Thursday, April 29, 2010

One of the biggest bugs and a crazy spider…

I’ve spent a lot of time in tropical places so I am somewhat used to bug crazy bugs, BUT being in a landlocked country I have now seen the biggest bug ever… it was scary.. Mrs. Miriam took care of it for me. She’s my hero.

After a wonderful night of sleep I woke up and saw the craziest spider I have ever seen. It was grey with green stripes. We made a deal… I wouldn’t come close to it and it would stay away from me.

I had my first official meeting with the KnowledgeBeat team. Mr. Lohana, Mrs. Marian, Charles and Charles. I got a high level overview of what this grassroots organization is doing here in the rural parts of Zambia. Each of the members has a specific role in the education process. I was able to introduce the Zambia team to TeachAIDS. They were very impressed and are excited to implement this tool in their educational program.

Mrs. Marian is a lovely woman and has 4 children. She treats me like one of her own even though we might be the same age. After our meetings she cooked the national food of Zambia, Nshima… it’s corn meal cooked with water to the consistency you choose. Locally you are supposed to eat it with your hands. Mrs. Marian found it funny that I was using both of my hands to control the Nshima. You are supposed to take it in your right hand and roll it into a ball and mix it with other veggies or protein. I explained that I’m really fast with chopsticks but am going to need some practice with the Nshima.

I got asked what my Itouch was… I tried to explain but it was weird. Have you ever tried to explain what they are?

Off to be early… we have a 6 hour drive in the morning to the rural area…. 3+ hours are off road and I probably should have thought about wearing a sports bra.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

LOVE reading your blog!!! LOVE It!

Wendy said...

You take me there with you each time I read. When you come home will you teach me how to make/eat Nshima