farm. We use to tutor Isaac in biology and physics, but since he has taken his exams in both subjects we just hang around with him now. His family owns some farm land not too far from the monastery so we went to check it out. He is in the middle of growing tomatoes so I told him about how my Mom likes to grow some tomatoes. He thought that was cool. However, his tomato field was humongous. He had tons of tomato plants all over the place. I’ve never seen so many. Tomatoes are a major crop here and so they are grown and sold a lot.

Something I learned from viewing his farm was furrow irrigation. They don’t have sprinklers here – shocker – so they use furrows instead. This is a brilliant idea and I think it’s very cool to see. I hope I can do something like this when farming in Tanzania. Furrow irrigation is when you build a small ditch from the stream to (and through) the farm land. It allows for the ground to become saturated with water. In addition, farmers are able to grab water from the furrow (trough) and water their crops by hand. The water continuously flows so they always have plenty of water to use. I enjoyed learning about this. The picture up and to the right is of one of the monastery farms where they use furrow irrigation as well.

In other news…

Every morning we eat the homemade bread the monks make. Making bread is just something monks do and, man, they do it well. I have always and will always love Johnnie bread which is made by the monks at the Saint John’s Abbey; however I have to say the Katibunga bread actually might be a little bit better. As a Johnnie alum this might be some sort of treason, but I can’t lie. This stuff is great! I’m a big fan.

We finally heard from Br. Paul whether or not Fr. Nick Kleespie would be making a visit to Africa. The BVC usually always sends someone to each site every year to make a checkup visit.  We have been notified that Fr. Nick will be coming to Katibunga in late December, directly after Christmas actually. He will stay with us for our final days in Zambia and then accompany us to Hanga, Tanzania. Fr. Nick actually volunteered in Hanga back when he was fresh out of college so I’m sure it will be nice for him to visit again.

It’s pretty wild to see September coming to an end here very soon. October is fast approaching. Unlike the fall weather in Minnesota things are just beginning to heat up here. I think that is one thing I do miss; seasons. Seasons are nice and you (or at least I) don’t notice how nice they are until they are gone. I’m actually a fan of winter so it will be interesting to have such a long summer stretch with no cold. Oh well, though, I’ll get them back next year. Until then I’ll just be over here working on my ‘sweat diet’ ha.

Well, better get to midday prayer.

Thanks for reading!

The Art of Metacognition, Concoctions and Marriage Proposals

Teaching and working in the clinic are going well and I feel my time is being spent in the best way. Considering this year is about lending a helping hand and giving back I feel these two jobs are what I am best suited for while in Zambia. Yet, as the days pass, it can be very easy to miss home and the regular daily routines of life in America. These feelings are not unordinary to experience and every one does at some point. This is why I focus on keeping busy.

Still, something I set aside time to concentrate on (usually while on my long walks) is metacognition. Say what? Yes, metacognition. There are multiple definitions of metacognition, but the most basic one I will go with is ‘thinking about thinking’. Metacognition can be useful in many scenarios such as relationships, work, school, being away from home and life in general. What I mean by ‘thinking about thinking’ is that it is important think about how you think about a certain thing. (I just said ‘think’ like 1,000 times, but stick with me. I’m getting to my point).

So, in my case, I must think about how I think about my time volunteering. Our thoughts are extremely powerful. In fact, our expectations and thoughts can become reality (self-fulfilling prophecy). If you sit and ponder all of the things you hate about your job then soon enough your actions will mimic those thoughts. Your attitude towards your job will suffer which will lead to a poor work ethic and a loss of interest. Now, this is not to say that your job actually might suck. In that case then go ahead and quit. However, it’s important to weigh the positives and negatives.

For me, I must think about how I think of my time here. This is why I try my best to focus on the great moments I have with my class or time helping a person overcome their illness. By doing this I create a positive outlook on my time and feel better overall. This is because our emotions are embodied and therefore affect both mind and body. This is also probably why optimists fair better than pessimists.

Then there is a little thing called Facebook. Facebook is great for many things; however it also can be tough because every post is someone having the time of their life (or pretending to). It’s sort of like alcohol. It’s all happy days while using it but then a depressant when you stop. Seeing posts of friends and family can reboot the homesick thoughts and is just another reason why using metacognition is beneficial. Knowing that what I am doing is just as important as what they are doing.

Personally, I am doing fine. Though, I write this because my blog pertains to my entire experience abroad and these feelings are a part of that. Yet, by doing what I do I am able to keep a solid mindset. The time is going to pass either way. We all might as well make the most of it.

So, in the end, it is the thought that counts. (And all this time you thought that phrase was some lame excuse your husband/wife used to get them out of buying you a gift). Ha!

Anyways…

I have been putting in many hours at the health clinic and am becoming very familiar with what medications to prescribe for each set of symptoms. I am able to handle some patients alone now which is nice. The hardest part, though, is when Violet and I disagree on how to treat a patient. Violet is a very nice lady and is great to work with. She helps translate most of what the patient says (though I am getting better at Bemba) and gives advice on what medication to use. However, she sometimes doesn’t see something that can be harmful. 

For instance, a few days ago she advised a patient to create a ‘concoction’ of a few types of medicines and take them all at once. There were around 20 pills she advised the villager to take. I may be wrong, but this can’t be good. Can it? I spoke out against this idea, but ultimately it was up to the patient. I am unsure of what they decided to do, but considering most people trust in Violet rather than some white guy from America I am sure they created the concoction. So, that can be tough.

As for school, teaching is going well. The older students tend to be much more attentive which is nice. Some don’t follow along, but what do you expect from a bunch of high schoolers. They seem to enjoy having Zack and I as their biology and physics teachers. They also can’t believe that we are only 22 years old. This is probably because the classes’ age range is very large. My biology class’s age ranges from 16-25. What is even crazier is that Zack’s physics class ranges from 18-34. Our classes also hold around 35-40 students.

What is also hard to believe is that I used to practically poop my pants over a 5-10 presentation in college whereas now I teach for 40 minutes straight on Tuesday and Wednesday and 80 minutes on Thursday. However, the content I teach is much easier than the topics I had to present in college.

While teaching biology yesterday I was discussing the eukaryotic (human) cell. Our cells contain cytoplasm within their walls which is mainly made up of water. In my attempt at getting the students to tell me what cytoplasm is made up of I asked “what is the one liquid we must drink in order to survive?” As I was waiting for an answer I looked to the back of the class where Zack was sitting. He was mouthing the word ‘BEER’ to me. I ended up laughing in front of the entire class and they had no idea why. Quite funny. Unfortunately, friends, I have looked back at the research and they still say that water is the one liquid that must be consumed in order to survive. We can only hope that beer is next in line.

As for some other random things…

Sometimes rather than shaking hands people will touch wrists. I will go in for a shake and have to convert to touching my wrist against theirs. I actually am becoming a fan of this myself. Most people still shake hands, but with poor hygiene touching wrists is a nice alternative.

Additionally, a few days ago I was on one of my long walks when I came across a 16 year old boy. He asked me to come over to his house and meet his family. I did and had a fun time doing so. However, soon the topic of conversation turned to how marrying a white man from America would be so great. The boy spoke of how his sisters would love to do so and it seemed as if the family felt the same. I did not expect this. In short, I had to kindly decline the marriage offer. After this somewhat awkward exchange I was on my way. To all the ladies back home – the competition is strong! Ha!

The house I visited.

Well, I better be on my way. I just got back in time for lunch so I am off to fill myself with more rice and ugali. Have a great day everyone!

Thanks for reading!

Active Duty

I have officially gone from doing little to doing a lot. This is how I want it to be, though. This past week Zack and I began our teaching and so far so good. I really enjoy teaching a subject that I enjoy. We have to put in a little extra effort, but that’s just a part of the game.

Zack and I have been assigned to teach on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Seeing that we only teach three days there is still a good chunk of time open in my week. Therefore, I have signed up to spend my remaining days at the health clinic. Personally, I love being busy and active. It just works for me and helps me pass the time better. I just don’t see the point in sitting around when I could be out helping and/or experiencing something new.

Yet, Zack doesn’t see it the same as I and this is where we differ. We don’t care that the other has a different philosophy about how each spends their time and, quite frankly, we don’t expect to match up on everything. When randomly paired with someone how could you?

So my Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays will be spent at the clinic while my Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays will be spent at the school. Sundays are a free day and will allow me some time to relax. I am glad to be able to be doing both the teaching and helping at the clinic. Zack will just be teaching and spending the rest of his time hanging out and possibly tutoring.

The other free times in my day will be filled with midday prayer, meals, and exercising. I have begun to run every morning as well as doing some body exercises like pushups and crunches. Furthermore, after lunch I have some free time so I go for a walk, like a really long walk. I tend to walk about 7 miles. I said I enjoy being active.

You are probably wondering why on earth I would do this. Well, there are multiple reasons. They are that walking is a great exercise, it gives me time to think, it passes my free time really well and by the end of the day I am ready for bed rather than wide awake. I also think that deep down inside I’m really just an old soul ha. My brother and I would joke about that, but Africa is making it come true. I have begun to go on long walks, read a lot and go to bed around 9. Hey, that’s just what you do when living in Africa, though. All I know is that by the time I leave I’m going to have the nicest butt in all of Africa. Not that it is a goal of mine, but I ain’t complaining.

With my exercise routines starting up I have noticed it is a little bit different working out here than it is in Minnesota. It is a bit more strenuous. This is because I have recently learned that Zambia’s elevation is much higher than that of Minnesota. Minnesota sits, on average, about 1,000 feet above sea level where as Zambia sits around 4,100 feet. This matters because there is less oxygen the higher you are above sea level making exercise at higher levels more difficult. This is the main reason why the United States Olympians train in Colorado. Colorado is nicknamed the mile-high city because it sits around 5,280 feet above sea level. Therefore, the athletes are well conditioned when competing elsewhere.

I am actually glad to hear that the elevation is much higher in Zambia. It will make for some great training and conditioning while living here.

Another thing I notice while on my walks is the weather. The weather is getting much hotter and the wind is picking up. This makes sense considering rainy season is approaching. Rainy season is from November-April, the dry and cool season is from May-August and the dry and hot season is from September –November. Unlike Minnesota’s bipolar weather schemes where it changes within a five minute span; Zambia, as well as most of Africa, has very specific weather patterns. 

Considering the season is currently hot and dry the added wind creates the perfect setup for wildfires. As I was walking yesterday I looked to my left only to find the entire side of a hill aflame. This isn’t much of a concern here because you can’t do much about it and the fact that this is a normal part of the ecosystem’s cycle. In fact, these wildfires are quite good. This is because most of the plants are dead and when they burn they create great fertilizer. Then, when the rains come in November the new plants will sprout up and turn the landscape green. Cool, huh?

So, here I am walking on the road while 10 feet from me is a raging wildfire. Wildfires are intense because they spread extremely fast. With the added wind the fire is able to jump and snag the next piece of dried, dead plant and consume it. I never was worried for myself because there was no way it was going to jump the entire road, but it was very hot even when standing on the other side. Wildfires usually last the day and once they have run their course they die out. The same went for this wildfire. It was a neat thing to experience.

As for working in the clinic, I administered my first injection today. I am glad to have done it. I am more confident in doing them now. I gave the injection to a 16 year old girl which made it much easier because she wasn’t screaming or freaking out. The little kids that come in go absolutely ballistic. We had to practically tie down one kid today. I was holding his feet; his mom held is arms while Violet injected him. They scream so loud too. That’s the worst part of the job.

You must press harder than you’d think when giving an injection. It just feels strange practically stabbing someone and I feel horrible causing them pain, but it must be done. Once you pierce the skin it’s all downhill from there. All you have to do is inject the vaccine and cover up the injected area. Not too bad.

Yesterday, we had a scary case. A woman around the age of 65 came in with a severe case of malaria. Her family brought her in on a wheelbarrow because she was so sick she couldn’t walk. To be completely honest, it seemed as if she was going to pass away right there in the room. She was delusional because she was so sick. Violet and I checked her pulse, blood pressure, blood sugar, and administered an injection with immediate anti-malaria medication. This was about the extent of what we could do with the resources we have. We then contacted Father Joseph who has a truck. We loaded her into the bed of the truck and he took her to the hospital. I am unsure how equipped the hospital is, but I know it has more than we do. Today I heard that she is doing much better. Woooo! That’s a relief.  Just about everything I see makes me realize that I am not in America anymore, but things like this really hammer it home. It’s crazy to see some of the illnesses and cases that come into our clinic.

As for teaching, it’s much less intense. However, it has some interesting twists of its own. The most interesting one I have noticed was when I walked into another teacher’s room to grab some chalk for my class. When I entered the whole class went silent (besides a few murmurs) and then when I was leaving the teacher asked “Have you ever seen the white man before?” This blew my mind. I wasn’t insulted or anything, but the fact that some probably haven’t seen a white person before is mind boggling. Also, being called ‘white man’ is interesting in itself. I felt like I was in the movie Pocahontas when John Smith comes across the Atlantic and meets the Native Americans for the first time. No wonder I get so many stares. It was a very thought-provoking experience to say the least.

Well, it’s about time for dinner so I better get going. The food here definitely fills your body up, but it leaves your mind empty. What I mean is that you feel full, but lack nutrients. That’s just how it is, though. Thankfully Zack brought some crushed red pepper and seasoning salt with him to Africa. We have begun to use it on the ugali and rice which makes everything so much better. My taste buds have never been so pleased. Furthermore, tonight there is a serving of diced onions and tomatoes! This is like Christmas. One of my favorite foods since I was very little has been onions (you can thank my Mom for getting me hooked), but tomatoes are new to me. Ever since I came home from South Africa I have loved them. Weird how that works. Must be my taste buds changing. 

With my jobs here in Zambia I can tell I am targeting my Mom’s side of the family with all the teaching and health related work. However, it seems as if I will be doing the same with my Dad’s side in Tanzania. My work there will be focused on farming and carpentry. Learning new skills every day is the best part.

Well, till next time.

Thanks for reading!

*Being that yesterday was September 11th and that I am a proud American I just wanted to mention it here. I'm not sure if the villagers even know of September 11th, 2001, but it will always stick with us. God Bless the United States of America!

The Long Way Home, Teaching and Exercise

African nights

Zack and I are safely back in Katibunga after a very long trip from Livingstone. The trip to visit the Victoria Falls was phenomenal; a great escape that revitalized our spirits. While in Livingstone we met a number of people from around the world which made the experience even better. Rachel, who is from Indiana but currently lives in South Africa, invited Zack and I down to Johannesburg. We would love to go, but are unsure as of now if we will be able to make it work. We will just have to play it ear. Ricardo, who is from Ecuador but currently lives in Madrid, was another stellar dude who we met while in Livingstone. Rachel and Ricardo along with Ben, the Australian, and Joseph, the Brit, were all great people to meet. They made the long trip worth it.

While we are on the topic of traveling I might as well explain to you the trip back to Katibunga from Livingstone. The two days it took to travel back will not hinder the wonderful time I had in Livingstone, but it was a tough two days to say the least.

So…last Friday, the 4^th of September, Zack and I bought tickets for the 5:30AM bus back to Lusaka. At the time it was a smart idea. However, after hanging out with our friends one last time and hitting the town the 5:30AM decision quickly took a turn for the worse. Now, we will take the fault for this mistake, but the rest (as you will see) was out of our hands. So, we went to bed quite late and slept through our alarms. I woke at 6:30AM and ran to Zack and woke him. We quickly threw our belongings into our bags and ran to the bus station. Thankfully, the bus company allowed us to exchange our 5:30AM bus tickets for the 8:30AM bus. So we boarded and left around 9:00AM.

Broken bus

One hour into our bus ride the bus starts to make a strange noise. The bus driver pulls the bus to the side of the road and asks us all to get off. He explained to me that two main pipes came loose and must be reattached. Unfortunately, the mechanic was still in Livingstone so we had to wait for him to take a taxi to us and repair the pieces. This took close to two hours. Finally, we were back on our way, but not for long. Within 30 minutes we were back on the side of the road checking the parts. Thankfully, they just needed to be tightened and this was able to be completed by the driver. So, we started off once again.

Usually this bus ride takes about 6 hours; however with all the problems that had happened it took about 9. By this time Zack and I are exhausted and tired of traveling and we were just arriving in Lusaka! A solid 8 hours from Mpika. So we quickly unload and run to the ticket offices to try and find a bus to Mpika. To our dismay we found that all the busses to Mpika had left. Furthermore, most busses on Sunday were already booked. Realizing our defeat we walked the bus terminal for any bus that would take us to Mpika on Sunday. Luckily we found two tickets. So after purchasing them we set in for the night. We walked to the nearby mall and bought some bread, peanut butter, and water. This would hold us over for the next day.

After the mall we walked to Br. Placid’s university. Of course, with how our luck was going, he was not there. He had left for Mpika THAT day! No kidding. So here we are stuck in Lusaka all alone. So we decided to stay on campus and post up on the third floor of the main building and try to catch some Z’s. You probably think we are morons, but we truly did not know what else to do. Also, if you were in our situation you would have done the same. It’s either sleep outside or in this building.

We were able to sleep for close to 5 hours until the universe threw us another problem. We woke to two security guards questioning us on why we were there. After 30 minutes of explaining who we were, why we were there, that we knew Br. Placid, and that we obviously weren’t from the area they still wanted to call the police. However, I could tell that they didn’t want to involve the police as well. They were using it more as a threat. After explaining that we were volunteer teachers and that we are just waiting for the next bus out of Lusaka they finally let us walk. This was the worst and most frightening part of our travel. Getting arrested in Zambia is one thing that is not on my bucket list.

Lusaka's Inter-City Bus Station

So, now it was 3:00AM and we were back on the streets of Lusaka. It was also pretty cold. Our next best idea was to head to the bus station and find a spot to post up. When we arrived we found close to 200 hundred other people sleeping outside the station. So, being in the situation that we were in, we joined them. We huddled up, used our bags as pillows and attempted sleep. To my amazement I actually slept for about 2 and ½ hours. Around 5:30AM we woke and decided to walk around. Luckily, the mall opened at 6:00AM so we went to sit there. We sat there and read until noon. At noon we walked back to the bus station to get ready for our bus. We asked the ticket office if our bus would be on time and guess what…it was going to be two hours late. At this point I was ready to throw myself off the nearest building. I am a pretty calm person, but now I was getting upset.

So, our bus would be leaving at 4:00PM instead of 2:00PM. That’s when Zack and I went searching for two new tickets that left earlier because we just wanted to leave this city. Luckily, we were able to sell our tickets and buy two new ones for a bus that was leaving at 2:00PM. The reason we were able to get two tickets for this new bus was because it was going to the border of Zambia and passing through Mpika. They told us that the bus would be stopping in Mpika, though, and that we would be able to get out there.

So we boarded and were on our way by 2:30PM. The bus was packed to the brim. I was squished between Zack and a lady with her daughter on her lap. Both were coughing terribly the entire bus ride. However, I was willing to deal with it as long as we were heading towards Mpika. We were on the bus for about 8 hours until we came up on Mpika. At this point it’s about 11:00PM and pitch dark out. We had to keep our eyes peeled for the stop in Mpika while fighting off sleep. Thankfully, we didn’t goof this up and got off in Mpika. However, Mpika still sits an hour away from Katibunga.


So we had to get a taxi to take us there.

Like I’ve said before the road to Katibunga is terrible. So terrible that I think God may have created it to scare sinners straight because riding on it is like traveling into Hell. Furthermore, I’m almost certain AC/DC created the song “Highway to Hell” after hearing of this road.

After driving in a very small car for an hour we finally arrived back at the monastery in Katibunga. We crawled into bed and feel asleep around 2:00AM on Monday morning.

Wow! So that was our travel back. Like I said, the vacation was worth it, but doing another one may be too much. Whenever we feel like leaving Katibunga we will think of the travel back from Livingstone and then reconsider.

Well…as for some other things…

It’s nice to be back in Katibunga. We started teaching which is great. I enjoy teaching a subject I like. That helps a lot. The schedule for classes is still being worked on and not all the teachers and students have reported back to school yet, but once they have things will be up and running. Many kids miss school and what doesn’t help is that even teachers skip as well. It’s really too bad. Zack and I think we will be teaching Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays so we will make sure to be there. The term will run from now until December. I will be administering my final exam in biology the first week of December. It’s crazy to think that I was just the student taking finals in May and now I am going to be overseeing them.

Zack and I have begun to run every morning. I had a shin splint/stress fracture in my right leg before leaving for Africa, but I think it’s better now. At least there is no pain while I run. We are starting slow, but hope to be running a few miles by the time we head to Tanzania. Cardio can be extremely beneficial for mental health as well as physical so it will be good to run each morning.

I think that’s all for now. I better get going!

Thanks for reading!

Rafting the Mighty Zambezi, Elephants and Back to Katibunga

The vacation to Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia was one for the books. A wonderful time. It was also very good to get away from everything for a bit before spending the next four months in the small village of Katibunga.

Sometimes I ask myself "how the heck did I get here?" Here I am in southern Zambia all alone, traveling by bus, paying and doing activities and finding accommodation to stay at. It is absolutely wild, but I am proud of myself for being able to do so. Usually I rely on my parents to plan and help with getting everything set but now it's all on me. It's nice to know I can do it on my own. 

Traveling in Zambia is a difficult task so considering I am mastering it I think I could travel anywhere in the world and make it work. Zack and I have bought our bus tickets back to Lusaka. We will purchase or tickets to Mpika when we arrive in Lusaka. Livingstone is Zambia's wealthiest city and their bus station here is still a gravel road with small shops where you purchase your tickets. They do have plenty of bus companies, though. I will also say that the easiest transaction I have had here has been purchasing my bus ticket back to Lusaka. It went a lot smoother than I thought it would. 

Being in Livingstone, there are a lot of shops and small markets to buy souvenirs. It's always fun to go and bargain so Zack and I did. We were able to pick up somethings for ourselves and family members. One thing I noticed, though, was how they insisted on trading items. They kept asking for my shoes and one even tried to take them off my feet. It never worried me because I obviously wasn't going to give them up, but still a strange experience. I just kept saying "I need my shoes too. If I give them to you I won't have any."

So last night we met back up with our friends from rafting - Ben and Joseph. Ben is a 29 year old from Australia and Joseph is a 20 year old from England. He is on a gap year from school. Ben has been traveling close to 3 years now. He was also going to leave Wednesday, but decided to stay and hang out with us until Saturday ha. It's great!

These kids are cool and fun to hang with. We ended up meeting up with a few other fellow travelers at our hostel. In the end our table was full with people from America, Australia, England, Brazil, South Africa, and Spain. I loved it. Like how cool is that!? I love being a fellow traveler too. We all learn so much from one another while at the same time trying to prove whose country is the best. Not to hard for us proud Americans, though. Back to back World War champs!! (Just saying!)

However, as an American you have to accept the fact that we are also the a**holes of the world - or at least that's how a lot of foreigners see us. They are never too mean or anything, but it always comes up. It's almost funny now. You just have to learn to embrace it. Not too hard for a guy like me.

Another reason why I love hanging out with all these people is that it makes me feel like I belong to this special group of world travelers. Everyone at the table is spending time in their twenties to explore and venture out and we all can bond around that. Just as my brother Thomas has his special group of Air Force pilots (which is so cool) I have my own group of travelers. I like it. It's a great feeling. 

Additionally, when sharing a few cold beers and playing games with everyone it erases all the sad feelings of being away from home, missing college, etc. Even if it's only for a few hours it's still nice to be relaxed and feel like you belong in this far off country. It's nights like these that will give me nostalgia later on in life. Good times.

So, Zack and I white water rafted the Zambezi River on Wednesday and rode elephants on Thursday. I think the pictures tell the story of both activities better so I won't go to in depth because I could write a book on both because they were so much fun. When rafting we got tossed by Mother Nature. I fell out of the raft at least 5 times because the rapids do what they like to you. You're just along for the ride. Rapid 8 was a level 5 rapid and it proved to be true. We hit the wave so hard that it literally took the entire boat and all 8 of us inside and flipped us over. I resurfaced underneath the raft (yes there is a small pocket where you can still breathe) but you want to get out from underneath because you don't know where it will take you. After maneuvering to the side I worked my way out and popped up right as another rapid wave crashed over me. It was so so intense! In a situation like this you really understand the strength of Mother Nature and how little she cares for you ha! You are just a pawn in her game at this point.

At rapid 9 our guide told us to paddle to the side of the river to get out. The rapid was a level 6 (I'm not sure how many levels there are, but this rapid was nasty). Where do you draw the line between a rapid and a waterfall ha. We all would have been thrown from the boat for sure. There were to major swells that would have just taken the boat where it wanted it to go. Luckily, we walked around this one. The great part about this was that we walked on Zimbabwe's side of the river! Woooo now I have officially been to Zimbabwe. The Zambezi River is the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

So, now you think I'm insane for rafting the Zambezi which is one of the most intense rivers in the world. Okay, maybe, but at the same time it is so fun. One of the best experiences I have ever had. Truly. For the most part you are able to stay within the boat and navigate the rapids, but it's actually very fun to get booted out. The river is fairly deep so rocks aren't too much of a concern. Additionally, the raft guide does his best to stear clear of rocks on the side. While floating in the rapids you get the full experience and quite an adrenaline rush. Once in the water the guide will call to you to swim left or right because they know where the dangerous areas are and so as long as you do as they say they paddle over and hoist you back into the boat. Furthermore, they have two kiackers (these guys are true athletes) who hit every rapid you do and wait at the end and monitor everything just in case you need help. Finally, they have a rescue raft that also helps collect you from the water. At some points we were able to get out and swim in the less intense rapids. This was very enjoyable and relaxed. You get pushed by the current which is super fun! I did notice some crocodiles sunbathing on the rocks as we passed by (I fear crocodiles), however they were juveniles and not very big. Also, they don't go near rapids.

We received lunch on the river and dinner once we finished. Pictures will be posted on Facebook soon (hopefully).

The elephant ride was so cool as well. Then again, when is riding an elephant not cool. Zack and I got the biggest elephants and its true - they were massive! I enjoyed riding them and getting to feed them. Their skin is quite tough and they love to eat. My elephant would go up to a tree and rip it right out the ground and chomp on it. They especially love acacia trees. My grandparents live on Acacia Drive and so this is where that name comes from. They are thorny trees, but it doesn't seem to bother the elephants. Overall, it was a great experience. 

Well, that's about it for the activities. Tomorrow morning (Saturday) our bus leaves at 5:30AM. We planned this so we can try to be back in Mpika on Saturday night rather than Sunday morning. We loved vacation, but one can only vacation for so long until it's time to get back. We are excited to get back to Katibunga. The bus rides are so long that you become hungry. Thankfully I still have some peanuts that my Mom packed for me when leaving for Africa. I found the remains of them in my backpack. Hey, I'll take what I can get!

A quick note about electricity. The national power grid is shut down in sections for hours on end. If you don't have a generator or other power supply you are left in the dark. When buying groceries the power was shut down and the entire grocery store was dark. Imagine that happening in America. When it came back on they had to restart all the cashier machines and everything. It makes shopping difficult to say the least. Also, when at the bar with friends the power was turned off. We all sat around two candles and talked for the rest of the night. To be completely honest, that was actually quite enjoyable. However, it can be a pain. 

Sometimes when you are out in the middle of nowhere like in southern Zambia you find or hear something that reminds you of home. It's nice. I overheard the radio at the hostel playing the song "Walking in Memphis." Such a great song and it strikes a cord with me considering I use to live there. When this kind of thing happens it gives you a good feeling. 

Chiara and Francesca will be staying another night in Livingstone before they must catch their flight back to Italy. So Zack and I will be the only foreigners in Katibunga for the remainder of our time.

Well, I said I wouldn't write a lot and here I am writing a novel. My apologies. 

Well, back to Katibunga we go! 

Victoria Falls will always be one of my favorite places.

Thanks for reading!

*Home safe in Katibunga. Long two days of travel. Will post next blog on Wednesday. Better head to bed.*

Adventures in Victoria Falls

We are half way through our week here in Livingstone, Zambia and it has been a blast so far. We visited the falls on Tuesday, will be rafting the mighty Zambezi River today and then going by elephant through a safari on Thursday.

We started the long journey to Livingstone on Sunday morning. We border our first bus at 8:00AM. From Mpika to Lusaka it took about 8 hours. It was during the day and Zack and I happened to get the first seats on the second level (it was a double decker) so we had a great view the entire time. You may be curious as to why they have such nice busses and the answer would be because that is a major form of transportation here. If you want to get somewhere that is far away you take the bus. That is also why they are so big. Lots of passengers. 

The second bus we took was from Lusaka to Livingstone. We had to stay in Lusaka for a few hours before our bus so we called Br. Placid and he met up with us. Placid is a monk of Katibunga, however is currently studying accounting at a university in Lusaka. He is 25 years old. He met up with us and showed us around the university. I enjoyed that. It reminded me of NMMU which was the university I studied at while living in South Africa. We also were given a tour of the mall. Yes, there is a mall in Lusaka. Who would have guessed? I suppose that's what you get when in the capital city, though. It was quite nice. It was also nice to see after being out in the bush for close to a month and a half. 

So, anyway, after all of that we headed to the bus station. We boarded our bus and were off towards Livingstone. The bus ride was supposed to be shorter than the one before, but it turned out to be about the same. 8 hours. We arrived around midnight and were quite tired. Another 20 hour day of traveling. It is hard traveling in Central Africa. 

We took a taxi to our hostel. It is called Fawlty Towers. Besides the strange and somewhat worrisome name it is a nice hostel. We have a room with four beds (two bunk beds). There are two communal showers as well as toilets. For food we visited the grocery store called Shoprite. I am not one who needs fancy foods so I stick with the cheap and easy stuff. I bought bread, ham, cheese, carrots, and bottled water (the water is unclean from the tap so you must buy it).

  

Francesca and Chiara are planning a safari for themselves while Zack and I are tackling the more adrenaline-rush ones. We visited the Victoria Falls on Tuesday. Absolutely beautiful. It would be more intense in the rainy season because of the extra water, but it was still fantastic. We even were able to climb to the top and walk across the falls! You must be careful not to cross any strong currents because they may take you where they are going (and you don't want to go where they are going). It's quite a drop. Victoria Falls is the largest waterfall in the world after all. Yet, with being smart the climb around the top is amazing! 

Today we are going white water rafting in the Zambezi River. I'm pumped. It is supposed to be the most intense white water rafting in the world! Now that's my kind of activity. One that makes you feel alive. I hope we are able to pass underneath/beside the falls. How cool would that be? I enjoy viewing nature, but find it more fun to actually experience it. Therefore, rafting will be perfect. There are 25 rapids in total and they say that this is the best time of the year to do it. I'll let you know how it goes.

On Thursday we booked an elephant back safari. We get to ride elephants through a game reserve. Bomb-diggity! I've always wanted to ride an elephant so this will be a great activity to do. For those of you who have never been to Africa, no it is not normal to ride elephants. I only say this because I've been asked before. Most elephants are wild and can be quite dangerous (their size and protective instincts make them this way). The ones on the safari are domesticated. Yes, that's a bit sad, but they are this way because they were orphaned at a young age and rescued. So that's how they have come to be the way they are. 

As for Friday I believe it will be a day of relaxation. There is a small pool at the hostel which I enjoy swimming in so I think that's where I will be. The relaxation will be nice to have before heading back home to Katibunga. We will be heading back early Saturday morning. 

The activities are a little pricey for a guy like me (I'm not one to spend a lot of money), but then again, when will I ever be able to do these things. So, the $170 to raft and the $175 to ride an elephant are being forked over. 

The heat has been rising a lot lately. It hit 100 degrees yesterday. Also, the mosquitoes are bad here. I am swatting away some as I type this. 

On Monday we met some other kids who are staying at the hostel. They were from Europe. They were really cool and we went out into town with them. The group was made up of people from America, Belgium, Holland, Norway, and Italy. So neat to be meeting people from different places in the world. That's one of my favorite parts. 

Well, I better be on my way. I am writing this post on Tuesday night and the national power grid has been shut down for the rest do the day. Like complete black out. Thank God the hostel I am at has a power generator so there is still some electricity. I will post this on Wednesday morning when I have a decent internet connection. 

*Sorry if the photos in this blog are all goofy. I am writing this on my phone so I will correct the appearance of the blog when I get back to my computer.*

Thanks for reading! 

*Also, I just returned from white water rafting the Zambezi River. Unreal! One of the most intense and best experiences I have had. We hit rapids labeled the Devil's Toilet Bowl, Midnight Diner, and the Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell. Just a blast!